View article

The rapid response of phytoplankton communities to environmental changes makes this compartment one of the most important biological variable to consider in dealing with ecology and trophodynamic of coastal areas, especially in relation with ongoing climate changes and increased human pressures. In the last 30 years, the use of chemotaxonomy has improved the capability to detect phytoplankton community composition in terms of chemofunctional groups, especially for small size species requiring specific expertise and techniques, as well as time‐consuming observation with light microscope. In this study, the temporal variability of chemotaxonomic functional groups has been investigated in surface waters of a LTER station in the Gulf of Naples over 12‐year weekly sampling activities (2003–2015). Data reveal increasing trends in the percentage contribution of diatoms, prasinophytes, cryptophytes to the …