Plankton trends and community changes in a coastal sea (northern Adriatic): Bottom-up vs. top-down control in relation to environmental drivers

Our results show that despite the scientifically recognised impact of large-scale climate drivers on Adriatic plankton communities, the Gulf remains largely controlled, either through local climatic (precipitation, river runoff) or anthropogenic (eutrophication) forcing. Under the resource-replete and high biomass regime bottom-up control prevails, while in the new regime of reduced resources and biomass the switch from bottom-up to top-down control can occur seasonally.