Ostracod Fauna: Eyewitness to Fifty Years of Anthropic Impact in the Gulf of Trieste. A Potential Key to the Future Evolution of Urban Ecosystems

For the first time, the distribution and modifications of living ostracod associations present in the Gulf of Trieste (GoT) in relation to alterations caused by human activity in the last 20 years were investigated. The results were compared with the main physicochemical parameters (especially nitrogen and phosphorus) measured over the same period, which can lead to a general decrease in environmental quality. For a more in-depth analysis of the changes recorded by ostracods in the last 50 years, a period in which eutrophication and anoxia increased, we revisited the study carried out by Masoli in the GoT in 1967. The results obtained made it possible to verify how, over the last 20 years, ostracod assemblages have suffered a decrease both qualitatively and quantitatively. Most of the species recovered show characteristics of opportunism and tolerance to environmentally stressful conditions, high organic matter concentrations, and oxygen deficiency. The ostracods analyzed in 1967 showed similar results with few dominant opportunistic species. We verified how ostracods recorded in GoT, similar to Mollusks and Foraminifera, have been impaired by the possible environmental crisis linked to the recurrence of mucilage and hypoxic events documented for the GoT in the last 50 years. Finally, a comparison with the best environmental conditions found in the Marine Nature Reserve of Miramare (MPA) allowed us to emphasize the important role of protected areas to avoid loss of biodiversity due to urbanization.