9cf93b55-58f7-4e08-95d7-6b1292ebc898 Jessica Titocci National Research Council (CNR), Institute of Research on Terrestrial Ecosystems (IRET) Research Technologist jessica.titocci@cnr.it 0000-0001-9157-1578 Nataliya Slabakova Institute of Oceanology – Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (IO-BAS) Researcher 0000-0002-3294-5346 Jessica Titocci National Research Council (CNR), Institute of Research on Terrestrial Ecosystems (IRET) Research Technologist jessica.titocci@cnr.it 0000-0001-9157-1578 Martina Pulieri University of Salento Research assistant martina.pulieri@unisalento.it 0009-0001-9691-1989 Information Manager Ilaria Rosati National Research Council (CNR), Institute of Research on Terrestrial Ecosystems (IRET) Technologist ilaria.rosati@cnr.it 0000-0003-3422-7230 Custodian Steward 2026-01-28 English This dataset contains seasonal information on phytoplankton community composition collected in the Ria de Aveiro lagoon within the RESTORE4Cs project. Sampling was carried out during four campaigns between 2023 and 2024 (October 2023, January 2024, April 2024, and July 2024), covering the main seasonal variability of the lagoon. Phytoplankton samples were collected at multiple sites representing different ecological conditions, including well-preserved wetland habitats with minimal anthropogenic influence, altered areas where key structural or functional attributes have been degraded (e.g. loss of seagrass meadows), and restored areas that have undergone ecological restoration and currently exhibit conditions comparable to reference sites. The dataset includes raw phytoplankton cell counts obtained following detailed and standardized counting procedures, along with morphological measurements such as cell length, width, and thickness, and geometric shape descriptors. Taxonomic identification is provided from kingdom to species level. Each sample is associated with comprehensive metadata describing management treatment (Altered, Protected, or Restored), replicate, sampling event, geographic locality with coordinates, and temporal information including season, month, day, and year. phytoplankton Biodiversity Thesaurus biodiversity Environmental Thesaurus Morphological trait Shape Cell length Cell width Cell thickness Traits Thesaurus Free for use, including sharing and adaptation, by all individuals provided that the owners are acknowledged in any use or publication. cc-by https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Ria de Aveiro -8.72507 -8.59663 40.74963 40.63271 2023-11-15 2024-07-02 Phylum Charophyta KZS5S Phylum Chlorophyta CGV7L Phylum Cryptophyta 3N Phylum Cyanobacteria CNPLM Phylum Euglenozoa 4B Phylum Haptophyta 4P Phylum Heterokontophyta 370437 Phylum Myzozoa QKD9F Phylum Ochrophyta 5H http://www.w3.org/ns/dcat#keyword http://vocabs.lter-europe.net/EnvThes/21673 http://www.w3.org/ns/dcat#keyword http://data.loterre.fr/ark:/67375/BLH-L2H7SL1W-6 http://www.w3.org/ns/dcat#keyword https://kos.lifewatch.eu/thesauri/traits/Morphological_Trait http://www.w3.org/ns/dcat#keyword https://kos.lifewatch.eu/thesauri/traits/c_d8b26f7b http://www.w3.org/ns/dcat#keyword https://kos.lifewatch.eu/thesauri/traits/c_2453c25b http://www.w3.org/ns/dcat#keyword https://kos.lifewatch.eu/thesauri/traits/c_3b8b8532 http://www.w3.org/ns/dcat#keyword https://kos.lifewatch.eu/thesauri/traits/c_99b35ac0 This dataset has been used as a case study within the Phytoplankton Virtual Research Environment to support analysis of phytoplankton community structure and functional traits in relation to ecological condition and restoration status. This dataset was curated by Jessica Titocci whose work was funded by ITINERIS. ITINERIS is a project funded by EU - Next Generation EU PNRR- Mission 4 “Education and Research” - Component 2: “From research to business” - Investment 3.1: “Fund for the realization of an integrated system of research and innovation infrastructures”. Jessica Titocci National Research Council (CNR), Institute of Research on Terrestrial Ecosystems (IRET) Research Technologist jessica.titocci@cnr.it 0000-0001-9157-1578 Samples were placed in 500 ml polyethylene bottles and fixed with Lugol’s solution (10 ml/L of sample). Phytoplankton taxonomic identification, estimation of cell densities and morphometric measurements were performed using a Nikon T300E inverted microscope (Nikon T300E, Nikon Eclipse Ti) connected to a video-interactive image analysis system (L.U.C.I.A Version 4.8, Laboratory Imaging), following the Utermöhl method (1958) at 400× magnification. For each sample, at least 400 organisms were counted and identified to the lowest possible taxonomic level. The detected cell densities were expressed per liter of water (cells /L). Species/taxon-specific geometric shape were assigned using the “Atlas of Shapes” (https://www.phytovre.lifewatchitaly.eu/vre/shapes-groups/). The geometric shape was attributed to the individual cell, even for coenobial, colonial or filamentous species where cells were not individually observable. All data collected were harmonized according to the Phytoplankton Data Template, by using the Template Builder which includes standardized terminologies according to Darwin Core, the Traits Thesaurusand the Thesaurus VRE Phytoplankton vocabularies. The Ria de Aveiro coastal wetland was selected as case pilots in the context of the RESTORE4Cs project. Subsites corresponding to three different ecological status were selected by duplicate; namely, two well preserved subsites, two altered subsites and two restored subsites. Each subsite was sampled once per season from October 2023 to August 2024. Water samples of 0.5 L from the subsurface (30 cm) were collected for the quantitative analysis of phytoplankton abundance and species composition. Taxonomic validation was performed using the World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS, https://www.marinespecies.org/) and AlgaeBase (https://www.algaebase.org/). Alberto Basset University of Salento Full professor alberto.basset@unisalento.it 0000-0002-3603-9316 Principal Investigator Nataliya Slabakova Institute of Oceanology – Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (IO-BAS) Researcher 0000-0002-3294-5346 Content Provider All major European Union (EU) policies recognise the key role of wetlands to achieve the EU objectives regarding climate neutrality, biodiversity protection, zero-pollution, flood protection, and circular economy. Therefore, assessing the current extent and state of European wetlands, their current and potential greenhouse gases (GHG) profile and their medium to long-term mitigation capacity through restoration, or other measures, are key priorities of the European Union to tackle climate change. Led by the University of Aveiro, the Horizon project RESTORE4Cs (Modelling RESTORation of wEtlands for Carbon pathways, Climate Change mitigation and adaptation, ecosystem services, and biodiversity, Co-benefits) will assess the role of restoration action on wetlands capacity in terms of climate change mitigation and a wide range of ecosystem services using an integrative socio-ecological systems approach. EU Horizon 2.5.1 - Climate science and solutions RiaDeAveiro_PhytoplanktonCounts_28012026.csv RiaDeAveiro_PhytoplanktonCounts_28012026.csv 113044 MD5:5d32a0dc1b467063fd5c5c552549e5d9 UTF-8 1 column ; catalogNumber Catalog Number An identifier (preferably unique) for the record within the data set or collection. Any Text http://ecoinformatics.org/oboe/oboe.1.2/oboe-core.owl#hasContext http://rs.tdwg.org/dwc/terms/catalogNumber country Country The name of the country or major administrative unit in which the dcterms:Location occurs. 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Any Text http://ecoinformatics.org/oboe/oboe.1.2/oboe-core.owl#hasContext http://www.eionet.europa.eu/gemet/concept/7529 scientificName Scientific Name The full scientific name, with authorship and date information if known. When forming part of a dwc:Identification, this should be the name in lowest level taxonomic rank that can be determined. This term should not contain identification qualifications, which should instead be supplied in the dwc:identificationQualifier term. Any Text http://ecoinformatics.org/oboe/oboe.1.2/oboe-core.owl#hasContext http://rs.tdwg.org/dwc/terms/scientificName kingdom Kingdom The full scientific name of the kingdom in which the dwc:Taxon is classified. Any Text http://ecoinformatics.org/oboe/oboe.1.2/oboe-core.owl#hasContext http://rs.tdwg.org/dwc/terms/kingdom phylum Phylum The full scientific name of the phylum or division in which the dwc:Taxon is classified. 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Any Text http://ecoinformatics.org/oboe/oboe.1.2/oboe-core.owl#hasUnit http://rs.tdwg.org/dwc/terms/organismQuantityType settlingVolume Settling Volume The settling volume is the volume of sample introduced into the sedimentation chamber and allowed to settle before microscopic examination. cubicMeter real http://ecoinformatics.org/oboe/oboe.1.2/oboe-core.owl#containsMeasurementsOfType https://kos.lifewatch.eu/thesauri/vrephytoplankton/c_bf8c7c75 diameterOfSedimentationChamber Diameter of Sedimentation Chamber The straight-line distance across the circular sedimentation counting chamber. 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