Evaluation of the Gorgan Bay trophy status with Carlson index (CTSI)

Over the past years, eutrophication due to human activities has been recognized as a major ecological problem for the coastal areas, which in turn leads to significant changes in physicochemical and biological factors. The aim of the present study was to determine the eutrophication status of the Gorgan Bay, which was evaluated using the Carlson index as one of the efficient methods for assessing the eutrophication status of water bodies. The Gorgan Bay is located in the southeast of the Caspian Sea. The sampling was carried out in 23 stations with three replications seasonally from summer 2018 to spring 2019. Nitrate, phosphate, chlorophyll α, depth, and transparency were measured in each sample. Carlson's index in terms of chlorophyll α showed that the bay is in the eutrophic status in three seasons including summer, autumn, and winter (with the numbers 53.48, 53.69, and 53.67, respectively), and the mesotrophic status in spring (with the number 42.75). In terms of phosphate concentration, the bay was eutrophic in autumn and winter, and in summer (69.22 and 55.17) and oligotroph in spring (26.75 and 35.30), while in terms of transparency the bay was categorized as eutrophic in all seasons (63.33, 61.61, 69.93 and 61.58, respectively). In general, the results showed that the bay is in the range of mesotrophic to eutrophic status and therefore, more conservation management of this unique ecosystem is essential.