LAKES
Northern Apennine lentic ecosystems (lakes and temporary ponds)
Systematic surveys of lakes and temporary ponds were first begun in
the 1950s, when the research was oriented to the physiographic and
hydrochemical characterization of water bodies as
well as to the description of the seasonal succession and distribution of
zooplankton at a regional scale. In the following decades, investigations have
been extended to the study of other aquatic communities. More
recently, the analysis of biodiversity and biogeographical patterns of
invertebrates has been
addressed using a rigorous taxonomic approach. Other currently active research
topics include population and community ecology of plankton, phenological
responses to climate change, whole-ecosystem analysis using trophic flow
networks. Two lakes, Santo Parmense and Scuro Parmense, are sites in the Italian Long Term Ecological Research network (LTER-Italy).
PLATELIAI Lake (Lithuania)
An incredible lake in the hearth of a Natural Park, at one hour distance from Klaipeda. Chara beds, transparent water, pikes and an invasive species, Dreissena, which forms colonies in the bottom. The Corpi Institute has a 3 years project here, aiming at the evaluation of the ecological impacts of Dreissena. We went sampling in mid July 2012, and diving here was an incredible experience.
We have explored how the filter feeder changes the stoichiometry of regenerated nutrients and tried to explain why cyanobacteria blooms, never recorded in the revent past, are now occurring.
We have explored how the filter feeder changes the stoichiometry of regenerated nutrients and tried to explain why cyanobacteria blooms, never recorded in the revent past, are now occurring.
IDRO Lake
A lake of fluvio-glacial origin located on the southern edge of the Alps in Northern Italy (45° 46’ N; 10° 32’ S) at 368 m a.s.l. Lake Idro has a maximum depth of 120 m and a volume of 0.09 km3, it is meromictic with a steep chemical gradient from about 40 m depth downwards. Approximately 50% of the lake volume is completely devoid of oxygen, with high concentrations of reducing compounds and dissolved nutrients. Surficial waters are characterized by summer phytoplankton blooms, and the littoral zone is densely colonized by aquatic macrophytes. Early studies date back 1960, but since then only few and fragmented limnological surveys have been performed. More recently, the Aquatic Ecology Lab started monitoring activities and field experiments aiming to evaluate the ecological and environmental status of the lake and their evolution, to study processes that influence water quality at both watershed and basin scales, and to analyse different management options for recovering water quality and lake functionality.
Pit lakes
Pit lakes are man-made aquatic environments formed by sand and gravel mining; they are mainly located close to the course of rivers and are becoming a common feature in floodplains of Northern Italy. In the Po river floodplain, these lakes vary widely in volume (up to 4 million m3) and maximum depth (up to 60 m). They typically have steep shores, low shoreline development and a relatively low proportion of littoral area. Most of these lakes are monomictic with winter overturn. The trophic state vary considerably, depending on age, management practices and connectivity with surface and ground waters. We have been conducting monitoring and experimental activities for 20 years to evaluate how different lake design and management options may influence water quality and biological communities. These aquatic habitats, if properly designed and managed, could enhance diversity and functions of floodplains and related ecosystem services, acting as substitute of freshwater systems previously existing along river margins (oxbow and fluvial lakes, ponds, temporary pools, etc.).