The chemical and biological response of two remote mountain lakes in the Southern Central Alps (Italy) to twenty years of changing physical and chemical climate

Submitted: 8 December 2011
Accepted: 8 December 2011
Published: 1 February 2004
Abstract Views: 2924
PDF: 784
Publisher's note
All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

Authors

Two small high mountain lakes in the Alps were monitored in 1984-2003 to follow their response to changes in human impact, such as deposition of atmospheric pollutants, fish stocking and climate change. The results were compared to occasional samplings performed in the 1940s, and to the remains found in sediment cores. When monitoring started, the most acid-sensitive of them, Lake Paione Superiore, was acidified, with evident effects in its flora and fauna: benthic diatoms assemblage was shifted towards acidophilous species, and zooplankton lost the dominant species, Arctodiaptomus alpinus. Palaeolimnological studies outlined that lake acidification paralleled the increasing input of long-range transported industrial pollutants, traced by spherical carbonaceous particles. On the contrary, the biota of Lake Paione Inferiore appeared to be mainly affected by fish stocking. In the last twenty years, decrease in acid load from the atmosphere led to an improvement in lake water quality, with an increase in both pH and alkalinity. First signs of biological recovery were identified, such as change in diatom flora and appearance of sensitive species among benthic insects. However, climate change and episodic deposition of Saharan dust were important driving factors controlling lake water chemistry. Further monitoring to assess the effects of climate change and of the increasing load of nitrogen and other pollutants is recommended.

Dimensions

Altmetric

PlumX Metrics

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Citations

How to Cite

MARCHETTO, Aldo, Rosario MOSELLO, Michela ROGORA, Marina MANCA, Angela BOGGERO, Giuseppe MORABITO, Simona MUSAZZI, Gabriele A. TARTARI, Anna M. NOCENTINI, Alessandra PUGNETTI, Roberta BETTINETTI, Pierisa PANZANI, Michele ARMIRAGLIO, Pierluigi CAMMARANO, and Andrea LAMI. 2004. “The Chemical and Biological Response of Two Remote Mountain Lakes in the Southern Central Alps (Italy) to Twenty Years of Changing Physical and Chemical Climate”. Journal of Limnology 63 (1):77-89. https://doi.org/10.4081/jlimnol.2004.77.

Similar Articles

You may also start an advanced similarity search for this article.

List of Cited By :

Crossref logo