Lago di Orta - Italy

Basic Information
Site Name
Lago di Orta
Short name
IT08-003-A
Country
Italy
Web Address
http://www.lteritalia.it/siti12/10.pdf
Parent Site Name
IT08-Southern Alpine Lakes - Italy
Site Manager
Roberta Piscia
Operating Organisation
CNR Water Research Institute
Site Description
Lake Orta is a deep subalpine lake, located in Northern Italy, at a mean altitude of 290 m a.s.l. Its perimeter is 33,8 km, surface area 18,14 km2, volume 1,29 km3. Lake Orta has a maximum depth of 143 m and a mean depth of 71 m. Lake Orta is well known for being polluted by industrial discharges (copper sulphate and ammonia) since the late 1920: as a consequence, the pH of the lake water dropped down till 4 and the food web was almost completely destroyed, except for some few, strongly adapted species. The pollution stopped around mid 1980s and a liming intervention was carried out in 1989-1990, to neutralize the acidic waters of the lake. The recovery was very fast, new species started to colonise the lake just after the liming. The lake, however, is still at risk, due to the large amount of heavy metals stored in the sediments.
Last modified
2021-09-14 11:09:21

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General Characteristics and Status
Site Status
Operational
Year Established
1960
Observed properties
atmospheric parameter
air temperature
maximum temperature
mean annual air temperature
mean annual precipitation
mean annual temperature
minimum temperature
precipitation intensity
wind direction
wind speed
biological parameter
biological diversity
body length
body mass
body size
change in population size over time
clutch size
community pattern
community structure
diet composition
functional diversity
population size
population structure
prey availability
sexual dimorphism
sexual reproduction
sexual size dimorphism
chemical parameter
ammonium content
ammonium nitrate concentration
ammonium nitrogen content
available phosphorus
buffer capacity
carbon to nitrogen ratio
chemical composition of water
chlorophyll a content in water
dissolved nutrient
dissolved organic carbon in water
dissolved organic nitrogen
dissolved organic phosphorus
inorganic carbon content
inorganic nitrogen content
nitrogen balance
nitrogen budget
nitrogen content
residence time
retention time
total acidity
total alkalinity
total carbon
total organic carbon
water acidity
water alkalinity
water salinity
ecosystem parameter
algae species abundance
algae species presence
ammonium content
ammonium nitrate concentration
ammonium nitrogen content
animal species abundance
animal species presence
bacillariophyceae abundance
bacillariophyceae biomass
bacillariophyceae biovolume
bacillariophyceae presence
bacillariophyceae species richness
benthic invertebrates abundance
benthic invertebrates presence
biodiversity loss
change in population size over time
community composition
dissolved nutrient
fish abundance
percent carbon
percent nitrogen
percent organic carbon
phytoplankton abundance
phytoplankton biomass
population density
population size
species abundance
species composition
species group abundance
species list
species presence
species richness
species turnover
total carbon
zooplankton abundance
zooplankton biomass
water parameter
acid neutralizing capacity of water
ammonium content
ammonium nitrate concentration
ammonium nitrogen content
available phosphorus
carbon dioxide concentration
chlorophyll content of water
dissolved organic carbon in water
dissolved organic nitrogen
dissolved organic phosphorus
lake level
lake temperature
nitrogen content
oxygen concentration
oxygen saturation
percent carbon
rainfall variability
secchi depth
total carbon
total organic carbon
water acidity
water alkalinity
water depth
water heavy metal concentration
water level
water quality
water salinity
water temperature
water transparency
water volume
Photos
not defined

not defined

Geographic
Size
1814.00ha
Elevation (average)
290.00msl
Elevation (min)
350.00msl
Elevation (max)
1643.00msl
Affiliation and Network Specific Information
Affiliation
ILTER✔This site is a verified "ILTER" member.
LTER Europe✔This site is a verified "LTER Europe" member.
LTER Italia (Italy)✔ (LTER_EU_IT_042)This site is a verified "LTER Italia (Italy)" member.
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Site information [.json]

Centroid coordinates [.shp] [.kml]
Bounding Box [.shp] [.kml]
Boundaries [.shp] [.kml]
GEO-BON Biome
Fresh water lakes
Biome
Fresh Water Lakes
Ecosystem Type
Lakes
Fresh Water Lakes
Large lakes
Biogeographical Region
Alpine Bio-geographical Region
EUNIS habitat
Inland surface waters (C)
Inland surface waters (C) » Surface standing waters (C1)
Air Temperature: Average Annual
15.00°C
Air Temperature Range (Monthly Minimum)
6.00°C
Air Temperature Range (Monthly Maximum)
25.00°C
Precipitation Annual
1221.50mm
Precipitation Maximum Monthly
200.00mm
Precipitation Minimum Monthly
0.00mm
Geology
Siliceous basin
Hydrology
The lake is included in the drainage basin of Lake Maggiore and is fed by many small streams. It water renewal time was estimated in 8.5 years
Site Type
Stationary land-based site
Design of Experimentation
no experimentation
Scale of Experimentation
plot scale
Design of Observation
mainly observation
Scale of Observation
sub-catchment within catchment
Permanent Power Supply
Yes
Equipment
Data infrastructure » Data services » Other data services
Data infrastructure » Data storage » Unstructured file
Accessible All Year
Yes
All parts of Site Accessible
Yes
Access Type
boat
Permanent Operation
No
Site Visit Interval
90
Maintenance Interval
90
General Data Policy
The opportunity to collaborate on the project using the dataset
LTER Site Classification
Regular
There is EURO-CORDEX climate scenario data available for this site:
Projected Near Surface Specific Humidity ChangeRCP26RCP45RCP85
Projected Precipitation ChangeRCP26RCP45RCP85
Projected Sea Level Pressure ChangeRCP26RCP45RCP85
Projected Surface Downwelling Shortwave RadiationRCP26RCP45RCP85
Projected Near-Surface Wind SpeedRCP26RCP45RCP85
Projected Near-Surface Air TemperatureRCP26RCP45RCP85
Projected Daily Maximum Near-Surface Air TemperatureRCP26RCP45RCP85
Projected Daily Minimum Near-Surface Air TemperatureRCP26RCP45RCP85

You can also download the entire climate scenario dataset for this site from the EUDAT B2SHARE data store.