Lago di Orta - Italy

Basic Information
Site Name
Lago di Orta
Short name
IT08-003-A
Country
Italy
Web Address
LTER-Italy website
Operating Organisation
CNR - Water Research Institute (IRSA)
Site Manager
Roberta Piscia
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. ...
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Relationships to other sites
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Last modified
2025-01-07 11:01:56

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General Characteristics and Status
Site Status
Operational
Year Established
1960
Observed properties
ecosystem parameterwater parameterchemical parameterbiological parameteratmospheric parameteralgaespeciesabundancealgaespeciespresenceammoniumcontentammoniumnitrateconcentrationammoniumnitrogencontentanimalspeciesabundanceanimalspeciespresencebacillariophyceaeabundancebacillariophyceaebiomassbacillariophyceaebiovolumebacillariophyceaepresencebacillariophyceaespeciesrichnessbenthicinvertebratesabundancebenthicinvertebratespresencebiodiversitylosschangeinpopulationsizeovertimecommunitycompositiondissolvednutrientfishabundancepercentcarbonpercentnitrogenpercentorganiccarbonphytoplanktonabundancephytoplanktonbiomasspopulationdensitypopulationsizespeciesabundancespeciescompositionspeciesgroupabundancespecieslistspeciespresencespeciesrichnessspeciesturnovertotalcarbonzooplanktonabundancezooplanktonbiomassacidneutralizingcapacityofwaterammoniumcontentammoniumnitrateconcentrationammoniumnitrogencontentavailablephosphoruscarbondioxideconcentrationchlorophyllcontentofwaterdissolvedorganiccarboninwaterdissolvedorganicnitrogendissolvedorganicphosphoruslakelevellaketemperaturenitrogencontentoxygenconcentrationoxygensaturationpercentcarbonrainfallvariabilitysecchidepthtotalcarbontotalorganiccarbonwateraciditywateralkalinitywaterdepthwaterheavymetalconcentrationwaterlevelwaterqualitywatersalinitywatertemperaturewatertransparencywatervolumeammoniumcontentammoniumnitrateconcentrationammoniumnitrogencontentavailablephosphorusbuffercapacitycarbontonitrogenratiochemicalcompositionofwaterchlorophyllacontentinwaterdissolvednutrientdissolvedorganiccarboninwaterdissolvedorganicnitrogendissolvedorganicphosphorusinorganiccarboncontentinorganicnitrogencontentnitrogenbalancenitrogenbudgetnitrogencontentresidencetimeretentiontimetotalaciditytotalalkalinitytotalcarbontotalorganiccarbonwateraciditywateralkalinitywatersalinitybiologicaldiversitybodylengthbodymassbodysizechangeinpopulationsizeovertimeclutchsizecommunitypatterncommunitystructuredietcompositionfunctionaldiversitypopulationsizepopulationstructurepreyavailabilitysexualdimorphismsexualreproductionsexualsizedimorphismairtemperaturemaximumtemperaturemeanannualairtemperaturemeanannualprecipitationmeanannualtemperatureminimumtemperatureprecipitationintensitywinddirectionwindspeed
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.
GERI✔This site is a verified "GERI" member.
Photos
Satellite map of Lake Orta
Satellite map of Lake Orta
Geographic
5 km
3 mi
View in site map
Centroid/Representative Coordinates

Latitude: 45.817692 Longitude: 8.400248

Size
ca. 1814.00ha
Elevation (average)
290.00msl
Elevation (min)
350.00msl
Elevation (max)
1643.00msl
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Site information [.json]

Centroid/representative 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
Precipitation Annual
1221.50mm
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.