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
Keywords
limnology
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
2020-12-18 10:12:54

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General Characteristics and Status
Site Status
Operational
Year Established
1960
Research Topics
natural science
biology
taxonomy
conservation
conservation biology
species conservation
ecology
biodiversity
genetic diversity
species diversity
animal ecology
aquatic ecology
lake ecology
community ecology
community dynamics
successional dynamics
trophic dynamics
trophic interaction
ecosystem ecology
paleoecology
population ecology
population dynamics
ecosystem function
indicator
environmental indicator
invasion biology
molecular biology
molecular taxonomy
chemistry
water chemistry
hydrology
hydrography
limnology
paleolimnology
meteorology
climatology
climate change
climate change impact
regional climate change
climate monitoring
climate
toxicology
ecotoxicology
global change
global environmental change
management
fishery
Parameters
atmospheric parameter
air temperature
precipitation intensity
wind direction
wind speed
mean annual precipitation
maximum temperature
mean annual air temperature
mean annual temperature
minimum temperature
biological parameter
change in population size over time
population size
biological diversity
body length
body mass
body size
clutch size
community pattern
community structure
diet composition
functional diversity
population structure
prey availability
sexual dimorphism
sexual reproduction
sexual size dimorphism
chemical parameter
ammonium content
ammonium nitrogen content
ammonium nitrate concentration
dissolved nutrient
total carbon
total organic carbon
available phosphorus
inorganic carbon content
inorganic nitrogen content
dissolved organic phosphorus
dissolved organic carbon in water
water salinity
buffer capacity
carbon to nitrogen ratio
chemical composition of water
chlorophyll a content in water
dissolved organic nitrogen
nitrogen balance
nitrogen budget
residence time
retention time
total acidity
total alkalinity
water acidity
water alkalinity
nitrogen content
ecosystem parameter
community composition
species list
species composition
species richness
bacillariophyceae species richness
species abundance
bacillariophyceae abundance
benthic invertebrates abundance
bacillariophyceae biomass
bacillariophyceae biovolume
species group abundance
species presence
benthic invertebrates presence
species turnover
phytoplankton abundance
zooplankton abundance
fish abundance
phytoplankton biomass
zooplankton biomass
algae species abundance
algae species presence
biodiversity loss
animal species presence
bacillariophyceae presence
animal species abundance
percent carbon
percent nitrogen
percent organic carbon
population density
population size
total carbon
ammonium content
ammonium nitrate concentration
ammonium nitrogen content
change in population size over time
dissolved nutrient
water parameter
water acidity
water alkalinity
chlorophyll content of water
water depth
secchi depth
water transparency
water level
lake level
water quality
water temperature
lake temperature
water volume
oxygen saturation
ammonium nitrogen content
dissolved organic phosphorus
water heavy metal concentration
acid neutralizing capacity of water
ammonium content
ammonium nitrate concentration
available phosphorus
carbon dioxide concentration
dissolved organic carbon in water
dissolved organic nitrogen
nitrogen content
percent carbon
rainfall variability
total carbon
total organic carbon
water salinity
oxygen concentration
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 and Land Use
Lakes
Fresh Water Lakes
Large lakes
Biogeographical Region
Alpine Bio-geographical Region
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
EUNIS habitat
Inland surface waters (C)
Inland surface waters (C) » Surface standing waters (C1)
Site Type (Spatial Design)
Simple Site
Design of Experimentation
no experimentation
Scale of Experimentation
plot scale
Design of Observation
mainly observation
Scale of Observation
sub-catchment within catchment
Infrastructure
Data infrastructure » Data storage » Unstructured file
Data infrastructure » Data services » Other data services
Accessible All Year
Yes
All parts of Site Accessible
Yes
Access Type
boat
Permanent Power Supply
Yes
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.