Lago Anterselva - Italy

The site Lake of Anterselva lies in the Eastern Alps at 1640 m a.s.l. and is for extension the third among the natural lakes of the province of Bolzano. Because of his natural charm it is ever since visited by tourists. The lake, surrounded by conifers, is of barrier origin and has presently an oligotrophic state. Its watershed is composed of acid rocks (75 %) and morenes (23 %) and is covered by shreds (41 %), pioneer vegetation (42 %) and pasture (7%). The literature on Lake Anterselva is extremely poor of physical, chemical and biological data. The only sufficiently sound research was conducted towards the end of the 19th century by Damian, who published a bathymetric map with notes on geology and hydrography. Since 1979 the lake is being limnologically surveyed by the Environmental Agency of the Province of Bolzano, at non-regular intervals throughout the year, in order to monitor its conditions and its development over time. This programme comprises basic limnology including physical and chemical profiles and qualitative and quantitative phyto- and zooplankton analyses. Because of its high naturalistic value, the lake is part of the European network monitoring programme since 2008 and is subjected to the monitoring of its various biological elements according to the European WFD directive: in addition to phytoplankton also macrophytes, benthic fauna and fish are analyzed and evaluated at predetermined minimum intervals. Being located in an area of rock-glaciers, the long-term data of chemistry, physics and plankton of this lake may be useful to identify the effects of climate change (in particular the melting of permafrost). The Biological Laboratory, in charge of surveying the lake, is equipped with the needed instruments and is located at a distance of 109 km from the lake.