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Not only Cladocera: what we can learn from RRE analysis in deep lake sediment cores
Get PDFSince early palaeolimnological studies, Cladocera have been largely investigated in lakes of different typologies and from a large variety of sites. Analyses of their subfossil remains provide evidence for changes in trophodynamics, habitat and water level fluctuations and of impact of drivers such as climate change on lake ecosystem functioning. Rotifers are an important component of lacustrine food webs. They are responsible for the largest part of zooplankton diversity. Because of short developmental times and intrinsic rate of increase, they promptly respond to different impacts, such as changes in trophy, pollution and recovery as well as climatedriven changes. Rotifers have been overlooked in palaeolimnological studies because they do not leave subfossil remains. They do produce, however, resting eggs of a variety of morphotypes (MTs), which preserve well in sediments. We report here results of a study in which we applied RRE MTs (Rotifer Resting Eggs MorphoTypes) analyses to a sediment core of Lake Orta on which cladocera and diatoms were analysed along with lake chronic, heavy metal pollution and acidification as well as recovery. We found that RRE abundance increased during pollution. RRE MTs differed substantially before vs. during pollution and along with the different recovery phases. The restored RRE community differed substantially from the pre-pollution one. Unexpectedly, RREs persisted over the full pollution phase, when copper concentration in the water column was as high as 108 ?g/L (in the late fifties) and when lake pH (value at the winter mixing) was of 3.8 (in the middle eighties). The presence of open egg cases also proves attempts of e.g. Brachionus calyciflorus to establish also during pollution phase. Extending RREMTs analyse to other deep subalpine lakes (i.e. Leman, Annecy and Bourget) encourage to further develop this approach to contribute to understanding impact of local vs. global drivers affecting lake ecosystem functioning
A century of limnological research in the Historical Archive of the CNR ISE
Get PDFSince 2010, the Historical Archive of the Italian Institute of Ecosystem Studies has been subject to an extensive rearrangement and improvement program. The Archive contains original documents (such as letters, administrative documents, notarial deeds, drawings and prints, photographic plates, photographs) recording the scientific and administrative activities from the foundation of the Institute (1938) till its annexation to the Italian National Research Council (1977). Furthermore, it hosts some material documenting studies that were conducted in the first decades of the XIX Century, mainly by Marco De Marchi (1872-1936), a pioneer of limnology in Italy, and Edgardo Baldi (1899-1951), the first director of the Institute. This collection is a cornerstone of more than a century of scientific research in limnology, which also benefitted from frequent international contacts with scientists and ecological associations. The reorganization of the material in the Historical Archive was planned in consultation with the Soprintendenza Archivistica of the Piedmont Region, which is the legal authority responsible for the public archives in the Piedmont Region. Beginning in 2012, the information contained in the Archive has been digitized using the software xDams, an open version software source of Regesta?. In 2014, part of the digitized material was made available on the web site: http://www.ise.cnr.it/archivio. These activities were conducted thanks to the contribution of the Fondazione Cassa Risparmio di Torino and Fondazione Comunitaria VCO, which funded two temporary staff for the reorganisation of the Historical Archive, including the physical preservation and digitalisation of the documents. These activities are part of the CNR mission within the European Digital Agenda, and the CNR contribution to the development of scientific thought
The history of Lake Maggiore industrial pollution traced through lake sediment and long term monitoring of the biota
Get PDFIn Lake Maggiore large watershed (ca. 6,600 sq. km), industrial activities along the XX century led to the discharge into the lake or its tributaries of several pollutants, such as DDT, PCBs and mercury. Other pollutants, such as PAHs and flame retardants (such as PBDEs) are still reaching the lake. Analyses of some of these pollutants in lake biota were performed continuously since 1998 and form a unique time series. We used in parallel lake sediment cores to infer the history of lake contamination, and analyses of biological samples to describe the distribution of these pollutants in the lake food web and its year-to-year variability. Furthermore, analysis of the sediment of the main rivers flowing towards Lake Maggiore was used to get information on present sources of pollution. Results also show that legacy pollutants, which are no more used nor produced, still reach the lake from polluted soils located around the industrial sites, in particular during heavy rainfall. In particular, we paid special attention to Hg and to DDT and its metabolites, because of the presence of a large pollution source close to the River Toce, one of the main inlets of Lake Maggiore. Although DDT production ended in 1996, p,p\u27-DDT is still found in river sediment and in molluscs collected in Lake Maggiore, deriving probably from polluted soils. On the contrary, p,p\u27-DDE prevails in fish tissues, zooplankton and molluscs. Finally, high values of the concentration of some pollutants in the sediment of Lake Maggiore outlet (River Ticino) show that the lake does not act as a perfect sink for these compounds. Considering present day pollution, PAHs derive from diffuse sources and are found in the sediment of all tributaries, while PBDEs where found only in the sediment of two inlets, revealing the presence of active point sources
Environmental factors as key drivers for mountain lakes biodiversity
Get PDFA research study has been performed by CNR-Institute of Ecosystem Study (ISE) in the Stelvio National Park (SNP, Central Alps, Italy) in 2011-12 to assess the ecological status of some lacustrine environments through their chemical and biological characteristics. Macroinvertebrates and diatoms were employed in the study, as they are considered key groups for monitoring programs since the \u2770s. The study was performed in the framework of SHARE Stelvio, an interdisciplinary program for detecting early evidences of climate change in the Park. Even these remote areas are no longer pristine, and the environmental changes that occur at high altitudes have very likely direct and indirect impacts on biota and on the structure and function of freshwater ecosystems. In particular, the work aims to present the first biological and chemical results of our study, exploring also lakes other than those previously considered, located on slopes with different exposure and altitude, expanding knowledge in areas of the park, so far studied only from the glaciological and geomorphological point of view
Making forest monitoring cheaper and closer to society: The LIFE+ Project "SMART4Action"
Get PDFLIFE SMART4Action (Sustainable Monitoring And Reporting To Inform Forest- and. Environmental Awareness and Protection. LIFE13 ENV/IT/000813) intends to redesign forest monitoring and its information and reporting system in Italy. It is designed over the period September 2014 - March 2018 and will attempt to ensure financial sustainability to forest monitoring, despite budget restrictions, whilst maintaining scientific reliability. The project has two main goals: . design a new system to reduce the current annual costs by 30%, while recognizing the importance of national and regional statistics on key variables linked to sustainable forest management and ecosystem services; and . to improve communication with, and data transfer to, relevant stakeholders and citizens through a participatory process. The analysis of the available data series of forest monitoring data will permit to optimize the number of plots, the frequency and the distribution of the activities, to maximize the information, and identify possible areas were monitoring and modeling can be fruitfully integrated. To increase awareness about forest related issues and the importance of forest monitoring, SMART4Action will develop mechanisms to involve local people in plot management and basic monitoring for readily measurable variables, with local conferences and courses, synthetic result sheets at regional scale, and web-based and smartphone applications to obtain an active involvement of citizens. Present and historical monitoring data will also be shared online using geospatial standard services. Here, we intend to present the project at its very beginning in order to explore the possibility of interaction and synergy with other on-going activities
Nitrite interference in nitrate determinationby spectrophotometricflow injection analysis
Get PDFResults of the last ring test were analysed to show the possible interference of nitrite on nitrate result
Period of public commentary begins on the revised proposal of species-group level names, and on the proposal of genus-group level names of the Candidate Part of List of Available Names (LAN) in the phylum Rotifera
Get PDFFollowing ICZN (1999) Article 79 Chapter 17, we, with the full support of the international community of rotifer researchers as expressed during subsequent international Rotifera symposia, developed a Candidate Part of the List of Available Names for species and genera of Rotifera from the start of zoological nomenclature to the year 2000
The cavernicolous Oniscidea (Crustacea: Isopoda) of Portugal
Get PDFThe study of subterranean Oniscidea in Portugal has been neglected for nearly 70 years, but recent investigations have revealed high diversity. All the terrestrial isopods from caves of mainland Portugal, including data from the literature and new material, are listed, revealing new biodiversity patterns. Twenty-seven species, belonging to 15 genera and six families, are known, of which 16 species are considered to be exclusively from subterranean ecosystems, i.e., troglobionts. Trichoniscidae is the most diverse family. Seven species in the family Trichoniscidae and one species in the family Styloniscidae are described as new (all with Reboleira & Taiti as authors): Trichoniscoides bellesi sp. nov. from the Montejunto Massif; T. sicoensis sp. nov. from the Sic? Massif; Metatrichoniscoides salirensis sp. nov. from the typhonic valley of Caldas da Rainha; Troglonethes olissipoensis sp. nov. from the Lisbon Peninsula; T. arrabidaensis sp. nov. from the Arr?bida Massif; Miktoniscus longispina sp. nov. from the Sic? Massif and Cesaredas Plateau; Moserius inexpectatus sp. nov. from the Estremenho Massif; and Cordioniscus lusitanicus sp. nov. from Alentejo and Algarve, the southernmost provinces of Portugal. The subgenus Trogleluma Vandel, 1946 (Armadillidiidae) is raised to genus level. In this geographic region terrestrial isopods are the richest group of cave-adapted animals
High-resolution paleolimnology opens new management perspectives for lakes adaptation to climate warming
Get PDFVarved lake sediments provide opportunities for high-resolution paleolimnological investigations that may extend monitoring surveys in order to target priority management actions under climate warming. This paper provides the synthesis of an international research program relying on > 150 years-long, varved records for three managed perialpine lakesi n Europe (Lakes Geneva, Annecy, and Bourget). The dynamics of the dominant, local human pressures, as well as the ecological responses in the pelagic, benthic, and littoral habitats were reconstructed using classical and newly developed paleo-proxies. Statistical modeling achieved the hierarchization of the drivers of their ecological trajectories. All three lakes underwent different levels of eutrophication in the first half of the XXth century, followed by re-oligotrophication. Climate warming came along with a 2?C-increase in air temperature over the last century, to which lakes were unequally thermally vulnerable. Unsurprisingly, phosphorous concentration has been the dominant ecological driver over the last century. Yet, other human-influenced, local environmental drivers (fisheries management practices, river regulations) have also significantly inflected ecological trajectories. Climate change has been impacting all habitats at rates that, in some cases, exceeded those of local factors. The amplitude and ecological responses to similar climate change varied between lakes, but, at least for pelagic habitats, rather depended on the intensity of local human pressures than on the thermal effect of climate change. Deep habitats yet showed higher sensitivity to climate change but substantial influence of river flows. As a consequence, adapted local management strategies, fully integrating nutrient inputs, fisheries management, and hydrological regulations, may enable mitigating the deleterious consequences of ongoing climate change on these ecosystems
