Response of Alpine lakes to major environmental gradients, as detected through planktonic, benthic and sedimentary assemblages

MARCHETTO, A., ROGORA, M., BOGGERO, A., MUSAZZI, S., LAMI, A., LOTTER, A.F., TOLOTTI, M., THIES, H., PSENNER, R., MASSAFERRO, J. & BARBIERI

Patterns and factors of biota distribution in remote european mountain lakes

Schweitzerbart

Lugar: Stuttgart; Año: 2010; p. 419 - 440

Remote mountain lakes are defined as those situated above the tree-line. There are over 50,000 across Europe, occurring from the high arctic to the south of Spain. These lakes have high ecological and environmental value and as the focal points of mountain landscapes, they support unique plant and animal communities. As headwater catchments for European water supplies they are excellent sensors of environmental change for entire mountain environments. However, although they are generally perceived to be in pristine condition, they are threatened by acid deposition (S and N), by the deposition of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and by trace metals, and they are very sensitive to greenhouse gas-forced climate change. The central objective of the EU project, EMERGE (European Mountain lake Ecosystems: regionalisation, diagnostic & socio-economic evaluation) was to comprehensively evaluate the status of remote mountain lake ecosystems across Europe. At its core, EMERGE oversaw a biological survey carried out on more than 350 lakes covering most European ranges from Finland to Spain, and from Scotland to Slovakia. The survey used common sampling protocols and a large number of biological groups and environmental variables were measured, including water column, littoral and sediment habitats. This special issue presents a number of studies which examine the planktonic environment, the littoral and benthic zones, the indicative value of lake sediments for assessments of ecological status and several integrated regional assessments.