Lakes: the mirrors of the earth
BALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Proceedings of 15th world lake conferenceLakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Proceedings of
15TH WORLD LAKE CONFERENCE

Copyright © 2014 by Umbria Scientific Meeting Association (USMA2007)
All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-88-96504-04-8 (print)
ISBN: 978-88-96504-07-9 (online)
Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING
Volume 2: Proceedings of the 15th World Lake Conference
Edited by
Chiara BISCARINI, Arnaldo PIERLEONI, Luigi NASELLI-FLORES
Editorial office:

Valentina ABETE (coordinator), Dordaneh AMIN, Yasue HAGIHARA ,Antonello LAMANNA , Adriano ROSSI

Published by Science4Press
Consorzio S.C.I.R.E. E (Scientific Consortium for the Industrial Research and Engineering)www.consorzioscire.it

Printed in Italy

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International Scientific Committee
Chair
Masahisa NAKAMURA (Shiga University)
Vice Chair
Walter RAST (Texas State University)
Members
Nikolai ALADIN (Russian Academy of Science)
Sandra AZEVEDO (Brazil Federal University of Rio de Janeiro)
Riccardo DE BERNARDI (EvK2-CNR)
Salif DIOP (Cheikh Anta Diop University)
Fausto GUZZETTI (IRPI-CNR Perugia)
Zhengyu HU (Chinese Academy of Sciences)
Piero GUILIZZONI (ISE-CNR)
Luigi NASELLI-FLORES (University of Palermo)
Daniel OLAGO (University of Nairobi)
Ajit PATTNAIK (Chilika Development Authority)
Richard ROBARTS (World Water and Climate Foundation)
Adelina SANTOS-BORJA (Laguna Lake Development Authority)
Juan SKINNER (Lake Atitlan Basin Authority)
Tsugihiro WATANABE (Kyoto University)

Local Organizing Committee
Chair
Lucio UBERTINI (University of Rome “La Sapienza”)
Vice Chair
Piergiorgio MANCIOLA (University of Perugia)
Members
Chiara BISCARINI (University for Foreigners Perugia)
Fernando NARDI (University for Foreigners Perugia)
Stefano CASADEI (University of Perugia)
Alessandro LUDOVISI (University of Perugia)
Luigi NASELLI-FLORES (University of Palermo)
Salvatore GRIMALDI (Tuscia University)
Gianluca PAGGI (Province of Perugia)
Secretary General
Arnaldo PIERLEONI
Yasue HAGIHARA
Secretariat
Valentina ABETE (Executive Assistant and Coordinator)
Dordaneh AMIN
Antonio ANNIS
Adriano ROSSI (IT Specialist)
Communication Manager
Antonello LAMANNA (Voxteca - University for Foreigners Perugia)

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Table of Contents
ECOLOGY AND BIOLOGY OF LAKES & INLAND WATERS .............................................................. 8
Plasmid-Mediated Transfer of Heavy metal tolerance gene to Escherichia coli isolated from
Fatehsagar lake, Udaipur, Rajasthan, India ................................................................................. 91

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A.A. Bhojiya & H. Joshi .................................................................................................................................. 9

Influence of light wavelength and intensity on geosmin production of Streptomyces coelicolor
A3(2).......................................................................................................................................... 13
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A. Kanazawa , K. Shimizu , N. Sugiura & M. Utsumi ..................................................................................... 13

Antibacterial activity of lactobacilli against Aeromonas veronii isolated from Pichola lake,
Udaipur, Rajasthan, India .......................................................................................................... 161

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D. Khandelwal , H. Joshi & B.L. Chaudhary .................................................................................................. 16

The regularities of synthesis of low-molecular weight organic compounds by water
macrophytes depending on biotic and abiotic factors .............................................................. 19
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E.A. Kurashov , J.V. Krylova , G.G. Mitrukova & A.M. Chernova ................................................................ 19

Analysis of physical, chemical and bacteriological parameters of Lake Pichhola in Udaipur
District (Rajasthan), India .......................................................................................................... 24
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I. Rawal , H. Joshi & B.L. Chaudhary ............................................................................................................ 24

Road de-icing salt and its effects on surface water: a case study in Northern Italy, subalpine
Lake District ............................................................................................................................... 28
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M. Rogora , R. Mosello , N. Salmaso & L. Cerasino ...................................................................................... 28

Occurrence of perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoate (PFOA) in perch from
Lake Varese (North Italy) ........................................................................................................... 32
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S. Squadrone , V. Ciccotelli , L. Favaro , T. Scanzio , M. Prearo & M.C. Abete .............................................. 32

Application of Water Quality Model for Selection of River-flow Pattern and Location for
Pollution Disposal in a Large Reservoir ..................................................................................... 36
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M. Prabhakar Vuppati & S. Vaidya ............................................................................................................. 36

Assessment of a battery of biotests for assessing the genotoxic potential of environmental
pollutants .................................................................................................................................. 40
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E. Horváth , B. Eck-Varanka , Á. Ferincz , G. Paulovits & N. Kovats .............................................................. 40

Temporal and spatial variations in settlement and shell growth of Limnoperna fortunei(Dunker, 1857) (Bivalvia: Mytilidae) in a small lake of south Thailand ...................................... 44
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V. Lheknim & P. Leelawathanagoon ............................................................................................................ 44

A first application of the new assessment method for Italian lakes, EPI-L, in Mediterraneanecoregion .................................................................................................................................. 48
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C. Vendetti , A. Marchetto , C. Puccinelli , F. Chiudioni , S. Marcheggiani & L. Mancini ............................... 48

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Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Fish biodiversity and incidence of invasive fish species in an aquaculture and non-aquaculturesite in Laguna de Bay, Philippines ............................................................................................. 53
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M. L. A. Cuvin-Aralar .................................................................................................................................... 53

Zooplankton of Abkhazia lakes (Western Caucasus) ................................................................. 58
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O. Yu. Derevenskaia & N.M. Mingazova ..................................................................................................... 58

Limnological conditions and fish assemblage structures of the Tapi River oxbow lake in south
Thailand..................................................................................................................................... 61
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V. Lheknim & N. Tubtimtong ...................................................................................................................... 61

Lake Shorezone Functionality index (SFI) and macrophytes in the Protected area of Lungo andRipasottile lakes ........................................................................................................................ 66
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L. Mancini , F. Chiudioni , S. Violino , S. Marcheggiani , C. Puccinelli , I. Fioramonti , A. Martinelli & G.
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Damiani .............................................................................................................................................................. 66

Environmental quality assessment of Posta Fibreno Lake Protected area ................................ 70
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L. Mancini , S. De Meo , A.M. D’ Angelo , F. Chiudioni , E. Pierdominici , S. Caciolli , E. D’ Ugo , C. Puccinelli ,1
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S. Marcheggiani , N. Rossi & B. Cicolani ............................................................................................................ 70

Artificial substrates for the sampling of diatom communities in transitional water ................. 75
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C. Puccinelli , S. Marcheggiani , P. Mancini , F. Chiudioni , R. Scenati , R. Giuseppetti & L. Mancini ............ 75

A new feral population of Trachemys scripta in Northern Italy? ............................................... 79
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C. Foglini & R. Salvi ...................................................................................................................................... 79

Evolution of the Dikerogammarus villosus (Sowinsky, 1894) invasion in Lake Garda (Northern
Italy) .......................................................................................................................................... 83
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I. Marchi , M. Bertoli , F. Giacomazzi , C. Zampieri , V. Iannilli , F. Lecce & L. Latella ................................... 83

Current status of Sinanodonta woodiana (Lea 1834) in Poland ................................................ 87
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M. Urbańska & W. Andrzejewski ................................................................................................................. 87

Adaptive management of overgrown submerged macrophytes in the south basin of Lake Biwa.................................................................................................................................................. 91
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E. Inoue , T. Nagata , K. Ishikawa , H. Haga & M. Nishino ........................................................................... 91

Features of the eutrophication of largest freshwater lakes in the world .................................. 95
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A.V. Izmailova & V.A. Rumyantsev .............................................................................................................. 95

Environmental Conditions and Eutrophication Status of Rawapening Lake of Central Java,
Indonesia................................................................................................................................... 99
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Sulastri , C. Henny & U. Handoko ................................................................................................................. 99

LAKE PROCESSES AND DYNAMICS ........................................................................................... 103
Low-molecular organic compounds in fresh waters of the Leningrad Region ......................... 104
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A.L. Rizhinashvili ......................................................................................................................................... 104

Water quality Assessment by Telemetry in a lake environment: collecting, modeling andrepresenting data .................................................................................................................... 108

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Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

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S. Di Francesco , V. Montesarchio & L. Tribioli ........................................................................................... 108

On the role of Hydrological balancing in lake basin management .......................................... 113
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S. Di Francesco , C. Biscarini , V. Montesarchio & P. Manciola ................................................................... 113

The influence of anthropization over flow in a middle Italian basin. Different scenarios ....... 116
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M. Giglioni , S. Spina & F. Russo ................................................................................................................ 116

Water storage systems in innovative small scale hydro-power installations .......................... 121
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L. Micheli & F. Napolitano ......................................................................................................................... 121

What future for Lazio’s lakes of Alban Hills? The situation of the Albano’s Lake .................... 126
111

D. Orlando , M. Giglioni & F. Napolitano ................................................................................................... 126

Graphical flow duration curves regionalization method based on instantaneous measures .. 130
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M. Rianna , E. Ridolfi

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& L. Ubertini .......................................................................................................... 130

Cyanobacteria blooms in Lake Chaohu observed from time-series MODIS images ................ 134
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Y.C. Zhang , R.H. Ma , H.T. Duan & J.D. Xu ................................................................................................. 134

Spatial and seasonal variability of turbidity in Lake Kahokugata, a shallow eutrophic lagoon in
Japan ....................................................................................................................................... 139
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M. Nagasaka & M. Takano ........................................................................................................................ 139

ECOLOGY AND BIOLOGY OF LAKES & INLAND WATERS .......................................................... 142
Impacts of Climate Change on Lakes in Japan - Prediction of Impacts on Lake Biwa .............. 143
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H.Ogata , M. Miyazaki , T. Yuasa , H. Uehara & M. Kasai ......................................................................... 143

Analysis of the climate change effects on the Bracciano lake (Italy) using numerical model
application .............................................................................................................................. 147
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S. Taviani , H. Jorgen Henriksen & R. Mazza .............................................................................................. 147

Observed Lake Baikal Plankton trends - result of natural processes or climate changes? ...... 150
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E.A. Silow , S.V. Shimaraeva , L.S. Krashchuk , K.A. Onuchin , H.V. Pislegina , O.O. Rusanovskaya & K.S.
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Shchapov .......................................................................................................................................................... 150

A non-homogeneous Markov model for the definition of climate change scenarios for coastal
areas: the case of the Agro-Pontina plain ............................................................................... 155
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L. Marotta , U. Lall , V. Telesca , F. Cioffi & F. Conticello ............................................................................ 155

High Altitude Himalayan Lakes and Biotic Response to Global Environmental Change .......... 159
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S. Sharma , C.M. Sharma & R. Raut ........................................................................................................... 159

Temporal changes in ionic composition of lakes in the Eastern Alps ...................................... 163
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B. Thaler & D. Tait ..................................................................................................................................... 163

INFORMATICS, MAPPING AND MONITORING ......................................................................... 167
Enumeration of benthic animals in a deep lake using a ROV .................................................. 168
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K. Ishikawa , E. Inoue , T. Nagata & C. Jiao ................................................................................................ 168

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Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Contribution of the Limnology Institute of Russian Academy of Sciences to the development of
information systems in limnology ........................................................................................... 172
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A.V. Izmailova ............................................................................................................................................. 172

Database of the International Data Centre on Hydrology of Lakes and Reservoirs ................. 176
S. Gusev, E. Kuprienok .................................................................................................................................. 176

Investigation of the Caspian sea level variations by the modern methods ............................. 179
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E.S. Safarov ................................................................................................................................................ 179

The system of hydrometeorological observations on lakes and reservoirs of the RussianFederation ............................................................................................................................... 184
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V. Vuglinskii , S. Gusev , T. Fuksova ............................................................................................................ 184

Robust remote sensing algorithms to derive ecological status for lakes ................................. 186
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K. Alikas , K. Kangro , R. Randoja , P. Philipson , E. Asuküll & A. Reinart ............................................. 186

Estimating inland water quality from WorldView-2 imagery: decoupling optical properties.. 192
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J. M. Anstee , V. E. Brando , R. N. Cherukuru , T. Malthus , E. J. Botha , E. Hestir & A. G. Dekker ............. 192

A critical review on monitoring of lake water quality and ecosystem information using satellite
images: towards a new era of water color remote sensing..................................................... 198
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Fukushima T., Matsushita B. , Oyama Y. , Yang W. & Jaelani L.M. ........................................................... 198

Detection and monitoring capabilities of future satellite sensors for lakes and reservoirs..... 201
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E.L. Hestir , M. Bresciani , C. Giardino , V. Brando

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, E. Matta , P. Villa & A. Dekker ................................. 201

Application of GIS and Remote Sensing techniques to analyze lake water balance in a sparsely
gauged catchment: case study Burabay National Nature Park, Kazakhstan ............................ 205
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A. Kassymbekova , G. Nessipbekov & V. Yapiyev ...................................................................................... 205

Monitoring the spatio-temporal dynamics of water quality in Lake Malawi from space ........ 209
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S.W.M. Peters & K.E. Poser ........................................................................................................................ 209

Using High Performance Computing to enable interactive design of measures to improve water
quality and ecological state of Lake Marken ........................................................................... 213
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J. Donners , M. Genseberger , B. Jagers , C. Thiange , M. Schaap , P. Boderie , A. Emerson , M. Guarrasi , T.
2
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de Kler & M. van Meersbergen ........................................................................................................................ 213

UAV and GIS Integrated Vegetation Analysis of Trasimeno Lake ............................................ 217
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S. Venturi , S. Di Francesco , F. Materazzi & P. Manciola ........................................................................... 217

LAKE AND HUMAN CONNECTION ........................................................................................... 222
Internal waters culture and civility: the Linguistic Atlas of Italian Lakes (ALLI) ....................... 223
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A. Batinti , A. Lamanna & E. Gambini ....................................................................................................... 223

Telling Italian Lakes in Newspapers A Semiotic Approach to the Narrative Representation ofLakescapes .............................................................................................................................. 227
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G. Zaganelli & T. Marino ............................................................................................................................ 227

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Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Basin management for protection of a tropical lake: Exploring alternatives .......................... 231
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P. Shrivastava ............................................................................................................................................ 231

The project for the lakeside landscape as explanation of variability ....................................... 235
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F. Toppetti .................................................................................................................................................. 235

The diachronic evolution of the Western Greece’s Lagoons ................................................... 239
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Gazis, M. , Koukoulakis, P. , Hatzopoulos, J.N. , & Kalavrouziotis I.K. ......................................................... 239

LAKE BASIN MANAGEMENT EXPERIENCES AND CHALLENGES ................................................ 244
Towards practical measures for improving the ecological state of lake Marken by combining in
depth system knowledge with stakeholder aspects ................................................................ 245
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M. Genseberger , R. Noordhuis , C. X. O. Thiange , P. M. A. Boderie , M. P. M. Koenraadt , V. A. Maronier , G.
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J. Roovers , A. Jellema , A. van Winden , C. Maka & J. H. A. Wijbenga ............................................................ 245

Water balance model for management and restoration of Te Waihora (Lake Ellesmere), New
Zealand.................................................................................................................................... 249
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G.A. Horrel .................................................................................................................................................. 249

Non-Point Pollution and Erosion int the Lake Chapala Basin, Mexico ..................................... 256
4

A. Juarez-Aguilar¹, T. Silva², L. Davalos-Lind³, O. Lind , S. Ochoa², R. Moncayo², C. Escalera², A. Diaz¹, F.
Quintero¹, G. Cruz² & R. Velazquez ..................................................................................................................... 256

Water Sensitive Urban Design, WSUD..................................................................................... 260
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F.P. Di Giacomo .......................................................................................................................................... 260

Volcanic lake basins integrated framework for landscape functionality assessment .............. 264
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T. V. Di Giacomo ........................................................................................................................................ 264

Urban lake management strategy: effect of distinct types of lake surroundings and shoreline
landscape development on water quality of urban lakes in Megacity Jakarta ........................ 268
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C. Henny & A.A. Meutia ............................................................................................................................. 268

Coliform and E. coli levels at several urban lakes in Jakarta Megacity .................................... 272
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A.A. Meutia , C. Henny & Y. Uchiyama ...................................................................................................... 272

The Lake Trasimeno: exploitation and defense of the resources of the lake. The break of anancient balance between 18th and 19th century ...................................................................... 276
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Gambini E. & Massarelli R. ........................................................................................................................ 276

GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT: PARTICIPATION AND CHALLENGES ............................... 282
Current IWRM Practices in Malawi and their Implications on Lake Basin Management ......... 283
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Chidammodzi , C.L., V.S. Muhandiki2 & N. Dumba ...................................................................................... 283

Approaches by the Ibaraki Prefectural Government to Improve Water Quality in Lake
Kasumigaura with Forest and Lake Environment Conservation Tax ........................................ 287
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T. Kitamura ................................................................................................................................................ 287

Strengthening lake Chivero basin management technology pillar by Harare ILBM team,
Zimbabwe................................................................................................................................ 291

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S.T. Muserere , Z. Hoko & I. Nhapi ............................................................................................................. 291

Socioeconomic and Institutional Issues of Management of two Freshwater Lakes in West
Bengal, India............................................................................................................................ 295
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S. Das , B. Behera & A. Mishra .................................................................................................................. 295

A tool for sharing best practices in lakes basin management. ................................................ 299
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V. Abete , U. Bartoccini & C. Biscarini ........................................................................................................ 299

Assessment of water governance for sustainability of Pashan Lake, Pune, Maharashtra, India................................................................................................................................................ 304
J.Sayali & B.i Thorve ..................................................................................................................................... 304

Socio-economic analysis to evolve governance policy for ecological restoration of polluted
water bodies with reference to study of polluted river in Ludhiana City, India ...................... 309
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M. Kashyap , P. Agre , S. Ambegaokar & M. Mirajkar ............................................................................... 309

Comparative research on the views and knowledge of local residents of central Greece in two
wetlands. Smokovos lake case and Metamorfosis marsch in Karditsa’s prefecture, Central
Greece ..................................................................................................................................... 314
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G. Efthimiou , K. Ntouras , V.P. Tagkouli , M. Spai & P. Tagkoulis ............................................................. 314

Water analysis of Godawari river (Dhangar Takali to Vishnupuri Dam), Maharashtra, India .. 318
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P.R. Wesanekar , Shelake, Nitin , U.D. Kulkarni & K. Sakshi ....................................................................... 318

The Legal Framework .............................................................................................................. 322
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Alessandra Lanciotti ................................................................................................................................... 322

The role of biodiversity-related meas: providing another layer of international legal protection
to lakes and their natural resources? ...................................................................................... 326
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Marco Citelli ............................................................................................................................................... 326

The contribution of the UNECE Water Convention to the prevention and resolution oftransboundary water disputes ................................................................................................ 329
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Cristina Contartese ..................................................................................................................................... 329

LAKE BASIN BEST MANAGEMENT PRACTICES ......................................................................... 332
Identification and classification of artificial and heavily modified lakes in Italy ...................... 333
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M.C. Mignuoli , M. Barile , C. Vendetti & G. Scanu .................................................................................... 333

Enhancement of quality of fish product of Trasimeno Lake: PSR UMBRIA project ................. 336
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F. Asdrubali , R. Branciari , R. Franceschini , A. Presciutti & S. Schiavoni ................................................... 336

An effective comparison of the production methodologies of nanocrystalline cellulose (NCC)
obtained from Phragmites australis ........................................................................................ 340
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F. Cotana , G. Cavalaglio , V. Coccia , A. Petrozzi , M. Gelosia & E. Pompili ............................................... 340

Simultaneous saccharification and fermentation of common reed (Phragmites australis) at highsolid loading ............................................................................................................................ 345
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F. Cotana , G. Cavalaglio , V. Coccia , A. Pisello , A. Petrozzi , D. Ingles & M. Gelosia ................................ 345

6Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

A new model for photovoltaics integration with hydropower: a case study ........................... 350
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S. Di Francesco , A. Petrozzi , A.L. Pisello & A. Aquino ............................................................................... 350

Energy enhancement of Arundo phragmites reed as biofuel for thermal boiler ..................... 354
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A. Petrozzi , A.L. Pisello , G. Cavalaglio , V. Coccia , M. Gelosia , M. Pertosa , & V.L. Castaldo .................... 354

The effect of lake microclimate on thermal-energy behavior of buildings .............................. 359
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A.L. Pisello , G. Pignatta , V.L. Castaldo & F. Cotana .................................................................................. 359

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Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

ECOLOGY AND BIOLOGY OF LAKES & INLAND WATERS

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Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Plasmid-Mediated Transfer of Heavy metal tolerance gene to Escherichia coli
isolated from Fatehsagar lake, Udaipur, Rajasthan, India
A.A. Bhojiya1 & H. Joshi1
1

Molecular Microbiology Laboratory, Department of Biotechnology, Mohanlal Sukhadia
University,Udaipur-313001,Rajasthan,India
Keywords: Fateh Sagar, Pseudomonas, E. coli., heavy metal, bioremediation
Introduction
Heavy metal pollution in soils and water bodies is the most serious environmental problem
and has significant implications for human health. Heavy metals are major pollutants inmarine, ground, industrial and even treated wastewater (Valdman et al. 2001). Highconcentrations of toxic heavy metals present in the wastewater directly lead to bothcontamination of receiving water bodies and deleterious impact on aquatic life (Moten &Rehman, 1998). Udaipur is famous all over the world for its enchanting lakes. Fateh Sagar Lakeis one of the artificial lake of Udaipur, Rajasthan, India. It is one of the major sources ofdrinking water to the city of Udaipur which is increasingly being contaminated with xenobiotic
materials. Heavy metals are introduced into the aquatic system as a result of various humanactivities like mining, smelting, processing, release of industrial effluents and domestic waste
water. Heavy metal contamination thus poses a serious threat to both the ecosystem andhuman. It requires expensive cleanup costs. Bioremediation based on microorganisms, plants
or other biological systems offers a cost-effective and environment friendly method for metal
clean-up (Haferburg & Kothe, 2010; Milner & Kochian, 2008). Varieties of mechanisms exist in
microorganisms to deal with high concentrations of heavy metals and often are specific to one
or a few metals (Silver & Misra, 1988; Nies, 2003). These high concentrations of metals are
evolutionary pressures selecting for microorganisms tolerant to these metals. Metal tolerance
may be conferred to these organisms by mobile genetic elements such as plasmids. The
present study was aimed to determine heavy metal tolerance in Pseudomonas and to transfer
the plasmid DNA to heavy metal sensitive E. coli FS-1 previously isolated from fresh water lake
Fatehsagar of Udaipur, (Rajasthan).
Materials and methods
Source of bacteria
Heavy metal tolerant bacterial isolates Pseudomonas aeruginosa HMR1, previously isolated
from heavy metal contaminated sites of Zawar, Udaipur (Bhojiya & Joshi, 2012) and heavy
metal sensitive E. coli FS-1, previously isolated and identified from fresh water Lake Fateh
Sagar of Udaipur were used in this study.
Determination of heavy metal sensitivity in E.coli FS-1
E. coli FS-1 was grown on nutrient agar supplemented with 1mM of zinc ions and incubated at
37°C for 48h.
Determination of minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC) of heavy metals

9Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

The MIC of the heavy metals(ZnSO4.7H2O, Pb(NO3)2 and NiCl2.6H2O) for Pseudomonas
aeruginosa HMR1 was determined by the plate dilution method as adopted by Malik & Jaiswal(2000). In this test, 10 μl of a liquid broth overnight broth culture was applied onto duplicate
agar plates containing the appropriate heavy metal salts and incubation was done at 37°C for
48h. The lowest concentration of the metal, which inhibits the bacterial growth, wasconsidered as MIC.
Plasmid Screening and Transformation
Plasmid DNA was isolated from heavy metal tolerant bacterial strain Pseudomonas aeruginosa
HMR1 by the alkaline lysis method as described by Birnboim & Doly (1979). The isolated
plasmid DNA was visualized and detected by Agarose gel electrophoresis. The heavy metalsensitive E. coli FS-1 strain was used as the host for transformation of plasmid DNA isolated
from the heavy metal tolerant bacterial strain Pseudomonas aeruginosa HMR1. Transformed
cells were selected by inoculating the culture on nutrient agar supplemented with 1mM zincions. The transformant were also analyzed for the plasmid content by the alkaline lysis method
and compared with the plasmid profile of the wild-type strains through Agarose gelelectrophoresis.
Results
Fresh water lake isolate E. coli FS-1 showed no growth on nutrient agar supplemented with
1mM of zinc ions. Fairly high tolerance was observed for Pseudomonas aeruginosa HMR1
towards elevated concentration of heavy metals (ZnSO4.7H2O, Pb(NO3)2 and NiCl2.6H2O). The
well defined colonies were observed after 48 h of incubation in the medium up to 10mM
concentration of zinc ions, 1mM concentration of lead ions and 1mM concentration of nickel
ions. Pseudomonas aeruginosa HMR1 didn’t show any growth on high concentration of zinc
(12.5 and 15 mM), lead (1.25 and 1.5 mM) and nickel (1.25 and 1.5 mM) (Table 1).
S.No Zinc
ions P.
Lead
ions P.
Nickelions P.
concentration aeruginosa concentration aeruginosa concentration aeruginosa
(mM)
HMR1
(mM)
HMR1
(mM)
HMR1
1.
0
+++
0
+++
0
+++
2.
1
++
0.25
++
0.25
++
3.
2.5
+
0.5
+
0.5
+
4.
5
+
1.0
+
1.0
+
5.
7.5
+
1.25
1.25
6.
10
+
1.5
1.5
7.
12.5
8.
15
+++ luxurious growth, ++ good growth, + less growth, - No growth
Table 1: Heavy metal tolerance of Pseudomonas aeruginosa HMR1

The single plasmid DNA of size approximately 23 Kb was isolated from the heavy metal
tolerant Pseudomonas aeruginosa HMR1. It was transformed to sensitive cells of E. coli FS1
after heat shock and cold shock treatments. Plasmid DNA from the transformed E. coli FS1 andheavy metal tolerant bacteria Pseudomonas aeruginosa HMR1 were subjected to agarose gelelectrophoresis. Transformant harboured a plasmid of the same size as that in Pseudomonas
aeruginosa HMR1 (Fig. 1).

10Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Fig. 1: Plasmid DNA profile of Pseudomonas aeruginosa HMR1. Lane 1 =  Hind III digest molecular weight marker;
Lane 2 = P. aeruginosa HMR1; Lane 3 = Transformed E. coli FS-1

Discussion
Pseudomonas strains are predominant bacteria which could tolerate high concentrations of
the heavy metals. In the present study, Pseudomonas aeruginosa HMR1 has shown resistanceto Zn, Pb and Ni. In Pseudomonas aeruginosa HMR1 fairly high MIC of 10mM was observed forzinc ions. This range of MIC is similar to Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolated from polluted sites
in Assiut city, Egypt for which MIC was 9.2mM (Hassan et al. 2008). Hussein et al. (2004)
isolated Pseudomonas from sewage treatment plant which was resistant to 1mM of Nickel
ions. MIC for nickel is quiet similar to our study. Pseudomonas aeruginosa HMR1 shows MIC of
1mM for lead ions which is comparable with that of Pseudomonas aeruginosa AD4 isolated by
Durve et al. (2013).
In the present study plasmid DNA isolated from Pseudomonas aeruginosa HMR1 that could
tolerate high concentrations of heavy metals, was transformed into E. coli FS-1. The new
genetically modified strain may be resistant to high concentrations of various heavy metals.
Krishnaswamy & Wilson (2000) reported genetically engineered E. coli JM109 with known
plasmids of different traits and genes could be resistant to high levels of metals. Furthermore,
plasmids might be the source of genes that provided metal resistance in E. coli FS-1. In thepresent study metal resistance may be due to the presence of the plasmid. Further thesetransformed E. coli FS-1 strain could be exploited for the bioremediation of heavy metal
polluted environment.
Acknowledgment
The first author gratefully acknowledges the financial support received from Maulana Azad
National Fellowship, University Grant Commission, New Delhi.

11Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

References
Bhojiya, A.A. & H. Joshi, 2012. Isolation and characterization of zinc tolerant bacteria from Zawar Mines
Udaipur, India. International Journal of Environmental Engineering and Management 3:239-242
Birnboin, H.C. & J. Doly, 1979. A rapid alkaline extraction procedure for screening recombinant plasmidDNA. Nucleic acids Research 7: 1513-1523.
Durve, A., N. Sayali, B. Meeta, V. Jossy & C. Naresh, 2013. Plasmid curing and protein profiling of heavy
metal tolerating bacterial isolates. Archives of Applied Science Research 5:46-54
Haferburg, G. & E. Kothe, 2010. Metallomics: lessons for metalliferous soil remediation. Applied
Microbiology and Biotechnology 87:1271–1280.
Hassan, S.H., R.N. Abskharon , S.M. El-Rab, & A.A. Shoreit,2008.Isolation, characterization of heavy
metal resistant strain of Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolated from polluted sites in Assiut city, Egypt.
Journal of Basic Microbiology 48: 168-76.
Hussein, H., H. Moawad & S. Farag, 2003. Isolation and characterization of Pseudomonas resistant toheavy metals contaminants. Arab journal of Biotechnology 7: 13-22
Krishnaswamy, R. & D.B. Wilson, 2000. Construction and characterization of an Escherichia coli Strain
genetically engineered for Ni (II) bioaccumulation. Applied Environmental Microbiology 66:53835386.
Malik, A. & R. Jaiswal, 2000. Metal resistance in Pseudomonas strains isolated from soil treated withindustrial wastewater. World Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology 16:177–182.
Milner, M.J. & L.J. Kochian, 2008. Investigating heavy-metal hyperaccumulation using Thlaspi
caerulescens as a model system. Annals of Botany 102: 3–13.
Moten, A.M. & A. Rehman, 1998. Study on heavy trace metal ions in industrial waste effluents inPakistan. Enviromental-expert.com, article-909.
Nies, D.H., 2003. Efflux-mediated heavy metal resistance in prokaryotes. FEMS Microbiology Reviews 27:
313–339.
Silver, S. & T.K. Misra, 1988. Plasmid-mediated heavy metal resistance. Annual Review of Microbiology
42:717-743.
Valdman, E., L. Erijman, F.L.P. Pessoa & S.G.F. Leite, 2001. Continuous biosorption of copper and zinc by
immobilized waste biomass of Sargassum sp. Process Biochemistry 36:869-873.

12

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Influence of light wavelength and intensity on geosmin production ofStreptomyces coelicolor A3(2)A. Kanazawa1, K. Shimizu2, N. Sugiura3 & M. Utsumi3
1Graduate school of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Tsukuba
Faculty of Life Sciences, Toyo University
3
Faculty of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Tsukuba
2

Keywords: Actinomycetes, musty odor, geosmin
Introduction
In recent years, the occurrence of musty odor concerns originated from microorganisms infreshwater environments like as lakes, rivers, and reservoirs has been reported in all over theworld (ex. Juttner and Watson 2007). Actinomycetes are known one of the causal
microorganisms to produce geosmin and 2-methylisoborneol (2-MIB), both are responsible formusty odor in fresh waters. Waterworks are strongly interested in when geosmin production
occurs in the reservoir, because musty odor compounds can be perceived by human being atvery low concentration level (ng/L) (Young et al. 1996), and it is ineffective to remove by
conventional water supply treatment processes such as coagulation, sedimentation, filtrationand chlorination (Bruce et. al. 2002). Establishment of effective removal methods is essential
for reservoirs in situ, but it is still unclear what environmental factors control the production ofthese compounds in aquatic environments.
Geosmin biosynthesis by Streptomyces coelicolor A3(2), a strain whose genome has been fully
sequenced (Bentley et al. 2002), is studied (Cane et al. 2003). But the biosynthesis trigger ofgeosmin production is still unclear. Light is one of the important trigger factors for metabolic
response of actinomycetes; as have reported that S. coelicolor A3(2) produced carotenoids
when exposed under blue light (2.4 µmol m-2 s-1), but didn’t produce under red light (2.4 µmol
m-2 s-1) (Takano et al. 2005, Takano et al. 2006). Both of carotenoid and geosmin are
terpenoids. Furthermore, isopentenylpyrophosphate (IPP) is common precursor of geosmin
and carotenoid. Therefore, it is assumed that light influences on geosmin production byactinomycetes. Based on these backgrounds, we have studied what kind of environmental
factors influence on geosmin production of actinomycetes. Here, we reported that the resultsof plate culture experiments under different light irradiation conditions (wavelengths andintensities) to elucidate the factors that influence on geosmin production of S. coelicolor A3(2).
Materials and methods
S. coelicolor A3(2) was pre-cultured at 28°C for 2 days in 100 mL YMPD medium (2.0 g yeast
extract, 2.2 g meat extract, 4.0 g Bacto peptone, 2.0 g NaCl, 1.0 g MgSO4･7H2O, 1.0 g glucose,
pH 7.2, per litter) in a 300 mL baffled Erlenmeyer flask, and incubated with shaking at 120 rpm
under dark condition. All medium pH were adjusted with NaOH solution before autoclaving.
Cells from each 1 mL of cultured medium were harvested by centrifugation (5,000 × g, 5 min)and were washed twice with BS medium without carbon source (BS negative; 2.0 g (NH4)2SO4,

13

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

2.0 g NaCl, 1.0 g MgSO4･7H2O, 0.5 g K2HPO4, 0.05 g FeSO4･7H2O, pH 8.0, per litter). Afterhomogenized weakly by 1 mm glass beads with 1 mL of sterilized distillated water using Fast
Prep system (Thermo Savent), cell suspension at a final concentration of 1×105 CFU/mL werespread on SFM agar plate (20 g soybean flour, 20 g mannitol, 15 g ager, pH 8.0, per litter). All
plates were cultured at 28 °C for 7 days under specified light conditions or dark condition.
Under light condition, we used white, blue (470 nm), green (525 nm), and red (660 nm) LED
light equipment for illuminating at 1, 10, 20, 30 μmol m-2 s-1 onto the plates respectively. After
7 days cultivation, 5.0 mL of methanol was directly added to each plate for geosmin extraction,and then the plates were kept at room temperature for 30 min. 1.0 mL of methanol geosmin
extracts was collected in glass tube and added 2.0 mL of n-hexane. After that, these tubes
were stirred for 30 min and then centrifuged at 800 × g for 30 min to separate the n-hexaneand methanol layer. The n-hexane layer was carefully collected and filtered through in a
Pasteur pipette packed by Na2SO4 for dehydration (David and He 2006, Komatsu et al. 2008).
The extracts were analyzed by GC-MS QP2010 plus (Shimadzu Co Ltd. Japan) with AOC-20isseries autosampler (Shimadzu Co Ltd. Japan) for measuring geosmin concentration. The GC-MS
conditions were as follows: Capillary column, Rxi-5ms, 30 m × 0.25 mm i.d. × 0.5 µm (Restek,
Japan); temperature program, isothermal for 1 min at 50 °C, change from 50 °C to 250 °C at a
rate of 15 °C/min, and isothermal for 5 min at 250 °C; injection volume, 1 µL; carrier gas, He;
linear velocity, 5.19 cm/s; sampling rate, 1 s; MS mode, EI; detector voltage, 1.2 kV; interface
temperature, 230 °C; ion source temperature, 200 °C.
Results and Discussion
After 7 days cultivation, all plate surface of light or dark condition were filled with S. coelicolor
A3(2) mycelia. On the other hand, geosmin concentration in the plate was increased underlight (white, blue, green, red) conditions compared with dark condition. Furthermore, geosmin
concentration was gradually increased under blue and white light condition between 10 and
20 µmol m-2 s-1 light intensity. But the concentration tended to decrease above 20 µmol m-2 s-1.
These results strongly suggested that the lights played a key role in the induction of geosmin
production activity by S. coelicolor A3(2). Especially short wavelength light such as blue
influenced potently to producing geosmin by S. coelicolor A3(2). Also the production
respondency might have threshold level of light intensity.
From the previous studies, carotenoid production of S. coelicolor A3(2) is induced byirradiating of blue light (2.4 µmol m-2 s-1) but isn’t induced when irradiated with red light (2.4µmol m-2 s-1) (Takano et al. 2005, Takano et al. 2006). In this study, on the other hand, geosmin
was produced by S. coelicolor A3(2) under green and red light irradiation conditions. Because
metabolic pathway of carotenoid and geosmin has different parts, we suggested thatcarotenoid and geosmin production could be affected by different factors under longwavelengths light irradiation. In conclusion, it was indicated that various wavelengths lightirradiation would induce geosmin production of S. coelicolor A3(2).

14Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Acknowledgements
This work was supported by Grant-in-Aid Scientific Research B (25281042) from Japan Society
for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) and The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science andTechnogy (MEXT).
References
Bentley, S.D., Chater, K.F., Cerdeno-Tarraga, A.M., Challis, G.L., Thomson, N.R., James, K.D., Harris, D.E.,
Quail, M.A., Kieser, H. & Hopwood, D.A. 2002, "Complete genome sequence of the model
actinomycete Streptomyces coelicolor A3 (2)", Nature. 417, 141-147.
Bruce, D., Westerhoff, P. & Brawley-Chesworth, A. 2002, "Removal of 2-methylisoborneol and geosmin
in surface water treatment plants in Arizona", Aqua. 51, 183-198.
Cane, D.E., & Watt, R.M. 2003, "Expression and mechanistic analysis of a germacradienol synthase from
Streptomyces coelicolor implicated in geosmin biosynthesis ", Proc Natl Acad Sci. USA. 100, 15471551.
Cane, D.E., He, X., Kobayashi, S., Omura, S. & Ikeda, H. 2006, "Geosmin biosynthesis in Streptomyces
avermitilis. Molecular cloning, expression, and mechanistic study of the germacradienol/geosmin
synthase", J. Antibiot. 59, 471-479.
Hikida, T., Shimizu, K., Umeta, T., Utsumi, M. & Sugiura, N. 2012, "Effect of starvation on musty odor
production by Streptomyces coelicolor A3(2) ", JBS. 1, 6-8
Juttner, F. & Watson, S.B. 2007, "Biochemical and ecological control of geosmin and 2-methylisoborneol
in source waters", Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 73, 4395-4406.
Komatsu, M., Tsuda, M., Ōmura, S., Oikawa, H. & Ikeda, H. 2008, "Identification and functional analysis
of genes controlling biosynthesis of 2-methylisoborneol", Proc Natl Acad Sci. USA. 105, 7422-7427.
Takano, H., Obitsu, S., Beppu, T. & Ueda, K. 2005, "Light-induced carotenogenesis in Streptomyces
coelicolor A3 (2): identification of an extracytoplasmic function sigma factor that directs
photodependent transcription of the carotenoid biosynthesis gene cluster", J. Bacteriol. 187, 18251832.
Takano, H., Asker, D., Beppu, T. & Ueda, K. 2006, "Genetic control for light-induced carotenoid
production in non-phototrophic bacteria", J. Ind. Microbiol. Biotechnol. 33, 88-93.
Young, W., Horth, H., Crane, R., Ogden, T. & Arnott, M. 1996, "Taste and odour threshold concentrationsof potential potable water contaminants", Water. Res. 30, 331-340.

15

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Antibacterial activity of lactobacilli against Aeromonas veronii isolated from
Pichola lake, Udaipur, Rajasthan, India
D. Khandelwal1, H. Joshi1 & B.L. Chaudhary2
1

Molecular Microbiology Laboratory Department of Biotechnology, Vigyan Bhawan,Block B,
Mohanlal Sukhadia University, Udaipur, e-mail hjbiotech@gmail.com
2
Department of Botany, University College of science, Mohanlal Sukhadia University, Udaipur
Keywords: Aeromonas veronii, Pichola lake, lactobacilli, antibacterial activity
Introduction
Water is the most basic and vital source of our planet. According to the UN (United Nations)
reports, 1978 consumable water levels are up to 2.7% of the total water content (Belorkar,2010). Water quality now is a concern for all countries in the world. One of the most importantfactors of water pollution is the microbial contamination especially with pathogenic organisms(Sabae et al., 2007). The pathogenic organisms include various types of bacteria, viruses andprotozoans. They cause infection in humans as well as in aquatic animals. Aeromonas arecommonly isolated from a variety of aquatic environments, including freshwater, estuarine,
brackish, and salt waters. Aeromonas veronii is gram- negative, facultative anaerobic
bacterium which causes disease in humans as well as aquatic animals (Coscon et al., 1996).
Lake Pichola, situated in Udaipur city is an artificial fresh water lake. It is polluted due to thedisposal of sewage directly into the lake water.
In recent years, “Probiotics” defined as more precisely “mono or mixed cultures of live
microorganisms which, when applied to animal, beneficially affect the host by improving theproperties of the indigenous microflora”. The term “Probiotic” inevitably refers to grampositive bacteria associated with the genus Lactobacillus (Dhanasekaran et al., 2010). One of
the requirements needed for probiotic strains is that they should possess antibacterial activity
against various pathogenic organisms. Yasuda and Taga (1980) anticipated LAB would be
useful both as food and as biological control agents of disease and activators of the rate ofnutrient regeneration in aquaculture.
Hence the present work was carried out to screen the antibacterial activity of probiotic
isolated from camel milk against water borne pathogen Aeromonas veronii.
Materials and methods
Isolation and morphological characterization of lactobacilli
For isolation of lactobacilli, serial dilution technique was used. Serial dilution was done using
the saline solution. Decimal dilution of the samples was pour plated with the MRS medium.
Colonies from MRS media plates of the highest dilution representing 10 colonies were pickedand further purified by successive streaking for the isolation of Lactobacillus. Colonies picked
were screened on the basis of Gram reaction, morphology and catalase test.
Screening of lactobacilli for antibacterial activity

16

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

For screening of antibacterial activity against Aeromonas veronii, lactobacilli were inoculated
to MRS broth and incubated at 370C for 24-48 h. Cell-free culture supernatants (CFSs) of
lactobacilli isolates were examined for their antibacterial activity by the agar well diffusion
assay as described by Schillinger and Luke (1989).
Biochemical characterization of lactobacilli isolates
The isolates were tested for their ability to grow at different temperatures (15 and 45 oC) andtheir ability to produce CO2 by the fermentation of glucose and NH3 production from arginine.
Sugar fermentation patterns were determined using CHL (a basal media used for sugar
fermentation test) as the basal medium.
Molecular characterization of the lactobacilli Isolates
The isolates were identified by 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis. The primers used for
amplification of 16S rDNA region were Lb1 (5’ AGAGTTTGATCATGGCTCAG- 3’) and Lb2 (5’CGGTATTAGCATCTGTTTCC-3’) designed by klijn et al. (1993). Amplified PCR fragments wassequenced by Bangalore genei pvt. Ltd. The basic local alignment search tool (BLAST) was
carried out with NCBI genebank database.
Results
A total of 10 isolates were recovered on MRS agar medium from camel milk sample. Amongthe 10 isolates only 2 isolates displayed the antibacterial activity against Aeromonas veronii
which was isolated from Pichola lake, Udaipur and was previously identified. These two
isolates were characterized screened on the basis of morphological and their biochemical
reactions. The DNA of the two isolates was amplified by PCR using Lactobacillus genus-specificprimers (Lb1 and Lb2). Both of the isolates gave specific band of 200bp confirming that they
belong to genus Lactobacillus. Based on biochemical characters and sugar fermentation test,
the isolates were tentatively designated as Lb. Fermentum CMU 31 and Lb. rhamnosus CMU
33. Sequence data obtained after partial sequencing of 16Sr DNA were analysed by BLAST. On
the basis of similarity search (BLAST analysis), these isolates demonstrated high sequencesimilarity (99–100%) with existing Lactobacillus 16S rDNA sequence present in GenBank
database, confirming isolate CMU 31 belong to Lactobacillus fermentum and isolate CMU 33
belong to Lactobacillus rhamnosus.
Discusion
The use of probiotics for removal of pathogenic bacteria in water is an research area ofincreasing interest. Probiotics have been defined by the World Health Organization – Food andAgriculture Organization, as "live microorganisms" which when administered in adequate
amounts, confer a health benefit on the host. "In the past decade, several probiotic bacteria
have been evaluated in vitro or in vivo for their potential to inhibit pathogenic organisms ofwater and overcome infections in humans, aquatic and terrestrial animals.
In the present study, 15 lactobacilli isolates were isolated from camel milk. These isolates werescreened for antibacterial activity against Aeromonas veronii. Only 2 isolates gave thesignificant result. Similar work was carried out by Dhanasekaran et al. (2010) who have17

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

reported antibacterial activity of lactobacilli isolated from fish gut against Aeromonas veronii.
The study concluded that these Lactobacillus isolates could be used as potential probiotics foraquaculture and will be helpful in the management of bacterial disease Aeromonosis.
Acknowledgement
The financial assistance received from University Grant Comission (UGC), New Delhi isgratefully acknowledged.
References:
Belorkar, S.A. 2010. Assesment of the deterioration in physiochemical and microbiological quality ofshivnath river water in drug district. E-Journal of Chemistry 733-738.
Coscon, A., J. Anguita, C. Hernanz, M. Sanchez, M. Fernandez and G. Naharro, 1996. Identification of
Aeromonas hydrophilla hybridization group 1 by PCR assay. Applied and Environment
Microbiology. 62(4):1167-1170.
Dhanasekaran, D., S. Subhasish, N. Thajuddin and M. Rajalakshmi 2010. Probiotic effect of lactobacillus
isolates against bacterial pathogens in fresh water fish. Journal of coastal development. 13 (2):103-112.
Sabae., S.Z. and S.A. Rabeh 2007. Evalution of the microbal quality of the river nile waters at Damietta
branch, Egypt. Egyptian journal of Aquatic Research. 33(1): 301-311.
Yasuda, K. and N. Taga. 1980. A mass culture method for Artemia salina using bacteria as food. La mer(Bulletin de la societé franco-japonaise d’océanograpie). 18: 55-62.
Klijn N, Weerkamp A.H. and de Vos W.M. (1991) Identification of mesophilic lactic acid bacteria by using
polymerase chain reaction- amplified variable regions of 16S rRNA and specific DNA probes.
Applied and Environment Microbiology. 57: 3390-93.

18Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

The regularities of synthesis of low-molecular weight organic compounds bywater macrophytes depending on biotic and abiotic factors
E.A. Kurashov1, 2, J.V. Krylova1, G.G. Mitrukova2 & A.M. Chernova3
1

St.Petersburg State University, St.Petersburg, Russia
Institute of Limnology RAS, St.Petersburg, Russia
3
I.D. Papanin Institute for biology of inland waters RAS
2

Keywords: aquatic macrophytes, lowchromatography–mass spectrometry

molecular weight organic compounds,

gas

Introduction
Low-molecular weight organic compounds (LMWOC) of aquatic macrophytes play a very
important role in various processes in aquatic ecosystems and affect the composition anddevelopment of aquatic biocenoses. They can play important roles in intraspecific andinterspecific interactions (Fink, 2007).
Without knowledge of the component composition of LMWOC of macrophytes (and otherplants) and the regularities of its change under the influence of various factors it is impossible
to talk about the development of the theory of the functioning of aquatic ecosystems andmanagement practices of their development.
The aim of this work is to generalize own data on the component composition of LMWOC ofaquatic macrophytes and show the dependence of their synthesis of some abiotic and biotic
factors.
Materials and methods
The component composition of LMWOC was studied in the following macrophytes, growing in
the Leningrad, Yaroslavl and Astrakhan regions of Russia: Potamogeton natans L., P.
perfoliatus L., P. lucens L., P. pectinatus L., P. pusillus L., Nitella syncarpa (Thuill), Lemna minor
L., Nuphar lutea (L.) Smith., Ceratophyllum demersum L.
Plants for analyses were sampled in diverse habitats with different combination of biotic andabiotic factors: in ponds, lakes and rivers.
Detection and identification of LMWOC were performed by gas chromatography-mass
spectrometry in the programmed temperature mode with GC-MS complex TRACE DSQII(Thermo Scientific). The content of detected compounds were evaluated using internal
standards (decafluorobenzophenone and benzophenone).
Results
Our study revealed that essential oil of aquatic macrophytes may contain a very large numberof LMWOC: up to 38 in P. natans, up to 47 in N. syncarpa, up to 48 in P. perfoliatus, up to 70 in
P. lucens, up to 85 in P. pectinatus, up to 97 in L. minor, up to 133 in P. pusillus, up to 139 in N.
lutea, up to 236 in C. demersum.

19Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Synthesis of secondary metabolites in macrophytes has a distinct seasonal dynamics as wasshown by the example of P. pusillus and C. demersum (Kurashov et al., 2013, 2014).
Insolation provides an example of the influence of abiotic factors on the synthesis of the
LMWOC by water plants. In particular, in shading (a shady pond with duckweed) essential oil of
C. demersum contained 180 components, and in the absence of the shading - 121 LMWOC.
Furthermore, mention should be made of significant differences in quantitative content ofcomponents between these two habitats. In shading conditions the concentrations of suchcompounds as manool (7.5 %) and -cyclocitral (0.4 %) were higher than at a higher
illumination level (0.4 and 0.2% respectively). At the same time, the content of diisobutyl
phthalate (1.8 %), pentadecanal (1.6 %) and some other components has been significantly
lower than at high insolation (4.4 and 11.1%, respectively).
Geographical (large-scale) differences in the production of LMWOC in the same phase ofvegetation (flowering) may be illustrated by the example of N. lutea growing in three diverse
reservoirs in Leningrad and Yaroslavl regions. The relative content and the concentrations of
the most abundant compounds (> 1%) in essential oils of N. lutea presented in table 1.
Compound

Kovats index

2-Hexanone
HexanalFuran-2-carbaldehyde;[furfural](E)-Hex-2-enal
2-Pentylfuran
2-Methylhept-6-en-1-ol
2-[(Z)-pent-2-enyl]furan(E)-Non-2-enal
Pentadecanal
Tetradecanoic acid
6,10,14-Trimethylpentadecan-2one
Bis(2-methylpropyl)
benzene1,2-dicarboxylate;[Diisobutyl
phthalate]Pentadecanoic acid
(7Z,10Z,13Z)-Hexadeca-7,10,13trienal(5E,9E)-6,10,14Trimethylpentadeca-5,9,13trien-2-one; [Farnesylacetone]
Dibutylbenzene-1,2dicarboxylate;[Dibutyl phthalate]

788
796

Mouth of River
Volkhov
1.32 (0.00112)
1.05 (0.00089)

820

Lake Suuri

River Ild

1.71 (0.00154)
1.11 (0.00100)

1.74 (0.0040)-

1.23 (0.00104)

2.76 (0.00248)

-

840
987
994
999
1155
1713
1777

1.13 (0.00096)
1.41 (0.00119)
1.11 (0.00094)-

1.82 (0.00164)
1.01 (0.00091)
1.01 (0.00091)
8.20 (0.00737)
2.12 (0.00191)

2.40 (0.0055)
3.93 (0.0090)

1845

-

-

3.27 (0.0074)

1869

1.06 (0.00090)

2.32 (0.00208)

-

1886

-

1.54 (0.00138)

-

1890

-

1.21 (0.00109)

-

1914

-

-

1.39 (0.0032)

1961

2.13 (0.00180)

2.18 (0.00196)

3.17 (0.0072)

Hexadecanoic acid1981

24.37 (0.02061)

19.24 (0.01730)

11.51(0.0262)(6E,10E)-3,7,11,15Tetramethylhexadeca-1,6,10,14tetraen-3-ol; [Geranyl linalool]

2027

-

1.14 (0.00103)-

20

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

5-[(1S,4aS,8aS)-5,5,8a-Trimethyl2-methylidene-3,4,4a,6,7,
8hexahydro-1H-naphthalen-1-yl]2044
2.21 (0.00187)
9.33 (0.0213)
3-methylpent-1-en-3-ol;[Manool]
Unidentified
2062
1.64 (0.0037)
m/z 276 [M+], 207 (100)(E,7R,11R)-3,7,11,1528.83
Tetramethylhexadec-2-en-1-ol;
2113
13.25 (0.01121)
5.04 (0.00453)(0.0657)[Phytol]
Methyl octadecanoate
2128
4.69 (0.00397)
3.44 (0.00309)
6.46 (0.0147)(9Z,12Z)-Octadeca-9,12-dienoic
2153
28.74 (0.02431)
14.38 (0.01293) 5.82 (0.0133)
acid; [Linoleic acid](9Z,12Z,15Z)-Octadeca-9,12,152159
9.39 (0.00844)
trienoic acid; [Linolenic acid]
Nonadeca-1,18-diene-7,10-dione 2175
2.20 (0.00198)(6E,10E,14E,18E)2,6,10,15,19,23Hexamethyltetracosa2821
1.57 (0.0036)
2,6,10,14,18,22-hexaene;[Squalene]
Total LMWOC (specific compounds among these)
104 (22)112 (33)
99 (31)
Total concentration (mg/g DW)
0.084880.089900.22800
Table 1. Relative content (%) and the concentration (mg/g DW, in parentheses) of main compounds (> 1%) in
essential oils of the N. lutea from different localities

The largest number of
LMWOC (112) was
60
detected in essential
oil of N. lutea from50
Lake Suuri. In a sample
40
from River Volkhov it
30
was
found
104
20
compounds, and from10
River Ild - 99. The
0valuesof
totalconcentrationof
LMWOC in samples
from the mouth of theRiver Volkhov and Lake
Lam ina Leafstalk
Suuri were very similar
Fig. 1. Relative content (% in whole essential oil) of major groups of substances inand amounted 0.08488
the laminas and leafstalks of N. lutea in the beginning of vegetation (19/05/2010)
mg/g DW in sample
from R. Volkhov and0.08990 mg/g DW from Lake Suuri. At the same time, the total concentration of LMWOC in N.
lutea from River Ild was significantly higher - 0.228 mg/g DW (table. 1). In all three samples ofN. lutea following substances were significant fraction of the total amount of LMWOC: fatty

21

Aromatic
Hydrocarbons
Nitrogencontaining
compounds
Unidentified
compounds

Hydrocarbons

Diversefunctionalgroups

Aldehydes

Ketones

EstersAlcohols

Fatty acids%70Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

acids (tetradecanoic, pentadecanoic, hexadecanoic, linoleic and linolenic); phthalates (dibutyl
phthalate and diisobutyl phthalate) and phytol, a diterpene alcohol. Manool had significant
values of abundance in samples from River Ild and River Volkhov. This compound was absent
in N. lutea from Lake Suuri. A total of 48 compounds were common to the three samples
studied, whereas many LMWOC were only found in any one sample: 22 components were
specific to the sample of River Volhov, 33 - to Lake Suuri, 31 – to River Ild.
Various organs of macrophytes (e.g. N. lutea) may have different composition of LMWOC anddifferent concentrations (Fig. 1).
The good protection of macrophytes would be afforded by LMWOC from their plant-eating
invertebrates. In particular, higher concentration of phytol and presence of linoleic acid in theleaves of N. lutea (Fig. 2) prevent them from eating by Galerucella nymphaeae L., which is atypical consumer of N. lutea and Nymphaea candida J. et C. Presl. (Smirnov, 1960). It is also
remarkable that the pentadecanal concentration was higher in undamaged laminas than inlaminas consumed by invertebrates, 0.0047 mg/g DW and 0.0012 mg/g DW respectively. The
decrease in the concentration of phytol and pentadecanal along with the termination of thesynthesis of linoleic acid cause the leaves become available for herbivorous consumers.

Fig. 2. Parts of the GC-MS chromatograms of essential oils of N. lutea: Differences in the content of linoleic acid and phytol
in intact (A) and damaged by invertebrates (B) laminas of N. lutea. In brackets: the concentration of compounds, mg/g DW

Discussion
A large number of characteristic only for any studied habitats LMWOC of N. lutea shows theimportant role of environmental conditions in the formation of the spectrum of LMWOC
synthesized by water macrophytes.

22

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Habitat conditions are essential to the synthesis of LMWOC primarily due to the impact of thefollowing factors: biological environment, geographical location, human impact. These factors
largely determine the physico-chemical and hydrobiological conditions of growth of the plants.
Special attention in future studies should be paid to the differences that may be caused by theanthropogenic factor. It is possible that certain LMWOC are synthesized in response tonutrient or toxic effects. In this case, they can be good markers for the identification of chronic
adverse effects in the aquatic environment.
Disclosure of the specific functions of individual metabolites will help to understand the truemechanisms regulating many processes in aquatic ecosystems and the observed effects oftransformation of aquatic communities and populations.
Acknowledgements
This research was supported by Sankt-Petersburg State University (Project № 18.38.85.2012).
References
Fink, P., 2007. Ecological functions of volatile organic compounds in aquatic systems. Marine andFreshwater Behaviour and Physiology 40: 155–168.
Kurashov, E. A., Yu. V. Krylova & G. G. Mitrukova, 2013. Dynamics of essential oil composition in
Potamogeton pusillus (Potamogetonaceae) shoots during vegetation. Plant Resources [Rastitel'nye
Resursy] 49(1): 85-102. (in Russian)
Kurashov, E. A., G. G. Mitrukova & Yu. V. Krylova, 2014. Dynamics of essential oil composition in
Ceratophyllum demersum (Ceratophyllaceae) during vegetation. Plant Resources [Rastitel'nye
Resursy] 50(1): 132-144. (in Russian)
Smirnov, N. N., 1960. Nutrition of Galerucella nymphaeae L. (Chrysomelidae), mass consumer of waterlily. Hydrobiologia 15: 208-224.

23

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Analysis of physical, chemical and bacteriological parameters of Lake Pichholain Udaipur District (Rajasthan), India
I. Rawal1, H. Joshi1 & B.L. Chaudhary2
1

Molecular Microbiology Laboratory, Department of Biotechnology Vigyan Bhawan, Block B,
Mohanlal Sukhadia University, Udaipur, e-mail hjbiotech@gmail.com
2
Department of Botany, University college of Science, Mohanlal Sukhadia University, Udaipur
Introduction
Water is an important natural resource. The presence of safe drinking water is an essential
prerequisite for good health of society and for maintaining the natural and healthy aquatic
ecosystem. The water quality is deteriorated due to pollution and it is the one of the majorarea of research for environmentalists. Industrialization, urbanisation and discharge fromhuman activities result into organic enrichment. Due to this there is an undesirable change inphysicochemical and biological characteristics of the water. The lakes of Udaipur are now
increasingly being abused and severely polluted. Since lakes of Udaipur are the principal
source of drinking water of the city, monitoring water quality of lake water is of significant
value in combating the problems associated with public health due to organic pollution(Sharma et al., 2008). Considering the above facts an attempt has been made to study thephysicochemical and bacteriological parameters in order to ascertain the potability of water oflake Pichhola.
Material and Methods
Study Area: This is an old lake believed to be constructed by a Banjara at the end of 14 th
century which was later renovated in 1560 A.D. by Maharana Udai Singh. Lake Pichhola issituated between longitude 730 40'E and latitude 24034'N and covers 6.96 km2. The length ofthe lake is 3.6 km and maximum depth of the lake towards the Central Western part is 8 m.
The maximum and mean width of the lake is 2.61 km and 1.93 km. respectively. The
catchment area of the lake is 127 km2.
Sample collection: The water samples were collected from three different regions of lake
pichhola i.e. Gangaur ghat (Site I), Pichhola pal site (Site II), and Maaji ka mandir site (Site III).
The water samples were collected during summer 2011, monsoon 2011, winter 2012, summer
2012, monsoon 2012 and winter 2013.
Analysis of physical and chemical parameters: For the purpose of estimating the physical andchemical properties of water, some selected parameters such as Temperature, pH, Dissolved
oxygen, total alkalinity, total hardness, Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD), and Chemical Oxygen
Demand (COD) were analyzed. The physicochemical estimations were done according to themethods given by APHA (1989), Pandey and Sharma (2003) and K.R. Aneja (2003).
Analysis of Bacteriological parameters: Bacteriological examination including total bacterial
count and total coliforms of water samples were done by standard plate count method,
multiple tube fermentation tests and membrane filtration method.

24

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Results
Seasonal variations in physicochemical and bacteriological parameters of lake Pichhola during
different seasons are given in Table 1.
Parameters

Summer2011

Monsoon2011

Winter2012

Summer2012

Monsoon2012

Winter2013

Temperature
(°C)
pH

34

30.0

21.2

34.4

29.3

22.0

WHO
permissible
limit
-

8.69

7.80

8.00

8.70

7.94

8.04

6.5-8.5

Total
Alkalinity
Total
Hardness
DO (mg/l)

183

175

165

193

179

168

200 mg/l

190

169

177

194

170

181

200 mg/l

8.0

9.2

10.8

7.2

8.4

10.4

4 mg/lBOD (mg/l)

3.73

4.0

5.3

2.8

3.73

4.8

3 mg/lCOD (mg/l)

25.6

27.7

32.0

21.9

23.5

30.9

10 mg/l

3

3

3

3

3

3

Total
39.0×1075×10
34.3×1049×10
81×10
36.0×10<100/mlbacterialCount(cfu/ml)
Total
920
2400
340
1866.67 2400
376.67<50/mlColiform
count
(by
MPN
method)Total
736.672433.34
286.67796.672533.34
313.34<50/mlColiform
Count(by Mem. Filt
method)Table 1. Average Values of Physicochemical and bacteriological Parameters of Lake Pichhola During Different
Seasons

The values of average water temperature varied between 20.1 °C to 34.2 °C. Seasonal variationin average pH values were found in the range of 7.70-8.67. During the study, seasonal variation
was observed in the values of total alkalinity, which was found in the range of 174- 196 mg/L.
The average values of total hardness was found in the range of 171-200 mg/L and the averagevalues of dissolved oxygen were varied between 7.3-10.0 mg/L. During the study period BOD
was found in the range of 2.5- 4.9 mg/L and COD were found in the range of 20.8-31.5 mg/L.
The average values of standard plate count varied between 34.3×10 3 ml-1 to 81.0×103 ml-1 . The
average value of total coliform by multiple tube fermentation test and by membrane filtration
method were ranged between 340/100 ml to 2400/100 ml and 286.67/100 ml to 2533.33/100ml at the lake Pichhola.

25

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Discussion
There was a notable fluctuation observed in the water temperature with respect to theseason. In the present investigation, the values of pH indicated that the lake water was
alkaline. WHO (World health organization) permissible limit for pH is 6.5-8.5. High values of pH
during summer might be due to low level of water and concentration of nutrients in water andlow pH values in monsoon were due to dilution caused by the rainwater during monsoon.
WHO has set a desirable level of alkalinity in drinking water that is 200 mg/l. Therefore in thepresent study the values of summer 2012 were at the border line of the permissible limit. This
is attributed to the routine washing and bathing activities conducted at the lake side.
Water hardness is a traditional measure of the capacity of water to precipitate soap. World
Health Organization (WHO) has set a desirable level of total hardness in drinking water i.e 200
mg/l. Therefore in the present study the values of summer 2012 were at the border line of thepermissible limit. Average values of DO of all the seasons were higher than the limitsprescribed by WHO (4mg/l). The peak value during winter and lower value of DO in summer
was also observed by Kadam et al. (2005), Kolekar, (2006), Negi et al. (2006), Pawar and Pulle(2005), Pulle et al. (2003), Sharma et al. (2008), and Upadhaya and Dwivedi, (2006). Pillai et al.,(1999) found that total alkalinity has inverse correlation with dissolved oxygen which is similar
to our findings. Biological oxygen Demand (BOD) is an important parameter to the oxygen
required for degradation of organic matter. WHO has set a desirable tolerance limit for BOD
which is 3 mg/l and the values found in present study were quite high than this limit indicating
the high organic matter content in the lake water. The values of COD were quite high than thepermissible limit of WHO (10 mg/l) indicating the pollution due to oxidisable organic matter.
Throughout the study period high level of coliforms were found. It is evident from the value
2400/100 ml during monsoon seasons for lake Pichhola. Sharma et al. (2008) also found thehighest value of total coliform in monsoon season which is >2400/100 ml for lake Pichhola.
Acknowledgements
The first author is thankful to Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, New Delhi forproviding financial assistance in the form of Junior Research fellowship and research support
from the Department of Biotechnology, M.L.S. University, Udaipur for providing necessary
laboratory facilities.
References
APHA-AWWA-WPCF. 1989. Standard methods for examination of water and waste water. American
Public Health Association, Washington D.C. (17th ed.) 1452 pp.
Aneja, K.R., 2003. Experiments in Microbiology, Plant Pathology and Biotechnology (4 th ed.). New age
international (P) Ltd. Publishers, New Delhi.
Kadam, D.D., R.P. Mali, M.S. Kadam & N.E. Ambore, 2005. Ecology of Bhategaon Dam, Distrct
Parbhani,Maharastra. Journal of Aquatic Biology 20 (2):101-104.
Kolekar, V., 2006. Ecology and fisheries status of Keetham lake of Agra (U. P.) in early ninteens. Himalian
Journal of Environmental Zoology 20 (1): 253-260.

26

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Negi, R.K., N.S. Johan & T. Negi, 2006. Study of the physicochemical parameters of water of Pongdam
reservoir, Himachal Pradesh: A Ramsar site. Himalian Journal of Environmental Zoology 20 (2): 247256.
Pandey, J. & M.S. Sharma, 2003. Environment Science Practical and field manual, Yash Pub. House,
Bikaner.
Pawar, S. K., J. S. Pulle, 2005. Qualitative and quanitative study of zooplankton in Pethwadaj dam,
Nanded district (Maharastra) India. Journal of Aquatic Biology 20 (2): 53-57.
Pillai, A., P. Pandy & A. Shukla, (1999). Physicochemical studies of drinkinge water of Durg Muncipality.
Pollution Research 18 (1): 49-51.
Pulle, J.S., A. M. Khan, 2003. Phytoplankton study of Isapur dam water. Ecology. Environment andConservation. 9 (3): 403-406.
Sharma R., M.S. Sharma, V. Sharma & H. Malara, 2008. Study of Limonology and Microbiology of
Udaipur Lakes. Proceedings of Taal 2007: 12th World Lake conference.
Upadhayay, B.L., D.D. Dwivedi, 2006. Impact of human activities on physicochemical characterstics ofMansi Ganga water at Goverdhan (Mathura). Himalian Journal of Environmental Zoology 20 (1),131-133.
World Health Organization, 1993. Guidelines for drinking water quality-I, Recommendations (2nd ed.).
Geneva.

27

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Road de-icing salt and its effects on surface water: a case study in Northern
Italy, subalpine Lake District
M. Rogora1, R. Mosello1, N. Salmaso2 & L. Cerasino2
1
2

CNR Institute of Ecosystem Study, Largo Tonolli 50, Verbania Pallanza, Italy
IASMA Research and Innovation Centre, Via E. Mach 1, S. Michele all’Adige (TN), Italy

Keywords: subalpine lakes, water chemistry, long-term trends, NaCl
Introduction
In the recent period, there has been a growing concern about the effects of increasing chloride
concentration in surface waters, due to their potential damage to aquatic life. Increasing
content of chloride has been observed in several lakes and rivers in urban areas or close to
major roads in Europe and US (Müller & Gächter, 2012; Corsi et al., 2010). In Italy the use of
sodium chloride (NaCl) as road de-icing agent is limited to northern regions and mountainareas. However, to our knowledge, possible effects of chloride on water quality have neverbeen assessed.
Long-term series of chemical data exists, including major ions, for the lakes of the subalpine
district in Italy. In this paper, we analyse trends affecting Cl and Na concentrations in the deep
subalpine lakes during the last 25 years, with the aim to discuss the possible causes of
temporal changes, with particular attention toward the use of NaCl as de-icing salt. The
availability of data about chemical loads from the main tributaries makes possible to focus on
the causes of the water chemistry trends in the case of Lake Maggiore.
Materials and methods
The deep subalpine lakes (DSL) (Maggiore, Lugano, Como, Iseo and Garda) constitute the mostimportant water district in Italy, located south of the Alps, in one of the most densely
inhabited and productive area of the country. They represent an essential and strategic watersupply for agriculture, industry, fishing and drinking and are important resource for recreationand tourism. The surface of the drained area is 15536 km2, i.e. about 20% of the watershed of
the River Po, the largest and most important in Italy. The relevance of DSL is even higher interms of water volume, which is 121 km3, about 80% of the total freshwater volume in Italy,
including artificial lakes.
Concentrations of major ions used throughout the manuscript are volume-weighted values
obtained from 10-13 samplings at different depths along the water column. To compare thedifferent lakes, data collected at the winter overturn (late February – early March) were used.
We refer to Salmaso et al. (2007) and Salmaso & Mosello (2012) for further details on the lakes
and analytical methods.

28

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Results and discussion
The ionic balance of the lake waters, expressed as mean values of the periods 1988-1990 and2010-2012, is shown in Tab. 1. Calcium, bicarbonate, sulfate and magnesium show the highest
concentrations, followed by sodium and chloride, while potassium and nitrate show the lowest
values. The comparison between the two periods puts in evidence an increase in total ion
concentrations in all the lakes, ranging between 3.1% (Lake Lugano) and 6.8% (Lake Maggiore).
Variations of measured electrical conductivity are in agreement with the increase in ion
concentrations. Most of the increase, in absolute value, is due to Ca++ and HCO3- ions, followed
by Na+ and Cl-. A slight decrease in sulfate concentration affected Lake Lugano, likely related tothe decrease of sulfate input from atmospheric deposition in the area (Rogora et al., 2006). In
the case of lakes Maggiore, Como and Iseo, a relevant contribution of sulfate from weathering
is present, hiding the decrease due to atmospheric input. Although the increases of Na and Cl(Fig. 1) are lower in absolute value with respect to those of calcium and bicarbonate, theirpercent of increase is the highest among all ions, ranging from 10 to 32% in the case of Na andfrom 25 to 52% in the case of Cl.
______________________________________________________________________________________________
Ma ggi ore

Luga no

Como

Is eo

Ga rda1988-90 2010-12 1988-90 2010-12 1988-90 2010-12 1988-90 2010-12 1988-90 2010-12______________________________________________________________________________________________

Cond. 20°C

µS cm-1

143

152

236

238

168

174

265

277

213

222

Ca ++

µeq L-1

1061

1112

1824

1908

1240

1257

2146

2343

1637

1700

Mg++

µeq L-1

304

310

752

776

448

471

658

690

687

707

+

-1

µeq L

100

132

109

124

123

141

121

133

150

179

K+

µeq L-1

38

39

34

31

36

35

29

33

25

28

HCO 3 -

µeq L-1

756

832

2379

2466

1157

1237

1863

2046

2066

2193

Na

Cl

-

-1

µeq L
µeq L-1

55

82

63

83

64

81

70

87

128

159

SO 4 --

610

616

258

242

526

534

1043

1029

234

234

N-NO 3 -µeq L-1

56

60

14

14

60

60

58

51

23

26

Na +

µeq L-1 y-1

1.4

0.85

0.68

0.42

1.58

-

Cl
µeq L-1 y-1
1.21
1.01
0.71
0.84
1.47
______________________________________________________________________________________________

Tab. 1 Conductivity and major ion concentrations in the considered lakes in two different periods: 1988-90 and2010-12. The yearly increase of Na and Cl concentrations in each lake is also shown

The Na:Cl ratio (on an
equivalent basis) in the fivelakes decreased in theconsidered period, as can be
expected from an input of NaCl
to lake water. In fact, inpristine conditions and inabsence of mineral chloride in
the watersheds, the main
source of Cl to surface water is
atmospheric deposition, where
Fig. 1. Long-term trends of Cl concentrations in the DSL. Average values on the Na:Cl ratio is close to 0.9the water column at winter overturn.
1.0, i.e. the value in sea spray.
29

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

On the other hand, sodium may be leached from silicate minerals. The resulting Na:Cl ratio
higher than one should decrease in the case of further input of Na and Cl in 1:1 ratio.
The rate of increase over the whole period ranges between 0.7 and 1.5 µeq L -1 y-1 for Cl andbetween 0.4 and 1.6 µeq L-1 y-1 for Na and, in each lake, showed similar values for the two ions.
Lake Garda shows the highest rate of increase (1.47 and 1.58 µeq L-1 y-1 for Cl and Na,
respectively). This lake is also characterized by the highest absolute concentrations of the twoions, while the other four lakes show values in a very limited range. Again, the same rate ofincrease for the two ions is in agreement with the hypothesis that their main source is NaCl.
The causes of lake water chemical trends were investigated considering fourteen tributaries of
Lake Maggiore, systematically sampled since 1978 to evaluate the algal nutrient and main ion
loads to Lake Maggiore (Mosello et al., 2001). The total area drained by these tributaries isabout 90% of the total lake watershed (6600 km 2). The total loads of Na+ and Cl- to Lake
Maggiore increased respectively of 27 and 39% in the 35-year period. The increase in the caseof Cl- is more evident in the very recent years (from 2005), when Cl - loads were steadily above
700 Meq y-1.
An in-depth analysis was performed on monthly data of six tributaries (Cannobino, Toce, Ticino,Tresa, Maggia and Verzasca), draining together about 80% of the total area of Lake Maggiore
watershed. Trends of Na+ and Cl- concentrations showed positive trends in all the rivers, with amore pronounced slope and peak values in winter and spring. Peaks of Na+ and Cl- mostly
occur in the same samples, showing the dissolution of NaCl as the main cause.
The seasonality of these ion concentrations in the tributaries is reflected also in the upper lakewater layer (0-20 m), where winter and early spring values are higher than the whole lakemeans.
We calculated the direct input of Na + and Cl- to the lake surface via atmospheric deposition,using the data available for the station of Pallanza, located on the lake shore (Rogora et al.,2006): these inputs are very low with respect to those from the tributaries, clearly indicating
the low importance of the atmospheric contribution to the total input to the lake.
The comparison between the increased loads of Na+ and Cl- and the amount of salt (mainly
NaCl) used during the winter period for road de-icing showed a fair agreement. This aspect,
together with the absence of other point source pollution for NaCl, permits to conclude thatroad de-icing is the main cause of the positive trends.
Conclusion
Present concentrations of Na and Cl in the DSL are fairly below the recommended limits for agood chemical status according to the Water Framework Directive and the observed increaseof Na and Cl is still far to be potentially harmful for the biota or to affect water quality.
However, considering the relevant volume of water of the DSL, these trends are indicative ofan important chemical change occurring in the lakes, which warrants further. To address thisproblem in the proper way, the amount of NaCl used as de-icing agent in winter should bequantified and specific rules for its use adopted. Furthermore, ad-hoc studies in the lakecatchments would be needed, to assess the eventual effects of road salt on soils, vegetation,and materials.

30

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

References
Corsi, S.R., Graczyk D.J., Geis, S.W., Booth, N.L., and K.D. Richards. 2010. A Fresh Look at Road Salt:
Aquatic Toxicity and Water-Quality Impacts on Local, Regional, and National Scales. Environ. Sci.
Technol. 2010, 44, 7376-7382.
Müller, B. & R. Gächter. 2012. Increasing chloride concentrations in Lake Constance: characterization ofsources and estimation of loads. Aquat. Sci., 74: 101-112.
Mosello, R., A. Calderoni, A. Marchetto, M.C. Brizzio, M. Rogora, S. Passera & G.A. Tartari. 2001.
Nitrogen budget of Lago Maggiore: the relative importance of atmospheric deposition andcatchment sources. J. Limnol., 60: 27-40.
Rogora, M., R. Mosello, S. Arisci, M.C. Brizzio, A. Barbieri, R. Balestrini, P. Waldner, M. Schmitt, M. Stähli,A. Thimonier, M. Kalina, H. Puxbaum, U. Nickus, E. Ulrich & A. Probst. 2006. An overview of
atmospheric deposition chemistry over the Alps: present status and long-term trends.
Hydrobiologia 562: 17-40.
Salmaso, N., G. Morabito, L. Garibaldi & R. Mosello. 2007. Trophic development of the deep lakes southof the Alps: a comparative analysis. Arch. Hydrobiol., 170: 177-196.
Salmaso, N. & R. Mosello. 2010. Limnological research in the deep southern subalpine lakes: synthesis,
directions and perspectives. Advances Ocean. Limnol., 1: 26-66.

31

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Occurrence of perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoate(PFOA) in perch from Lake Varese (North Italy)
S. Squadrone1, V. Ciccotelli1, L. Favaro1, T. Scanzio1, M. Prearo1 & M.C. Abete1
1

Istituto Zooprofilattico del Piemonte, Liguria e valle d’Aosta, Turin (Italy)

Keywords: PFOS; perch, LC–MS/MS
Introduction
Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) are environmental
contaminants belonging to a chemical group known as perfluorinated compounds. PFOS andPFOA are very persistent in the environment and bio accumulate in humans. The European
Food Safety Authority (EFSA) recently pointed out that they are associated with adverse healtheffects. Diet is considered the main source of exposure to PFCs, which have been found more
frequently in fish and other seafood, compared to other food groups. In fact, aquatic
ecosystems represent the final reservoir for PFCs due to their great affinity for sedimentaryand living organic matter. In these systems, measured levels of persistent organic pollutants(POPs) could increase along the trophic web, ultimately affecting humans that consume
aquatic species. In this study, PFOS and PFOA was detected by LC-MS/MS in muscle samples ofPerca fluviatilis from Lake Varese (North Italy).
Materials and methods
Sampling area.
Lake Varese is a smallish lake in the Lombardy region (North Italy) fed by underground springs.
The lake is spread over an area of 14.5 square kilometers and has an average depth of 11
meters.
Study specie.
The European perch is a predatory freshwater fish species feeding on invertebrates and fish.
Perch specimens were captured by gillnetting in 2012, in agreement with the animal welfare
legislation procedure. Length ranged from 16.5 to 29.5 ± 0.5 cm and weight ranged from 53 –371 ± 1 g. Fish were transported to the laboratory where samples were dissected to obtainmuscle tissues.
Reagents and analytical method. Fish muscle (2.5 g) was homogenized with 2.5 mL of sodiumhydroxide using Ultraturrax homogenizer (IKA, Staufen, Germany). The extract was purified
and conditioned with 4 mL of methanol and 4 mL of water. The cartridge-purified extract waswashed with 4 ml of 25 mM acetate buffer (pH 4-5), followed by 8 mL of methanol. Analytes
were eluted with 1 mL of 2% ammonium hydroxide in methanol. The solvent was dried byevaporation by means of a nitrogen stream. The residue was reconstituted in the mobile phaseand subjected to LC-MS/MS analysis, performed by an Agilent HPLC 1100 procedure (Agilent
Technologies, Palo Alto, CA, USA). Mass spectral analyses were performed using an Applied
Biosystems API 4000 triple quadruple mass spectrometer (Applied Biosystems Sciex, Ontario,
Canada) operating in electrospray ionization (ESI) negative ion mode. Detection and32

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

quantification of the two molecules were performed by selected reaction monitoring (SRM), as
shown in Table 1.

AnalyteParent ion

PFOA

412.7

PFOS

498.5

Internal
standard

420.7

Product Ion
368.9
169.0
219.0
80.1
99.0
169.0

Decluringpotential (V)
-61

-50

376.0

-32

Collision
Energy (V)
-14
-26
-22
-94
-72
-51
-14

Table 1. MS experimental condition of PFOA and PFOS and internal standard

The method limit of quantification (LOQ) was 0.50 ng g_1 for PFOA and 0.70 ng g_1 for PFOS,
with a recovery rate of 99-102% and 96-108%, respectively.
Results
PFOA was not found in any of the investigated samples above the limit of quantitation of 0.50
ng g_1 fresh weight (fw), whereas PFOS was detected in all samples with concentrations
ranging from 5.4 to 17.2 ng g_1 fw (mean 9.6 ng g_1 fw). The Scientific Panel on Contaminants in
the Food Chain (CONTAM) set a provisional TDI of 150 ng kg _1 b.w. per day (EFSA, 2008). In an
adult consumer with a body weight of 60 kg, this value is reached consuming fish that contains
30 ng g_1 of PFOS, considering a consumption of 300 g fish per day. We estimated human
exposure from fish consumption by calculating the Estimated Human Daily Intake (EHDI), as
follows: EHDI = (C X DC)/BW, where C is the contaminant mean concentration, DC indicates thedaily fish consumption for the Italian population, as reported by the National ResearchInstitute for Food and Nutrition (Leclercq et al., 2009), and BW is the human body weight (60kg). The consumption figures used were the 50th and 95th percentile intakes for the total
population in consumers of all ages; we obtained EHDI values of 5.15 ng kg _1 bw day and 23.55
ng kg_1 bw day.
Discussion
PFCs concentrations are usually higher in fish caught from fresh water compared to fish fromopen oceans (Berger et al., 2009). In the 2011 EFSA Opinion a constantly higher mean PCFs
concentration in fish from fresh water was demonstrated. Among PFCs, PFOS had the highest
mean concentrations that in fish meat ranged from 0.04 to 211 ng g_1. In the present study,
PFOS mean values were 9.6 ng g_1 fw in Perca fluviatilis, while PFOA values were less than thelimit of quantitation in all samples. This is the first study that document the presence of PFCs
in Lake Varese. Once in the environment PCFs are extremely persistent and don’t undergo
significant further abiotic or biotic degradation. However, PFOS exhibits a higher tendency tobind to organic matter and bio accumulate compared to PFOA, due to its longer perfluoroalkyl

33

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

chain length (Conder et al. 2010). Monitoring data from top predators at various locations
show highly elevated levels of PFOS and demonstrate the substantial bioaccumulation and bio
magnification properties of PFOS (Bossi et al., 2005a,b). Consumption of fish and fisheryproducts is known to be a source of exposure to PFOS, PFOA, and other PFCs (Nania et al.,2009). Several studies indicated that PFOS and PFOA are present in the environment, including
within the human body (EFSA 2012). Adverse health effects, e.g. hepatotoxicity,
developmental toxicity, neurobehavioral toxicity, reproductive toxicity, hormonal effects, aswell as a weak genotoxic and carcinogenic potential have been demonstrated in experimental
studies in animals (Zhang et al., 2009; Pinkas et al., 2010). Comparing our EHDI with the TDI
established for PFOS we can conclude that the intake related to fish consumption from Lake
Varese is well below the tolerable daily intake (TDI). Even if our results did not show aparticularly alarming level of pollution by PFCs, other food and sources other than food may
contribute to the total human exposure. Particularly for high fish consumers the intake fromfish may constitute a considerable contribute to the TDI of PFOS. Then, measures should betaken to reduce the consumption of these damaging substances by humans.
Acknowledgements
This work was financially supported by the Italian Ministry of Health.
References
Berger, U., A., Glynn, K.E., Holmström, M., Berglund, E.H., Ankarberg & A. Törnkvist, 2009. Fishconsumption as a source of human exposure to perfluorinated alkyl substances in Sweden Analysisof edible fish from Lake Vättern and the Baltic Sea. Chemosphere 76:799–804.
Bossi, R., F.F., Riget & R., Dietz, 2005a. Temporal and spatial trends of perfluorinated compounds inringed seal (Phoca hispida) from Greenland. Environ. Sci. Technol. 39: 7416–7422.
Bossi, R., F.F., Riget, R., Dietz, C., Sonne, P., Fauser, P., M., Dam & K., Vorkamp, 2005b. Preliminary
screening of perfluoroctane sulfonate (PFOS) and other fluorochemicals in fish, birds and marine
mammals from Greenland and the Faroe Islands. Environmental Pollution 136: 323–329.
Brambilla, G., V., Abate, E., Davoli, S.P., De Filippis, S., De Luca, E., Dellatte, R., Fanelli, E., Fattore, I.,
Fochi, A.R., Fulgenzi, N., Iacovella, A.L., Iamiceli, D., Lucchetti, P., Melotti, R., Miniero, I., Moret, S.,
Pignata, A., Roncarati, P., Triboni, A., Ubaldi, S., Zambon & A., di Domenico, August 20–25, 2009.
Occurrence of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in Italian wild and farmed fish in Mediterranean
Sea 29. In: International Symposium on Halogenated Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) – DIOXIN
2009 Proceedings; Pechino (RPC).
Conder, J.M., R.J., Wenning, M., Travers & M., Blom, 2010. Overview of the Environmental Fate of
Perfluorinated Compounds. Network for Industrially Contaminated Land in Europe (NICOLE)
Technical Meeting, 4 November 2010.
EFSA, 2008. European Food Safety Authority; opinion of the Scientific Panel on contaminants in the foodchain on perfluorooctanesulfonate (PFOS), perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and their salts. EFSA J.
653, 1–131.
EFSA, 2011. European Food Safety Authority; results of the monitoring of perfluoroalkylated substances
in food in the period 2000–2009. EFSA J. 9 (2), 2016.
Leclercq, C., D., Arcella, R., Piccinelli, S., Sette, C., Le Donne & A., Turrini, 2009. The Italian National Food
Consumption Survey INRAN-SCAI 2005–06: main results in terms of food consumption. Public
Health Nutrition 12, 2504–2532.

34

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Nania, V., G.E., Pellegrini, L., Fabirizi, G., Sesta, P., de Sanctis, D., Luchetti, M.D., Pasquale & E., Coni,
2009. Monitoring of perfluorinated compounds in edible fish from the Mediterranean Sea. Food
Chemistry 115, 951–957.
Pinkas, A., T.A., Slotkin, Y., Brick-Turin, E.A. van der Zee & Y., Yanai, 2010. Neurobehavioral
teratogenicity of perfluorinated alkyls in an avian model. Neurotoxicology and Teratology 32:182–
186.
Zhang, X., L., Chen, X., Fei, Y., Ma & H., Gao. 2009. Binding of PFOS to serum albumin and DNA: insight
into the molecular toxicity of perfluorochemicals. BMC Molecular Biology 10:16 doi: 10.1186/14712199-10-16.

35Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Application of Water Quality Model for Selection of River-flow Pattern and
Location for Pollution Disposal in a Large Reservoir
M. Prabhakar Vuppati1 & S. Vaidya1
1Central Water and Power Research Station, Pune-411024

Keywords: water quality model, river, reservoir, pollution
Introduction
Water quality processes in a reservoir are dependent on river flow conditions andphysiography of a reservoir. The river flow affects the concentration and distribution of water
quality variables in the reservoir. Rapid transport of pollutants by high flows results in a short
residence time and often causes minimal water quality problem. Conversely, slow transport ofpollutants by low flows results in a longer residence time and can lead to water quality
problems, such as oxygen depletion and eutrophication (Ji, 2008). In the present study, threezones within a large reservoir, namely Riverine, Transition and Lacustrine were studied fortheir suitability for placing a location of Pollution disposal, under three different patterns of
the main river-flow namely Constant, Cyclic flow 1 (increasing trend), Cyclic flow 2 (decreasing
trend). Keeping the total discharge same in all three cases, simulations were run for one
month using MIKE 21 software. Water quality models are extensively used to predict spatial
variation in water quality (Palmer, 2001). Pollution load was given as Biochemical Oxygen
Demand (BOD) in 5 different concentrations ranging from 30-700 mg/l, keeping Dissolved
Oxygen (DO) constant (6 mg/l). Water quality of outflow water was assessed throughvariations in BOD and DO.
Water quality indices are intended to provide a simple and understandable tool for managers
and decision makers on the quality and possible uses of water body (Bordalo, 2001; Gatot &Rina, 2011). Water Quality Weightage(WQW) method used in the present study gives anoverall quick idea about how the different flow patterns result into the different water quality
scenarios and choose the best one for the water quality management.
Materials and methods
The model was prepared for 50 km long part of reservoir on dam-side with rectangular grid of
390m X 50m in X and Y directions respectively. The upstream most end of the model was anopen boundary for simulating the river discharge into the model area, as observed at site. One
closed boundary near dam, on right bank, was provided to simulate the withdrawals from thedam. Reservoir levels as observed daily at the dam were simulated at this closed boundary.
Including the hydraulic effect of ambient flows from six locations from the right bank and fivelocations from the left bank and the evaporation, precipitation and wind forcings, the model
was calibrated and verified with the field-observed data of flows and water quality (Prabhakar& Vaidya, 2011).
With the verified model, the predictive runs for one month duration were taken for the typicalnon-monsoon scenario, where three points of incoming pollution were placed in the riverine36Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

zone, transition zone and lacustrine zone, of model, to observe respective scenario of water
quality distribution in the reservoir. The maximum BOD load of 700mg/l was equallydistributed over three points. The total load matched prevailing organic loads generated bysome mega cities elsewhere, with the prevailing efficiency of treatment mechanisms. In thecosequent runs the load was gradually softened from 700 to 30 mg/l BOD to achieve theresultant water quality that will meet the class A criteria as per CPCB (1992) (BOD<2mg/l andDO>6mg/l).
In all the cases the concentration of DO and nitrate in the polluting discharge was taken zeroand that of ammonium and phosphate was taken as 5mg/l. Simulation was carried out withcyclic 1 (Cyc 1), Cyclic 2 (Cyc 2) and constant (Con) discharge-patterns of the ambient flows
from up-stream boundary. Five different pollution loads (as BOD 700, 400, 200,100 and 30mg/l) at the rate 6m3/s were distributed into 3 points, all the 3 points placed in same zone at atime.
For assessing the results of number of experimental runs, Water Quality Weightage (WQW)
Method is formulated. It is like calculating the Water Quality Index (WQI) which provides asingle number (like a grade) that expresses overall water quality at a certain location and time,
based on several water quality parameters. This provides a simple and understandable tool for
managers and decision makers on the quality and possible uses of water body. From the result
file, the average quality of water in the near-dam zone, with respect to BOD, DO, N and P was
cosidered as the resultant quality of water which will be used by neary locality.
Thus 5 runs each, with placement of pollution sources in three zones, under three discharge
patterns were taken. Thus total 45 case results were compared by designating the water
quality weightage (WQW). This study helps to identify the discharge pattern of choice for
disposal of pollutant for better management of reservoir water quality.
Results
Results for simulation with pollution from Lacustrine zone (LZ), Transition Zone (TZ) andRiverine Zone (RZ) are presented in Table 1, 2 and 3 respectively. Average BOD and DO in thenear-dam region is indicated for three discharge patterns wth 5 different pollution loads. The
corresponding classes (CPCB) are then assigned.

37

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Pol
Load
mg/l
BOD

Resultant BOD and DO mg/l

Corresponding Classes (CPCB)

BOD
Con
dis

Cyc
dis1

Cyc
dis2

DO
Con
dis

Cyc
dis1

Cyc
dis2

BOD
Cyc
dis

Cyc
dis1

Cyc
dis2

DO
Con
dis

Cyc
dis1

Cyc
dis2

30

0.69

0.74

0.70

6.19

6.39

6.00

A

A

A

A

A

A

100

1.39

1.39

1.53

5.91

6.12

5.61

A

A

A

B

A

B

200

2.40

2.32

2.74

5.52

5.75

5.08

B

B

B

B

B

B

400

4.45

4.21

5.23

4.78

5.04

4.12

D

D

D

D

B

D

700
7.62
7.13
9.18
3.81
4.08
2.95
E
E
E
E
D
E
Total WQW (A=4;B=3;C=2;D=1;E=0)
12
12
12
11
15
11
Table 1. Resultant BOD, DO and the corresponding class (Five different Pollution loads given from Lacustrine
zone)
Pol
Load
mg/l
BOD

Resultant BOD and DO mg/l
Con
dis

Cyc dis1

Cyc
dis2

CondisCyc dis1

Cyc
dis2

Cyc
dis

Cyc
dis1

Cyc
dis2

Con
dis

Cyc
dis1

Cyc
dis2

30

0.59

0.62

0.52

6.10

6.35

6.02

A

A

A

A

A

A

100

1.04

0.98

0.90

5.63

6.00

5.54

A

A

A

B

A

B

200

1.71

1.50

1.46

5.00

5.52

4.89

A

A

A

B

B

C

400

3.16

2.59

2.71

3.86

4.63

3.75

E

C

C

E

C

E

700
5.54
4.36
4.88
Total WQW (A=4;B=3;C=2;D=1;E=0)

2.53

3.48

2.43

E

E

E

E

E

E

BOD

Corresponding Classes (CPCB)
DO

BOD

DO

12
14
14
10
13
9
Table 2. Resultant BOD, DO and the corresponding class (Five different Pollution loads given from Transition zone)

12

Pol
Load
mg/l
BOD

Resultant BOD and DO mg/l
Con
dis

Cyc dis1

Cyc
dis2

Con
dis

Cyc dis1

Cyc
dis2

Cyc
dis

Cyc
dis1

Cyc
dis2

Con
dis

Cyc
dis1

Cyc
dis2

30

0.55

0.60

0.45

6.11

6.33

6.10

A

A

A

A

A

A

100

0.89

0.91

0.69

5.61

5.92

5.86

A

A

A

B

B

B

200

1.14

1.38

1.02

4.93

5.36

5.17

A

A

A

C

B

B

400

2.56

2.97

1.76

3.74

4.35

4.20

C

C

A

E

C

C

700
4.62
4.10
3.06
2.39
3.07
3.00
E
E
E
E
E
Total WQW (A=4;B=3;C=2;D=1;E=0)
14
14
16
9
12
12
Table 3. Resultant BOD, DO and the corresponding class (Five different Pollution loads given from Riverine zone)

E

BOD

Corresponding Classes (CPCB)
DO

BOD

38

DO

14

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Discussion
The different water quality scenarios are evaluated numerically by the assigned weightages.
After assigning the WQW, the scores are calculated in the last row of the tables.
The WQW results show that with overall quality criteria of BOD and DO, the Cyclic discharge
pattern resulted in higher score than the constant discharge pattern, irrespective of the zoneof placement of pollution sources. This may be due to better advection and dispersion
conditions caused by cyclic flow variation. These processes are known to enhance theassimilative capability by increased rate of DO-mixing and re-aeration within theriver/reservoir. However, considering the overall scores the placement of pollution sources in
the order of preference were found to be Lacustrine, Transition and Riverine zone.
References
Bordalo AA, Nilsumranchit W and Chalermwat K, 2001Water quality and uses of the Bangpakong River(Eastern Thailand), Water Research, 35: 3635-3642
CPCB (Central Pollution Control Board), 1992 Environmental Standard-Water Quality Criteria. Fromwebsite: http://cpcb.nic.in/Water_Quality_Criteria.php
Gatot ES and Rina F, 2011, The Simplification of Doe Water Quality Index Calculation Procedures Using
Graphical Analysis. Australian Journal of Basic and Applied Sciences, 5(2): 207-214
Ji ZG, 2008, Impacts of River Flow on Water Quality, in Hydrodyamics and water quality: ModelingRivers, lakes, and Estuaries. (John Wiley & Sons, Inc, New Jersey) 487
Palmer MD, 2001, General Overview of Water Quality Modeling, in Water Quality Modeling- A guide toeffective practice. (The World Bank, Washington) 1
Prabhakar VM and Vaidya SP, 2011,A coupled Model of Hydrodynamics and Water Quality for Sardar
Sarovar, a Terminal Large Reservoir in Narmada River Basin, India. Part I – Water Quality Model:
Description, Calibration and Sensitivity Analysis. Proceedings of 14th World Lake Conference,
Austin, USA (in press)

39

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Assessment of a battery of biotests for assessing the genotoxic potential ofenvironmental pollutants
E. Horváth1, B. Eck-Varanka1, Á. Ferincz1, G. Paulovits2 & N. Kovats1
1

University of Pannonia, Department of Limnology Veszprém, Egyetem u. 10, H-8200, Hungary
Centre for Ecological Research, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Balaton Limnological InstituteTihany, Klebelsberg K. u. 3. H-8237, Hungary
2

Keywords: Sinanodonta woodiana, Unio pictorum, micronucleus test, genotoxicity
Introduction
Industrial and communal wastewaters transfer high concentrations of heavy metals, organic
compounds and systematic chemicals into the environment. These pollutants damage fresh
water organisms and through drinking water and bioaccumulation in the food chain may effecthumans so biomonitoring of water pollutants is essential.
Bivalves are ideal test organisms for toxicological testing of water borne pollutants: they aresedentary creatures, being exposed to both water and sediment contamination and represent
the two most common exposure routes of environmental pollutants. Furthermore their ability
to bioaccumulate and bioactivate chemicals is also well established (Ponta et al. 2002) andthey are widely used in biomonitoring (e.g. Jha et al. 2000 and Kolarevic et al. 2011.
The micronucleus (MN) test is a well known method in toxicity testing where MN formation
indicates mitotic chromosome breakage or chromosome mis-segregation (Bolognesi et al.
2012). Several studies use the mussel MN test (Bolognesi et al. 2012, Scarpato et al. 1990).
According to these studies sensitivity of this bioassay is sufficient to detect genotoxic
components in environmental monitoring (Bolognesi et al. 2012).
Freshwater mussel populations are decreasing all around the world in response to waterpollution, and the number of endangered mussel species increases. As such, native species ofmussels should be replaced by exotic species in toxicological testing, but because these species
are usually more resistant to environmental stress than native ones, the sensitivity of potential
test species should be compared.
In our study, the genotoxic potential of two well known pollutants with high relevance in fresh
water pollution, Copper(II)sulfate (CuSO4) and benzo(a)pyrene (B[a]P) was evaluated using the
MN test and the bacterial bioassays. MN test was conducted on two Unionid species, thenative Unio pictorum and the invasive Sinanodonta woodiana, in this way their sensitivity
could also be compared.
Materials and methods
Mussel specimens were exposed to a single administration of sub-lethal doses of CuSO4 (Fig 1.)
and benzpyrene (B[a]P) in 0.07% acetonitrile (Fig 2). After 4 days of exposure haemolymph wastaken and samples were fixed according to Woznicki et al. (2004). The number of MN in 250
agranular haemolimph cells was detected (Zeiss AxioScopeA1, AxioCam ICC1, Zen 2011).
Concentration-response curves of chemicals were defined, effect of chemicals was evaluated40Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

by one-way ANOVA and Tukey post hoc test. The sensitivities of the mussel species werecompared with two way factorial ANOVA.
For the SOS-Chromotest the SOS-Chromotest TM kit (Environmental Bio-detection Products
Inc.) was used according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Induction factor (IF) was
calculated according to Krifaton (2012).
The fluctuation Ames test was performed according to Hubbard et al. (1984), and χ2 test wasapplied with 95 % confidence level for the evaluation of mutagenic effect.
Results

Fig. 1. Result of the MN test of U. pictorum (A) and S. woodiana (B) with
CuSO4 (significant difference compared to control (a), to
310µg/ml (b) to 620µg/l B[a]P (c) to 1240µg/l and to 2480µg/l (d))

Significant differences in MN
numbers between the control
and each concentration of thechemicals were observed inboth S. woodiana and U.
pictorum for CuSO4 (ANOVA:
F=11.953; df= 4 p<0,001 and
F=16.392; df=4 p<0,00 01
respectively) and for B[a]P(ANOVA:
F=6.465;
df=3;
p=0,007
F=12.015;
df=5;
P<0.00001 respectively).

According to the Tukey post hoc
test, variations between the
micronuclei formation inducing
effect of CuSO4 and B[a]P occur
between the two species (Fig 1.2.). Results were compared by
two way factorial ANOVA(concentrations and species
were defined as independentFig. 2. Result of the MN test of U. pictorum (A) and S. woodiana (B) withvariables, and MN number as
B[a]P (significant difference compared to control (a), to Acn.
dependent
variable)withcontrol (b) and to 70µg/l B[a]P (c))
Greenhouse-Geisser correction:mean effect of concentration(F=16.243 df=1.168 p=0.043) and species x concentration interaction (F=12.721 df=1.4
p=0.041) were revealed. The results of Ames fluctuation test is indicated at Table 1.

41

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

CuSO4
Concentration (µg/l)
Percent
wells
2
χ

of

positive

0

310

620

1240

2480

21.5±7.7

17.0±1.4

28.0±0.0

29.0±031.5±0.7

0.043*

0.337

0.087

0.11

0

70

175

350

700

5.0 ± 013.0±1.4

15± 1.415.5±2.1

20.5± 2.2

0.017*

0.004*

0.003*

4.1*10 *B[a]PConcentration (µg/l)
Percent
wells
2
χ

of

positive-5

Table 1. The results of Ames fluctuation test (significant differences are marked by *)In case of B[a]P SOS-Chromotest gave postitive results at 70µg/l, but in case of CuSO 4 IF values
were under 1.5, so genotoxic effect was not detected even in the highest concentrations.
Discussion
Although the micronucleus test is a widely used mutagenicity test, relatively few comparative
studies exist in case of the application to freshwater species. According to our knowledge
there are only two studies comparing MN test to bacterial tests: Mouchet et al. (2006) and
Eck-Varanka et al. (2014).
In our study the sensitivity of S. woodiana to CuSO4 and B[a]P was compared to that of thefluctuation Ames test and SOS-Chromotest, and for the first time the sensitivity of two mussel
species in response to these chemicals was compared to each other.
Both species responded to CuSO4 and B[a]P with sufficient sensitivity, so the MN test isadequate to detect these contaminants in biologically relevant concentrations.
The results of the factorial ANOVA revealed that the sensitivity of the two mussel species was
similar in case of both chemicals. The MN frequency was mainly affected by the concentrationof chemicals, but in case of CuSO4 species-concentration interaction had also significant effect.
The sensitivity of S. woodiana is comparable to the sensitivity of U. pictorum, so at least for thestudied chemicals, the invasive S. woodiana can be a good surrogate species in toxicologicalmonitoring.
In the fluctuation Ames test the lowest studied concentration of B[a]P induced reverse
mutations with S9 activation, and CuSO4 induced mutagenicity in the 310µg/l concentration.
Higher concentrations of CuSO4 were cytotoxic for test bacteria, and no cell proliferation wasobserved. The SOS-Chromotest indicated no genotoxic response in case of CuSO4, but 70µg/l
concentration of B[a]P induced SOS-response.
Our results, in concordance with other works, indicate that the sensitivity of SOS-Chromotest
may not be sufficient enough to detect genotoxicity, and is lower than the sensitivity of thefluctuation Ames test. The sensitivities of mussel micronucleus test and fluctuation Ames test even though they apply very different endpoints, test organisms and effect modes - were very
similar to each other. For samples with unknown composition and for environmental
monitoring the application of both tests can be advised.

42

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the TÁMOP-4.2.2.A-11/1/KONV-2012-0064 research program.
This project is supported by the European Union and co-financed by the European Social Fund.
References
Ponta, M., T. Frentiu, A. Sarkany-Kiss & E. A. Cordos, 2002. Traces of Cu, Mn and Zn in Aquatic
Animals,Water and Sediments from the Cris River Basin – West Romania. Part II: Distribution Study.
Croatica Chemica Acta 75: 307-317.
Jha, A. N., V. V. Cheung, M. E. Foulke, S. J. Hill & M. H. Depledge, 2000. Detection of genotoxins in themarine environment: adoption and evaluation of an integrated approach using the embryo-larvalstages of the marine mussel, Mytilus edulis. Mutation Research 464: 213-228.
Kolarevic, S., J. Knezevic-Vukcevic, M. Paunovic, J. Tomovic, Z. Gacic & B. Vukovic-Gacic, 2011. The
antropogenic impact on water quality if the river Danube in Serbia: microbiological analysis andgenotoxicity monitoring. Archives of Biological Sciences, Belgrade 63: 1209-1217
Bolognesi, C. & M. Fenech, 2012. Mussel micronucleus cytome assay. Nature Protocols 7: 1125-1137.
Scarpato R., L. Migliore & R. Barale, 1990. The micronucleus assay in Anodonta cygnea for the detectionof drinking water mutagenicity. Mutation Research 245: 231-237.
Wozniczki, P., R. Lewandowska, P. Brzuzan, E. Ziomek & R. Bardega, 2004. The level of DNA damage andthe frequency of micronuclei in haemolymph of freshwater mussels Anodonta woodiana exposed
to benzo[a]pyrene. Acta Toxicologica, 12: 41-45.
Krifaton, Cs., 2012. Biomonitoring rendszerek fejlesztése az alfatoxin-B1 és a zearalenon vizsgálatára.
PhD thesis, Szent István University, Gödöllő, Hungary: 35-36.
Hubbard, S. A., M. H. L. Green, D. Gatehouse & J. W. Bridges, 1984. The fluctuation test in bacteria. In
Kilbey, B. J., M. Legator, W. Nichols & C.Ramels (eds), Handbook of Mutagenicity Test Procedures
Elsevier, Amsterdam: 141-160.
Mouchet, F., T. L. Gauthier, C. Mailhes, M. J. Jourdain, V. Ferrier, G. Triffault, & A. Devauxe, 2006.
Biomonitoring of the genotoxic potential of aqueous extracts of soils and bottom ash resulting
from municipal solid waste incineration, using the comet and micronucleus tests on amphibian(Xenopus laevis) larvae and bacterial assays (Mutatox® and Ames tests). Science of the Total
Environment 355: 232-246.
Eck-Varanka, B., E. Horváth, Á. Ferincz, G. Paulovits & N. Kováts, 2014. Comparative assessment of themussel micronucleus test vs. bacterial bioassays for genotoxicity testing of benzo[a]pyrene.
Hungarian Journal of Industry and Chemistry (accepted manuscript).

43

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Temporal and spatial variations in settlement and shell growth of Limnoperna
fortunei (Dunker, 1857) (Bivalvia: Mytilidae) in a small lake of south Thailand
V. Lheknim1 & P. Leelawathanagoon1
1

Department of Biology, Prince of Songkla University, PO Box 3 Ko Hong, Songkhla 90112,
ThailandKeywords: Thailand, Limnoperna, settlement patterns, population parameters, lake
Introduction
Limnoperna fortunei (Dunker, 1857) are native to China and Southeast Asia. L. fortunei wereintroduced to Hong Kong, Japan and invaded Argentina, and extended to other countries on
the American continent (Ricciardi, 1998; Belz et al., 2010). Because of their potential successful
invading ability and wide environmental tolerance, a number of biological studies have been
conducted in the temperate and subtropical invasive ranges (Ricciardi, 1998; Spaccesi, 2013).
The present study aimed to validate temporal and spatial variations in settlement and to
estimate growth parameters of L. fortunei in a tropical lake within their native range.
Materials and methods
The study lake was a small permanent dam reservoir on a karst formation, located at
8°5801N, 98°4859E, in a forest park of the Plant Genetic Protection Area, Rajjaprabha
Reservoir, Surat Thani Province, south Thailand. Maximum length of the lake was 255 m, width
36–65 m, and maximum depth 3.5 m. The substratum is bedrock, with sparse cobble, gravel,and muddy sand. Water input originates from rainfall and seepage. The two major climatic
seasons are the rainy and intermediate dry seasons. A small rainy season occurs during thesouthwest monsoon (May–September), a proper rainy season occurs during the northeast
monsoon (October–January), and the intermediate dry season occurs between February and
April. Surface water temperatures vary between 24.5°C in December and 34°C in May.
Three sampling stations were set in the lake to distinguish temporal and spatial variations insettlement of L. fortunei. Two sampling sites were randomly placed at each station, andsurface and bottom levels were laid. Two 10 × 10 cm2 multi-purposed scouring pads were
soaked in the lake for a month per level at each site, and the pads were replaced the next
month. The collecting panels were brought back to the laboratory, examined, and counted
under a stereomicroscope for the numbers of L. fortunei spat <2.0 mm. The counts wererecorded according to station, site, level, and replicate. While gathering the collecting panels,
on-site measurements of water level, air and water temperatures, pH, conductivity, hardness,and transparency were conducted. The settlement density of L. fortunei on the scouring pads
was verified using ANOVA.
Live L. fortunei were scraped from their natural populations between June 2010 and May
2012. Shell length was measured to the nearest 0.1 mm using a digital caliper. Lengthfrequency distributions were plotted at 0.5-mm intervals, and Bhattacharya’s method wasused to identify the age groups. Identifiable cohorts, based on the identified age group trend44Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

and standard deviation, were selected and fitted to an appropriate growth equation,
asymptotic length (L∞), and growth coefficient (K).
Results
Limnoperna fortunei spat occurred all year round (Fig. 1A). The average number of spat on thecollecting panels during 2011–2012 was significantly higher than that during 2010–2011. The
average settlement during the northeast monsoon was significantly higher than that during
the southwest monsoon and the southeasterly winds (Fig. 1B). The settlement density wassignificantly different among stations. The average settlement density on the bottom panels
was higher than that on the subsurface (Fig. 1C). The average settlement density during thenortheast and southwest monsoons was significantly higher during 2011–2012 than during
2010–2011 (Fig. 1D). A positive correlation was observed between the settlement density andwater conductivity (Fig. 1E), but no correlation was observed with water level, temperature,
pH, hardness, or transparency.
60

ind/ 100 sq. cm.

40
20
0

B)
ind/ 100 sq. cm.

80

ind/ 100 sq. cm.

60

NE

SE

Monsoon Season

400 conductivity microS/ cm

2010-201160

40

2011-2012

SW

300
40

20
0

C)

20
Surface

BottomHanging Level

D)

SW

NE

SE

200
0

E)

50

ind/ 100 sq.cm.

100

Monsoon Season

Fig. 1. Temporal and spatial variations in the settlement of Limnoperna fortunei (Dunker, 1857) in a small lake ofsouth Thailand. A) Mean ± 1 SE of the settlements between June 2010 and May 2012, B) Overall mean ± 1 SEof the settlements for each season between June 2010 and May 2012, C) Mean ± 1 SE of the settlements forthe surface and bottom collecting panels, D) Mean ± 1 SE of the settlements for each season of 2010–2011
and 2011–2012, and E) Positive correlation between settlement number and water conductivity. (SW=Southwest, NE= Northeast, SE= Southeast)

The length frequency of L. fortunei showed a clear polymodality (Fig. 2A). More than 130
age groups were identified. Mean shell length of the identified age groups for each sampling
month with possible link modes for 5 selected cohorts is given in Fig. 2B. Overall selectedcohorts conformed to a logistic regression rather than the von Bertalanffy growth function(VBGF) (Fig. 2C). No significant differences were observed among selected cohorts. The
population parameters estimated on the basis of logistic regression exhibited a high K value of
2.483 yr−1 and a L∞ value at of 22.02 mm with an estimated life span of 2.5–3.0 yr.
Subsequently, estimated lengths at age (Lt) were anticipated and calculated for theappropriate growth models:45

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Lt=
22.02/[1 + 7.24 e(−2.483x)]
A major peak in recruitment occurred in March and May, and a minor peak occurred between
July and October (Fig. 2E).

A)

B)
25

25

SL(mm)

20

20

15

15

10

10

5

5

0

0

C)

0.0

0.5

1.5
Year

1.0

2.0

2.5

D)

0.0

20 Recruitment(%)

SL(mm)

15
10
5

0.5

1.5
Year

1.0

2.0

0

2.5

E)

One YearFig. 2. Length frequency analysis of Limnoperna fortunei (Dunker, 1857) obtained from a small lake of south
Thailand during 2010–2012. A) Monthly length-frequency distributions, B) Mean shell length of theidentified age groups and growth trend of 5 selected cohorts, C) Growth curve fit: Logistic growth regression(solid line) vs. von Bertalanffy growth function (dash line), D) Logistic growth curves for 5 selected cohorts,
and E) Recruitment pattern

Discussion
We found that L. fortunei reproduces all year round (Figs. 1A and 2E), and settlement during
both peaks was strongly linked to environmental and climatic factors. Darrigran et al. (1999)
found veliger larvae when the water temperature rose above 20 °C. The water temperature in
our study lake fluctuated above 20 °C all year round and was well above the lower
temperature limit for larval development (Ricciardi, 1998). This may have led to continuous
reproduction throughout the year. Ricciardi (1998) suggested that 30 °C is the upper
temperature limit, which resulted in larval mortality and early settlement, and may have been
the reason why settlement dropped between March and May of 2011 and of 2012 andprobably other months. A similar phenomenon was observed by Montalto and Marchese(2003).
Significant differences in the settlement were observed among seasons and between study
years (Fig. 1B and 1D). This variability probably varied every year and every season because ofadaptive and reproductive variations in adults in the heterogeneous habitats of each stationeven within the same lake or same river, as suggested by Iwasaki and Uryu (1998). A significant
difference among stations was detected, suggesting that the spatial range of settlement washeterogeneous and indicating that within-lake dispersal of larvae was high. Higher settlement46

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

at deeper levels (Fig. 1C) was probably related to larval behavior such as predation avoidancein the planktonic stage or phototaxis prior to settlement.
A significant correlation was observed between the settlement and water conductivity (Fig.
1E). Spaccesi (2013) demonstrated a significant relationship between abundance of recruits
and the combination of temperature and physicochemical variables, including water
conductivity. This result indicates that a single environmental variable is not sufficient to
explain the larval settlement. The fluctuation in water conductivity was possibly related to Ca 2+
weathering from karst, which can regulate the presence, survival, and density of the recruits
via shell formation.
L∞ of L. fortunei in the present study was 22.02 mm, which was smaller than that in previous
reports, whereas K exhibited a considerably higher value of 2.453 yr −1 than that reported froma temperate area. We found that the L. fortunei growth pattern conformed to logistic growthrather than VBGF as mentioned in most reports (Fig. 2D). According to our results, L. fortunei
had a growth rate greater than that reported previously, suggesting that differences in growth
could be associated with climatological conditions. The greater growth rate in the present
study can be explained by the longer growth period.
Acknowledgment
The study was supported by the grant SCI530118S to the authors from Prince of Songkla
University.
References
Belz, C.E., Darrigran, G., Bonel, N. and Mader Netto, O.S. 2010. Density, recruitment, and shell growth ofLimnoperna fortunei (Mytilidae), an invasive mussel in tropical South America. Journal of
Freshwater Ecology 25: 227-233.
Darrigran, G., Penchaszadeh, P. and Damborenea, M.C. 1999. The reproductive cycle of Limnoperna
fortunei (Dunker, 1857) (Bivalvia: Mytilidae) from Neotropical temperature locality. Journal of
Shellfish Research 18: 2361-2365.
Iwasaki, K. and Uryu, Y. 1998. Life cycle of a freshwater mytilid mussel, Limnoperna fortunei, in Uji River,
Kyoto. Venus 57: 105-113.
Montalto, L. and Marchese, M. 2003. Limnoperna fortunei (Dunker, 1857) (Bivalvia: Mytilidae) tolerance
to temperature and pH in experimental conditions. Neotropica 49: 26-34.
Ricciardi, A. 1998. Global range expansion of the Asian mussel Limnoperna fortunei (Mytilidae): anotherfouling threat to freshwater systems. Biofouling 12(3): 97-106.
Spaccesi, F. 2013. Abundance, recruitment, and shell growth of the exotic mussel Limnoperna fortunei inthe Rio de la Plata (Argentina). Zoological Studies 52: 1-11.

47

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

A first application of the new assessment method for Italian lakes, EPI-L, in
Mediterranean ecoregion
C. Vendetti1, A. Marchetto2, C. Puccinelli1, F. Chiudioni1, S. Marcheggiani1 & L. Mancini1
1

Italian National Institute of Health, Environment & Primary Prevention Dept. Environmental
Quality and Fishfarm Unit;
2
CNR-ISE Institute of Ecosystem Study
Keywords: phytobenthos, Mediterranean lakes, reservoirs, Index EPI_L, Water Framework
Directive
Introduction
Aquatic ecosystems protection, and particularly the understanding of the causes ofanthropogenic environmental alteration of the same, are taking an important role in the lastyears. According to the Water Framework Directive 2000/60/EC (WFD; European Union, 2000)
the Member States of the European Union are obliged to assess the ecological status of waters
through biological quality element and as supporting these, the physical and chemical
properties of the water bodies are to be use as well as the hydromorphological parameters of
the lakes. According to WFD, for each biological quality elements, five status classes (high,good, moderate, poor, bad) are identified to assess ecological status. For each type are definedreference conditions and degradation is described from the deviation in species composition
and abundance from those present at reference conditions (Ecological Quality Report: EQR).
Diatoms are an abundant and important component of algal assemblages in freshwater lakes.
These are used as indicators for the assessment of environmental conditions according to the
WFD. The aim of this study is the first Italian application of the new index for ecological quality
assessment of lake waterbodies using benthic diatoms “The Italian method for evaluating lake
ecological quality from benthic diatoms (EPI-L)”(Marchetto et al, 2013) and to evaluate its
response to different diatom assemblages. The EPLI-L was studied in relation to lakeecosystems in Mediterranean ecoregion.
Material and Methods
The study of benthic diatoms was performed in 8 lakes of central Italy: Albano, Bracciano,
Bolsena, Vico, Martignano, Scanno, Salto and Turano (Fig. 1). While the first five lakes arevolcanic origin, Scanno origin by a natural slide, Turano and Salto are generated by ananthropic impoundment. For each lake we selected two or three sites according also todimensions.

48

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Bols
ena
Vico
Salto
Brac
Tura
Mart
cian
no
igna
o
no
Alba
Fig. 1. Locations of the lakes studied in central Italy
no

Scan
no

Sampling was carried out from June to September during the 2012 and 2013. A total of 43
samples were collected in the littoral zone of lakes on three types of substrates, whereavailable, in each site: stones or submerged macrophytes or artificial substrates that havebeen placed in water for at least three weeks. Diatoms were brushed from stones and artificial
substrates with a toothbrush while macrophytes were cut and washed in a suitable container
or grated carefully over the surface. The suspension was stored in a container and was
prepared in 24 hours from the collection. 5-10 ml of samples were oxidated with hydrogen
peroxide. The cleaned frustules were mounted in Naphrax and identified under oil immersion
at a magnification of 1000. For each sample diatom were identified at species level andabundance was estimated counting 400 valves (Lange-Bertalot, 2012).
Data treatment
The EPI-L index was calculated by weighted average and calibrated on eutrophication pressure.
EPI-L is the obtained on the basis of the following formula:(a= abundance of species in each lake; p= trophic weight, v= indicator value)

The sum of abundance of the n species used for the EPI-L calculation should account for atleast 70% of the total abundance for each sample.
At first were calculated national boundaries for deep (>15m) and shallow lakes (<15m)shown in table. Boundaries used in this studies was those results from first procedures
implementation relating to the Intercalibration exercise carry out “phytobenthos cross-GIG”(Marchetto, 2013) (Tab. 1).
BOUNDARY
Reference
H/G
G/M
M/P
P/B

EPI-L
deep
2.27
1.70
1.14
0.57
0.11

EQR
shallow
2.46
1.85
1.23
0.62
0.12

0.75
0.50
0.25
0.05

Tab. 1. National boundaries for deep andshallow lakes results from the first
implementation of Intercalibration Exercise

EQR final value is calculated as ratio between thevalues of EPI-L and those of reference according to
the following formula:49

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

ResultA total of 188 diatom species and varieties were identified belonging to the main genera mostcommon in the Mediterranean area (Fragilaria, Cyclotella, Amphora, Nitzschia, Staurosira,
Gomphonema, Navicula, Epithemia). The most frequent species were: Achnanthidium
minutissimum Czarnecki, Amphora pediculus Grunow, Amphora inariensis Krammer, Cocconeis
placentula var lineata, Van Heurck, Cyclotella ocellata Pantocsek, Cyclotella bodanica Grunow,
Cyclotella atomus Hustedt, Fragilaria capuccina var vaucheriae Lange-Bertalot, Fragilaria
famelica Lange-Bertalot, Fragilaria perminuta Lange-Bertalot, Epithemia adnata Brébisson,
Epithemia sorex Kützing, Navicula cryptotenella Lange-Bertalot, Nitzschia fonticola Grunow,
Nitzschia inconspicua Grunow, Staurosira brevistriata Grunow, Staurosira construens
Ehrenberg.
The impact of habitat type on species assemblages was evaluated: EPI-L has been
calculated for all samples collected by different substrates (Tab. 3) but, according to themethod, only 30 samples have exceeded the threshold of 70% of the species (Marchetto et al,2013). For each lake was finally described ecological quality status (Tab. 2).
Lakes

Samples

EPI-L

EQRsample

EQRlake

Quality
StatusAL_2 mc
1.31 0.57
AL_2sb
1.22 0.53
Albano0.55
G
AL_3mc1.26 0.55
AL_3sb
1.31 0.57
BR_1st1.33 0.58
Bracciano
BR_2mc1.36 0.59
0.58
G
BR_3st1.31 0.57
BO_1st1.34 0.59
BO_2st1.32 0.58
Bolsena
0.57
G
BO_3st1.29 0.56
BO_3sb
1.29 0.56
MA_1mc1.58 0.69
Martignano
0.68
G
MA_2st1.56 0.68
VC_1mc1.30 0.57
VC_1sb
1.32 0.58
Vico
VC_3st1.32 0.58
0.58
G
VC_3mc1.30 0.57
VC_3sb
1.38 0.60
SA_1st1.07 0.47
Salto
SA_1sb
1.19 0.52
0.50
G
SA_2st1.20 0.52
SC_1st1.37 0.60
SC_1mc1.47 0.64
ScannoSC_2st1.26 0.55
0.59
G
SC_2mc1.26 0.55
SC_3st1.44 0.63
TU_1st1.12 0.49
TU_2st1.16 0.51
Turano0.53
G
TU_2sb
1.28 0.56
TU_3st1.28 0.56n=site number; st=stones; mc=macrophytes; sb=artificial substrates
Tab. 2. EPI-L values and EQR results for each sample and ecological quality status for each lake studied50

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Discussion
The results confirm that the variances between samples collected at the same site on different
types of substrates, even if present, don’t affect the assessment quality of lakes. The
ecosystems studied were assessed in good ecological status, except for two samples (TU_1st;
SA_1st) relative to the Turano and Salto lakes; they present the lowest values of EPI-L and only
these two samples results in moderate quality probably caused by the artificial characteristics
of both ecosystems related to the use of water resource. It’s important to underline that the
final status of two lakes is good anyway. On the contrary, as expected, the highest values of
the index were observed for both samples of Martignano, the lake less impacted.
Conclusions
Some studies have found differences in trophic status in relation to diatoms species
composition from different substrates (Michelutti et al., 2003; Poulickova et al., 2004) insteadin others study these did not appear (Danilov and Ekelund, 2000; Lim et al., 2001). Results ofthis study showed that ecological status assessment method EPI-L can be apply to diatom
assemblages from different substrate stones, macrophytes and artificial substrates, giving thesame indication of lake trophic status. Finally EPI-L method results a suitable tool for the
ecological status assessment of lakes in Mediterranean ecoregion.
References
Danilov R.A. and Ekelund N.G.A., 2000. The use of epiphyton and epilithon data as a base for calculating
ecological indices in monitoring of eutrophication in lakes in central Sweden. Science of the Total
Environment 248: 63-70.
European Union (2000). Directive 2000/60/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23
October 2000 establishing a framework for communities in the field of water policy. Official Journalof the European Communities, L327/1,22.12.2000.
Lange-Bertalot H (Ed.) 2012. Diatomeen im Süßwasser-Benthos von Mitteleuropa. Bestimmungsflora
Kieselalgenfür dieökologische Praxis, Koeltz Scientific Books.
Lim D.S.S., Kwan C. and Douglas M.S.V. 2001. Periphytic diatom assemblages from Bathurst Island,
Nunavut, Canadian High Arctic: an examination of community relationships and habitat
preferences. Journal of Phycology, 37, 379-392.
Marchetto A., Agostinelli C., Alber R., Beghi A., Balzamo S., Bracchi S., Buzzi F., Carena E., Cavalieri S.,
Cimoli F., Costaraoss S., Crescentini I., Della Bella V., Di Brizio M., Fioravanti M., Fogliati P.,
Formenti R., Galbiati M., Galimberti F., Macor A., Mancini L., Marcheggiani S., Marchi G., Musazzi
S., Nicola A., Padula R., Pozzi S., Puccinelli C., Rinaldi E., Rustighi C., Testa P., Thaler B., Vendetti C.,
Zorza R. 2013. Indice per valutazione della qualità delle acque lacustri italiane a partire dalle
diatomee epifitiche ed epilitiche (EPI-L). Report CNR-ISE 02.13: 75-92.
Marchetto A. 2013. Report on fitting the Italian national method for the evaluation of the ecologicalquality of lake waterbodies using benthic diatoms (EPI-L) in the “phytobenthos cross-GIG”
Intercalibration exercise. CNR-ISE, 01.14.
Michelutti N., Holtham A.J., Douglas M.S.V. and Smol J.P. 2003. Periphytic diatom assemblages fromultra-oligotrophic and UV transparent lakes and ponds on Victoria Island and comparisons withother diatom surveys in the Canadian Arctic. Journal of Phycology, 39, 465-480.

51

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Poulíčková A., M. Duchoslav & M. Dokulil, 2004. Littoral diatom assemblages as bioindicators of lake
trophic status: A case study from perialpine lakes in Austria. European Journal of Phycology 39:
143-152.

52

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Fish biodiversity and incidence of invasive fish species in an aquaculture andnon-aquaculture site in Laguna de Bay, Philippines
M. L. A. Cuvin-Aralar 1
1

Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center, Aquaculture Department, Binangonan
Freshwater Station, Binangonan, Rizal, 1940 Philippines
Keywords: fish biodiversity; invasive species; Laguna de Bay
Introduction
Laguna de Bay is the Philippines’ largest inland water with 900 km 2 surface area. The lake has
been assessed as hypereutrophic (Rohani and Roblo, 1984) to dystrophic (Barril and Tumlos,
2002). To make use of the lake’s natural productivity a pilot aquaculture project started in1971 (del Mendo and Gedney, 1979). The aquaculture industry in the lake rapidly developed,
mainly using species not native to the lake. Since then, the lake has become a major source offish in Metro Manila and the adjacent provinces.
An assessment of the impact of aquaculture in the lake showed increased total finfish
biomass in the lake; ecotrophic efficiency of phytoplankton increased; and the calculated total
net primary production decreased by a factor of two compared to the pre-aquaculture period(de los Reyes, 1993). The dominant species cultured in Laguna de Bay are introduced species.
After more than 40 years the lake is now populated with non-native species including species
that are considered invasive and nuisance. Many of these species were deliberately introduced
for aquaculture and there are those that were considered accidental introductions likeornamental fish cultured in ponds within the lake’s watershed.
To assess the impact of aquaculture in localized areas in the lake, a study was conducted tomonitor diversity in the fisheries resources of the lake at two adjacent, but distinctly different
sites: the West Cove (WC), an open fishery area, with no aquaculture and the East Cove (EC)
which is an aquaculture site with cages for Nile tilapia, bighead carp, giant freshwater prawn.
The location of the two sites is shown in Figure 1.
Materials and Methods
Fish traps made of bamboo poles and nets were installed in both sites and the total content of
the traps were harvested every two weeks from April 2013 to March 2014. Biomass as well as
the counts of each species were determined. From September to December 2013, the WC was
overrun by massive bloom of water hyacinth which destroyed the trap53

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

EC

WC

Figure 1. Laguna de Bay Map, left with detail on the location of the West Cove (WC) and East Cove (EC) fish traps

Diversity indices such as Shannon-Weiner Diversity (H’), Evenness (J’), Simpson’s Index
Similarity (λ), species richness (s) (Pielou, 1974 & 1975) were determined from the biomass ofeach species. Catch per unit effort (CPUE) were also determined for each site. Student’s paired
t-test was used to determine significant differences between the two sites at P<0.05.
Results
There were no significant differences between the two sites in species richness,s. However,significantly higher diversity was observed in the non-aquaculture site, WC, compared to theaquaculture site, EC as evidenced by the higher H’, J’ and lower
On the other handsignificantly higher biomass of fishery resources were obtained in the EC than the WC. These
are shown in Table 1.
Site

East Cove

West Cove

P value

Speciesrichness, s
Mean

7.6 ± 2.7

Range

2 - 14Mean

8.5 ± 2.2Range

2 - 12
0.285

ShannonWeiner
Index, H’
0.731
±
0.412
0.082
1.452
1.229
±
0.384
0.466
1.884
0.001

Evenness, J’

SimpsonSimilarity

0.369± 0.6300.190
0.230
0.059 -0.695 0.281
0.974
0.595
± 0.382
0.174
0.167
0.224 - 0.815 0.178
0.784
0.001
0.002

Catch perunit effort,
g d-1± 5976±7231- 422 - 29745± 412 ± 356-

40 - 1270<0.001

Table 1. Mean and range of various diversity indices and catch per unit effort for the East Cove (aquaculture site)
and the West Cove (non-aquaculture site). Computed P values are from Student’s paired t-test

Introduced aquaculture species such as bighead carp Aistichthys nobilis showed a peak relative
dominance of 98% in October 2013 in the EC as opposed to 58% in the WC in January 2014.
Nile tilapia Oreochromis niloticus peaked at only 14% in the WC and at 77% in EC in December
and August 2013, respectively. Non-cultured invasive species such as the janitor fish54

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Pterygoplichthys sp. had the highest dominance in May 2013 in the EC at 63% while the WC in
February 2014 was at 27%. The knife fish Chitala ornata was highest in June 2013 at 65% in the
WC but did not dominate at all in the EC. Other invasive species found in both sites were
Pangasius sp. (23% in EC in June) and the cichlid Sarotherodon melanotheron (24% in WC in
March 2014).
The species caught in the fish traps in both sites were grouped into three categories: Nativethose that are native to Laguna de Bay; Cultured introduced - those that have been introduced
to the lake for aquaculture ; and Invasive- those that have proven to be nuisance species, notexploited for commercial fisheries. Native species include gobies (Glossogobius giuris, Giuris
margaritacea), silver therapon (Leiopotherapon plumbeus), Manila sea catfish (Arius sp.),snakehead (Ophicephalus striatus), freshwater prawn (Macrobrachium lanceifrons) and otherspecies. Cultured introduced species include milkfish (Chanos chanos), bighead carp
(Aristichthys nobilis), and Nile tilapia. Species considered invasive are the knife fish, the ciclid
Sarotherodon melanotheron, janitor fish and Pangasius sp. Those species are summarized in
Figure 2. In the EC, for the sampling period April 2013 to March 2014, the mean dominance forall cultured introduced species was 70%, with only an average of 13% for native species andthe rest are considered Invasive. In contrast, in the WC, Native species had a mean dominanceof 70% despite certain periods when Cultured introduced and Invasive species had somemonths alternately dominating the catch.
Discussion
The negative relationship between aquaculture and biodiversity has been defined by
Beveridge et al. (1994). Competition for resources such as habitat and natural feed resources
between native species and the cultured species are among the primary reasons. This isevident from the results of this study where lower indices of biodiversity were observed in the
EC compared to the WC. Introduced cultured species dominated the EC much more than theWC.
Species introductions for aquaculture for food fish, as in the case of Nile tilapia and bigheadcarp, and for ornamental fish trade, as the case of janitor fish and knife fish, among others has
severely affected the diversity in Laguna de Bay. Although fish biomass in the EC was muchhigher than in the WC, this may be due to the protection afforded areas near aquaculture
establishments to prevent poaching. On the other hand in open waters such as the WC,
fishermen regularly catch fish in these “unprotected” areas which may explain the lower
overall fish biomass found in the fish traps.
Aquaculture has been largely dependent on non-native domesticated species that havenegatively impacted local biodiversity (Da Silva et al., 2009). Reducing the dependence on alien
species for aquaculture and focusing on the domestication of commercially important native
species is the way to go to enable expansion of the industry without the accompanying risks ofspecies introductions (Ross et al., 2008).
Acknowledgements
Ms. Mildred Rutaquio and Mr. Federico Reyes assisted in the regular monitoring of the fishtraps. Funds for the study was provided by SEAFDEC/AQD .

55

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

No data due
to heavy water
hyacinth
infestationofsampling site

Fig. 2. Summary of relative dominance of fishery resources caught in fish traps in the East Cove (top) and West Cove(bottom)

References
Barril, C. R. & E. T. Tumlos, 2002. Water quality trends and trophic state assessment of Laguna de Bay,
Philippines. Aquatic Ecosystem Health & Management 5: 115-126.
Beveridge, M. C. M., L. G. Ross & L. A. Kelly, 1994. Aquaculture and biodiversity. Ambio: A Journal of the
Human Environment 23: 497-502.
De los Reyes, M. R., 1993. Fishpen culture and its impact on the ecosystem of Laguna de Bay,
Philippines. Pp 74-84. In Christensen, V. & D. Pauly (eds.), Trophic models of aquatic ecosystems .
ICLARM Conf. Proceedings. 26. 30pp.

56

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

De Silva, S. S., T. T. T. Nguyen, G. M. Turchini, U. S. Amarasinghe & N. W. Abery, 2009. Alien species inaquaculture and biodiversity: A paradox in food production. Ambio: A Journal of the Human
Environment. 38:24-28. 2009
Delmendo, M. N. & R. H. Gedney. 1976. Laguna de Bay fishpen aquaculture development-Philippines.
Proceedings of the annual meeting - World Mariculture Society, 7: 257–265.
Pielou E. C. 1974. Population community and ecology: Principles and Methods.New York: Gordon andBreach Science Publishers. 424pp,
Pielou E. C. 1975. Ecological Diversity. Toronto: John Wiley and Sons, Inc. 165pp.
Rohani, B. N., & T. M, Tumlo, 1984. A trophic state index for Laguna Lake in the Philippines. International
Journal of Water Resources Development, 2:43-54.
Ross, L. G. , C. A. Martinez Palacios & E. J. Morales, 2008. Developing native fish species for aquaculture:
the interacting demands of biodiversity, sustainable aquaculture and livelihoods. Aquaculture
Research, 39: 675-683.

57

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Zooplankton of Abkhazia lakes (Western Caucasus)
O. Yu. Derevenskaia 1 & N.M. Mingazova1
1

Kazan Federal University, Kazan, Russian Federation

Keywords: Zooplankton, Abkhazia, lakes
Introduction
Abkhazia is located in the south-western part of the Greater Caucasus. Republic ischaracterized by a pronounced vertical differentiation of climates and climate variability
related with the mountainous relief. Territory of Abkhazia has a dense surface hydrographic
network represented by mountain glaciers, rivers, lakes, swamps, springs of mineral andthermal waters (Ekba & Dbar, 2007).
There are many lakes on the territory of Abkhazia (over 130). Most of them are readily
available or affordable. In the mountains there are lakes formed by rockslides that formed
dams on rivers. Karst lakes are found in places of distribution of limestone. These lakes areround or funnel shape. In the coastal zone of the Black Sea are found shallow oxbow lakes
formed by flooding of rivers.
We investigated eight lakes. These lake basins have different origins: karst (Lake Blue), glacialtectonic (Big Riza, Small Riza, Mzy, Amtkel), former marine lagoon (Lake Skurcha) or artificial(Lakes Inkit, Soldatskoe), two lakes were formed in New-Afon cave. The surface area of thelakes was from 0.0003 (Lake Blue) to 1.47 km2 (Lake Big Riza).
Most of the water bodies of Abkhazia have not been investigated. Therefore, the greatscientific interest is the study of zooplankton communities. The aim of our research was to
identify of zooplankton species, the calculation of the quantitative characteristics ofzooplankton lakes Abkhazia.
Materials and methods
Samples of planktonic rotifers and crustaceans were collected during expeditions in AugustSeptember 2007-2012. In the pelagic zone of deep lakes samples were taken using Juday net(mesh size 100 microns). Consistently fished layers of hypolimnion, metalimnion andepilimnion. Samples were collected from shallow lakes straining 100-200 liters water throughthe Apshteyn network. Further processing of the samples was carried out with using standard
techniques of hydrobiology (The methodical…, 1982). The identification was performed withusing of Identification keys (Kutikova, 1970, Manuylova, 1964, Key…, 1994, 1995, 2010).
Results
Planktonic rotifers and crustaceans were presented 42 species in lakes. 27 species ofzooplankton was met in freshwater lakes and 20 species - in salt.
We identified 22 species of rotifers (52% of total). Rotifers belong to four orders and eightfamilies. Brachionidae family was most richly number of species (13), the rest of the family
were represented 1-2 species. The highest species richness of rotifers observed in lakes, both58

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

freshwater (Lake Mzy, 9 species), and in saline (Lake Skurcha, 11 species), least of all rotifers
was met in the lakes located in the caves.
Cladocera were presented 10 species (24% of the total) belonged to two orders (Anomopoda
and Ctenopoda) and 4 families. For families Chydoridae, Bosminidae, Daphniidae applied to 3
species and to Sididae - 1 species. The greatest number of cladocerans noted in salt lake.
Skurcha (6). In the cave lakes cladocerans were not met. In freshwater and saline lakes lived
seven species of Cladocera.
Copepods was met 11 species (24%) also belonged to the orders Calaniformes (Diaptomidae
family and Temoridae), Cyclopiformes (Fam. Cyclopidae) and Harpactiformes (Fam.
Canthocamptidae). Crustaceans Fam. Cyclopidae, subfamily Cyclopinae are most rich numberof species. The greatest number of Copepoda was identified in lakes Small Riza (4 species) and
Big Riza (3). In freshwater lakes inhabited by seven species and in salted - 3.
Zooplankton abundance was small, usually no more than 15000 ind/m 3. The highest values ofthis index were observed in freshwater lakes (up to 260 000 ind/m3 in Lake Riza) and in saltlake Inkit (14000 ind/m3). In the cave lakes zooplankton abundance was extremely low. Groupsof zooplankton abundance prevailed copepods and rotifers, and in freshwater lakes Blue andSmall Riza was the predominant group of cladocerans. The highest zooplankton biomass wasobserved in freshwater lakes (in lake Riza was 10 g/m 3 sometimes). Groups of zooplankton
biomass prevailed Copepoda or Rotifera.
Vertical distribution of zooplankton was uneven. In lake B. Riza highest density of zooplankton
was observed in the epilimnion and metalimnion, and the biomass was highest in theepilimnion (0-4 m). In lakes S. Riza and Amtkel highest density was in the hypolimnion. In saltlake Skurcha zooplankton was concentrated in the surface layers of water that is due to lack ofoxygen (25-30%) in the water column and the presence of hydrogen sulfide.
In samples taken of salted lake. Inkit, 10 types has been defined. Zooplankton abundance was14030 ind/m3, with a biomass of 0.01 g/m3. The number of species, density and biomass ofzooplankton groups prevailed rotifers dominated Brachionus calyciflorus.
Salt lake Skurcha characterized by a relatively high species richness of zooplankton, was found
17 species in this lake. Rotifera genus Synchaeta dominated by the ampleness in 2009,
Bosmina longirostris - in 2010. Eurytemora sp. prevailed by biomass in 2009, in 2010 - thelarval stage Calanoida. Zooplankton abundance varied by station from 120 to 630 ind/m3, andbiomass - from 0.00026 to 0.0024 g/m3. In general, quantitative indicators are very low.
Groups of zooplankton density and biomass prevailed Copepoda. Zooplankton relatively
unevenly dispersed in the water column.
Zooplankton are extremely small in number in lakes situated in caves. Thus, in two lakes
located in the New Afon cave were found a few individuals Copepoda identified as Diacyclops
bicuspidatus (Claus) in 2008. Total number of zooplankton in the lake Anatolia was 1960
ind/m3, when biomass was 13.71 mg/m3. In another lake total zooplankton abundance was
160 ind/m3, at biomass was 2.68 mg/m3. In repeated research of lakes in 2010, representativesof zooplankton could not be found.

59Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Discussion
Thus, lakes are different low diversity of zooplankton. The species composition of zooplankton
was the most diverse in freshwater deep stratified lakes and some lakes with salt water.
Overall zooplankton has low values of quantitative indicators. According to the literature forzooplankton mountain lakes also characterized by low biomass, dominance of large species(Daphnia, Calanoida), low species diversity, Glushchenko et al. ( 2009), Larson et al. (2009).
The data obtained can not be considered exhaustive, but they allow you to get an idea of thespecies composition and quantitative characteristics of planktonic rotifers and crustaceanslakes Abkhazia. Bodies of Abkhazia is a great variety of types, variety of hydrological andenvironmental conditions, so further research, including seasonal allow complement lists ofidentified species.
Acknowledgements
This work was funded by the grant allocated to Russian Foundation for Basic Research (grant№ 13-05-90308).
References
Ekba, J. & R. Dbar, 2007. Environmental climatology and landscapes of Abkhazia. Sochi, Papyrus-MDesign.
Glushchenko, L., O. Dubovskaya, E. Ivanova, S. Shulepina, I. Zuev & A. Ageev, 2009. Hydrobiologic
Survey of Some Lakes of Mountain Range Ergaki (West Sayan). Journal of Siberian Federal
University. Biology 3: 355-378.
Key to freshwater invertebrates of Russia and adjacent territories. Lower invertebrates, 1994.
S.Ya.Tsalolihin (ed). St. Petersburg, Zoological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
Key to freshwater invertebrates of Russia and adjacent territories. Crustaceans, 1995. S.Ya.Tsalolihin(ed). St. Petersburg, Zoological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
Key to zooplankton and zoobenthos of freshwater European Russia, 2010. V.R. Alexeev & S.Y.
Tsalolikhin (ed). Moscow, KMK.
Kutikova, L., 1970. Rotifera fauna of the USSR (Rotatoria). Subclass Eurotatoria (units Ploimida,
Monimotrochida, Paedotrochida). Nauka, Leningrad.
Larson, G. L., R. Hoffman, C. McIntire, G. Lienkaemper & B. Samora. Zooplankton assemblages inmontane lakes and ponds of Mount Rainier National Park, Washington State, USA 2009, Journal of
Plankton Research, 31: 273 – 285.
Manuylova, E., 1964. Cladocera of the USSR. Nauka, Leningrad.
The methodical guidelines on collection and processing of materials at hydrobiological researches on
freshwater reservoirs. Zooplankton and its production, 1982. Leningrad. Zoological Institute of theRussian Academy of Sciences.

60

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Limnological conditions and fish assemblage structures of the Tapi River
oxbow lake in south Thailand
V. Lheknim 1 & N. Tubtimtong 1
1

Department of Biology, Prince of Songkla University, Thailand

Keywords: Thailand, Limnology, fish, oxbow-lake
Introduction
Oxbow lakes and floodplains add significant biodiversity, and are economically important tolocal people. Little is known about fish abundance and distribution in the floodplain of the Tapi
River, particularly for the area of an oxbow lake (Lheknim, 2004). Thus, in the present study,
physical and chemical characteristics of the water in an oxbow lake of the Tapi River floodplain
were determined during various climatic periods (wet, rainy, and dry), and data on water
qualities and fish composition were obtained for use as background for future sustainable use.
Materials and methods
Han Dum is a permanent oxbow lake located on the left bank of the Tapi River in the Kian Sa
District, Surat Thani Province, south Thailand (843′09′′N, 9914′39′′E). The maximum length isapproximately 4 km, the width ranges between 15 and 50 m, and the maximum depth is 3.5 m.
The substratum is predominantly mud and debris. Water input mainly comes from rainfall andthe Tapi River. Emergent aquatic plants include Phragmites australis and Eleocharis dulcis. The
banks of the main channels are wooded and shrubs. The region has a tropical monsoon
climate, hot and humid. There are 2 seasons, i.e., the major rainy and intermediate dry season.
The rainy season are further subdivided into a minor rainy season during the southwest
monsoon (May to September), a principal rainy season during the northeast monsoon(October to January). The swamps are almost entirely flooded during the mid-late northeast
monsoon and are restricted during the dry season.
Stationary lift net is widely used in this oxbow lake, with polyethylene nets of 8 × 8 m and 1.0
cm mesh size. Samples were collected by soaking the net underwater for 30 min. The net wasthen lifted and specimens were harvested. This procedure was replicated twice during each 3h interval throughout the 48-h period. Samples were collected before and after sunrise, before
and after noon, before and after sunset, and before and after midnight. Fish samples werecollected directly from the lifted net, were identified at the species level, and were counted
and weighed.
Environmental quality samples were collected on a monthly basis at 2 sampling stations in theoxbow lake and 2 sampling stations adjacent to the main Tapi River inlet of the oxbow lake.
Water and air temperatures, pH, conductivity, alkalinity, and dissolved oxygen (DO) wererecorded onsite. Water samples were transported to the laboratory, and total organic carbon(TOC), total nitrogen (TN), nitrate (NO3-N), orthophosphate (PO4-P), and silicate (SiO2) contents
were determined.

61

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Monthly differences in water quality parameters between the oxbow lake and the adjacentriver between June 2013 and May 2014 were investigated using two-way ANOVA. Differencesin total individual numbers and total haul weights per lift net between sampling months in theoxbow lake were examined using one-way ANOVA. In addition, one-way analyses ofsimilarities were performed to identify seasonal variations in the structures of fish
assemblages on the basis of the presence/absence of fish species in each month. Similarity
percentage analyses (SIMPER) were performed to test for the influences of individual species
and similarities among seasons were investigated using correspondence analyses.
Results
Oxbow lake water levels were clearly defined by seasonal patterns, and from February to June,
the lake was hydrologically isolated from the main river channel. However, a connection wasestablished at the start of the southwest monsoon, following breach of the river levee andflow of water into the lake. This high water period gradually increased in July, possibly peaked
between November and December, and water levels remained high for 5–6 months (Fig. 1A).
Minimum water temperature varied from 21 to 29 °C and maximum water temperature
ranged from 28 to 37 °C. Minimum air temperature varied from 18 to 29°C and maximum airtemperature was 33–37 °C (Figs. 1B and 1C). Water conductivity, DO, and PO43− contents in themain Tapi River reach were significantly higher than in the oxbow lake and varied significantly
between months (Figs. 1D, 1E, and 1F respectively). Alkalinity and total available carbon
dioxide from the Tapi River reach were also higher than from the oxbow lake, but did not varysignificantly between months (Figs. 1G and 1H). No significant differences in NO 3−, TN, TOC andSiO32− levels were observed between the oxbow lake and the Tapi River reach, although these
constituents varied significantly between months (Figs. 1I, 1J, 1K and 1L).
Within the oxbow lake, significant positive correlations were observed between multiple
variables, including conductivity and alkalinity, conductivity and water level, water level andalkalinity, maximum water temperature and phosphate content, and maximum watertemperature and total organic carbon (Fig. 1M).
Total numbers of fish collected between August 2013 and December 2003 were significantly
higher than those collected from other sampling dates (Fig. 2A), and the catch in October 2013
was the lowest. A comparable trend was also observed for average lift net haul weights (Fig.
2B), and the lowest catch weight occurred in October 2013. Significant differences in total
numbers of fish/lift net haul and total weights/lift net hual were observed between thesampling months June 2013 and May 2014.

62

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

M)

15

15

mg Carbon/L

mg Silicate/L

10
10
5
L) 5

K) 0

5
4
3
2
1
I) 0
160
120
80
40
G) 0
10
8
6
4
E) 2
40

10
8
6
4
J) 2
50
40
30
20
10
H) 0
8
6
4
2
F) 0
400

mg Nitrate/L

mg Calcium Carbonate/L

mg Oxygen/Lcelcius

30

300

20

200

C) 10

D) 100

100
0
-100
-200
-300

A)

40

cm

mg Nitrogen/L

mg Carbon Dioxide/L

mg Phosphate/L

microS/cm

Celcius30
20
10
J J A S O

2013

N

0
D J F MA M J

2014

B)

J J A S O

2013

N

0
D J F MA M J

2014

Fig. 1. Temporal variations in water quality of the oxbow lake (Solid Line) and Main Tapi River (Dash Line) in south
Thailand, June 2013 – May 2014. A) Water level, B) Water Temperature, C) Air Temperature, D) Conductivity,E) Dissolved Oxygen, F) Phosphate, G) Alkalinity, H) Total Carbon Availability (TIC), I) Nitrate, J) Total Nitrogen,
K0 Total Organic Carbon, L) Silicate, and M) Correlation Coefficient between parameters (asterisk= significant
correlations)63

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

More than 75 species were recorded from between June 2013 and May 2014, and the highest
total species number was recorded in September 2013. Species richness remained relatively
high until March 2014 and total numbers of species were subsequently reduced (Fig. 2C).
However, no significant differences in total fish species assemblages were observed between
seasons. Moreover, analyses of similarity failed to detect differences in species composition
between seasons during the given sampling dates (Global R = 0.01008, p = 0.4506; Fig. 2D).
Typical correspondence analysis plots for these comparisons are presented in Figure 2E.
400 g/haul

50

75

300

40

50

200

25

100

0

0

100

A)

ind/haul

spp.

30
20

M J J A S O N D
0 J F M A M J

2013

2014

Month

B)

10
0
M J J A S O N D
0 J F M A M J

2014

2013

Month

C)

M J J A S O N D
0 J F M A M J

2013

2014

Axis II (17.5%)

1.5

Month

SW

1.0

NE

0.5

SE

0.0
-0.5
-1.0

E)

-0.5

0.0

0.5

1.0

Axis I (18.9%)

D)
Fig. 2. Temporal variations in fish assemblage of the Tapi River oxbow lake in south Thailand between June 2013
and May 2014. A) Average total numbers of fish/Lift net hual, B) Average total weights/Lift net hual, C) total
numbers of species, D) Box plot of ranked similarity distance among Monsoon Season (SW= southwest, NE=
Northeast, SE= Southeastery Wind), and E) Correspondence Analysis of fish assemblage among Monsoon
SeasonDiscussion
Physicochemical characteristics of water are known to affect the distribution, abundance, andcomposition of fish in aquatic ecosystems. In this study, significant differences in conductivity,
DO, NO3−, PO43−,TN, TOC, and SiO32− levels among sampling months were observed, indicating
significant seasonality (Fig. 1). These variations in oxbow lake water contents were clearlycorrelated with water levels, and reflected the condition of the connection between the lake
and the adjacent river (Tockner et al., 1999).
During the SW monsoon, water started to flood the lake, and species richness increased andpeaked in the proper rainy season. Subsequently, species richness declined with isolation of
the lake from the main river (Figs. 1A and 2C), confirming that fish species diversity of oxbow
lakes is dependent on the connectivity between the lake and the adjacent river (de Silva et al.,2013). The flooding season expands the floodplain habitat, includes the oxbow lake, andimproves the availability of feeding and nursery habitats (Junk et al., 1989). Because theoxbow lake is located in a floodplain that is covered with emergent plants and swamps, it may
provide more protective habitats that support more diverse populations.

64Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

In summary, we found that seasonality of environmental conditions reflected variations in fish
assemblage patterns, which also had clear seasonal trends. The present absence of significant
differences in fish species richness between seasons may reflect the dimensional limitations ofpresent–absent data, and warrant further studies using multi dimensional analyses.
References
Junk, W. J., Bayley, P.B. and Sparks, R.E. 1989. The flood pulse concept in river-floodplain systems.
Canadian Special Publication in Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, 106: 110- 127.
Lheknim, V. 2004. Annotated checklist for a collection of fishes from Tapi River Basin, south Thailand.
The Natural History Journal of Chulalongkorn University 4(2): 83-98.
da Silva, M.T., Pereira, J.O., Vieira, L.J.S. and Petry, A.C. 2013. Hydrological seasonality of the riveraffecting fish community structure of oxbow lakes: A limnological approach on the Amapá Lake,southwestern Amazon. Limnologica 43: 79-90.
Tockner, K., Pennetzdorfer, D., Reiner, N., Schiemer, F. and Ward, J.V. 1999. Hydrological connectivity,
and the exchange of organic matter and nutrients in a dynamic river floodplain system (Danube,
Austria). Freshwater Biology 41: 521-535.

65

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Lake Shorezone Functionality index (SFI) and macrophytes in the Protectedarea of Lungo and Ripasottile lakes
L. Mancini1, F. Chiudioni1, S. Violino2, S. Marcheggiani1, C. Puccinelli1, I. Fioramonti 1, A.
Martinelli3 & G. Damiani2
1

Italian National Institute of Health, Environment & Primary Prevention Dept. Environmental
Quality and Fishfarm Unit
2
Tuscia University
3
Regional Environmental Protection Agency (ARPA Lazio)
Keywords: Lakes, Protected Area, Macrophyte, Shorezone Functionality Index (SFI),
Nupharetum
Introduction
Natural and artificial lakes represent the main fresh water reservoirs immediately available on
the hearth surface and the key components of the global water supplying. These ecosystems
have a considerable interest at ecologic and evolutive level because of the demographic andeconomic development which expose them at an heavy environmental risk (Mastrantuono &Mancinelli, 2003). Biological indicators are used to assess the environmental quality of aquatic
ecosystems as required by Water Framework Directive 2000/60/EC (Europe, 2000). The
macrophytes are used in Europe to assess the quality of the lakes water as their highsensitivity to different pollutants (Seddon, 1972; Haslam, 2000). The index used to evaluate
the quality of the italian lakes is the Macrophytes Italian Multimetrics Index (MacroIMMI), an
index based on multiple metrics but mainly developed for alpine lakes (Oggioni et al., 2009).
The WFD require also a idromorfological and physical-chemical parameters to support
biological elements. The Lake Shorezone Functionality index (SFI) represents a tool supporting
the definition of ecological quality (Europe, 2000) as the preservation or widening of thewetland can be of valuable aid for achieving the objectives of the WFD (Siligardi et al., 2011).
The aim of the study was to assess the environmental quality of the Lungo and Ripasottile
lakes by investigating macrophytes communities and hydromorphological functionality with
SFI index.
Materials and methods
The SFI evaluation and the macrophyte sampling were performed in September 2013 when
the aquatic vegetation and riparian flora of the Ripasottile and Lungo lakes are at the greatest
development.
The two lakes were divided into homogeneous traits in order to evaluate the functionality ofthe specific shorezone traits. Seven tracts for Ripasottile and five for Lungo have been
identified and evaluated according to the SFI index manual (Siligardi et al., 2011). Further, thephysical-chemical parameters like temperature (T), pH, dissolved oxygen (O2) and Conductivity
were evaluated using a multiparameter probe (556 MPS YSI) and chemical parameters as total
Phosphorous(P), Nitrate(NO3-), Ammonium (NH4+), Chemical Oxigen Demand (COD) were66

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

evaluated with a Merk commercial kit and Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD5) with WTWOXiTop.
Macrophytes analysis was performed, for both lakes, evaluating the total percentage ofcoverage and the percentage coverage of the individual macrophyte species and it wascalculated the MacroIMMI index (Oggioni et al., 2009). Macrophyte species were sampledaccording to a standard procedure (UNI, 2008) and subsequently identified at species level by
the use of a dichotomous key (Pignatti, 2003).
Results
The results of this study show that Shorezone functionality resulted excellent for both lakes inall the tracts (Fig. 1).
The physical-chemical and chemical results show similarity between the waters of the twolakes .
Macrophytes were found mainly on the riparian zone and few species were found in the firstmeters of the water, probably due to the high turbidity ,deeper zones and substrate typology
silt-clay.
A total of 6 species typically of Riparian zone, Phragmites australis Lam., Sparganium
erectum L., Persicaria hydropiper L., Symphytum officinale L., Iris pseudacorus L., Cyperus
longus L. were found in the lake Ripasottile and 4, 2 species typically of the riparian zone
Cyperus longus L., Phragmites australis Lam. in Lungo lake are identified.
The total macrophytes coverage was low in both lakes: 30% in Lungo Lake and 15% in
Ripasottile lake. As far as the coverage of Phragmites australis Lam. represents most of
macrophyte coverage of the riparian zone of both Lungo lake and Ripasottile lake. In Lungo
lake it was found Nymphaea alba L., which together with Nuphar lutea L., makes a rareassociation, named Nupharetum, in Latium ecosystems.
It was not possible to apply MacroIMMI Index to evaluate water quality of two lakes because
macrophyte species detected in this study, were only partially included, only Nymphaea alba L.
and Nuphar lutea L. in the index list. in fact the index was mainly build on species typically of
Alpine ECO Region.

Fig.1. Results of SFI applied on the Ripasottile and Lungo lakes

67Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Discussion
Lungo and Ripasottile lakes represent a natural reservation important for its potentiality in thebiodiversity and ecosystems protection. On the whole, this study shows the abundantpresence of macrophityc communities in both lakes along the riparian areas and in the firstmeter of water.
The constant presence of Phragmites australis L. in both lakes should not be underestimatedas this macrophyte acts as an “oxigen pump” mediating the transfer of oxigen from aereal partto the rizosphere and increasing the aerobic degradation of organic substances andnitrification. ( Hwa Lee & Scholz, 2006).
In Lungo lake, the presence of Nymphaea alba L. is of relevant importance, as this species is
extremely rare in the Latium ecosystems. With the more common, Nuphar lutaea L. it makes
the Nupharetum, a rare association protected in the framework of Habitat Directive ( Europe,1992).
The national method for macrophytes of lakes is still in the experimentation phase and isessential to calibrate it for each ECO Region present in national territory.
The present study is a contribution to implementation of MacroIMMI index application.
The use of SFI index allows to move the attention to the external part at the border of water
body, to the dry zone and its surroundings and thus represents an innovative operationconsidering more extensively the lacustrine body. The SFI index tries to conjugate in an easy
way the different dimension of a lake and to increase the knowledge on the ecotonals
relationships between two close ecosystems.
In this study, Shorezone Functionality Index (SFI) resulted excellent for the two lakes, thus
indicating that the riparian zone represents an important buffer for runoff and leaching
derived by human activities in the whole of the Natural reservation of Lungo and Ripasottile
lakes. However, the continuous pressure on the wet biotopes could in future not be sufficient
to preserve the biodiversity.
References
European community, 1992. council directive of 21 May 1992 on the conservation of natural habitats
and of wild fauna and flora, 92/43/EC. in: official Journal, l206, 22/07/1992.
European community, 2000. council directive of the european Parliament and of the council of 23
october 2000 establishing a framework for community action in the field of water policy,
2000/60/EC. in: official Journal, l327/1, 23/10/2000.
Franceschini S, Formichetti P, Damiani G, Venanzi D, Fabiani S, Schirone B, Mancini L, ed. 2004. Qualitàambientale della Riserva Naturale dei laghi Lungo e Ripasottile (Rieti). Rapporti ISTISAN. ;04(39).
Haslam S.M. 2000. - The evaluation of river pollution using vegetation in the Maltese islands. Freshwat.
Environ. Bull., 9, 347-351.
Hwa Lee B., Scholz M. 2006. What is the role of Phragmites australis in experimental constructedwetland filters treating urban runoff? Ecological engineering 29, 87–95.
Mastrantuono L., Mancinelli T. 2003. Meio‐macrobenthic invertebrates associated with submergedplants in a Chara‐lake (Lake Martignano, Italy): benthic structure and enviromental quality. Atti
Ass. Ital. Oceanol. Limnol., 16: 187‐201.
Oggioni A, Buzzi F, and Bolpagni R. 2011. Indici macrofitici per la valutazione della qualita ecologica dei
laghi: MacroIMMI e MTIspecies. In: AA.VV. Indici per la valutazione della qualità ecologica dei laghi.
Report CNR – ISE, 03-11: 164 pp.

68

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Pignatti S. 2003. Flora d'Italia,vol 1-3 Ed. agricole.
Seddon B. 1972. Aquatic macrophytes as limnological indicators. Freshwater Biology;2:107-130.
Siligardi M, Bernabei S, , Cappelletti C, , Ciutti F, Dallafior V., Dalmiglio A.,Fabiani C., Mancini L, Monauni
K, Pozzi S, Scardi M.,Tancioni L., Zennaro B. 2011. IFP l’indice di funzionalità perilacuale.
UNI EN 15460:2008 Water quality - Guidance standard for the surveying of macrophytes in lakes.

69Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Environmental quality assessment of Posta Fibreno Lake Protected area
L. Mancini1, S. De Meo1, A.M. D’ Angelo1, F. Chiudioni1, E. Pierdominici1, S. Caciolli1, E. D’ Ugo1,
C. Puccinelli1, S. Marcheggiani1, N. Rossi2 & B. Cicolani3
1

Italian National Institute of Health, Environment & Primary Prevention Dept. Environmental
Quality and Fishfarm Unit
2
Regione Lazio
3
L'Aquila University
Keywords: Diatom communities, environmental quality, integrated approach, protected area
Introduction
Aquatic ecosystems in protected areas help the preservation of biodiversity and play animportant ecological role in the landscape due to their function as biological corridor andsource of fauna recolonisation (Mancini et al., 2005). The assessment of environmental qualityof these ecosystems is important for following reasons: 1) to investigate the real condition ofwater bodies in protected area: rarely parks were created to preserve the functionality offreshwater aquatic ecosystems; 2) it is required by Water Frame Directive (CEC, 2000); 3)
protected area could be a good pilot area where apply restoration and management planes.
The study area of this work is the Protected Area of Posta Fibreno lake: it was created in 1983,
in order to preserve the floristic and faunistic biodiversity of this lake. It has karstic orgin thatgenerated particularly environmental conditions (ie water temperature is 10° C is around 10°C
throughout the year), that allow the life of different plant (Hippuris vulgaris) and animals(Salmoni fibreni) and the nidification of different birds (Fulica atra). The environmental quality
was assessed by an integrated approach that included biological and microbiologicalindicators, supported water quality variables. Diatom were chosen as biological indicator: they
are unicellular algae of Bacillariophyceae class and due to their sensitivity to eutrophicationand organic pollution are one of the biological elements required by the Water frame Directive
for ecological status the assessment (ie. Prygiel & Coste 1999). Furthermore as microbiologicalindicator were chosen Enterococci and E. coli: they are commonly used to detect faecal
pollution (Berg, 1978, EU, 2006).
Materials and methods
Seven sites were selected around Posta Fibreno Lake and two sampling were performed in
2007, in hot and cold season.

70Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Fig. 1. Localization of sampling sites

Diatom samples were collected from six sites, except from F7_EF. Samples were treated using
H2O2 and HCl; diatoms were identified at species level using iconographic guides, and 400
valves were counted (Krammer & Lange-Bertalot, 1986-2000; CEN-EN 13946, 2005 e pr-EN
14407, 2004). Environmental quality was assessed by Trophic index (Rott, 1999) and Indice dePolluo Sensibilitè (Cemagref, 1982), already used for the ecological status assessment of river(Mancini & Sollazzo, 2009).
Water quality parameters, such as, pH, and Conductivity and Dissolved Oxygen were measured
in situ using a portable probes for multi-parameter. While nutrients, nitrate (NO3-), phosphate(PO43-), ammonium (NH4+), were analyzed using Merck Spectroquant kits and concentrations
were determined photometrically.
E. coli and Enterococci were detected, using the membrane filtration technique (APHA, 2005)
and each parameters were run in triplicate and results are expressed as mean of colony
forming units (CFU).
Results
Diatom communities
A total of 59 species and varieties have been identified, belonging to following genera
Navicula, Gomphonema Amphora, Achnanthes, Cymbella, Epithemia, Stauroneis, Diploneis,
Eunotia, Cocconeis.
Environmental quality was assessed using two biotic index, Trophic index (TI) and Indice dePolluosensibilitè (IPS) (Fig. 2), two samples of cold season F1_S, F2_SO were not included inindex calculation due to their low concentration of diatoms. TI, based on the sensitivity of
diatoms for nutrients classified all the sites in moderate or poor environmental conditions;instead IPS, a quality index that takes into account mainly sensitivity to organic pollution
classified sites in high or good quality, except for one site in cold season that resulted inmoderate conditions (F4_A).

71

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Fig. 2. Environmental quality based on application of two biotic index diatom communities

Microbiological and water quality variables analysis results
Results of microbiological analysis and water quality variables are reported in table below(Tab. 1).
Microbiological results showed a variability from hot to cold season in F6_C site for of E. coli.
High values of Enterococci concentration were observed on F1_S and F7_EF sites.
Water quality variables results showed similar values of conductivity, pH and Dissolved Oxygenin the studied sites and a significant seasonal variation was not detected; nutrient analysis
results showed light concentrations of Nitrates in all samples, except in F6_D.
Hot season sampling
Sampling
sites

O2(mg/L)

NO3(mg/L)-

PO4(mg/L)

3

NH4(mg/L)

6.74
8.84
6.88
7.72
6.72
8.87
7.00
9.01
6.85
11.72
7.06
10.25
6.79
15.5
Cold season sampling
Sampling
E. coliEnterococchi Conductivity
O2
pH
sites
CFU/100ml CFU/100ml(µS/cm)(mg/L)
F1_S
8
2.01*100
669
6.91
7.9
F2_SO
1
0
644
6.89
8.3
F3_SU
0
1
637
6.90
7.59
F4_A
1.4*10
6
679
6.91
8.85
F5_D
0
1
672
6.98
8.83
2
F6_C
2.13*102.1*10
699
6.95
9.68
2
F7_EF
1.7*104.00*10
699
6.91
9.9

3.43
3.13
3.04
2.67
2.24
0.94
2.42

0.09
0.04
0.04
0.11
0.11
0.05
0.03

0.01
0.05
0.01
0.04
0.01
0.02
0.03

-

PO4
(mg/L)
0.58
0.11
0.2
0.11
0.11
0.11
0.11

3-

NH4
(mg/L)
0.01
0.02
0.01
0.02
0.01
0.02
0.01

F1_S
F2_SO
F3_SU
F4_A
F5_D
F6_C
F7_EF

E. coliEnterococchi Conductivity
CFU/100ml CFU/100ml(µS/cm)
1*10
1*10
0
8,5
0
5.8*10001.3*106
1.2*101*102
1.4*103.2*10

pH

659
653
645
764
663
600
693

Table 1. Microbiological and water quality parameter analysis results

72

NO3(mg/L)
2.94
2.53
2.80
1.89
2.26
1.24
1.89

+

+

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Discussion
The environmental quality of Posta Fibreno Lake was assessed by and integrated approachthat takes in to account biological, microbiological indicators supported by water quality
parameters. Diatom communities found in this study are mainly composed by sensitive species
to organic pollution and eutrophication Achnanthes minutissima, Cocconeis placentula,
Diatoma mesodon (Dell’Uomo, 2004, Van Dam et al., 1994), indicating an overall goodenvironmental quality of this lake. Furthermore these algae were also able to detect the light
concentration of nutrients (Tab. 1): Trophic index, results classified all the sites in a moderateor poor environmental quality. Organic pollution was detected by diatom communities,
applying the Indice de Polluosensibilité, only in one site F4_A in autumn season: indeed itclassified remaining sites in good or high quality. Microbiological results suggested thepresence of spot and point sources of pollution. Contamination from E. coli was probably due
to anthropogenic origin as increase during hot season; instead of Enterococci was probably
due to the livestock activities. The results of this study reveal that overall the lake Posta
Fibreno is in a condition of good environmental quality. The light nutrient concentrations could
be attributed to the nature of the karst terrain. The presence of, organic pollution, althoughpoint, that does not compromise the overall quality of this lake, should be considered, anyway,
a warning: the environmental status of this lakes should be in a high quality in order torepresent a reference condition for aquatic ecosystems that are not located in protectedareas.
References
APHA, AWWA, WPCF, 2005. Standard methods for the examination of water and waste-water, 21th ed.
Centennial edition. In: Eaton, A.E., Clesceri, L.S., Rice, E.W., Greenberg, A.E. (Ed.), American Public
Health Association, Washington, DC.
CEC, 2000. - Council of European Communities Directive 2000/60/EEC of 23 October 2000 establishing aframework for community action in the field of water policy. Luxembourg. Official Journal of
European Communities.
CEMAGREF 1982. - Etude des méthodes biologiques d’appréciation quantitative de la qualité des eaux.
Rapport Q.E. Lyon-A.F. Bassin Rhone-Mediterranee-Corse, Lyon.
Berg G. 1978. The indicator system. In Indicators of Viruses in Water and Food .Ed ited by Berg G. Ann
Arbor, MI: Ann Arbor Science.1-13.
Dell’Uomo A., 2004. L’indice diatomico di eutrofizzazione /polluzione (EPI-D) nel monitoraggio delleacque correnti. Linee Guida. APAT, CTN AIM, Roma.
EN 13946, 2003. - Water quality. Guidance Standard for the routine sampling and pre-treatment ofbenthic diatom samples from rivers, European Committee for Standardization, Brussels.
EN 14407, 2004. - Water quality. Guidance Standard for the identification, enumeration andinterpretation of benthic diatom samples from running waters. European Committee forStandardization, Brussels.
Krammer K. & Lange-Bertalot H., 1986, 1988, 1991a, 1991b, 2000. - Bacillariophyceae. Teil:
Naviculaceae; Bacillariaceae, Epithemiaceae, Surirellaceae; Centrales, Fragilariaceae, Eunotiaceae;
Achnathaceae. Kritische Erganzungen zu Navicula und Gomphonema; and french translation of thekeys. Süβwasserflora von Mitteleuropa, 2/1-5, Fischer, Stuttgart.

73

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Mancini L., P. Formichetti, A. Anselmo, L. Tancioni, S. Marchini & A. Sorace. Biological quality of runningwaters in protected areas: the influence of size and land use. Biodiversity and Conservation
2005;14:351-64.
Mancini L, Sollazzo C (Ed.) 2009. Metodo per la valutazione dello stato ecologico delle acque correnti:
comunità diatomiche.Roma: Istituto Superiore di Sanità. (Rapporti ISTISAN 09/19).
Prygiel J. & M. Coste, 1999. Guide metodologique pour la mise en oeuvre de l’Indice Biologique
Diatomees – NF T 90-354 X. Bordeaux : Etude de l’Agencie de l’Eau, Cemagref.
Rott, E., Pfister P., H. Van Dam, Pipp E., K. Pall, N. Binder & K. Ortler, 1999. Indikationslisten für
Aufwuchsalgen in Österreichischen Fliessgewässern, Teil 2: Trophieindikation und autökologische
Anmerkungen Bundesministerium für Land- und Forstwirtschaf. Wien: Wasserwirtschaftskataster.
Van dam H., Mertens A. & J. Sinkeldam, 1994. A coded Checklist and ecological indicator values offreshwater diatoms from the Netherlands Journal Aquatic Ecology; 28: 117-33.

74

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Artificial substrates for the sampling of diatom communities in transitionalwater
C. Puccinelli1, S. Marcheggiani1, P. Mancini1, F. Chiudioni1, R. Scenati1, R. Giuseppetti1 & L.
Mancini1
1

Italian National Institute of Health, Environment & Primary Prevention Dept. Environmental
Quality and Fishfarm Unit
Keywords: diatom sampling, artificial substrates, transitional waters
Introduction
From the emanation of Water Frame Directive (CEC, 2000), standard sampling procedures andassessment method have been developed for the analysis of diatom community of river andlakes (En 13496, 2005, Kelly et al 2006, Mancini & Sollazzo 2009, Marchetto et al., 2013).
The term of Transitional waters included estuaries, coastal lakes and lagoons: theenvironmental differences (hydromorphology, geology and hydrodinamism) of theseecosystems represent a challenge for the development of methods of sampling and analysis of
biological elements (CEC, 2000) .
Artificial substrates: have been suggested for diatom sampling of river and lakes whereas,
natural susbstrates, such as stones or macrophytes are not present (En 13496, 2005), and they
are compliant to Water Frame Directive requirements. This study aims to set methods for
diatom sampling in transitional waters, using artificial substrates.
Materials and methods
This study was performed on Orbetello Lagoon; a coastal lake located in Tuscany, Central Italy,
with a surface area of 27 km2, with a deep, on average, of 1,5 m.
4 sites were selected H18, H29, H32, H40 where to place artificial substrates.
Artificial substrates, Hester-Dendy modified substrates (e.g. Cairns & Dickson, 1971;
Battegazzore, 1994, Buffagni et al., 2000), used in this study are 10 plates of plexiglass, eachplate having an area of 100 cm2 and a thickness of 3 mm. The plates are far 7 mm and linked
by a rope or a metal string. A see-through material, as plexiglass, was chosen in order to allow
the growth of diatoms in each of them, aiming to investigate how the effects of light, turbidityand deep influence these communities. Artificial substrates were collected after one month,from the surface of plates diatom were scraped using a toothbrush. A permanent slide wasprepared for each plate.
Diatom samples were treated using hydrogen peroxide (30 % H 202) hydrochloric acid (37%
HCL) (EN 13946, 2005): Diatoms were identified at species level and counted up to 400-500
valves (EN 14407, 2004). Identifications were based on iconographic guides (Krammer &Lange-Bertalot, 1986; 1988; 1991a; 1991b; Witkowski et al., 2000, Danielidis et al., 2003).

75

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Results
A total 24 slides were analysed: all 10 plates of H18 and H40 samples and the first and the last
one of H29 and H32. 35 freshwater, brackish and marines diatom species and varieties wereidentified belonging to several genera (Tab 1).
Genus

N° species

Achnanthes Bory

1

Amphora C. G. Ehrenberg

2

Ardissonia G. De Notaris

1

Brachysira Kützing

1

Cocconeis C.G. Ehrenberg

2

Diploneis C.G. Ehrenberg

1

Fragilaria Lyngbye

1

Grammatophora C.G. Ehrenberg

3

Licmophora C.A. Agardh

3

Mastogloia Thwaites

7

Navicula Bory de St. Vincent

5

Neosynedra D.M. Williams & F.E. Round

1

Nitzschia Hassall

3

Pleurosigma W. Smith

1

Rhopalodia O. Müller

1

Seminavis D.G. Mann

1

Toxarium Bailey

1

Table 1. Diatom genera and number of species identified in this study

Diatom community composition changed from up to down as reported by the comparison
from the first and the last slide of each sample (Fig. 1).

Fig. 1. Abundance of each diatom species identified in slide 1 and slide 10 of each sample.

The results of the identification and counting of the 10 slides of H18 e H40 showed a variationof diatom communities: they gradually changed in terms composition and abundances of
species (Fig.1).

76Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Fig. 2. Diatom species abundance(%) found in each plate of sample H18 and H40

Discussion
Diatom community structure composition and abundance of each species changed from thesurface to the bottom: from on average of 17 species in each sites number of species decrease
to a mean of 8 (Fig. 1).
The results of the analysis of all the ten slides of H18 e H40 (Fig. 2) showed the variation of
diatom community structure: in H18, first slides are dominated by planktonic species
Rophalodia Brebissoni Krammer (RBRE) and the last ones are characterized by significative
abundance of benthic species Grammatophora oceanica Ehrenberg (GOCE), Grammatophoragibberula GGBL Kützing, Grammatophora macilenta Wm Smith (GRCM) (Denys, 1991).
Concerning H40, the high concentration of planktonic Toxarium ondulatum J.W. Bailey (TUND)
detected in the first slides progressively reduced into the following ones, instead benthic
species Cocconeis scutellum Ehrenberg (CSMT): it is the most abundance from slide number 6.
In this case, the natural substrates of this site, where plates were placed, Posidonia oceanica(L.) influenced the community of diatom: this angiosperm is one of suitable substrates for thegrowth of C. scutellum (De Stefano et al., 2008).
Due to the lack of natural available substrates more suitable for diatom such as stones,
pebbles and macrophytes in transitional water, artificial substrates resulted as a useful tool inorder to be able to compare data from different ecosystems. The limited studies of diatom
communities in Mediterranean wetlands underscore the poor understanding of the autecology
of diatoms in these ecosystems (Rovira et al., 2009, Sabater et al., 1990, Tolomio et al., 2002),
in this contest artificial substrates could improve the knowledge of diatom distribution and theeffect of environmental parameters on these algae.
In this study artificial substrates were found to be a suitable tool for diatom sampling intransitional waters: diatoms colonized all plates of each sample.

77

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

References
Battegazzore M., 1994. Procedure di campionamento del macrobenthos per la valutazione della qualità
dei corsi d’acqua. Rapporto interno IRSA - Gruppo Metodi Biologici
Buffagni A., A. Pieri, F. Bordin & L. Galbiati; 2000. Comunità macrobentoniche del Fiume Po (Parte I):
taxa rinvenuti e integrità delle comunità degli Efemerotteri. Quad. Ist. Ric. Acque, 113: 175-225
Cairns J. JR. & Dickson K. L., 1971. A simple method for the biological assessment of the effects of waste
discharges on aquatic bottom-dwelling organism. J. Wat. Pollut. Cont. Fed; 43:755-772
CEC (2000). - Council of European Communities Directive 2000/60/EEC of 23 October 2000 establishinga framework for community action in the field of water policy. Luxembourg.Official Journal of
European Communities.
Danielidis D.B. & D.G. Mann, 2003. New species and new combinations in the genus Seminavis Mann
1990 (Bacillariophyta). Diatom Research 18: 21–39.
De Stefano M., O. Romero & C. Totti, 2008. A comparative study of Cocconeis scutellum Ehrenberg andits varieties (Bacillariophyta). Bot. Mar. 51:506–36.
Denys, L., 1991. Check-list of the diatoms in the Holocene deposits of the western Belgian
coastal plain with a survey of their apparent ecological requirements. Professional Paper, 246,
Belgian Geological Survey, Belgium.
EN 13946 ,2005 Water quality- Guidance standard for the routine sampling and pre-treatment ofbenthic diatoms from rivers.
EN 14407, 2004. - Water quality. Guidance Standard for the identification, enumeration andinterpretation of benthic diatom samples from running waters. European Committee forStandardization, Brussels.
Kelly, M., C. Bennett, M. Coste, F. Delmas, L. Denys, L. Ector, C. Fauville, M. Ferreol, M. Golub, M.
Kahlert, J. Lucey, B. Ni Chathain, I. Pardo, P. Pfister, J. Picinska-Faltynowicz, C. Schranz, J.
Schaumburg, J. Tison, H. van Dam & S. Vilbaste, 2006. Central/Baltic GIG Phytobenthos
Intercalibration Exercise - Draft final report. Bowburn Consultancy, Durham.
Krammer K. & Lange-Bertalot H., 1986, 1988, 1991a, 1991b, 2000. - Bacillariophyceae. Teil:
Naviculaceae; Bacillariaceae, Epithemiaceae, Surirellaceae; Centrales, Fragilariaceae, Eunotiaceae;
Achnathaceae. Kritische Erganzungen zu Navicula und Gomphonema; and french translation of thekeys. Süβwasserflora von Mitteleuropa, 2/1-5, Fischer, Stuttgart.
Mancini L. & C. Sollazzo, 2009.. Metodo per la valutazione dello stato ecologico delle acque correnti:
comunità diatomiche. Rapporti Istisan 09/19. Roma Istituto Superiore di Sanità.
Marchetto A, Agostinelli C, Alber R, Beghi A, Balsamo S, Bracchi S, Buzzi F, Carena E, Cavalieri S, Cimoli F,
Costaraoss S, Crescentini I, Della Bella V, Di Brizio M, Fioravanti M, Fogliati P, Formenti R, Galbiati
M, Galimberti F, Macor A, Mancini L, Marcheggiani S, Marchi G, Musazzi S, Nicola A, Padula R, Pozzi
S, Puccinelli C, Rinaldi E, Rustighi C, Testa P, Thaler B, Vendetti C, Zorza R. 2013. Indice pervalutazione della qualità delle acque lacustri italiane a partire dalle diatomee epifitiche ed
epilitiche (EPI-L). Report CNR-ISE 02.13: 75-92.
Rovira, L., R. Trobajo, & C. Ibáñez, 2009. Periphytic diatom community in a Mediterranean salt wedge
estuary: the Ebro Estuary (NE Iberian Peninsula). Acta botanica Croatica 68 (2): 285–300.
Sabater, S., X. Tomas & J. Cambra., Lange Bertalot H. 1990. Diatom flora of the cape of Creus peninsula
Catalonia, (N.E. of Spain). Nova Hedwigia 51:165-195.
Tolomio, C., E. Moschin & B. Duzzini 2002. Distibution des diatomees benthiques de substrates meubles
dans le bassin sud de la Lagune de Venise, Italie. Diatom research 17(2):401-414.
Witkowski, A., H. Lange-Bertalot & D.Metzeltin, 2000. Diatom Flora Ofmarine Coasts I. Iconographia
Diatomologica 7. Rugell, A.R.G. Gantner Verlag K.G.

78

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

A new feral population of Trachemys scripta in Northern Italy?
C. Foglini1 & R. Salvi2
1

Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale del Piemonte, Liguria e Valle d’Aosta, S. S. Ittiopatologia,
Via Bologna 148, I-10154 Torino, Italy
2
Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Istituto di Agronomia, Genetica e Coltivazioni erbacee,
Via Emilia Parmense 84, I-29122 Piacenza, Italy
Keywords: Trachemys, slider turtle, reproduction, capture-recapture, Italy
Introduction
Trachemys scripta subspecies are massively imported in Europe as pets (Ballasina, 1995), andoften released in the wild by owners. In Italy, slider turtles established free-living populations
in many lakes, ponds, rivers and wetlands (Ballasina, 1995). In some areas successful
reproduction has been reported (Agosta & Parolini, 1999; Ferri & Soccini, 2003; Ficetola et al.,
2003; Monti, 2010).
In small urban and periurban parks, human-made and semi-natural wetlands often host slider
turtles at high density, with negative impacts on freshwater ecosystems (Lapini et al., 1999;
Marangoni, 2000; Petterino et al., 2001).
We conducted this study to estimate consistency and species composition of turtles
population hosted into the artificial lakes and ponds of the Parco Nord Milano (Italy,
Lombardy, Milan Province), where slider turtles occur since several years but population size,
sex-ratio and reproductive status have never been investigated.
Materials and methods
We captured slider turtles with basking traps from April to August 2013 at four trapping sites
within the park. We visited each trap every two or three day between 11.00 AM and 03.00 PM,
when the basking activity is greater (Cady & Joly, 2000). During each visit, we also captured
turtles using landing nets. Each individual was weighted and sexed according to secondary
sexual characteristics such as claws and tail (Ernst & Lovich 2009). We measured the straightline plastron length (SPL), the minimum straight carapace length (SCLmin) and the straightcarapace width (SCW) of each individual (Bjordan & Bolten, 1989), with calipers.
We filed unique notch combinations into the marginal carapace scutes, to unambiguously markeach animal.
In order to estimate the overall number of turtles, we used the capture-mark-recapture (CMR)
model for close populations provided by the software NOREMARK (JHE Closed Population
Model Estimation), given that for each individual capture and recapture occurred within thesame site.
Finally, we estimated the number of potential breeders by plastron length according to
Gibbons (1990).

79Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Results
We marked a total of 170 turtles, belonging to three exotic genera. 156 are slider turtles: 36
were red-eared sliders (T. scripta elegans), 16 were yellow-bellied sliders (T. scripta scripta), 7
were Cumberland sliders (T. scripta troostii), and 98 were T. scripta hybrids. We also found 10
individuals of Graptemys sp. and 4 of Pseudemys sp. (fig 1).

Fig. 1. Species distribution into the four wetlands of the Park

Using our capture-recapture data, the software NOREMARK estimated the following overall
population [best (95 % confidence interval)]: 13 (13) in the North lake; 84 (73-102) in the
Suzzani lake; 106 (90-129) in the Bresso lake; 21 (19-26) in the Breda ditch.
For T. scripta spp. specimens, we obtained the following morphometric measures (table 1).
Among them, six slider turtles have a SPL between 16 and 51 millimeters. 4 are T. scripta
hybrids (SPL 16 to 51 mm, µ 33.75 ± 14.32 s.d.), 1 is T. s. elegans (SPL 43 mm) and 1 is T. s.
scripta (SPL 42 mm).

80

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

SPL
n
(SD)
Min. - Max.

North lake Suzzani lake Bresso lake Breda ditch
96.92
119.19110.99
88.39
13
57
67
18
38.28
35.30
42.45
34.38
52-16843-18816-21033-158SCLminn(SD)
Min. - Max.

108.3113
42.00
59-180128.3557
36.37
47-201121.0467
45.46
21-221

95.56
18
38.67
35-166Weightn(SD)
Min. - Max.

325.0012252.7150-850472.7355
307.5950-1500

448.4866
389.4550-2000

266.1817217.4050-750

Table 1. Mean, standard deviation (SD) and minimum-maximum range of straight line measurements of plastronlength (SPL, cm); carapace length (SCLmin, cm) and weight (g) of the trapped slider turtles, grouped bytrapping site. N is the number of measurement

Discussion
Sexual maturity in T. scripta spp. is strictly influenced mainly by body size rather than age(Cagle, 1950; Moll, 1979; Wilbur & Morin, 1988; Gibbons & Greene, 1990), so we inferred thenumber of potential breeders using only straight plastron length of captured specimens.
According to Gibbons (1990), females can be considered mature with a plastron length of 160–
190 mm, whereas males reach maturity with a plastron length of 80-130 mm. These measuresreferred to T. s. scripta but can be extended to T. s. elegans (Tucker & Moll, 1997) andreasonably also to T. s. troostii, as well as to the T. s. hybrids.
According to these data, we speculated that the park could host a (minimum) total numberof potential breeding sliders from 18 (16 males, 2 females) to 59 (44 males, 15 females),considering marked turtles only.
Although during this study we did not find evidence of successful reproduction, the six
smallest specimens could be considered a sign of recent in-situ reproduction, because slider
turtles are usually released when they reach maturity. The smallest hybrid in particular (SPL 16mm) had similar dimensions to the hatchling slider turtles reported in Ficetola et al. (2003) andin Ferri & Soccini (2003). The smallest T. s. elegans is also an interesting case: the import of thissubspecies was banned in Europe in 1997, so it can be either a juvenile born in the park or a
recent release.
It is interesting also that turtles don’t move from one wetland to another, even if samplingsites are not far from each other: three areas (Suzzani lake, Bresso lake and Breda ditch) occurs
within a distance of only 500 meters. Only the North lake is more than 1000 meters far fromthe other three.
Acknowledgements
We thank Riccardo Gini, director of Parco Nord Milano, and all employees of the park,
especially Gianmario Bernasconi, Francesco Carbone and Marco Siliprandi for their help. We

81

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

thank PhD Francesco Ficetola and Stefano Scali for their valuable advice. We also thank PhD
Matteo Capodicasa and Thania Manfredi.
References
Agosta, F. & L. Parolini, 1999. Autoecologia e rapporti sinecologici di popolazioni introdotte in
Lombardia di Trachemys scripta elegans. Dati preliminari. In Atti del 2◦Congresso Nazionale SHI,
Praia a Mare (Caserta, Italy). Rivista di idrobiologia 38: 421–430.
Ballasina, D., 1995. Salviamo le tartarughe! Edagricole, Padova: 260.
Bjorndal, K. A. & A. B. Bolten, 1989. Comparison of straight-line and over-the-curve measurements for
growth rates of green turtles, Chelonia mydas. Bulletin of Marine Science 45:189-192.
Cady, A. & P. Joly, 2000. The introduction of the slider turtle (Trachemys scripta elegans) in Europe:
competition for basking sites with the European pond turtle (Emys orbicularis). In: Proceedings ofthe 2nd International Symposium on Emys orbicularis. Chelonii 2: 95-97.
Cady, A., V. Delmas, A. C. Prévot-Julliard, P. Joly, C. Pieau & M. Girondot, 2004. Successful reproductionof the introduced slider turtle (Trachemys scripta elegans) in the South of France. Aquatic
Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems 14: 237–246.
Cagle, F. R., 1950. The life history of the Slider Turtle, Pseudemys scripta troostii (Holbrook). Ecological
Monographs 20: 31–54.
Ernst, C.H. & J.E. Lovich, 2009. Turtles of the United States and Canada, 2nd edn. John Hopkins
University Press, Baltimore, MD.
Ferri, V. & C. Soccini, 2003. Riproduzione di Trachemys scripta elegans in condizioni semi-naturali in
Lombardia (Italia settentrionale). Natura Bresciana, Annali del Museo Civico di Scienze Naturali 33:
89–92.
Ficetola, G.F., A. Monti & E. Padoa-Schioppa, 2003. First record of reproduction of Trachemys scripta in
the Po Delta. Annali Del Museo Civico Di Storia Naturale Di Ferrara 5: 125–128.
Gibbons, J. W., 1990. Life history and ecology of the slider turtle. Smithsonian Institution Press,
Washington DC.
Gibbons, J. W. & J. L. Greene, 1990. Reproduction in the slider and other species of turtles. In Gibbons, J.
W. (eds), Life History and Ecology of the Slider Turtle. Smithsonian Institute Press, Washington
D.C.: 124-134.
Lapini, L., A. Dall'asta, N. Bressi, S. Dolce & P. Pellarini, 1999. Atlante corologico degli anfibi e dei rettilidel Friuli-Venezia Giulia. Museo Friulano di Storia Naturale, Udine: 150.
Marangoni, C., 2000. Trachemys scripta (Schoepff, 1972). In Bologna, M.A., M. Capula, G. M. Carpaneto(eds). Anfibi e rettili del Lazio. Fratelli Palombi Editori: 112-113.
Moll, E. O., 1979. Reproductive cycles and adaptations. In Harless, M. & H. Morlock (eds), Turtles:
Perspective and Research. Wiley, New York: 305-331.
Monti A., 2010. Prima segnalazione di riproduzione di Trachemys scripta nel Parco degli Aironi –Gerenzano VA. Associazione culturale ambientale Il Gelso Gerenzano onlus.
Petterino, C., T. Scocozza, S. Piovano & C. Giacoma, 2001. Risultati dell’introduzione di Trachemys
scripta elegans in un parco urbano di Torino. In Atti 3◦ Congresso nazionale SHI (Pavia, 2000).
Pianura 13: 295-298.
Tucker, J. K. & D. Moll, 1997. Growth, reproduction, and survivorship in the red-eared turtle, Trachemys
scripta elegans, in Illinois, with conservation implications. Chelonian Conservation and Biology 2:
352–357.
Wilbur, H. M. & P. J. Morin. 1988. Life history evolution in turtles. In Gans, C. & R. B. Huey (eds). Biologyof the Reptilia. Ecology B. Defence and Life History. Alan R. Liss, New York 16: 387-439.

82

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Evolution of the Dikerogammarus villosus (Sowinsky, 1894) invasion in Lake
Garda (Northern Italy)
I. Marchi1, M. Bertoli2, F. Giacomazzi3, C. Zampieri3, V. Iannilli4, F. Lecce4 & L. Latella1
1Museo Civico di Storia Naturale di Verona, Verona, Italy
Laboratorio Ittiobenhos, Dipartimento di Scienze della Vita, Università di Trieste, Trieste, Italy
3
Agenzia Regionale per la Prevenzione e Protezione Ambientale Veneto (ARPAV), Dipartimento
Regionale Laboratori, Servizio Laboratorio di Verona - Unità Operativa di Microbiologia e
Biologia Ambientale, Verona, Italy
4
ENEA C.R. Casaccia, Unità Tecnica AGRI-ECO (Gestione sostenibile degli agro-ecosistemi),Roma, Italy
2

Keywords: Biological invasion, Dikerogammarus villosus, Echinogammarus stammeri, Lake
Garda, freshwater amphipods
Introduction
Over the past decades the invasive Ponto-Caspian gammarid Dikerogammarus villosus(Sowinsky, 1894) spread throughout large rivers of central Europe, thereby rapidly displacing
most of the native gammarid species (Hesselschwerdt et al., 2008) which share similar
microhabitats. The “killer shrimp” is among the most successful invaders of aquatic
ecosystems in Europe (Bij de Vaate et al., 2002) and was observed for the first time in Lake
Garda and in the nearby watercourses during the 2003 (Casellato et al., 2006). Findings of D.
villosus in Tuscany (Central Italy) (Tricarico et al., 2010) in 2008 demonstrate that this invader
has extended its range very quickly also in Italy, becoming a serious threat for the survival ofindigenous species, like the gammarid Echinogammarus stammeri (S. Karaman, 1931). Indeed,in Lake Garda E. stammeri was segregated from the littoral zone to higher depths due tocompetition, especially in the southern basin but also likely in the northern (Casellato et al.,2008).
Ten years after the first record and monitoring, we have checked the distribution of D. villosus
and E. stammeri, to verify the evolution of the invasion. A quantitative study was carried out
from June to September 2013 in the littoral area reachable without boat, to assess occurrence
and densities of the two gammarid species and to compare past and present situation. Finally,
qualitative confrontations between previous information (Casellato et al., 2008) and new
findings in sublittoral and profundal environments were discussed.
Materials and methods
Sampling operations were performed in June and September 2013, at seven stations along theedge of the Lake Garda (Fig. 1). Sites were chosen in agreement with previous works to allow
evaluation of differences and they were concerned with distinct basins of the Lake: northern(N), southeastern (SE) and southwestern (SW) basin (Fig. 1). Preliminary surveys were carriedout to verify ease of access. During the monitoring period, water temperature ranged from15.0 to 28.2 °C, the dissolved oxygen content was 7.9-11.0 mg l-1 and pH showed values

83Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

between 6.9 and 8.8. Generally, substrate was a mixture of gravel, cobble and coarse sand,except in site 1, where cobble was absent, and site 2, where the bottom was composed of finesand and mud. No submerged vegetation was observed and reed bed was present in sites 1, 2
and 3.

Fig. 1. Sampling sites of the littoral zone and presence of the two gammarid species during themonitoring period (grey= Dikerogammarus villosus; white= Echinogammarus stammeri).

Samplings in littoral zone were performed up to 3 m from the lake shore. Gammarids werecollected by kick-sampling method (Barbour et al., 1999) employing a hand net with a mouthof 23 x 23 cm and a mesh size equal to 200 µm, which covers a squared area of 0.05 m 2. Threereplicates were taken at each site (0.15 m2 total sampling surface) and specimens were stored
into 75% ethanol solution. In laboratory, individuals were sorted, identified and densities (indm-2; mean values ± S.D.) were calculated for each gammarid species.
Confrontation with the dataset provided by Casellato et al. (2006) was carried out for the threebasins using the Wilcoxon non parametric test to check significant differences about densities
and using the χ2 test to check differences among percentage frequencies of the two species.
All statistical confrontations were performed using STATISTICA 7.1 software.

84

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Results
Occurrencesof
Dikerogammarus
villosusandEchinogammarus
stammeri at each sampling site aresummarized in Figure 1. At every
station D. villosus was the dominantgammarid species, except in the most
northern (site 5) where it was absent.
E. stammeri was not found in the SE
basin and was weakly present in thesouthwestern, with few specimens
observed in June in site 4.
Contrariwise, the native was moreabundant in the N basin and it was the
only gammarid species in site 5.
Densities of D. villosus ranged from 0.0
to 160.0 ind m-2 in the SE basin, 66.7 to1040.0 ind m-2 in the SW and 0.0 to533.3 ind m-2 in the N basin.
Differently, E. stammeri showeddensities between 0.0 to 20.0 ind m-2
in the SW basin and between 0.0 to2180.0 ind m-2 in the northern (Fig. 2).

Fig. 2. Mean density and S.D. observed for Dikerogammarus
villosus and Echinogammarus stammeri at eachsampling site during the working period. Sites code arereported in Figure 1

Discussion
Our findings confirm that Dikerogammarus villosus is the more abundant gammarid in thelittoral area of the SE and SW basins of Lake Garda. Indeed, occurrence of D. villosus are notsignificantly different from those observed at the same sites during the same sampling period
by Casellato et al. (2006). Likewise, Wilcoxon test has not highlighted significant differences
about densities of D. villosus, although our values seemed to be higher. Instead, significant
differences from the previous observation were found in the N basin about the occurrence ofD. villosus (χ2=102.46, p<0,001) and about Echinogammarus stammeri (χ2=10.07, p<0,01). No
significant differences were found between past and present densities, even though in our
samples values of D. villosus seem to be lower, values of E. stammeri seem to be higher and pvalues tend to significance in both cases (Wilcoxon test, N=6: Z=1.78, p=0,07 for D. villosus;
Z=1.82, p=0,07 for E. stammeri). However, this could be due to a different community
development which occurs between the two monitoring periods. In fact, Casellato et al. (2006)shows how occurrence of E. stammeri was higher in northern than in southern basinsconsidering a wider period of time.
Distributions of the two species in the littoral belt of the Lake Garda seem to be unchangedin the last ten years, even though there are some alarming findings about deeper
environments. The “killer shrimp” was found earlier down to 11 m, where rare specimens
were observed (Casellato et al. 2006). Furthermore, the lower limit of D. villosus seemed to be85

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

5 m depth (Casellato et al., 2008). However, the concern that the invader is moving deeper
could be confirmed by some findings both in sublittoral (17 m depth) and profundal (100 m
depth) zone of the N basin (Tab. 1). This suspected presence could have a deep impact on the
E. stammeri community with possible adverse effects resulting from niche overlaps.

Month

Location
Torri del Benaco

Mar
Brenzone
Torri del Benaco
Sep
Brenzone

Environment

Depth

D. villosus

E. stammeri

Sublittoral

20+

Profundal

115+

Sublittoral

28+

Profundal

108+

Sublittoral

21+

Profundal

100+

Sublittoral

17

+

+

Profundal

100

+

+

Tab. 1. Presence of Dikerogammarus villosus and Echinogammarus stammeri in two samplingstations of the northern basin. Data provided by ARPAV (2013).

Finally, the spreading of D. villosus has probably become slower in the last years in the littoralzone, but the situation at lower depths is not clear. Therefore, systematic monitoring
campaigns over a long time period are necessary to check the dynamic of the invasion and theinteraction between native and alien species.
Acknowledgements
We would like to thank undergraduates students Elisa Bertamè and Greta Baruffaldi for thehelp in sorting operations.
References
Barbour, M.T., B. D. Gerritsen & J. B. Stribling, 1999. Rapid Bioassessment, Protocols for use in streams
and wadeable rivers: Periphyton, Macroinvertebrate and Fish, 2nd ed. EPA 841-B-99-002,
Washington D.C.
Bij De Vaate, A., K. Jazdzewski, H. A. M. Ketelaars, S. Gollash & G. Van der Velde, 2002. Geographicalpatterns in range extension of Ponto-Caspian macroinvertebrate species in Europe. Canadian
Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 59: 1159-1174.
Casellato, S., G. La Piana, L. Latella & S. Ruffo, 2006. Dikerogammarus villosus (Sowinsky, 1894)(Crustacea, Amphipoda, Gammaridae) for the first time in Italy. Italian Journal of Zoology 73: 97104.
Casellato, S., L. Masiero, G. La Piana & F. Gigliotti, 2008. The alien amphipod crustacean Dikerogammarus
villosus in Lake Garda (N-Italy): the invasion continues. In Rabitsch, W., F. Essl & F. Klingenstein(eds), Biological Invasions – from Ecology to Conservation. NEOBIOTA 7: 115-122.
Hesselschwerdt, J., J. Necker & K. M. Wantzen, 2008. Gammarids in Lake Constance: habitat segregation
between the invasive Dikerogammarus villosus and the indigenous Gammarus roeselii.
Fundamental and Applied Limnology 173: 177-186.
Tricarico, E., G. Mazza, G. Orioli, C. Rossano, F. Scapini & F. Gherardi, 2010. The killer shrimp,
Dikerogammarus villosus (Sowinsky, 1894), is spreading in Italy. Aquatic Invasions 5: 211-214.

86

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Current status of Sinanodonta woodiana (Lea 1834) in Poland
M. Urbańska1 & W. Andrzejewski2
1

Department of Zoology,
Polish Angling Association, Department
Institute of Zoology, Poznań University of Life Sciences, Wojska Polskiego 71C, 60 625 Poznań,Poland2

Keywords: distribution, biometry, growing rate, origin
Introduction
Spreading of alien species has become a common phenomenon observed by scientists all over
the world. It results from many reasons including anthropogenic behaviors like human mobility
and expansion. These alien species may often affect native species and change habitats andeven ecosystems. In 2010 the EC published a document on an EU strategy for the protection of
biodiversity by 2020 (European Commission, 2011). Invasive alien species have been therein
recognized as one of the greatest direct threats to the European nature. In 2011 an orderissued in Poland by the Ministry of Environment was published, dated on 9 th September 2011,
concerning the list of plants and animals of alien species which, if released to the environment,
can threaten native species or natural habitats. Among 52 species, the Chinese mussel clam
Sinanodonta woodiana (Lea, 1934) is also specified. The migration path of this species began ineastern and south-eastern Asia, and due to export of farmed fishes the Chinese pond mussel
appeared in Europe and North America (Watters, 1997). In Europe it was first discovered infish farms in Romania in 1979 (Sarkany-Kiss, 1986).
For several years the research targeted known populations of this species has been leadingin Poland. The investigations on its spreading, the knowledge of its biology and the study
about habitat characteristics determining its occurrence have become key tasks that allow
predicting the consequences of its presence and finding ways which can limit its further
migration. The first colonization traces (empty shells) of S. woodiana in Poland were reportedby Bőhme (1998). The first stable population in Poland was recorded by Zdanowski (1996) who
discovered it in reservoirs with water at elevated temperatures coming from the Konin power
plant in western Poland. In 1992 it occurred that this clam can get settled even in basins of
natural thermal regime (Urbańska et al., 2012). Each year brings new reports about theoccurrence of the Chinese pond mussel in Poland (Andrzejewski et. al., 2013).
In this paper we summarize the current knowledge about the Polish population of theChinese mussel clam. The goal of the paper is also to present identified conditions thatfacilitate the migration process of the Chinese pond mussel.
Materials and methods
New locations where S. woodiana occurs are still looking for using mainly field research but
also a method of questionnaires and interviews with fish breeders and anglers that was
deployed by the authors few years ago. The reservoirs are also controlled during their drainage87Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

done mainly in artificial ones from time to time due to operational reasons. Only in 2013 6 newlocations were confirmed.
In addition to these reports about new locations, several types of research have been
already conducted to learn the population of S. woodiana in Poland and its impact on theecosystem. These include morphological characteristics, reproduction potential, habitat
preferences, density indices, population distribution as well as variability at the genetic level.
Natural enemies, parasites and symbionts of the Chinese pond mussel have been also
analyzed. This alien species may have different growing rate at the beginning of the invasion.
This may cause difficulties in age determination by analysis of growing rings. That is why
sclerochronology method is preferred to evaluate the age of S. woodiana.
Results
Including literature survey and own research data at least 25 locations of the Chinese pondmussel have been confirmed in Poland. They are shown in Fig. 1.
A regular drainage of ponds that is done
usually in the autumn and lasts till early spring
may reduce the population size but certainly
does not result in a permanent loss of
population (Andrzejewski, 2013). SomeS. woodiana specimens move along with thedraining water and bury themselves in slimy
pits near the drainage ditch, and some of themdie due to overdrying, especially if they find no
possibility of penetrating the sediments. It isan explanation why the thickness of sedimentin a pond plays an important role in success ofthe settlement. ANOVA has shown that
Fig. 1. The prevalence of the Chinese pond mussel in
Polandreservoir features that determine the clam
habitat affect significantly mussel high to length ratio.
Multiple regression analysis reveals further conclusions related to factors that may affectthe population grow. The results demonstrate that larger water reservoirs constitute better
conditions for settlement. Older and longer mussels occur in deeper fish ponds. Moreover,southern ponds produce more biomass. The average age of mussels in a fish pond depends ontype of bed and depth.
Collected data allow also concluding that the closer to the river inflow, the greater shells
occur. Using sclerochronology for one of populations the growth rate occurred to decrease
exponentially in time. The differences in weather conditions between consecutive years do notaffect the differences in growth of the mussels.
Discussion
The S. woodiana population has expanded in Poland significantly and quickly for last years.
There are more mussels in eastern Poland where the migration path of this species progresses
from (Urbańska, 2012). It was confirmed by the comparative genetic outcomes (Soroka et al.,88

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

2014). Both fish farming records and molecular data supported by cluster analysis confirm thatthe origin of the population in Poland may be Hungary. The specimens of S. woodiana from
Romania show a greater genetic variation (about 6%) as compared to European populations in
Poland, Hungary, Ukraine and Italy. It may mean that there are at least two migration routes of
the invasion spreading.
S. woodiana in Poland is mostly present in fish ponds but in other countries including
Croatia, Italy and the Czech Republic (Andrzejewski, 2013) it occurs in lowland rivers, canals
and wetlands. Dense vegetation constitutes a barrier for S. woodiana expansion and thereservoirs rich in nutrients are favorable. Pond depth is another factor that affects themussels. They prefer shallow reservoirs with warmer water but they avoid the rocky bottoms
and macroliths (Kraszewski et al., 2007). The larger pond and smaller number of drainages, thelarger mussels are recorded. Cyanobacterial blooming has a small influence on the species (Duet al., 2011). Moreover it has occurred that low temperate of water does not restrict the
reproduction. The Chinese pond mussel has a much higher tolerance of hypoxia and pollution
than native species (Sîrbu et al., 2005). Greater shells are found closer to water sources flowed
into lakes because water in such places ensures better oxygenation and carries more biomass
that constitutes the foodstuff eaten by bivalves. Finally, these are human actions that
contribute to spreading of the mussel clam. It results from transport of farmed fishes and evena commerce of specimens that are used by gardeners in their ponds to filter water. This
species can threaten the native fauna. The spreading is observed so wide because the small
selectivity of glochidia in selection of the host suppress some barberries in reproduction(Douda et al., 2012).
References
Andrzejewski, W., M. Urbańska, J. Mazurkiewicz, H. Gierszal & J. Golski, 2013. The current invasion
status of Anodonta woodiana (Lea, 1934) in Poland — study of habitat parameters. Oceanol
Hydrobiol St, 42, 173-180, DOI: 10.2478/s13545-013-0071-1.
Bőhme, M., 1998. Ein neuer Fundort der Chinesichen Teichmuschel (Sinanodonta woodiana) in
Mitteleuropa. Heldia 2 (5/6), 166.
Douda, K., M. Vrtílek, O. Slavík & M. Reichard, 2012. The role of host in explaining the invasion successof the freshwater mussel Anodonta woodiana in Europe. Biol. Invasions, 14, no. 1, 127-137, DOI:
10.1007/s10530-011-9989-7.
Du, L.-N., Y. Li, X.-Y. Chen & J.-X. Yang, 2011. Effect of eutrophication on molluscan community
composition in the Lake Dianchi (China, Yunnan). Limnologica, 41, 213–219, DOI:
10.1016/j.limno.2010.09.006.
European Commission, 2011. Our life insurance, our natural capital: an EU biodiversity strategy to 2020
(COM/2011/244 final).
Kraszewski, A. & B. Zdanowski, 2007. Sinanodonta woodiana (Lea, 1834) (Mollusca) - a new mussel
species in Poland: occurrence and habitat preferences in a heated lake system. Pol J Ecol, 55, 337356.
Sárkány-Kiss A., 1986. Anodonta woodiana (Lea, 1834) a new species in Romania (Bivalvia, Unionacea).
Travaux du Muséum National d Histoire Naturelle ”Grigore Antipa”, 28: 15-17.
Sîrbu, I., A. Sárkány-Kiss, M. Sîrbu & A.M. Benedyk, 2005. The Unionidae from Transylvania andneighboring regions (Romania). Heldia, 6 (3/4), 183-192.

89

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Soroka M., M. Urbańska & W. Andrzejewski, 2014. Chinese pond mussel Sinanodonta woodiana (Lea,
1834) (Bivalvia): origin of the Polish population and GenBank data. J. of Limnology, 73, DOI:
10.4081/jlimnol.2014.938
Urbańska, M., A. Łakomy, W. Andrzejewski & J. Mazurkiewicz, 2012. The story of one clam. Probably theoldest location of the Chinese pond mussel Sinanodonta woodiana (Lea, 1834) (Bivalvia,
Unionidae) in Poland. Oceanol Hydrobiol St, 41, 41-45, DOI: 10.2478/s13545-012-0005-3.
Watters, T., 1997. A synthesis and review of the expanding range of the Asian freshwater mussel
Anodonta woodiana (Lea, 1834) (Bivalvia: Unionidae). Veliger, 40, 152-156.
Zdanowski, B., 1996. Nieznana szczeżuja (Anodonta sp.) w podgrzanych jeziorach konińskich. XII Krajowe
Seminarium Malakologiczne, Łódź, 25-27 April: 43.

90

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Adaptive management of overgrown submerged macrophytes in the south
basin of Lake Biwa
E. Inoue1, T. Nagata1, K. Ishikawa1, H. Haga2 & M. Nishino3
1

Lake Biwa Environmental Research Institute, Shiga Prefecture
Lake Biwa Museum, Shiga Prefecture
3
Biwako Seikei Sport College
2

Keywords: Lake Biwa, Mother Lake 21 Plan, Submerged Macrophytes, Adaptive Managementof Ecosystems
Increase of submerged macrophytes in the south basin of Lake Biwa
Lake Biwa, the largest lake in Japan, is classified into two basins: the large (618 km2) and deep
(mean 43 m) north basin, and the small (52 km2) and shallow (mean 4 m) south basin. Bivalves,especially an endemic freshwater clam Corbicula sandai, were abundant before the 1960s in
the coastal area of Lake Biwa, especially in the south basin, but decreased rapidly in the last 50
years (Shiga Prefectural Fishery Experiment Station, 1954, 2005). A possible reason is
expansion of muddy bottom area in the coastal area (General Investigation Committee of
Living Things in Shiga Prefecture, 2011), due to decrease in sand inflow from the drainage
basin by the development of erosion control in the forest and flood control in rivers. In
addition, massive growth of submerged macrophytes, mainly domestic but also alien species,
in recent years is considered as one of the most important factor in the south basin.
The distribution area and biomass (dry weight) of submerged macrophytes in the south basin
were estimated as 27 km2 and 3,940 t in 1936 (Yamaguchi, 1938; Ohtsuka et al., 2004; Haga etal., 2006b), respectively. After a severe drought in 1994, macrophytes began to increase andcover almost entire the south basin every summer from the 2000s, and reached 48.6 km 2 ofthe distribution area and 9,623 t of biomass in 2007 (Haga & Ishikawa, 2011).
Usually, moderate growth of submerged macrophytes provides spawning and breeding
habitats for fish in the coastal area, especially for domestic crucian carps Carassius spp. in Lake
Biwa (Hirai, 1970). However, the overgrown macrophytes off the coast cause nuisances innavigation and fishery as physical obstacles, and degradation of habitat for benthic animals
due to the deterioration of dissolved oxygen on the bottom (Haga et al., 2006a).
Mother Lake 21 Plan and Macrophyte Control TeamTo hand over sound Lake Biwa to the next generation, Shiga Prefecture settled on Mother Lake
21 Plan (Lake Biwa Comprehensive Preservation and Improvement Project; Shiga Prefecture,2000). The plan based on the idea “symbiosis between Lake Biwa and the people living anactive lifestyle” that was realized in the past. For example, in the 1930-1950s, submerged
macrophytes were harvested actively in Lake Biwa to use as compost for rice paddy. In
addition, dredge fishery of freshwater clams disturbed the sandy bottom so that mud andmacrophytes were removed. As a result, macrophytes grew moderately and suitable habitatsof bivalves were maintained.

91Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Fig. 1. Harvesting of submerged macrophytes byfishermen using dredge in the south basin of
Lake Biwa

Shiga Prefecture organized Macrophyte
Control Team in 2010 to solve the problem
caused by the overgrown macrophytes in thesouth basin and recover the ecosystem of Lake
Biwa. Based on the results of scientificmonitoring and researches, and experiences offishermen, management plan of macrophytes
have been discussed adaptively. Macrophytes
are harvested mainly by fishermen using
dredge following the management plan (Fig. 1).
In addition, harvested macrophytes are used
for compost as a series of the works in the
Macrophyte Control Team.

Difficulties in adaptive management of submerged macrophytes and the ecosystem
As a scientific monitoring, we investigated relative biomass of submerged macrophytes andthe density of benthic macroinvertebrates in May and August 2011-2013 at 9 sites in the south
basin of Lake Biwa. To collect macrophytes as quantitative as possible, a barbed wire coiled
around a steel bar (length: 50 cm) attached with adequate length of rope was thrown into thelake and pulled up. Collected Macrophytes, including filamentous algae, were sorted by
species and measured dry weight to make comparisons among the sites, months and years.
Benthic macroinvertebrates were collected at the same time of macrophyte collection using
Ekman-Birge grab (15×15 cm2), sieved through a 250 μm mesh net and sorted by taxa.
In 2011, submerged macrophytes were few in May, and then increased rapidly in August (Fig.
2). The most abundant species in August 2011 was Potamogeton maackianus (47.4%),
followed by Elodea nuttallii (28.7%) and Ceratophyllum demersum (19.1%). Growth ofmacrophytes in May 2012 was similar to May 2011, but in August 2012, macrophyte biomass
decreased to 25.6% of that in August 2011. Considering that water transparency from May to
October 2012 was the lowest and chlorophyll a concentration in summer 2012 was the highest
in the last 10 years in the south basin (Shiga Prefecture, 2013), turbid water mainly caused bymassive occurrence of phytoplankton should prevented photosynthesis of macrophytes.
If the decrease of submerged macrophytes exceeded the threshold, a catastrophic shift frommacrophyte to phytoplankton dominance might occur (Scheffer et al., 2001). Because thedecrease in macrophyte biomass continued to May 2013 (Fig. 2), Macrophyte Control Teamdecided to suspend macrophyte harvesting until summer 2013. However, in August 2013,
macrophytes overgrew again and the biomass reached 71.4% of that in August 2011. The mostabundant species in August 2013 was Hydrilla verticillata (47.1%), followed by C. demersum(24.9%) and P. maackianus (14.4%).

92

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Benthic macroinvertebrate
density (ind./m2)

Relative macrophyte biomass (g-dw)

The
monitoringofsubmerged
macrophytes provides fundamental
4000
information for the management plan,3000
but the methods to maintain moderate
2000
growth are not established due toscientificuncertainties
in
the
1000
prediction. However, if the harvesting0
May 2011* Aug. 2011 May 2012 Aug. 2012 May 2013 Aug. 2013is needed, we found that mean height
Potamogeton maackianus
Hydrilla verticillata
Ceratophyllum demersum
Elodea nuttalliiof macrophyte communities decreased
Egeria densa
Other macrophytes
Filamentous algae
in winter by one-third harvesting effort
needed in summer.
8000
As to benthic macroinvertebrates,
6000
Oligochaeta are the most abundantgroup, followed by Chironomidae in
4000
2011-2013 (Fig. 2). The relative
2000
macrophyte
biomass
showed0significant negative correlations with
May 2011 Aug. 2011 May 2012 Aug. 2012 May 2013 Aug. 2013
the densities of total benthic
Oligochaeta
Glossiphoniidae
Chironomidae
Trichoptera
Gammaridae
Kamakidae
macroinvertebrates (n = 27, R = -0.454,
Gastropoda
Bivalvia
Tricladida
Nematoda
p = 0.017) and Oligochaeta (n = 27, R =Fig. 2. Relative biomass of submerged macrophytes (upper) and-0.428, p = 0.026) in August 2011-2013.
mean densities of benthic macroinvertebrates (lower)
These results suggest that macrophyte
from May 2011 to August 2013 at 9 monitoring sites in thesouth basin of Lake Biwa.
harvesting is an effective method to*Estimated from 7 out of 9 sites.
improve the bottom habitat. However,
because bivalves were few in the south basin, additional measures, e.g., improvement of
substrate from mud to sand in the coastal area, should be needed to recover diversity andproduction of benthic macroinvertebrates. We continue trying to achieve successful
management of the ecosystem of Lake Biwa.
Acknowledgements
We would like to thank Lake Biwa Policy Division, Shiga Prefectural Government, and Shigaprefecture Federation of Fishermen’s Co-operative Association for their cooperation in themacrophyte harvesting work to accommodate our scientific monitoring.
5000

References
General Investigation Committee of Living Things in Shiga Prefecture, 2011. Wildlife to be conserved in
Shiga Prefecture: Red Data Book of Shiga Prefecture 2010. Sunrise Publishing, Hikone (in Japanese).
Haga, H., M. Ashiya, T. Ohtsuka, M. Matsuda, A. Tsuji, K. Baba, S. Numahata & T. Yamane, 2006a.
Relationship between dissolved oxygen concentration of bottom water and macrophyte biomass inthe southern basin of Lake Biwa, Japan. Japanese Journal of Limnology 67: 23−27 (in Japanese withEnglish abstract).
Haga, H., T. Ohtsuka, M. Matsuda & M. Ashiya, 2006b. Spatial distributions of biomass and species
composition in submerged macrophytes in the southern basin of Lake Biwa in summer of 2002.
Japanese Journal of Limnology 67: 69−79 (in Japanese with English abstract).

93Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Haga, H. & K. Ishikawa, 2011. Spatial distribution of submerged macrophytes in the southern basin of
Lake Biwa in the summer of 2007, in comparison with that in 2002. Japanese Journal of Limnology
72: 81−88 (in Japanese with English abstract).
Hirai, K., 1970. Ecological studies on fry and juvenile of fishes at aquatic plant area in a bay of the Lake
Biwa. I. On the distribution of fish larvae. Bulletin of the Faculty of Education, Kanazawa University.
Natural science 19: 93−105 (in Japanese with English abstract).
Ohtsuka, T., Y. Kuwabara & H. Haga, 2004. Estimated distribution and biomass of a submerged
macrophyte community in Lake Biwa’s South Basin using an echo-sounder. Japanese Journal of
Limnology 65: 13−20 (in Japanese with English abstract).
Scheffer, M., S. Carpenter, J. A. Foley, C. Folks & B. Walker, 2001. Catastrophic shifts in ecosystems.
Nature 413: 591−596.
Shiga Prefectural Fishery Experiment Station, 1954. Report of the Coastal Area Survey of Lake Biwa in
1953. Shiga Prefectural Fishery Experiment Station, Hikone (in Japanese).
Shiga Prefectural Fishery Experiment Station, 2005. Report of the Coastal Area Survey of Lake Biwa from2002 to 2003. Shiga Prefectural Fishery Experiment Station, Hikone (in Japanese).
Shiga Prefecture, 2000. Mother Lake 21 Plan (Lake Biwa Comprehensive Preservation and ImprovementPlan). Shiga Prefectural Government, Otsu.
Shiga Prefecture, 2013. Annual Report on the Environment in Shiga. Appendix. Shiga Prefectural
Government, Otsu (in Japanese).
Yamaguchi, H., 1938. Ecological distribution of higher aquatic plants in the south basin of Lake Biwa.
Ecological Review 4: 17−26 (in Japanese).

94Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Features of the eutrophication of largest freshwater lakes in the world
A.V. Izmailova1 & V.A. Rumyantsev1
1

Limnology Institute RAS, St.-Petersburg, Russia

Keywords: large lakes, eutrophication, water resources
Introduction
The problem of eutrophication of water bodies has been already relevant for more than acentury. At present the majority of the world’s lakes are affected by anthropogenic
eutrophication. The most rapid eutrophication processes have taken place in shallow water
bodies in both the tropical and temperate latitudinal zones. In tropical lakes they areintensified by consistently high temperatures, which accelerate biological processes.
Eutrophication processes in deep lakes containing huge masses of water are mostly local andaffect the shallow zone. The dynamic of changes in the trophic level of the largest lakes in theworld, as well as changes in total volumes of water of different trophic categories for 19502010 are considered in the article. The largest lakes are the most important reserve of surface
fresh water of the planet, so it is very important to have an understanding of the changes in
the quality of this resource.
Materials and Methods
It is widely accepted that the world’s largest lakes are bodies of water with a surface area ofmore than 1,000 km2. In the world today there are 79 freshwater lakes with an area of 1,000
to 10,000 km2 and 14 with an area of more than 10,000 km 2. It can be concluded from thetotal volumes calculated by Wetzel, 1983, that they are concentrated 4.6% and 70.6% of all
fresh lake`s waters of the Earth, respectively.
The assessment of changes in the trophic status of the largest lakes in the world was carriedout at the Institute of Limnology RAS [Rumjantsev et al., 2012, 2013]. It is based on theanalysis of numerous literature data on the trophic status of the largest lakes. Scalecharacterizing the trophic status of lakes, includes categories of oligotrophic, mesotrophic,
eutrophic, hypertrophic and transitional categories - oligotrophic-mesotrophic and eutrophicmesotrophic. In the summation for each water body it was considered that the trophic status
may varies both with area, and with depth.
Since artificial reservoirs, including the largest, are the most vulnerable to the process ofeutrophication, for the territory of Russian Federation a comparison of the trophic status oflargest lakes and reservoirs was made on the basis of literature data and government reportson the state and the environmental protection.
Results
At present the majority of the world’s largest lakes, in one way or another, are affected byanthropogenic eutrophication. Fig. 1 shows the trophic status of the water masses (a), as wellas the percentage ratio of the largest lakes with different trophic level (b).

95

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Fig. 1. The percentage ratio of water of different trophic categories in the largest lakes of the world (a) and thepercentage ratio of lakes with different trophic status (b) for the levels of the 1950s and 2010s.

According to our estimates, under natural conditions about 96% of waters contained in 57 of
the 93 world’s largest freshwater lakes were oligotrophic. Due to human impact, by the
beginning of the 21st century, only 41 lakes retained their oligotrophic status throughout theirwater area and 13 more lakes retained it in the deep water zone. For the period 1950-2010,
oligotrophic waters volume decreased by 3.5%, and eutrophic and hypertrophic waters
volume increased by 3.1%
The most rapid anthropogenic eutrophication processes have taken place in shallow water
bodies in both the tropical and temperate latitudinal zones. Among the world’s largest bodies
of water, the following lakes acquired hypertrophic status due to anthropogenic impact by the
beginning of the 21st century: Chapala and Managua. Eutrophic-hypertrophic status was
assigned to L. Tai and a part of L. Peipus. The following deeper lakes that are under significant
anthropogenic pressures also acquired a hypertrophic status: Albert and Victoria. In the 1960s-1970-s, L. Erie, the most shallow of the Great Lakes, acquired a eutrophic-hypertrophic
status. Since the late 1970-s, its condition has begun to improve as a result of the actions takenby the US and Canadian governments. Anthropogenic eutrophication has also been observedin the shallow lakes Dongting and Poyang. However, since these lakes are located in the basinof Yangtze River, and are, therefore, bodies of flowing water, they remained mesotrophic inmost of their water area despite the high population density and vigorous development ofagriculture. A sharp increase in trophy was observed in the years of low water availability.
Thus, a significant deterioration of water quality was reported in the 2000-s, which was
associated with the completion of the construction works at the Three Gorges Dam upstreamof the Yangtze River and the filling of a 22-km3 reservoir.
Eutrophication processes in large deep lakes containing huge masses of water are mostly local
and affect the shallow zone. A low level of anthropogenic eutrophication is observed not onlyin lakes whose catchment areas are relatively sparsely populated, but also on the deepest
Great Lakes, where the deterioration process was quickly stopped by timely actions. A slighteutrophication affecting mainly the coastal area is observed in the deepest African Lakes—
Tanganyika, Nyasa, and Kivu, which are characterized by a large population density in the96Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

basins and almost no treatment of waste water. The huge masses of water and rapid
selfpurification processes reduce the negative effects of human impact.
Since the bulk of fresh water is concentrated in the deepest lakes, the total amount ofoligotrophic waters contained in the largest lakes remains quite large.
It should be noted that the waters contained in the largest artificial reservoirs are more
susceptible to eutrophication. In a total volume of water contained in the 9 major lakes of theRussian Federation, the proportion of oligotrophic waters is more than 96%, at the same timein 19 major reservoirs - a little over 10%. Most reservoirs are filled by mesotrophic waters withsignificant signs of eutrophication (Fig. 2).

Fig. 2. The percentage of water of different trophic categories in total volume of water of largest lakes (a) andreservoirs (b) of Russian Federation

Discussion
Concerning the anthropogenic eutrophication of water bodies, it should be noted that themost severe consequences are observed in tropical countries, which are characterized byhigh temperatures, which facilitate the rapid development of biota;
significant rainfall, which leads to high rates of nutrient leaching;high population density, which increases the anthropogenic pressure on natural
resources;
the absence of proper environmental legislation and institutions to respond to
emerging issues in a timely manner;
low level of economic development and the ensuing lack of funds for mitigation.
The most complex issue in the less developed countries appears to be the reduction ofbiogenic communal wastewater, which is especially dangerous and causes epidemics. The firstprerequisite for effective action is the construction of sewage systems followed by communal
wastewater treatment systems, which requires significant financial investment. Due to theendemic poverty, primitive housing, very high population growth, and lack of control andcoordinated efforts of various organizations, sewage systems cannot be provided for thealready built houses, not to mention the ever-emerging new settlements. Even if a country
receives international funding aimed at the construction of sewage treatment systems, it
usually cannot provide high-quality communal wastewater treatment. It must be recognized97

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

that the inflow of nutrients with communal wastewater in most African and some Asian
countries is unlikely to be reduced in the near future.
The problem of reducing the nutrient load on water bodies located in the temperate zone isresolved more effectively, especially in advanced economies, but requires huge financial
investment. Severe limitation of the nutrient inflow, which has become common practice sincethe 1970s-1980-s, along with strict compliance with regulations and legislation, is usuallyeffective in improving the ecological status of lakes. However, even provided that therehabilitation activities are successful, the reoligotrophication of a water body is a slow andcomplex process associated with unforeseen situations and periodic worsening of some of thetrophicity indicators. The rate of this process depends not only on the scale of the undertaken
measures but also on specific features of a given water body, i.e., its natural purification
ability. Shallow and low-flowing water bodies demonstrate a delayed response to water
conservation measures, which is due to the accumulation of large amounts of nutrients in thebottom sediments, which are then fed back into the water.
In conclusion, it should be noted that the largest lakes are the most important reserve of
surface fresh waters. Emphasis should be placed to the maintenance of their ecological status.
Acknowlegments
Must express our gratitude to V.G. Drabkova, our co-author of the monograph "The Great
Lakes are the world".
References
Rumyantsev V.A., V.G. Drabkova & A.V. Izmailova, 2012. Great Lakes of the Earth., Lema Publishers, St.Petersburg (in Russian)
Rumyantsev V.A., V.G. Drabkova & A.V. Izmailova, 2013. The World’s Largest Lakes: Prospects for
Exploitation. Herald of the Russian Academy of Sciences 83- 6: 529–537.
Wetzel R.G., 1983. Limnology, 2nd ed., Saunders College Publishing, Philadelphia.

98Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Environmental Conditions and Eutrophication Status of Rawapening Lake ofCentral Java, Indonesia
Sulastri1, C. Henny1 & U. Handoko1
1

Research Center for Limnology-Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), Cibinong 16911,
Indonesia
Keywords: Rawapening Lake, Indonesia, water hyacinth, eutrophication, sediment load, water
quality, nutrient concentration
Introduction
Rawapening is one of 15 Indonesian lakes identified as national priority lakes for conservation.
Naturally, Rawapening is a tectono-vulcanic lake. In the early 1900s the only lake outlet of
Tuntang River was dammed for hydroelectricity, irrigation and fisheries (Suprobowati, 2012).
The lake area varies seasonally from 2,700 ha (wet season) with depth of 463.9 m to 800 ha(dry season) with depth of 461.5 m. The maximum volume of water stored in the lake is 65
million m3. Lake receives water from the springs on the mountains side and from eight
tributaries (UNEP, 1999). The lake has been facing eutorphication problem indicated byinvasive macrophyte coverage of water hyacinth over 40 % of the lake surface area (UNEP,
1999). Intensively used of catchment area for development of urban and agriculture area has
increased nutrient concentration and sediment load to the lake which stimulate
eutrophication process. The eutrophication problem has caused water quality degradation oflake and reduced its carrying capacity and lost its ecosystem service such as water supply,
recreation, and fishing activity. The study was aimed to examine the current environmental
conditions and eutrophication status in Rawapening Lake.
Materials and methods
Sediment load, water quality, and nutrient concentration were measured in the tributaries oflake inflow, the lake water and the lake outflow of Tuntang River. The observation and thewater sampling were conducted in May 2013, in addition, the observations of water quality
and nutrient loading in lake water were also conducted in May, June, July, August andNovember 2013 at four stations. The water samples were taken at the surface and at secchi
depth (Fig. 1). Sediment load and the total suspended solids (TSS) were measured fromdischarge of lake inflow. Water quality measurements included temperature, pH, turbidity,
conductivity, dissolved oxygen (DO), total suspended solids (TSS) and secchi septh (SD). The
measurements were conducted by using the Water Quality Checker (WQC, Horiba U). TSS was
analyzed in the laboratory by using gravimetric method. Water samples for measurements ofthe total nitrogen, nitrate, total phosphorus, orthophoshpate and clorophyll-a concentrations
were preserved and analyzed in the laboratory according to the Standard Method by Grinberg
et al. (1992).

99Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Results
Total sediment load into Rawapening Lake was around 10.42 million kg.year-1, while thesediment load exit from the lake was approximately 3.16 million kg.year -1 (Table 1). Sameobservation perceived in the nutrient concentration where higher nutrient concentration
found in the tributaries of lake inflow and in the lake water than those in the lake outflow(Table 1). These conditions indicate that the lake acts as a sink of sediment and nutrient
discharged from the tributaries. DO concentrations in the tributaries of lake inflow ranged
from 3.75 to 7.85 mgL-1 , while DO concentration in the lake outflow was 3.4 mgL-1. In the lakewater, DO fluctuated spatially and temporally from 1.72 to 11.5 mgL-1 with the average values
ranged from 4.15 to 6.23 mg/L. Temperature in the tributaries of lake inflow and outflow
ranged from 23.43 to 26.44 oC, while the temperature in the lake water ranged from 26.4 to
27.7 oC. The values of pH in the tributaries of lake inflow and outflow ranged from 7.35 to 7.95,
while in the lake water ranged from 7.09 to 7.70. Turbidity and conductivity in the tributaries
of lake inflow and outflow were 13.4-117.0 NTU; 19.45 NTU and 0.138-0.240 mS/cm; 0.163
NTU mS/cm respectively. The average values of TN, nitrate, TP, orthophosphateconcentrations in lake water ranged from 0.084 to 1.467 mg.L-1; 0.053 to 1.004 mg.L-1; 0.036
to 0.178 mg.L-1; and 0.009 to 0.073 mg.L-1 respectively. The concentration of chlorophyll-a inlake water ranged from 9.982 to 25.42 µg.L-1. Based on the trophic status index (TSI)
calculation by Carlson and Simpson (1996), Lake Rawapening was classified eutrophic (Fig. 2).
TSI(P) greater or equal to TSI (SD) value but higher than TSI(Chl) value indicated that Lake
Rawpening was dominated by non algal particulates. Higher TSI(TP) value than TSI (Chl) value
and low TN:TP indicated that the lake was phosphorus surplus and nitrogen limitation. The
results suggest that phosphorus is a major factor causing the eutrophiction by invasive
macrophyte coverage and not by alga bloom in Lake Rawapening.
Discussion
Intensively used of catchment for development urban and agriculture area was identified as afactor that stimulate the eutrophication process and sedimentation in Lake Rawapening(Subrobowati et al., 2012). Domination of unirrigated agriculture area in the catchment usedfor vegetable cultivation has potential erosion causing sedimentation in Lake Rawapening(Wuryanta & Paimin, 2012). The tributaries of lake inflow which receive run-off fromagriculture and the human settlements contribute high sediment load to the lake (3.7 –5.3million kg.year-1). Eutrophication in Rawapening indicated by high biomass of macrophytes
may have high organic matter deposits in the lake bottom. Decomposition of this organic
material can cause depletion of desolved oxygen (DO) in the lake water and outflow. It isapparent that eutrophication condition in Rawapening causes degradation of water quality
especially DO in lake water and exit from the lake. Surplus of phosphorus and nitrogen
limitation is common in lake such as Lake Rawapening where the sorounding area is themountainous area with critical catchment that has potential soil erosion. The erosion usually
carries solids dominated by clay containing phosphate adsorbed to it. The nitrogen limitation is
expected due to uptake by alga growth or aquatic macrophyte (Goldman & Horne, 1983).
Eutrophic condition of lake with excessive macrophytes usually caused by internal loading ofphosphorus released from the organic material rich sediments (Wetzel 2001). Phosphorus100Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

internal loading released from the organic material rich sediments might contribute to surplus
phosphorous in lake water of Lake Rawapening.

.
Fig. 1. Map of sampling locations

Parameters

Lake water-1

Discharge (m.second )

inlet
1

Sampling site
inlet
inlet
2
3

inlet
4

inlet
5

inlet
6

inlet
7

outlet

3.12

2.68

2.12

0.99

0.64

0.24

0.1

40.1

3.73

5.36

0.53

0.12

0.34

0.25

0.05

3.16

Sediment load
-1(Million kg.year )Secchi depth (m)0.63-0.95-L

Chlorophyll (µg )9.98-25.42

Turbidity (NTU)

9.0-38.7

117

52.9

13.4

20.65

71.5

104

49.7

19.45

-L

4.2-17.1

38

63.5

8

4

17

34

17

2.5

0.170-0.261

0.18

0.138

0.206

0.24

0.233

0.287

0.177

0.163

Temperature ( C)26.4-27.1

23.6

25.48

24.6

24.14

25.2

23.43

23.81

26.44

-L

DO (mg )4.15-6.23

7.65

3.75

7.58

7.41

7.85

7.3

7.54

3.24

pH

7.09 -7.70

7.6

7.49

7.35

7.45

7.95

7.73

7.61

7.5

0.084-1.467

1.64

1.14

1.905

3.509

3.246

2.068

1.003

0.456

N-NO3 (mg )0.053-1.004

1.37

0.98

1.652

3.177

2.646

1.805

0.76

0.375

-L

0.036-0.178

0.22

0.14

0.177

0.179

0.169

0.179

0.22

0.082

0.009-0.073

0.07

0.05

0.091

0.074

0.077

0.098

0.1

0.011

TSS (mg )Conductivity (mS/cm)o-L

TN (mg )-L

TP (mg )-L

P-PO4 (mg )inlet 1: Panjang; inlet2: Torong; inlet3: Muncul; inlet4:Sraten; inlet5: kedungringis;Inlet6: Gajahbarong;
inlet7: Gajahbarong; outlet: Tuntang.
Table 1. Sediment load , water quality and nutrient concentartion in the lake inflow, the lake water and the lake
outflow101

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Fig. 2. Trophic State Index and TN:TP ratio of Rawapening Lake

Higher input of sediment and nutrient concentration from lake inflow than those of lake
outflow has caused sedimentation and stimulated eutrophication in Lake Rawapening.
Eutrophication problem has caused degradation of of water quality in the lake water and thelake ouflow water. Lake Rawapening is classified hipereutrophic with conditions of phosphorus
surplus and nitrogen limitation. Phosphorus is apparently a major factor causing theeutrophication by invasive macrophyte coverage in Rawapening lake. Reducing the thesediment and phosphorus loading to the lakes by managing cacthment area and nutrient input
to the lake and by controlling invasive macrophyte coverege reduce eutrophication problems
in Lake Rawapening.
Acknowledgements
This study is supported by Research Centre for Limnology, Indonesian Institute of Science,
through DIPA research project. Many thanks to Ms Wekas from Department of Husbandry and
Fisheries Ungaran, Semarang, Central Java, Hazan Fauzi, Rosidah and Dian Octaviani from
Research Centre for Limnology , Indonesian Institutes of Sciences for helping in field work andsamples analysis in the laboratory.
References
Goldman, C.R. & A.J. Horne, 1983. Limnology. McGraw-Hill Book company. New york.464. pp.
Grinberg, A.E. Lenores, Cleseri & A.D. Lation. 1992. Standard Method for the examination of Water andWaste Water. 17th ed. Washington.
Soeprobowateti, R.T., S. Hadisusanto, P. Gell & A. Zawadski, 2012, The Diatom Stratigraphy ofRawapening Lake, Implying Eutrophication History. American Journal of Environmental Sciences 8(3): 334-344.
UNEP, 1999. Technology Needs for Lake Management in Indonesia: Case Studies, Lakes Rawa Danau andRawapening, Java. 1st Edn., UNEP International Environmental Technology Centre, Osaka, Japan,
pp: 127.
Wuryanta, A. & Paimin, 2012. Analisis Sedimentasi danau Rawapening Menggunakan Tehnologi
penginderaan dan Sestem Informasi geografis. Prosiding Seminar Nasional Limnologi VI, Tahun
2012 di Bogor, Indonesia, 523 – 524.
thWetzel, R.G., 2001. Limnology Lake and River Ecosystem. 3 ed. Academic Press, New York. 1006 pp.

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Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

LAKE PROCESSES AND DYNAMICS

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Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Low-molecular organic compounds in fresh waters of the Leningrad Region
A.L. Rizhinashvili1
1

Department of Applied Ecology, St. Petersburg State University
7/9 University Embankment, St. Petersburg 199034, Russia
e-mail railway-ecology@yandex.ru
Keywords: Leningrad region, dissolved organic matter (DOM) in water, low-molecular organic
compounds, production, destruction.
Introduction
The analysis of organic matter regime in fresh waters is required for constructing the theory ofaquatic ecosystems functioning, since the organic compounds determine specific features ofnatural waters and are largely involved in the metabolism of hydrobionts. For the practical
purposes, data on concentration and composition of organic compounds are important indetermining self-purification capacity of water bodies, their pollution indices and water quality
criteria, as well as in environmental engineering of maximum permissible loads on the aquatic
ecosystems. There are a limited number of studies on dissolved organic matter (DOM) in
different-type lakes and rivers ((Molinero, Burke, 2009; Rizhinashvili, 2008), which consider thepresence of individual substances. They are chiefly devoted to humic and fulvic substances inwater (see, for example, Wetzel, 1992). Such situation seems inadequate, because we can notconclude on the DOM origin (either autochthonous, or allochthonous) against the lack ofknowledge on its chemical nature and, therefore, are unable to provide an objective
estimation of anthropogenic pollution and the trophic status of water bodies. In our opinion,
low-molecular organic compounds are more informative to DOM research (Khaylov, 1971;
Ittekkot et al., 1981).
Therefore, the aim of our study is to define the quantitative and qualitative composition of
the low-molecular organic compounds in water samples collected from lakes and rivers of theLeningrad Region (mainly, the Karelian Isthmus area), in order to evaluate theproduction/destruction ratio in these ecosystems.
Materials and methods
Water samples were collected from May till mid-September 2012, in water bodies situatedmainly at the Karelian Isthmus, Leningrad region, as follows. The lakes Troitskoye,
Yushkelovskoye, Lebedinoye are small water bodies with the area of approximately 0.2–0.3
km2 (Troitskoye, Yushkelovskoye) and about 2 km2 (Lebedinoye). The Lembolovskoye Lake islarger; its area is 13 km2. The average depth of these lakes varies in the range of 2–4 m (thedepth of the Lebedinoye Lake is unknown). All the lakes and rivers around Vaskelovo refer tothe Ladoga Lake basin. The Lebedinoye Lake is located in the Gulf of Finland basin. Because
explored lakes and rivers are situated within settlement and forest territories, these water
bodies are not exposed to severe pollution. Samples were taken from the surface water layer(0–1 m) in the near-shore sites of the above listed water bodies .

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Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) method was selected for our analysis,
being one of the most precise and advanced methods for identifying low-molecular organic
matter (Halket et al., 2005).
Results
Upon the analysis of chromatograms, above 30 substances were identified in the water bodies
under study. These refer to the following classes: polyatomic alcohols (glycerine), aminoacids(proline), carboxylic acids (lactic, acetic, malic, citric, succinic, oxalic, ribonic, gluconic, andketogluconic), monosaccharides (arabinose, ribose, xylose, galactose, lyxose, glucose,mannose, fructose, talose, and hexopyranose), disaccharides (maltose, melibiose, andturanose), monosaccharide derivatives (levoglucosan, mannitol, ribitol, arabinitol, anderithritol). In addition, phosphoric acid and urea were registered in samples. Notably, organic
compounds were not found in the Lembolovskoye Lake sample, despite the fact of water«bloom», which occurred prior to sampling.
The occurrence and concentration of the above listed compounds is not uniform within thestudied water bodies. With regard to carbohydrates, the xylose is present almost everywhere.
The glucose was also registered in most samples; however, its concentration fluctuates in a
wider range, as compared with that of the xylose. Same as the xylose, the glucose makes the
major compound of diatoms, green and yellow-green algae (Barashkov, 1972). According to
the data of J.H. Rich, H.W. Ducklow, D.L. Kirchman (1996), glucose also was predominant inocean waters. Since the glucose and the xylose may be linked in metabolic processes, theevaluation of their ratio in water samples presents special interest. According to our
calculations, the xylose/glucose ratio varies within quite a broad range, from 0.0018(Troitskoye Lake, autumn) to 5.5 (Kuzminka River).
Fructose was registered in most water bodies under study, either together with glucose, orin the absence of the latter. The glucose/fructose ratio tends to certain constancy: its value
made 3.07–4.65 in four water bodies (out of six, where such calculations were feasible).
Among the other monosaccharides, the arabinose was found in the majority of water-bodies,in widely diverse concentrations. Computed ratio of pentoses/hexoses total concentrations
ranges within 0.0018–3.40 and demonstrates the prevalence of pentoses over hexoses inapproximately 50% of the total cases. Notably, all identified disaccharides were found only inautumn samples from the Troitskoye Lake and Vyun River. Pentoses in these samples areeither absent or occur insignificantly.
Organic acids were not found universally across the studied lakes and rivers. Acetic andlactic acids, for example, occurred in three water bodies only, with close acetic-to-lactic acidmolar ratio (5.99–7.92) in Yushkelovskoye Lake and Kivioja River.
The described pattern of predominantly “carbohydrate” composition of low-molecularorganic compounds in natural fresh waters indicates, with high probability, the autochthonous
genesis of DOM in the water bodies under study.
A weak though distinct trend of declining the pentoses/hexoses ratio, against the increasing
total carbohydrates content, is noted in all studied water bodies (Fig. 1). In other words,
hexoses are more often dominant at high carbohydrate concentrations, whereas pentoses
dominate at low-level total carbohydrates. In the latter case, intensive destruction processes

105Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

are suggested to occur. These processes may take form of hydrolytic splitting ofpolysaccharides (e.g., pentosans), or different pathways of respiration (under the Krebs cycle,
or PPR) and fermentation. The high pentoses content (absolute and relative) is often
accompanied by the presence of phosphates.
Tr o1

Total carbohydrates, mg/l

69,55

decline in destruction
Leb2

30,49
Tr v

Kivi

18,08

decline in production
Vo

6,96

Yushk2
Vv

Tr o2

Leb1
Yushk1

Kuzm

0,00
0,00

1,78
1,45

2,48
2,11

3,78

Pentoses/hexoses ratio
Fig. 1. Interrelation between the total carbohydrate concentration and the concentration ratio of pentatomic andhexatomic monosaccharides in the studied rivers and lakes. Explanations are provided in the text. Abbreviations forwater bodies: Leb1, Leb2 — Lebedinoye Lake (sampling sites 1 and 2); Kuzm — Kuzminka River; Yushk1, Yushk2 —Yushkelovskoye Lake (sampling sites 1 and 2); Kivi — Kivioya River; Tr v — Troitskoye Lake (spring); Tr l1 and Tr l2 —Troitskoye Lake (summer, sampling sites 1 and 2); Tr o1, Tr o2 — Troitskoye Lake (autumn, sampling sites 1 and 2);
V v — Vyun River (spring); V l — Vyun River (summer ); V o — Vyun River (autumn)

Discussion
We can assess, to a certain extent, the specifics of production and destruction processes inwater bodies (Fig. 1). In two-parametric system including the total carbohydrate content (thefirst variable) and the pentoses/hexoses ratio (the second variable), we assume the following
pattern. When the values of the former decline and the values of the latter increase, theproduction rate decreases, whereas the destruction rate becomes considerably stronger. In
this direction, the xylose/glucose ratio increases notably. We should add here that the xylose,
unlike other pentoses (the arabinose and, especially, the ribose), seems to be highly resistantto bacterial utilization (Artemjev, 1974). The destruction rate decreases along with the growthof the carbohydrate content, in almost complete absence of the pentoses. Thus, considering
the position of a water body in the space of two variables (carbohydrates andpentoses/hexoses), we can estimate the levels of production and destruction for certain water
bodies and their sites.
In accordance with the above trend, such parameters, as carbohydrate concentration andthe pentoses/hexoses ratio are recommended for the production/ destruction ratio
estimations in the aquatic ecosystems. In turn, such estimations may be taken as a backgroundfor evaluating the level of ecosystem vulnerability to human impacts. It is important that our106

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

results are needed for elaboration of the natural water quality criteria and in the programs forwater resources management.
The data obtained provide supporting material for the elaboration of water bodies’
typology.
The elucidation of relationships between DOM composition, energy balance in ecosystems,
and morphometric and hydrological characteristics of lakes, with regard to the level ofanthropogenic impact is the objective of our further investigations.
References
Artemjev, V.Ye., 1974. Sravnitel'naya kharakteristika sostava uglevodov fitoplanktona, vzvesi i donnykh
osadkov okeana. Okeanologiya 14: 1012–1016.
Barashkov, G.K., 1972. Sravnitel'naya biokhimiya vodorosley. “Pishchevaya promyshlennost”, Moscow.
Halket, J.M., D. Waterman, A.M. Przyborowska, R.K.P. Patel, P.D. Fraser & P.M. Bramley, 2005. Chemical
derivatization and mass spectral libraries in metabolic profiling by GC/MS and LC/MS/MS. Journalof Experimental Botany 56: 219–243.
Ittekkot, V., U. Brockmann, W. Michaelis, & E.T. Degens, 1981. Dissolved free and combinedcarbohydrates during a phytoplankton bloom in the Northern North Sea. Marine Ecology Progress
Series 4: 299–305.
Khaylov K.M., 1971. Ekologicheskiy metabolizm v more. “Naukova Dumka”, Kiyev.
Molinero, J., & R.S. Burke, 2009. Effects of land use on dissolved organic matter biogeochemistry inpiedmont headwater streams of the Southeastern United States. Hydrobiologia 635: 289–308.
Rich, J.H., H.W. Ducklow, & D.L. Kirchman, 1996. Concentrations and uptake of neutral monosaccharides
along 140°W in the equatorial Pacific: Contribution of glucose to heterotrophic bacterial activity
and the DOM flux. Limnology and Oceanography 41: 595–604.
Rizhinashvili, A.L., 2008. Pokazateli soderzhaniya organicheskikh veshchestv i komponenty karbonatnoy
sistemy v prirodnykh vodakh v usloviyakh intensivnogo antropogennogo vozdeystviya. Vestnik
SPbGU 4: 90–101.
Wetzel, R.G., 1992. Gradient-dominated ecosystems: sources and regulatory functions of dissolved
organic matter in freshwater ecosystems. Hydrobiologia 229: 181–198.

107

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Water quality Assessment by Telemetry in a lake environment: collecting,modeling and representing data
S. Di Francesco1, V. Montesarchio1 & L. Tribioli1
1

Niccolò Cusano University, Via Don C. Gnocchi 3, 00166 Rome, Italy

Keywords: lake environment, pollutant, CFD, aquatic robotic vehicle
Introduction
Under the background of climate change and human activities, there has been an increase
both in the frequency of extreme hydrological events and the range of their impacts.
The hydrological extreme events can affect heavily the quality of water systems, leading to a
critical condition, as shown in studies on laws of generation, transfer, transformation anddegradation of pollutants. In this context, developing a model to couple hydrological inputs(such as heavy rains) with flow simulation and pollutant concentrations routing will aid thedevelopment of mitigation strategies.
The aim of this work is to identify contaminants in vulnerable surface water systems like lakes
and reservoirs, their evolution and to assess management measures to mitigate their effects.
Monitoring, protecting, and improving the quality of water is critical for targeting conservation
efforts and improving the quality of the environment. The standard traditional mapping andmonitoring techniques have already become too expensive compared with the informationachieved for environmental use.
Sustainable management of freshwater resources has gained importance at regional andglobal scales, and ‘Integrated Water Resources Management’ has become the corresponding
scientific paradigm. Water resources, both in terms of quantity and quality, are critically
influenced by human activity, including agriculture and land-use change, construction andmanagement of reservoirs, pollutant emissions, and water and wastewater treatment.
Many methods to sample and investigate aquatic ecosystems have been developed and large
amounts of data are being generated.
Traditional water quality monitoring typically involves costly and time consuming in-situ boat
surveys in which in situ measurements or water samples are collected and returned tolaboratory for testing of water quality indicators e.g. chlorophyll-a (indicator of algae) andsuspended solids. This method allows accurate measurements within a water body but only at
discrete points, they can’t give the real-time spatial overview that is necessary for the global
assessment and monitoring of water quality, (Peng et al., 2009).
The challenge of water-quality management associated with the principle of sustainable
development has been of concern to many researchers and managers in the last decade. A
variety of models have been developed for supporting missions of water-quality management.
Technologies are becoming more and more important for water-quality management, due tothe rapid development of computational problem-solving tools and the enhancement ofscientific approaches for information support.

108

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

In this context, the proposed research aims to define innovative methods for sampling,modeling, analyzing and representing pollution data in water bodies.
Materials and methods
The undergoing research is based on three activities: experimental water pollution dataacquisition, mathematical modeling of their evolution and dispersion, and citizenshipcollaboration involvement.
For the dynamic acquisition of water surface data, a prototype ARV (Aquatic Robotic Vehicle) is
being designed in order to sample the water surface quality parameters and to detect thepresence of freshwater contaminants.
The technology is inspired by a previous experience made by Polytechnic University of New
York in Hudson River (Atlantis website), with the design and development of a low-cost, selfsustained mobile surface vehicle for environmental monitoring. This device can be equippedwith instruments for physical and chemical parameters sampling: pH, temperature,
conductivity and dissolved oxygen, and can take pictures both below and above the waterlevel. A sampler is added to detect the presence of freshwater anthropogenic-related
contaminants: metals (mercury, lead), niters and nitrites, benzene, e. coli , pharmaceuticals
and so on. The measurement of hydraulic quantities, such as velocity and water stage levels, isalso needed for the second step and the robot will be equipped with specific devices for aimed
at this.
To identify the changing conditions for the flow dispersion model, a preliminary hydrologicalstudy of runoff must be performed. The fluid dynamic simulation will be carried on by using
the so-called Lattice Boltzmann Method (LBM), an alternative numerical fluiddynamics scheme
based on Boltzmann’s kinetic equation (Benzi et al., 1992) that represents flow dynamics at
macroscopic level by incorporating a microscopic kinetic approach, preserving theconservation law (Ubertini et al,. 2010).
In LBM fluid is seen as composed by particles that can move and collide (mesoscopic approach)rather than a continuum medium as in the classical approach of the Navier-Stokes equations.
LBM treats the water mass by analysing its particle distribution function, f i x, c i , t  , at the site

x and time t, moving with speed ci. The dynamics of f i x, c i , t  is described with a discrete
lattice Boltzmann equation, representing the evolution in time of the fluid flow by providing a
numerical solution of the function evolution:tfi  x  ci t , t  t   fi  x, t   t  Fi  Ci  x, t     f i  x, t   f i eq  x, t  i  1,..., b
(1)where the left term is the molecular free-streaming and Ci ( x,t ) represents the particle
collisions implemented with the Bhatnagar-Gross-Krook model (BGK), which relates thedensity evolution caused by collisions to dynamic modifications from local equilibrium f ieq(Chen et al., 1998).
The LBM model is adapted to free-surface simulations and pollutants transport, adding a
multiphase approach (e.g. water and air) and a diffusion model .

109

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

The simulation of immiscible fluids is done through a Volume of Fluid (VOF) method thatallows tracing the position of the interface between the fluids of interest. For our specificpurposes, the interface is treated as a zero-thickness mathematical surface, across which thedensity field jumps from the light to the dense phase and viceversa, and is tracked throughout
the computational domain through an additional scalar variable (i.e. liquid massfraction)(Biscarini et al., 2013). A single set of LB equations is solved for both the heavy andlight fluids (i.e. gas) in agreement with the front-tracking methodology, which requires nodescription of the physics of the phase-transition between the two phases.
As results of the LBM simulation, we can describe the complete evolution of flow field in termsof velocity, pressure, density and interface position.
The pollutants transport is simulated through a scalar transport advection diffusion model
based on the general equation:(2)
Where k is the generic pollutant concentration, D is the diffusivity,
velocity. R describes "sources" or "sinks" of the quantity c.

is the average quantity

Results
The coupled hydrological-fluid dynamics model is an important instrument for evaluation ofpotential critical situations in water quality. It represents the base for decision-making process
in case of floods, droughts or other critical events depending on the climate changing
conditions.
The current development of CFD turbulence models and free surface computing methods(wave produced from the craft) allow evaluating performances in “calm waters”. It allows
comparing these values with those gathered in the towing tank. The approach has theadvantage of a real size simulation and a better control of the test conditions (velocity andviscosity of the fluid). This directly relates to an improved comprehension of the phenomenon
thanks to the peculiarity of the CFD simulation that allows a simple fluid visualization.
The active participation of citizens in measurement collections and dissemination of results isessential: obtained results will be shown in a web-based GIS environment (Figure 1).

110

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

MissionCapture image, dataand sample

WATCH Web Site

Can tag image,suggest analysis,view data

Send images,
data andreceivecommandResearcher

CitizenControl UIand vehicle

Fig. 1. Project elements

Discussion
This work focuses on climate change conditions and human activities influences that have led
to an increase of extreme hydrological events both in frequency and range of their impacts.
Floods and flooding often result in widespread contamination that poses both immediate andlong-term threats to human health and environment. The environmental consequences offlooding, however, can be extremely complex and difficult to assess due to their large spatial
extent, multiple sources, sinks, and types of pollutants, and potential effects on nearly all theenvironment components.
On the other side droughts may give rise to a series of resources, environmental and ecologicaleffects, i.e. water shortage, water quality deterioration as well as the decrease in the diversityof aquatic organisms.
Particular attention is posed in analyzing the interaction between external causes (e.g. climatechange, punctual sources) and quality parameters of water, in order to define criticalsituations and mitigation strategies to be undertaken.
The proposed methodology allows creating and validating a practical tool for sampling,modeling, analyzing and representing pollution data in water bodies, through the synergic
action of industries and scientific centers. Moreover citizens will be involved as “Scientificcontributors”, interacting with a web-site, providing photos, data and suggestions.

111

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

References
Peng, S., Zhao & X. H., 2009.A Review of Uncertainty Methods Employed in Water Quality Modeling”,
International Conference of Environmental Science and Information Application Technology; China.
Atlantis website, http://www.brooklynatlantis.poly.edu/
Benzi, R., S. Succi, & M. Vergassola, 1992.The lattice Boltzmann equation: theory and applications.
Physics Reports 222: 145-197.
Ubertini, S., P. Asinari, & S. Succi, 2010. Three ways to lattice Boltzmann: A unified time-marching
picture. Physical Review E, 81: 016311.
Chen, S. & G.D. Doolen, 1998. Lattice Boltzmann method for fluid flows. Annual Review of Fluid
Mechanics, 30: 329-364.
Biscarini, C., S. Di Francesco, F. Nardi, & P. Manciola, 2013. Detailed Simulation of Complex Hydraulic
Problems with Macroscopic and Mesoscopic Mathematical Methods. Mathematical Problems in
Engineering, vol. 2013.. doi:10.1155/2013/928309

112

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

On the role of Hydrological balancing in lake basin management
S. Di Francesco1, C. Biscarini2, V. Montesarchio1 & P. Manciola3
1

Niccolò Cusano University, Via Don C. Gnocchi 3, 00166 Rome, Italy
WARREDOC, University for Foreigners of Perugia, Perugia, Italy
3
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Perugia, Perugia, Italy
2

Keywords: water budget, Bolsena Lake, hydrogeological modeling
Introduction
Management of water resources in complex environmental systems including lakes orreservoir, requires advanced hydrological modelling to forecast main state parameters (levels,
volumes, temperature, pollution level, …) and impacts of human activities on the naturalcontext. In this work an opensource computational model is applied and tested in a typical
Italian lake environment, the Bolsena lake, where surface flows, deep flows, direct losses fromthe lake surface, the lake regulation volume, and anthropic uses (drawing from and discharging
into the lake) are jointly involved .
Bolsena Lake, located in northern Lazio, the largest volcanic lake in Europe, is a source of both
environmental and economic wealth for the neighboring area, drawing tourists and providing
drinking and irrigation water. Recently the system’s hydraulic state has undergone moments of
unbalance, due to the alternation of drought and flood periods starting in the early 1990s
which have led to not negligible consequences from hydrological (decreased flow of somesprings in the hydrogeological basin and toward the outlet, inundation of facing villages) andsocietal point of views.
The complexity of the hydrogeological and anthropic system and the current
technical/scientific relevance of the latest water emergencies occurring at the lake, put inevidence the need of a solid plan to manage all different extreme scenarios that can affect thelake basin.
Therefore an instrument of basin/lake and lake/river management and simulation is necessary
for mitigating the extreme values of the levels and flows and for controlling lake water quality.
Materials and methods
Lake Bolsena is situated in northern Lazio in a volcano-tectonic depression. It is the largest
volcanic lake in Europe and the fifth largest in Italy. It has an elliptical shape, an area of 114.5
km2 with a maximum depth of 151 m and a perimeter of 43 km; two islands emerge, Bisentina
and Martana. It has numerous tributaries and a single outlet, the Marta river, that flows
towards the Tyrrhenian Sea. It represents a great richness, from an environmental andeconomical perspective. In fact, it is used both as a tourist resource and as a source fordrinking water and irrigation supply.
The hydrogeologic framework of the region (Baldi et al., 1974, Boni et al., 1986, Pagano et al.,1999) can then be schematized in the following way:113

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

a large shallow aquifer of the volcanic layer, with thickness varying from a few meters toseveral hundred meters, characterized by continuous circulation;a "waterproof" substrate of sedimentary formations
and flysch formations that separate the volcanic aquifer
from a deeper aquifer of carbonate soils of the Tuscan
and Umbrian series.
The Marta river output from the Lake, in the absence ofan instrument recorder, have been estimated on thebasis of the known lake levels .The study area isequipped with various hydro-meteorological stations:for the continuity and temporal extent of the recordings
the stations Bolsena ( rainfall and temperature), San
Lorenzo Nuovo and Valentano (rainfall ) wereconsidered.
The schematic representation of the catchment area is Fig. 1. Discretization of the basin of Bolsena Lake
through its division into main cells and secondary cells.
Lake Bolsena has the peculiarity of having a catchment area much larger than the watershed.
To account for this difference, we used a pool of extension of 375 km 2:. assigned a reference
system matrix and overlaid with a grid mesh of 1 km 2, led to the division of the main basin in
421 cells (Figure 1).
The input data required to run the simulation are:a) physiographic data: for each cell the height above sea level of the node Southwest, thepercentage of area occupied by forests, swamps and lakes, the number of partial square, theirsurface and the direction of flow.
b) basin data: the name of the main hydrometric station, its position in the reference OIJ andthe surface of the basin.
c) hydrometeorological data: the maximum and minimum temperatures (tenths of ° C),
precipitation (tenths of mm), daily lake levels (m), the outflow from the lake (m 3/sec).
d) Basic and various options of the model, determined a priori: the time of concentration of
the basin ZN, the correction coefficients of rainfall and temperature, the parameters governing
the evapotranspiration, the percentage of impermeable surface.
Parameter

Value

Average observed level
Simulated average level
Average error
Maximum error
Nash Index

304.26 m a. s.l.
304.23 m a. s.l..
6.8 cm25 cm
0.72

Table 1. Calibration results

114

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Results
The model was applied to simulate lake levels at Marta hydrometric station and to compared
the simulated with the observed data. the model was calibrated using the daily period 1Agosto
1999-1 August 2003, characterized by an increased reliability of the input data. Table 1
summarizes the main numerical values obtained.

Livelli (m)Discussion
The results achieved with the model application have proved satisfactory in terms of average
error on the estimation of the levels. The average error in the simulation is in line with those305
obtained from other models (Dragoni et al, 2003).
The coefficients calibrated can be a good starting
304,5
point for setting an optimal management of the304
water resource. A possible application, in fact, may
303,5livellisimulati
be to simulate scenarios with management rules
303
0
500
1000
1500
(wells and withdrawals concessions, releases on
Time step
Marta) and meteorological conditions different from
Fig. 2. Five years scenario
the present, simulating the effect they produce on
the lake in terms of levels. In figure 2 is shown a simulation carried out for a hypothetical five
years period, characterized by an increase of levies of 10%, a decrease in precipitation of 15%(compared to the study period from 1999 to 2003) and a flow rate output from the lake of 0.5
m3/sec (Basic flow index - minimum value identified as vital to the Marta river). Theseassumptions lead to a lowering of the average level of the lake compared to the years 19992003 about 20 cm and a considerable increase in the spare time of the lake water. The value ofthe latter passes for 120 years to 580 years, triggering a series of unforeseen environmental
problems. Analysis similar to the example therefore allow to optimize the management of thesystem, taking into account the following main constraints: ensure to Marta river flows always
superior to the BFI, maintain the level of the lake within a predefined range (between 304 andthe 304.7m above sea level), to ensure the docking in the ports and prevent the lake frominvading private land.
References
Baldi, P., F. Decandia, A. Lazzarotto, & A. Calamai ,1974. Studio geologico del substrato della copertura
vulcanica laziale nella zona dei laghi di Bolsena, Vico e Bracciano. Memorie Società Geologica
Italiana, 13: 575-606.
Boni, C., P. Bono, G. Capelli, S. Lombardi, & G.M. Zuppi, 1986. Contributo all’idrogeologia dell’Italia
centrale: analisi critica dei metodi di ricerca. Memorie Società Geologica Italiana, 35 : 947-956.
Dragoni, W., C. Evangelisti, L. Gnucci, & D. Valigi , 2003. Impact of climatic variations on the Bolsena
lake. International Conference: Residence Time in Lakes: Science, Management, Education. Bolsena(Viterbo - Italy) September 29th - October 3rd 2002, p. 182-186.
Pagano G, A. Menghini, & S. Floris, 1999. Problematiche relative al Lago di Bolsena ed al suo bacino
idrogeologico. Acque Sotterranee, fasc.62, Giugno 99: 53 – 60.

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Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

The influence of anthropization over flow in a middle Italian basin. Different
scenarios
M. Giglioni1, S. Spina1 & F. Russo1
1

Dipartimento di Ingegneria Civile, Edile e Ambientale, Sapienza Università di Roma,Via Eudossiana 18, 00184 Rome, Italy
Keywords: Ground water storage, Reservoir, Hydrological Changes, Anthropization
Introduction
The modifications applied in our country by human activities over natural environments in thelast decades, starting from the second world war, have a relevant impact on the hydrology
answers of the system. Specifically the effects of anthropization are more intense aroundcities, where agricultural soils, which have an high infiltration index, have been modified into
urban areas which are almost impermeable.
This phenomena generates different answer of the basins to the same input event in terms ofpeak discharge and volume and in term of water recharge of the deep aquifer. The percentagechange of the soil use determines a different ground water capacity, that means higher peak indownstream, and less ground water storage. This generate a depletion in base-flow, which cancause environmental problems, and an impoverishment of the water system.
The study of this problem with a GIS program to change some parameters and to simulatedifferent scenarios of anthropization can give indication for a future planning over water
resource.
The goal of the study is to improve the knowledge of the hydraulic changes occurred overyears of uncontrolled urbanization, the impact that this change have on natural environment
and the strategy that should be used in the future for a better management of water asset inorder to prevent extreme events, as stream-flow or long dry period.
Case study and methodology
In this study some results from different simulations over Mignone’s river basin are presented.
The Mignone is a small basin, about 500 km2, in the north of Lazio’s region. It’s characterized
by an average altitude of 126.32 m.s.l.m. and there are five gauging stations, four of which areused in this study (Barbarano, Mignone, Bracciano, Allumiere), and one has been chosen as
control station. The main stream is around 62 km of length.
Starting from a study over land use (Dati sul consumo di suolo in Italia, M. Munafò, ISPRA
2013), it’s possible to build a curve of urban growth over Italian surface from 1900.

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Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Fig. 1 Growth of urbanization over Italian land, from 1880. (Results obtained with a regression curve)First it has been calculated the number of inhabitants over the basin in 2010, then the total
amount of land transformed from agricultural to urban finding that over this basin there is apercentage of 9,5% of urban surface. Proceeding back and modifying manually the curve
number shapefile, in particular by expanding the urbanized areas around the existing city, or
reducing it as urban natural growth suggest, has been possible evaluate the hydraulicconditions for different steps: a growth of 1%, 3%, 6.1%, 9,5% and 13.1% of urbanization.
The program used in the simulations is an event based WFIUH simulator. In particular the
results for three specific events are presented here:
 Event E1 del 07/11/2005
 Event E2 del 16/03/2006
 Event E3 del 25/03/2007
The program starts with an analysis of the geomorphological characteristics of the basin. In
this case five geomorphological files were generated, dependent on the anthropization level,on which the hydrological net were built.
The next part of the program generates an analysis of the geomorphological raster (100m x100m) files by the basin using an open-source application by Wolfgang Schwanghart called
Topo-Toolbox. This application generates from a digital elevation model of the basin thedrainage lines and hydrological path of it.
In the second part starting from the CN matrix is calculated the maximum potential retention
S, and the initial abstraction Ia .
Ia=c*SAll these parameters are necessary to apply the curve number methodology, created in the ’60
years from the Soil Conservation Service (United States agricultural department). This method
allows us to generate a downstream simulation from rain gauge, and the rate of precipitationwater losses in ground infiltration. The main equations of this method are:Pn =(P - Ia )2(P - Ia + S)

 S0 
 (S + S) 
 0
CN = 100  

117Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Which are respectively used to evaluate net precipitation and curve number index for thatparticular ground.
At this point there is the separation between gross and net rainfall and in the last part the
program evaluate the WFIUH. Here it is assigned to every cell of the DEM a value for velocity,
based on Maidment equation. After that is calculated a width function for the river and after
all is simulated the stream-flow for that event using a convolution.

Cxy(t)  x(t - t)y(t)dt

Results
The results of the simulations are both relevant in terms of stream-flow and in terms of water
recharge. The relevant increment in stream-flow of river generates a depletion in soil
infiltration, this due to two different conditions. The first one is the soil impermeabilisationthat naturally send the water away, the second one is the increment of surface runoff speed,
even if it is very small.

Fig. 2. Flow simulation over Mignone’s basin. The difference between series is due to different Curve Number
matrix. ( Light blue = 1% Anthropization, Orange = 3%, Grey = 6%, Yellow =9%, Dark blue = 13%)

Figure two shows that the basin’s answer changes sensitively by changing Curve Number
matrix. In particular can be observed that the peak flow increases between Q1 and Q13 ofaround 56 mc/s, that means 30% over the total amount. This results are similar for all thesimulations which means that are not dependent from the rain event or from the season.
The analysis of the results for ground water recharge are showed in the table below:
As we can see from table 1, the total amount of soil water changes after the shift ofpermeability of surface. In particular it decreases slowly for the first step of urbanization

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Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

increment, then moves faster arriving at percentage bigger than 10%, and after that seems tocame back around original increase.
However this simulation shows that on the long period, considering the whole simulation
range, there has been a loss of water storage volume of about 40%.
Percentage Anthropization

Event 1

Event 2

Event 3

3%

7%

6%

7%

6%

11%

10%

13%

9%

12%

11%

14%

13%

10%

8%

11%

1%

Tab. 1 Percentage of reduction of total ground water volume, per event, by the change of Curve Number

Conclusions
This work investigates a simple and fast way to estimate soil water recharge starting from a
WFIUH model, based on the curve number method for calculating the losses due to groundpermeability condition.
The results show that there is an increase over peak flow, which means a new perception of
the urban growth in order to prevent stream-flow event, especially on that basin were theanthropization index is bigger and the city are located at the delta of the river.
The table 1 also shows that there has been, and is still proceeding, a depletion of natural
ground water resource. It means a reduction of shallow aquifer water that generates a
reduction of base-flow in the river, with all the consequences that this could generate.
A deeper analysis of the problem, supported by a new software that can calculate directly thewater recharge process, is fundamental to prevent future problems in water management,
connected with a section that can calculate base-flow, obtaining an unified process.
Another important challenge to proceed is the applicability of the method to other basins, tovalidate the results obtained, in order to extend a new concept of hydrological problems
generated from a fast increasingly world.
References
Branger, F., Kermandi, S., Krause, P., Labbas, M., Jacqueminet, C., Michel, K., Braud, I., Kralisch, S.,
Investigating the impact of two decades of urbanization on the water balance of the Yzeron periurban catchment, IEMSs 2012 international congress, Leipzig, 2012.
Choi, W. and Deal, B., Assessing hydrological impact of potential land use change through hydrologicaland land use change modelling for the Kishwaukee River basin (USA), Journal of Environmental
Mangagement, 88(4), 1113-1130,2008.
Giulianelli M., Napolitano F., Russo F., Influence of space-time rainfall variability on urban runoff, MS’06
Proceedings of the 17th IASTED international conference on Modelling and Simulation, 546-551,
2006.
Mishra, K., V. P. Singh, V.P., Soil Conservation Service Curve Number (SCS-CN) methodology, Boston MA:
Kluwer Academic Publisher, 2003.

119Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Munafò, M., ISPRA, I dati sul consumo di suolo in Italia, verso una conferenza nazionale per lasalvaguardia della risorsa suolo, conference, Rome, 2013.
Rianna M., Orlando D., Montesarchio V., Russo F., Napolitano F., Soil Conservation Service Curve
Number: How to take into account spatial and temporal variability, AIP conference, 2012.
Sheetal Sharma, Alka Bharat, Vinay Mohan Das, Statistical change in water cycle over two decades andassessment of impact of urbanization on surface and sub-surface water flow, Open journal ofmodern hydrology, 165-171, 2013.
Soil Conservation Service (SCS): Hydrology, National Engineering Handbook, Supplement A, Sect. 4,
Chapt. 10, Washington, D.C.: Soil Conservation Service, USDA, 1956.

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Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Water storage systems in innovative small scale hydro-power installations
L. Micheli1 & F. Napolitano1
1

Dipartimento di ingegneria civile, edile e ambientale, “La Sapienza” Università di Roma, Via
Eudossiana 18, 00184 Roma, Italy
Keywords: weir, hydroelectric, micro-hydro, energy, reservoir
Introduction
Recently hydro power has been re-evaluated as being a precious “green” technology with
development prospective for the future. Legislative framework worldwide is paying more
attention to this renewable source, trying to support hydropower as a clean energy production
technique. Despite the actual trend lots of work has yet to be done to achieve a good policy ofmanagement and utilization of hydropower. This source has interesting possibilities of growth,
especially regarding low scale installations.
Water reservoirs are strictly related with hydropower generation. Each plant requires therealization of a certain water storage system, which capacity is dependent on the scale and on
the plant typology. This paper investigates on the aspects that concern with the water storage
systems in micro hydro power plants.
Hydropower is an aged technique; it is technically simple and reliable compared to others
energy production technologies.
In terms of environmental impact and technological hazard it is worth to distinguish between
large scale hydro plants and small scale hydro plants.
20th century has been characterized by terrible disasters like Vajont, Frejus etc., that concern
with the realization of big dam (up to 150 million water cube meters storage) for large scalehydroelectric generation. Concerning with small scale hydro plants, technological hazard isvery low: it is proportional to the water storage capacity. Regarding “run of river” plants
technological hazard is practically zero.
Compared to other renewable energies, hydroelectric production can be forecasted andgenerally it is possible to produce energy, without intermittence, over most part of the year.
Hydro plants require very little maintenance compared to other energy production technology
as wind generation, photovoltaic plants, thermoelectric systems etc.
Expected life time of a plant is generally more than 50 years, almost twice the one of windfarm and PV plants.
Hydroelectric generation generally requires consistent installation costs, but its realization
represents also an opportunity to evaluate the river ecosystem, to make works concerningwith water risk prevention, and to restore and preserve natural beauties of the riverlandscape.
This paper focuses on micro hydro plants, investigating about technical aspects and related
water storage systems.

121Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Materials and methods
There are two plant typologies distinguished by the water storage system:
 Run of river: those plants do not require a proper water impound, but just a weir torealize the intake structure to collect the water and divert it into canals or penstocks.
 Impoundment: in such plants it is necessary to design a proper water storage systemable to accomplish the energy production requirements together with the river basinneeds and the river environmental standards.
The choice between an impound design or a run of river one relies on many aspects:
 Technical feasibility and available site conditions (orography and flow regime)
 Energy requirements and uses (load characteristics)
 Technical and economic management (Realization cost and economic plan)
The ensemble of elements (weir or impound, trash rack, forebay ecc.) to collect water fromthe river, and divert it into a penstock or a canal, is given the name of intake structure. The
intake must assure that the desired amount of water can be always supplied to the conversion
machine. Run of river plants depend on the natural flow rate of the watercourse. Changes in
the watercourse flow rate affect directly the output. Thus, this kind of plant is suitable for baseservice instead of peak service. Impoundment plants are characterized by the existence of areservoir which enables flow regulation. As a consequence, the producible power can be
independent from the flow regime. These characteristics make reservoir plants suitable toaccomplish a power regulation service, i.e. to cover the peaks on the load curve.
First approach to the study was to explore a few study cases of existing pants, in order tounderstand technical solution and plant configurations.
In the second place a micro hydro feasibility study has been taken into account, identifying
three different plant design solutions, each one with a particular water storage/collection
system. Purpose of the investigation was to detect a target site characterized by certain
significant conditions (small rivers characterized by dry season flow behavior).
The sample case taken into account occurred in a section of Arno river, located in the northside of the Casentino Valley (Stia (AR)-Italy). A dismissed water mill, originally used to produce
grain floor, is located in the nearby of this section.
Results
As shown in Table 1, ten different micro hydro plants have been analyzed.
From this investigation it can be affirmed that micro hydro is likely to avoid the construction of
big civil works, and in particular the realization of big impounds. The installation cost, indeed,
would rise up with difficulties on paying back during plant life time, and peak service
contribution would not be much relevant on the national grid scenario. For these reasons
generally micro hydro plants belong to run of river typology.
The standard intake configuration, for large scale diversion, consists of a weir and a collection
structure. A weir is basically, a barrage that maintains the water at a constant level. It does notstore water, it just creates a small impound.

122Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

3

MYCRO HYDRO PLANT
P (kW)
Qdesign (m /s)
Kushadevi (Nepal)
4,7
0,01
Thima (Kenya)
2,2
0,028
Mae Wei (Thailand)
8,5
0,035
Mor Ti Hta (Thailand)
1,8
0,008
Borrowash, Derbyshire (UK)
15 and 60
0,8 and 3
Iles Mill, Gloucestershire (UK)7
0.75
Ostra Kvarn (Sweden)33
1.2
De Haandrik Weir (Netherlands)
100
7Roeven plant (Netherlands)
35
3Bucchio Mill, Casentino (Italy)
155
0.44
Table 1. Comparison among ten different existing micro hydro plants

H (m)
>100
18
50
45
2.5 and 2.7
1,5 m
2,2 m
2m
1.8 m
55

Plant typology
Run of river
Run of river
Run of river
Run of river
Run of river
Run of river
Run of river
Run of river
Run of river
Run of river

From this investigation it can be affirmed that micro hydro is likely to avoid the construction of
big civil works, and in particular the realization of big impounds. The installation cost, indeed,
would rise up with difficulties on paying back during plant life time, and peak service
contribution would not be much relevant on the national grid scenario. For these reasons
generally micro hydro plants belong to run of river typology.
The standard intake configuration, for large scale diversion, consists of a weir and a collection
structure. A weir is basically, a barrage that maintains the water at a constant level. It does notstore water, it just creates a small impound.
Fig. 1 shows a standard intake configuration for big withdrawal of water.

Fig. 1. Intake configuration for large diversion (Napolitano, 2012)

1. Trash rack
2. Forebay
3. Diversion canal
4. Weir
5. Divide
Sometimes the weir is designed to accomplish a double function: realize a small impound(intake function) and allow detritus sedimentation and removal (forebay function).

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Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

It is worth to mention that there are many micro hydro installations in which the turbine islocated directly inside the impound (open flume Francis, very low head turbines etc.) or upon
the weir (siphon turbine, Archimedean screw etc..). Fig. 2 shows an example of intake used inpico hydro applications and a description of the components follows.

Fig. 2. Intake design with weir, penstock and flushing pipe (Williams, 2003)

1. Concrete retaining wall with overflow
2. Drainage pipe to flush away silt, with plunger and hung
3. Smooth concrete base – with max 10% of slope
4. Concrete skirt to prevent undercutting
5. Cylindrical wire mesh trash rack
6. Buried plastic penstock
The feasibility study demonstrated that is possible to realize a micro hydro plant in small
rivers, such as the Arno river in Casentino Valley, at sustainable costs.
Three different solutions to exploit the source have been identified: Realization of a pico hydro solution in which a small turbine is installed in the existingembankment. This solution would generate 3 kW during all the year.
 Realization of a 390 kW plant with a single Francis turbine. This plant is supposed towork at rated power for around 3 months/year, during other 6 months/year it would
work at partial power and for around 3 months/year the machine would not run.
 Realization of a 439 kW plant using the combination of two turbines. In this case theproduced energy would be greater than in the previous case, and the period of nonproduction would be reduced at 1 month/year.
Discussion
Realization of micro hydro plants represents an opportunity not only for the production ofrenewable energy, but also to accomplish the water storage needs, to reduce flood risks andto improve watercourse management.
Design of new solution and development of water reservoir techniques for integrated systems
is an interesting sector of research in the field of water management and hydropower. It is
suitable for development, and it worth for further investigations.
Realization of small hydroelectric installations is also an innovative solution to retrieve ancientconstructions like mills, dyeing plant, and other structures of the primordial industry locatedalong rivers.

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Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

References
Williams A., 2006. Pico practice. Water power and dam construction.
Cannel J.K. et. al., 2005. Testing and development of pico hydro turbines. Hydropower and dams.
Napolitano F. Hydraulic Structures and Applied Hydrology Lectures, La Sapienza “Università di Roma”,
academic year 2012/2013
Williams A., 2004. Pumps as turbines - a user guide. ITDG publishing
British Hydropower Association, 2005. A guide to UK mini-hydro developments.
Caputo C., 1967. Gli impianti motori idraulici. Pubblicazioni scientifiche d’ingegneria Genova.

125Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

What future for Lazio’s lakes of Alban Hills? The situation of the Albano’s Lake
D. Orlando1, M. Giglioni1 & F. Napolitano1
1

Department of Civil, Constructional and Environmental Engineering,“La Sapienza” University of Rome, Via Eudossiana 18, 00184 Rome, Italy
Keywords: water crisis, hydrological balance, lake lowering
Introduction
Lazio is one of the 20 administrative regions of Italy, situated in the central peninsular part ofthe country. This region is characterized by several crises and the most compromised are wellknown and include for example the the volcanic districts aquifers and the coastal aquifers. Oneof the most complex and crucial situation is represented by the Alban Hills, a volcanic complex
situated in the southeast of Rome. In this area, the balance of volcanic and hydrologicalsystems is changed by levies that are characterised by disturbing effects on the quantity andthe quality of water resources. Nowadays, the current regime of exploitation of this resources
is causing a progressive lowering of the Albano Lake’s water level, causing severe
environmental damages, additional to the recent phenomena of "water crisis". It is well known
that in the last twenty years, in this area, the high indiscriminate use of water resources has
implied the lowering of both the piezometric surface and the lakes level; the drying up of manywells and springs; an overall net decrease in the river flow caused by the volcanic area slopes.
These events, together with the evidence of the depletion of aquifers, require urgent
coordinated actions and specific studies for the quantification and management of water
withdrawals. In this paper, the particular situation of Albano Lake, studied in the “Piano di
Tutela Quantitativa (P.T.Q.) del Sistema Idrogeologico dei Colli Albani”, is presented, trying tofocus on the balance factors that have brought the hydrological crisis in order to individuate
possible future actions to mitigate the water crisis problem.
Materials and methods
For a proper management of water resources is necessary to know the real requirements andthe real withdrawals. For studying the water demand and withdrawals in the Albani hills, the“Piano di Tutela Quantitativa (P.T.Q.) del Sistema Idrogeologico dei Colli Albani” hasconsidered two distinct approaches: the analysis of the water concessions database; and theindirect estimation, that depends on the soil use, the monthly trend of meteorologicalparameters (rainfall and temperature), the soils characteristics and the ISTAT (Italian National
Statistical Institute) census data. The water supply for drinking water purposed in the Alban
hills area has been defined by the Lazio Region through several studies for the PRGA (General
Plan of the Aqueducts) update. As consequence, this latter states a detailed analysis of the
problem. Aqueduct losses should be added to the values of net water required. The
distribution and the amount of needs and water withdrawals for both industrial andproduction uses have been evaluated by two different methods: the first is the combination of
specific values of water requirement per employee for each product category washed again in126Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

sections census (Census of Industry and production activities ISTAT 2001); the second consistsin the data analysis of regional and provincial water concessions archives. Also the waterrequirement and then the withdrawals associated with irrigation have been evaluated by using
two distinct and independent methodologies: the estimation based on physic-climatic and landuse; the analysis of the practices of granting self-denunciation and well stored in the Lazio
Region and the Province of Rome and Latina. Finally, the wells for domestic use are known
only through the practice of the self-report.
Results and Discussion
The balance of volcanic and hydrological systems, in particular of the Albani hills, is changed by
the levies, with disturbing effects on the quantity and the quality of water resources. The
current regime of exploitation of this resource is causing a phenomenon of progressive waterlevel lowering with severe environmental damage that is added to the phenomena of "watercrisis" in recent years in this territory. These events, together with the aquifers depletion,require a crucial coordinated action for both the water withdrawals quantification andmanagement. The area has several critical factors related to the lack of an adequate level ofplanning in the use of water resources. A first critical element is connected with the supply andthe distribution of drinking water, with frequent "water crisis" in summer. These crisis are due
to a combination of several factors such as: the growth of drinking water demand, the increaseof population and the type of settlements, due to houses with irrigated gardens; the presenceof local water systems not optimized respecting the acting loads, and often characterized bylosses in excess respect the national average; the gradual weakening of the resources fromcited Simbrivio aqueduct; the loss of local water supplies due to: water with physicochemical
characteristics (traces of fluorine, arsenic, etc.) that limits its uses; drying up of wells due tothe overexploitation of aquifers; the presence, in the last twenty years, of arid climaticconditions. The difficulties presented by the lack of supply of drinking water are additional to
the requirements for protecting the water hydrological balance. This protection should be
extended to important abstraction of water of good quality planned for use in drinking water
mainly present in this area a gradual depletion of water resources exploited for both potable
and industrial uses and irrigation has been observed. Sometimes with multiple competing uses
concentrated in the same area. As noted, under current weather conditions and weather ofland use, the hydrological system is strongly exploited and sometimes beyond the limit of thewater balance. This can be confirmed by the values of minimum instream flow and abasementof the lakes. The imbalance of the water balance of the area of the Colli Albani should also beassessed taking into account the developments along the years of aquifer recharge and theprogressive increase of water withdrawals.
Therefore The lines of action should be necessarily programmed by considering: that therebalancing of the water balance of lakes requires action concentrated in the caldera, mainly
on wells for drinking water; the rebalancing of the entire aquifer water budget requires action
also extended to the distal areas aimed at the gradual decrease of water requirements and of
the levy, with different priorities depending on the "impairment" degree of each sector of theaquifer observed.

127

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

The possible fields of action are: the reduction in the import supply of drinking water throughwater from areas outside of the hydrogeological system; the reduction of withdrawals for
irrigation, industrial and domestic production, through the revision of the values given and / orthat can be granted; water savings, encouraged by economic incentives. The imbalance of thewater balance for the Albani hills area should be also evaluated taking onto account the yearsof the recharge of the aquifer and the progressive increase in water withdrawals.

Fig. 1. Recoiling of the Alban lake coastline: in the 2001 (light blue), and in the 2013 (dark blue)

Fig.2. Emissary hydrometer Level of Lake Albano

128Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

1960-80

1981-85

1986-90

Rainfall [mm/year]
1090
1010
934
Net Rainfall [mm/year]
479
425
379
Surface Flow [mm/year] 136
124
114
Infiltration [mm/year]
343
301
265
Rainfall variation
0.0%
-8.0%
-14.0%
Infiltration variation
0.0%-13.0%-23.0%
Tab. 1. Rainfall and Infiltration variation between 1960 and 1996

1991-96
1005
378
123
255
-7.8%
-26.0%

References
G. Capelli, R. Salvati, M. Petitta 2001. Strategic groundwater resources in northern Latium volcanic
complexes (Italy): identification criteria and purposeful management. Integrated Water Resources
Management (Proceedings ol'a symposium held at Davis. California. April 2000). IAIISPubl.no. 272.
2001.
G. Capelli, R. Mazza & C. Gazetti, 2005. Strumenti e strategie per la tutela e l’uso compatibile dellarisorsa idrica nel Lazio. Quaderni di tecniche di protezione ambientale. Pitagora Editrice, Bologna,
216 pagine, 48 figure, 4 carte fuori testo. Pubblicazione finanziata dalla Regione Lazio (Autorità dei
Bacini Regionali)
Regione Lazio, 1998. Studio idrogeologico del complesso vulcanico dei Castelli Romani e sistema
gestionale per la tutela della risorsa idrica. Study carried out by Lotti & Associati S.p.A
Regione Lazio, 2004. Misure di Salvaguardia degli acquiferi vulcanici dei Colli Albani e dei Monti Sabatini.
Official Bulletin of the Lazio Region.
Regione Lazio, 2007. Aggiornamento del Piano Regolatore Generale degli Acquedotti. Study carried out
by Sapienza Università di Roma, Faculty of Engineering - Department of Hydraulics, Transport andRoads
Regione Lazio, 2013. Piano di Tutela Quantitativa (P.T.Q.) del Sistema Idrogeologico dei Colli Albani:
Technical Report129Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Graphical flow duration
instantaneous measurescurvesregionalization

methodbasedon

M. Rianna1, E. Ridolfi1, 2 & L. Ubertini2
1”Sapienza University of Rome”, Via Eudossiana 18, 00184, Rome (Italy)”H2CU-Honors Center of Italian Universities”, Sapienza University of Rome, Via Eudossiana 18,00184, Rome (Italy)
2

Keywords: Hydroelectric, flow duration curves, regionalization, reservoir
Introduction
Flow duration curves are usually related to water resources engineering and they are used tosolve issues in the water quality management, hydropower, water use planning, flood
management and river and reservoirs regime (Vogel and Fennessey, 1995). Indeed, flow
duration curves represent one of the most significant and most widely used tools to assess theamount of water resource in a river cross-section. These curves are easily constructed in rivercross-sections provided with hydrological gauging stations. For ungauged sections, many
authors have studied methods that derive flow duration curves even in the absence of data (areview and the reliability of different methods is studied in Castellarin et al., 2004). These
techniques are generally based on the identification of homogeneous regions (Nathan &McMahon, 1990). Once that the homogeneous region is identified, the information can betransferred using appropriate procedures from the region itself to one specific site.
The annual flow duration curves (AFDC) are constructed in this work (Vogel & Fennessey,
1994; Castellarin et al. 2007).
The procedure used in this work to regionalize the AFDC is the graphical approach (Smakthin
et al. 1997).
It consists of the following steps:
1. create a dimensionless flow duration curve for each different measurement station of theregion by dividing the flow data for the station average discharge value measured over thelong term;
2. identify the regional dimensionless curve X(D) as the mean of curves created in the firststep;
3. the ungauged river section AFDC is then reconstructed by multiplying the regional
dimensionless curve X(D) for the mean value of flow rate in the long term, Q*, of the givensite. To estimate the average annual flow Q* at the ungauged site, either direct models areused (Niadas, 2005) or models that take advantage of geomorphological and climaticconditions data.
In this work, a method based on a direct estimate of Q* is applied. Specifically, the hypothesisof obtaining the Q* value by spot measurements is done. The aim of the paper is to determine
the minimum number and the best period of measurements necessary to obtain the better
flow duration curve for the considered station.

130

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Case study and methodology
The analysis carried out in this work concerns the basin of the Liri-Garigliano; it covers an areaof approximately 4900 km2 in Central Italy.
In the case study the graphical approach mentioned above was chosen: therefore we
proceeded to the construction of the X(D) curves for ten gauged stations of the Liri-Garigliano
basin (1993-2008 time series).
The Q* value was calculated for each station using different spot measurements sampled withdifferent time lags:
Every 1, 3, 5, 10, 15, 30, 120, 180 days in the entire dataset;
For each year one value is extracted every 30 or 15 days in a time frame of six months.
This procedure is repeated shifting the extraction period of one month, in order to understandif there exists an optimal period to sample data series. Then, the mean value of all years isfound.
In order to assess the performance of the proposed technique, the jack knife procedure wasadopted:•10 stations belonging to the region were considered;•
one of the 10 stations is removed;•
the regional flow duration curve X(D) is found by averaging the 9 dimensionless FDC;•
the removed station’s AFDC is obtained from the product between X(D) and Q*(obtained for the removed station as explained above);•the procedure is repeated 10 times, excluding one station each time;•
we finally compare the AFDC with the corresponding empirical one.
With the aim to identify the best theoretical curves, we use two statistical indexes, the MSE(Mean Squared Error) and the BIAS :where N=the number of days in the year, Qti is the simulated valued and Qsi is the empiricalvalue.

Fig. 1. AFDC empirical (black) and simulated curves (for discharge values sampled
every 15 and 30 days in blue and red, respectively) for S.Ambrogio Station

131

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Discussion
In Figure 1 the AFDC for the S.Ambrogio station is shown. The real curve is plotted together
with the AFDC built with 15 and 30 days sampling times.

Fig. 2. MSE and BIAS values against the different sample times. In Figs. 2a and 2b, MSE and BIAS are plottedagainst 1, 3, 5, 10, 15, 30, 120, 180 days. In Figs. 2c and 2d the dotted and continuous lines represent the
MSE and BIAS values calculated with sample times of 30 days and 15 days, respectively

Figures 2 shows the MSE and the BIAS against different sample times. Specifically, the Figure
2a shows that the MSE value has a maximum for 10 days sample time, while it strongly
decreases after 15 days sample time. Figure 2b shows that the BIAS curve has the same
behavior of the MSE, but it is not particularly affected by the sample lag as its variation is nothigh.
Figure 2c represents MSE values against the sample time period. The dotted and continuouslines represent the MSE calculated with a sample time of 30 days and 15 days, respectively, ineach six months group.
Figure 2d represents BIAS values against the sample period. The dotted and continuous lines
represent the MSE calculated with a sample time of 30 days and 15 days, respectively, in eachsix months group.
Figures 2c and 2d show that the error is high for the 30 days sample lag for the January-Junesampling period, while it is quite constant in the other periods. The 15 days sample lag shows aconstant tendency with lower error values. This behavior is probably due by the fact that theJanuary-June sample time is not completely representative of the whole hydrologic year.
Conclusion
This work investigates a direct method to estimate AFDC using spot measures. Indeed it
examines if there is an optimal lag time and year period to sample discharge values.
The methodology shows interesting future perspectives as the error between the observed
and simulated values is characterized by low values. Besides, the method gives indications
about the optimal lag frequency and measurement year period. It is showed that a descriptive132Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

period of the year, comprehending minimum and maximum discharge values, should beconsidered.
To better validate this method, it will be tested in different regions. Besides, an optimization
procedure based on the minimization of the MSE should be studied. Further developments are
ongoing to enhance the approach.
References
Castellarin A., Galeati G., Brandimarte L., Montanari A., Brath A., 2004. Regional flow-duration curves:
reliability for ungauged basins, Advances in Water Resources, 27 (10):953-965
Castellarin, A., Camorani, G., & Brath, A., 2007. Predicting annual and long-term flow-duration curves in
ungauged basins. Advances in Water Resources, 30(4), 937-953.
Nathan, R. J., & McMahon, T. A., 1990. Identification of homogeneous regions for the purposes ofregionalisation. Journal of Hydrology, 121(1), 217-238.
Niadas, I. A., 2005. Regional flow duration curve estimation in small ungauged catchments using
instantaneous flow measurements and a censored data approach. Journal of hydrology, 314(1), 4866.
Smakhtin, V. Y., Hughes, D. A., & Creuse-Naudin, E., 1997. Regionalization of daily flow characteristics inpart of the Eastern Cape, South Africa. Hydrological Sciences Journal, 42(6), 919-936.
Vogel, R. M., & Fennessey, N. M., 1994. Flow-duration curves. I: New interpretation and confidence
intervals. Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management, 120(4), 485-504.
Vogel, R.M. & N.M. Fennessey, 1995. Flow duration curves II: A review of applications in water resources
planning, Water Resources Bulletin, American Water Resources Association 31(6): 1029-1039.

133

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Cyanobacteria blooms in Lake Chaohu observed from time-series MODIS
imagesY.C. Zhang 1, R.H. Ma1, H.T. Duan & J.D. Xu1
1State Key Laboratory of Lake Science and Environment, Nanjing Institute of Geography and
Limnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, China
Keywords: Eutrophication; Cyanobacteria bloom; Floating algae index (FAI); Algae pixel
growing algorithm (APA); Lake Chaohu; MODIS
Introduction
Because of 3 decades rapid economic development, eutrophication is one of the mostpervasive water quality problems in China, just like in many parts of the world. And algae andmacrophyte blooms are often observed, especially in Lake Taihu, Lake Chaohu and Lake
Dianchi (Duan et al., 2009; Jia et al., 2011; Dai et al., 2012). Benefiting from remote sensing
technology, the existing publications concerned much more on algal blooms in Lake Taihu, andlongterm temporal and spatial distributions of algal blooms and their environment driver force
analysis were popular to be focused on (Hu et al., 2010; Huang et al., 2014). However, to datethere has been no published work in establishing a long-term, reliable record of phytoplankton
blooms in the other lakes of China where algal blooms also take place based on satellite data.
The objectives of this paper are: 1) to use a algae growing algorithm based on floating algae
index (ab. FAI-APA) and MODIS satellite images to derive the algal bloom spatial and temporal
information of Lake Chaohu; 2) to explore the possible underlying mechanisms for algal
blooms in Lake Chaohu. This study is expected to contribute to water quality control andbloom prevention of inland freshwater lakes and to benefit some regional-scale studies.
Materials and methods
2.1 MODIS data acquisition and processing
About 2100 MODIS images that cover the period of 2000-2013 were downloaded from theNASA EOS Data Gateway (EDG). MODIS data (dimensionless) were georeferenced to UTM
projection with an error of less than 0.5 pixel. MODIS data were corrected by removing themolecular (Rayleigh) scattering effects, and then converted to Rayleigh-corrected reflectance(Rrc) following Hu et al. (Hu et al., 2004). The Floating Algal Index (FAI) algorithm (Hu, 2009)
was used as:(1)with
2.2 Cyanobactria coverage productIn this article, cyanobacteria coverage of every pixel was achieved according to Zhang’s
approach (Zhang et al., 2014). Supposing that the FAI of the central pixel in a 3×3 pixel window134Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

could be a linear composition of the maximum and minimum FAI in window, then FAI of thecentral pixel could be expressed as,(2)
where γ is the decomposition parameter of the 3×3 pixel window.
We define the algae coverage as the proportion of area covered by floating algae in a mixed
pixel. Assuming that the relationship of FAI and coverage of a mixed pixel can be expressed as,(3)
where α is the coverage of the thinnest floating algae (FAI=FAI algae) in a mixed pixel, FAIalgae and
FAInon-algae are the thresholds of floating algae and non-algae respectively. Consequently, FAI
has linear relationship with floating algae coverage for mixed pixels. The FAI of a max pixel anda min pixel in a 3×3 pixels window could be expressed as,(4)
where m and k are the slope and intercept respectively. Combining equations (3) & (4),coverage of mixed pixel is described as,(5)
ResultsThe
spatialandtemporal
distribtuions of algal bloom showthat for the three lake segments
as well as the entire lake, there isan apparent difference between
the 2000-2006 and 2008-2013
periods, with 2007 being thetransition year. Assuming that 80
Fig. 1. The counts for different level of algal blooms areas in Lake
km2 and 20 km2 were regarded as
Chaohu from 2000 to 2013
the classification criteria of thealgal bloom size (heavy, moderate and slight blooms), in 2000 heavy blooms occurred in low
frequency(shown in figure 1). But they became much more often occurred in 2007, 2008 and2012, especially during summer months. Interestingly, slight blooms time-series counts
exhibited the trend to the contrary of heavy blooms.
On the basis of 25% bloom area coverage as a measure of significance, the initial date ofblooms in each lake segment is summarized in Table 1. Through the past 14 years, two distinct
changing tendencies were detected; from 2000 to 2004, the algal blooms outbreak showed aslightly delaying tendency, with a delay of 10 days per year. However, since 2005, its outburst
became much earlier than before and had been brought forward to the beginning of March,
excluding 2010 and 2013. The initial blooming date spatial distributions shows that all the time
the north area of West Lake was the first bloom location appearing in this lake.

135Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

East Lake

Middle LakeWest Lake

Year

Starting
Days

DurationStarting
Days

DurationStarting
Days

Lake Chaohu
DurationStarting
Days

Duration

2000

106

155

106

173

106

176

106

165

2001

131

125

95

161

61

295

115

279

2002

151

118

150

245

76

193

102

145

2003

155

111

140

126

105

291

145

130

2004

115

236

115

236

69

282

119

232

2005

69

260

117

147

67

267

69

234

2006

65

332

65

332

65

332

65

301

2007

83

314

66

330

66

331

45

352

2008

85

216

85

234

61

295

98

212

2009

68

242

69

235

68

307

68

242

2010

130

257

53

334

53

309

53

230

2011 70
276
99
292
70
288
70
261
2012 70
264
70
274
57
277
70
274
2013 101
258
101
258
66
293
101
258
Table 1. Frequency of significant cynaobacteria blooms in each lake segment of Lake Chaohu

The bloom duration in each year is defined as the difference between the first and last day
that a bloom is present in MODIS imagery. For most of the lake, 2007 showed longer bloom
durations than the other years. The trend actually began in 2006, with 2007 being the worst
bloom year. Indeed, more than 3 quarters of the entire lake had blooms lasting for >8 months
during 2007. Similar long-lasting blooms were also found in West Lake during 2000 and 2013.
Discussion
We collected 3 years (including 2008
(Jia et al., 2011), 2012 and 2013)
monthly N and P concentrations of
Lake Chaohu to achieve therelationship between cyanobacteria
blooms area and nutrients. Bivariate
correlation analysis revealed that algal
blooms area and the ratio of N and P,
or N concentrations appeared in
obvious negative correlation (P ≤0.001). And P concentrations showed
Fig. 2. Bubble plot of nutrient (TN and ratio of TN and TP)
and monthly average algal blooms in Lake Chaohu during 3
weakly significant correlation withyears (including 2008, 2012 and 2013). Bubble size isblooms area. Figure 2 demonstrated
monthly average algal blooms areathat both of low TN:TP ratios ranging
from 5:1 to 15:1 and low TN concentrations varying from 1.0 to 3.0 mg/L favored heavy algal
blooms.

136

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

At high temperatures, cyanobacteria exhibite optimal growth rates and compete mosteffectively with diatoms, chlorophytes and cryptophytes etc (Hans & Paerl, 2009), which was
also comfirmed by seasonal variation of cyanobacteria blooms area in the Lake Chaohu. We
found that algal blooms area were positive correlated with temperature (R 2=0.510,P ≤ 0.001).
With the increase in temperature, precipitation from East Asia monsoon could be
unfavourable for cyanobacteria growth due to wind-induced vertical mixing and lack ofadequate illumination, but the rising trendency of cyanobacteria couldn't be much affected.
The average wind speed during 2000 to 2013 in Lake Chaohu was no morethan 3 m/s, andwind speed in summer was much lower than that in winter, which favored cyanobacteria
floating to the surface very much. It seemed that south wind was propitious to cyanobacteria
blooms rather than prevailing North northwest wind and east wind. In fact, south wind could
prevent cyanobacteria blooms expanding to middle and east lakes, resulting in cyanobacteria
accummulation along the north coast of west lake.
Therefore, formation mechanism of cyanobacteria blooms was very complicated, which
was the intergrated results of all environmental forces, such as the supply of nutrients,
temperature, wind, sunlight and lake topography etc. Otherwise, profound human influence
was much more than that above-mentioned. Numerous dams/sluice gates and water transfer
projects have been built to serve the purpose of flood control, navigation, irrigation anddrinking water supply. Although the factors controlling cyanobacteria blooms are quite
complicated, eutrophication first is the consequence of elevated nutrient levels.
Acknowledgements
We would like to acknowledge the financial supports provided by the National Natural Science
Foundation of China (No. 41101316).
References
Dai, G. Y., J. Li, L. Li & L. R. Song, 2012. The spatio-temporal pattern of phytoplankton in the north basinof lake DianChi and related environmental factors. Acta Hydrobiologica Sinica 36: 946-957 (inChinese with English abstract).
Duan, H. T., R. H. Ma, X. F. Xu, F. X. Kong, S. X. Zhang, W. J. Kong, J. Y. Hao & L. L. Shang, 2009. TwoDecade Reconstruction of Algal Blooms in China's Lake Taihu. Environmental Science andTechnology 43: 3522-3528.
Huang, C. C., Y. M. Li, H. Yang, D. Y. Sun, Z. Y. Yu, Z. Zhang, X. Chen & L. J. Xu, 2014. Detection of algal
bloom and factors influencing its formation in Taihu Lake from 2000 to 2011 by MODIS.
Environmental Earth Sciences 71: 3705-3714.
Hu, C. M., Z. Q. Chen., T. D. Clayton, P. Swarzenski, J. C. Brock & F. E. Muller-Karger, 2004. Assessment ofestuarine water-quality indicators using MODIS medium-resolution bands: Initial results fromTampa Bay, FL. Remote Sensing of Environment 93: 423-441.
Hu, C. M., Z. P. Lee, R. H. Ma, K. Yu, D. Q. Li & S. L. Shang, 2010. Moderate Resolution Imaging
Spectroradiometer (MODIS) observations of cyanobacteria blooms in Taihu Lake, China. Marine
Science Faculty Publications: http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/msc_facpub/40.
Hans, W. & J. H. Paerl, 2009. Climate change: a catalyst for global expansion of harmful cyanobacterial
blooms. Environmental Microbiology Reports 1: 27-37.
Hu, C. M., 2009. A novel ocean color index to detect floating algae in the global oceans. Remote Sensing
of Environment 113: 2118-2129.

137

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Jia, X. H., D. J. Shi, M. H. Shi, R. H. Li, L. R. Song, H. Fang, G. L. Yu, X. Li & G. S. Du, 2011. Formation of
cyanobacterial blooms in Lake Chaohu and the photosynthesis of dominant species hypothesis.
Acta Ecologica Sinica 31: 2968-2977.

138

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Spatial and seasonal variability of turbidity in Lake Kahokugata, a shallow
eutrophic lagoon in Japan
M. Nagasaka1 & M. Takano2
1

Faculty of Human sciences, Kanazawa Seiryo University. Gosho-machi, Kanazawa, Ishikawa,
9208620 Japan2
Department of Civil Engineering, Ishikawa National College of Technology. Kitacyujo, Tsubata,
Ishikawa, 9290392 JAPAN
Keywords: land reclamation, turbidity, eutrophication, suspended matter
Introduction
A number of land reclamation projects have been conducted at coastal lagoons since 1950s by
Japanese Ministry of Agriculture. Lake Kahokugata was one of brackish lakes located in thecentral island of Japan. Land reclamation had been conducted at the lake during from 1963 to
1971, and a tide gate was constructed in 1980. The surface area of the lake has decreased
from 23 km2 to 4.13 km2. Since then, the brackish lake has turned into a fresh water lake.
The trophic status of the lake deteriorated severely after the tide gate construction with anincrease in nutrient loads from the catchment area. There are about 125,000 residents in thecatchment area of the lake. Although efforts have been made to reduce nutrient loading frompoint sources, current trophic state of the lake is hypereutrophic. It seems that the lake
condition has switched from a clear water state to a turbid water state (Scheffer et al. 1993,
Scheffer & van Nes 2007).
Physical and chemical properties of the lake water were surveyed to analyze the spatial andseasonal variability of turbidity in the lake in 2013.
Methods
Lake Kahokugata has a maximum depth of 4.8 m anda mean depth of 2.0 m (Fig.1). We prepared 16
survey sites to check the entire lake. The lake water
survey was carried out monthly from March 2013 toMarch 2014 at St.3 near the outlet canal and St.9
near the inlet canal.
The spatial variation of the surface water properties
were surveyed throughout the lake (St.1-16) on
August and October, 2013.
Water temperature, pH, electric conductivity (EC) anddissolved oxygen (DO) were measured using
electrode meters. Underwater light was measured toFig. 1. Map of study sites
calculate the light-extinction coefficients by a quantum sensor (Li-Cor, 193SA). Secchi disk
transparency was measured.

139

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Surface water (0.1m depth) was collected to measure concentration of chlorophyll-a (Chl-a),
total nitrogen (TN), total phosphorous (TP) and total organic carbon (TOC). To measure organicand inorganic suspended solids content, the lake water samples were filtered through a glass
filter (Whatman, GF/B). Dissolved matter contents that pass through the glass filter were alsomeasured.

Inorganicsuspended
Solids(mgl-1)

Chlorophyll a(μgl-1)

Secchi disk
transparency (m)Results
The lake water was severely turbid throughout the year (Fig. 2). The maximum values of Secchi
disk depth did not exceed 1.0 m at St.3 and St.9.
St.3
1.2
The values of secchi depth at St.9 were slightly
St.9
1.0
larger as compared to those at St.3. The values
0.8
of secchi depth decreased at these sites toward
0.6
winter. The seasonal secchi depth changes
0.4
0.2
corresponded
withthelight-extinction
0.0
coefficient of the surface water.
80
The maximum concentration of Chl-a was
7060
observed 72.7 micro g l-1 at St.3 in May. The
50
40values of Chl-a also decreased at these sites
30
toward winter. It was clear that the increase of
20
10
phytoplankton biomass had no relation to the0present status of water turbidity.
80
70
The values of total suspended solids and60
50
inorganic suspended solids increased toward
40
30
20
winter. The values of these substances at St.3
100tended to be larger as compared to those at St.9.
Mar May Jul Sep Nov Jan Mar
Apr Jun Aug Oct Dec Feb
A significant correlation was observed between
the Secchi disk depth and the inorganic Fig. 2. Changes in Secchi disk transparency, Chl-aand Inorganic suspended solid at St.3 and St.9
suspended solids content.
Discussion
In shallow lakes, resuspension of sediment can be generated by wind induced waves (Arfi et al
1993, Hamilton & Mitchell 1996). Although this process is a major factor controlling the water
turbidity, the depth of the lake and the local wind conditions were the same as before.
Recently, increase of water turbidity was observed in Lake Kasumigaura where tide gate has
been constructed. It was reported that a critical shear stress for the bottom sediments became
lower than before (Seki et al. 2006). In general, sedimentation rates increase with salinity.
Therefor, the decreasing sedimentation rate is one of the major factors influencing turbidity inthe present lake.

140Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Acknowledgements
We wish to thank Ishikawa Rowing Association for its support of our field survey. This research
was funded by Kahokugata Restoration Association (Kahokugata Kankyou Taisaku
Kiseidoumeikai).
References
Arfi R, Guiral D, Bouvy M (1993) Wind Induced Resuspension in a Shallow Tropical Lagoon. Estuarine,
Coastal and Shelf Science, 36: 587–604.
Hamilton DP, Mitchell SF (1996) An empirical model for sediment resuspension in shallow lakes.
Hydrobiologia, 317: 209-220.
Scheffer M, Hosper SH, Meijer ML, Moss B, Jeppesen E (1993) Alternative equilibria in shallow lakes.
Trends in Ecology and Evolution, 8: 275-279.
Scheffer M, van Nes EH (2007) Shallow lakes theory revisited: various alternative regimes driven byclimate, nutrients, depth and lake size. Hydrobiologia, 584: 455–466.
Seki T, Fukushima T, Imai A, Matushige K. (2006) Turbidity increase and sediment resuspension in Lake
Kasumigaura. Journal of the Japan Society of Civil Engineers G 01, 62: 122-134. (In Japanese).

141

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

ECOLOGY AND BIOLOGY OF LAKES & INLAND WATERS142

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Impacts of Climate Change on Lakes in Japan - Prediction of Impacts on Lake
Biwa
H.Ogata1, M. Miyazaki1, T. Yuasa2, H. Uehara2 & M. Kasai2
1

Water Environment Division, Environmental Management Bureau, Ministry of theEnvironment, Japan
2
Pacific Consultants Co., Ltd. Japan
Keywords:
Climate change, Climate model, Lake circulation, Impact on ecosystem
Introduction
In order to clarify the impact of climate change on the environment of lakes, this researchpredicts the impacts on ecosystems and the water quality of Lake Biwa under the given
weather conditions for the future utilizing a climate model and a water quality analyticalmodel.
Climate model
In this research, MRI-AGCM3.2S, which is created by Japan Meteorological Research Institute,is utilized because this is a leading model in the currently available climate models. The time
periods of prediction are 10 years for the current climate (1994-2003) and 10 years for thenear future (2030-2039). The near future climate is predicted according to the variation of thecurrent climate factors such as temperature, solar radiation, precipitation, etc. The spatial
resolution is about 20km mesh, and the emission scenario is SRES-A1B. Although wind is oneof the factors that should be taken into account to analyze the heat balance and local windcurrent of lakes, this research assumes that wind speed and directions in the near futureclimate will be the same as those in the current climate because of the constraint of theanalytical model.
Table 1 summarizes output values of the climate model for Lake Biwa watershed. Comparedwith the current climate, the annual average temperature increases 1.1 °C, and precipitation
increases 4% in the near future climate.

143

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Climate factors

Current situation(AMEDAS value)
1979～2003

Near future climate (amended)2015～2039

Difference/ratio
Temperature[°C ]Annual average temperature of 25 years
Precipitation [mm]Annual average precipitation of 25 years

14.3

15.4

+1.1

1,780

1,857

×1.04

4,563

4,623

×1.01

Solar radiation [MJ/m2]
Average of annual cumulative solar radiation in 25
years※CDFDM Implementation of amended bias by CDFDM method
Table 1. MRI-AGCM3.2S Predicted climate change in the future of Lake Biwa

Formation of model, and items for prediction and evaluation

Fig. 1. Water quality analytical model144

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

The analytical model for water quality of Lake Biwa is based on three sub models, which are
shown in Figure 1; the terrestrial model, the inner lake flow model, and the lake ecosystemmodel. According to the given conditions such as temperature, solar radiation, precipitation,
the terrestrial model analyzes flow rate, temperature and water quality of watershed (river);the inner lake flow model analyzes flow, temperature and water quality inside the lake; theinner lake water quality model analyzes organic matters (dissolved and suspended), nitrogenand phosphorus (inorganic and organic), dissolved oxygen and chlorophyll a. The results areevaluated statistically (average and percentile) and presented in a graph showing monthly
variation for 10 years.

Near future water temperature at the center point of Imazuoki

Layer 1 (0-2.5m)
Layer 2 (2.5m-7.5m)
Layer 3 (7.5m-12.5m)

30

Layer 4 (12.5m-17.5m)

25

Layer 5 (17.5m-25m)

20

Layer 6 (25m-35m)

15

Layer 7 (35m-50m)

10

DO: current vs near future

Near future: surface

Near future: bottom'39/07'39/01'38/07'38/01'37/07'37/01'36/07'36/01'35/07'35/01'34/07'34/01'33/07'33/01'32/07'32/01'31/07Layer 9 (67.5m-85m)'31/01

Layer 8 (50m-67.5m)

0'30/075'30/01

Water temperature（℃）

35

Water temperature in the vertical direction
can’t stay in the uniform condition

Layer 10 (85m-90m)

Current surface

Current bottom

16.0

The time period water temperature doesn’t
uniformly continue

14.0

DO（mg/L）

12.0
10.0
8.0
6.0
4.0

1.2mg/L

2.0
0.0
'94/1

'95/1

'96/1

'97/1

Total phosphorous: current vs near future

'98/1

'99/1

Near future: surface

'00/1

'01/1

Near future: bottom'02/1

Current surface'03/1

Current bottom

0.030

The time period water temperature doesn’t
uniformly continue

T-P（mg/L）

0.025
0.020
0.015

Environmental Standard: 0.01mg/l
0.010

0.005
0.000
'94/1

'95/1

'96/1

'97/1

Inorganic phosphorous: current vs near future

'98/1

'99/1

Near future: surface

'00/1

'01/1

Near future: bottom'02/1

Current surface'03/1

Current bottom

0.008

The time period water temperature doesn’t
uniformly continue

I-P（mg/L）

0.007

0.006
0.005
0.004
0.003
0.002

0.001
0.000
'94/1

'95/1

'96/1

'97/1

'98/1

'99/1

'00/1

'01/1

'02/1

'03/1

Fig. 2. Monthly variation of water temperature in the vertical direction (Near futureclimate, center point of Imazu offshore) and comparison of water quality in current
climate and near future climate in surface and bottom at the center point of Imazu
offshore

Variation of inner lake temperature
Comparing the current climate and near future climate, the result shows that annual averagetemperature increases from 15.3 °C to 16.6 °C at the center point of Imazu offshore.
Variation of entire lake circulation
Figure 2 shows the monthly variation of water temperature in each layer. The result showsthat the water temperature in the winter months is not uniform in all layers from 2034 to
2036, which means that there are two layers in accordance with the water temperature.

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Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Change of lake water quality
Figure 2 also shows the result of lake water quality analysis at the center point of Imazu
offshore. In the period that the water temperature in all layers does not become uniform
during the winter months, that is each year during 2034 to 2036, lower DO gradually decreases
through the whole year. The result also shows that the concentration of phosphorus in thebottom layer would increase according to the decreasing DO in the bottom layer.
Impact on ecosystem
According to the predicted result of water quality, DO at the bottom of the lake will continue
to decrease. Therefore, the impacts should be researched focusing on the bottom of the lake,
which is a habitat for grown Gymnogobius isaza. Median lethal concentration of dissolved
oxygen for Gymnogobius isaza (LC50) is around 1.2mg/L. The result indicates that theconcentration of dissolved oxygen will decrease below LC50 for a few days at 70 m in depth(about 24% of the Lake Biwa area) at the center pont of Imazu offshore. In addition, the result
suggests that low DO values under LC50 would be observed through the whole year at 90m in
depth.
Conclusion
Based on the results of this study, more detailed impacts on Lake Biwa should be researched.
Also, the impacts on Lake Hachiro, Lake Ikeda and other lakes in Japan should be researchedand summarized as well.

146

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Analysis of the climate change effects on the Bracciano lake (Italy) using
numerical model application
S. Taviani1, H. Jorgen Henriksen2 & R. Mazza1
1

Dipartimento di Scienze, Università degli Studi Roma Tre, Largo S. Leonardo Murialdo 1, 00146
Roma
2
Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS), Oster Volgade 10, 1350 Copenhagen,Denmark
Keywords: Numerical groundwater model, Lake Bracciano, hydro-meteorological time series
Introduction
Bracciano volcanic caldera lake (Italy) is part of the Sabatini Hydrogeological Unit. Studies
indicate that the lake is in direct contact with the main aquifer. The area is exposed tocontinuous stresses from several public and private pumping wells tapping the groundwateraquifer. Over the last thirty years the withdrawals from the aquifer have increased. Anotherstress on the system is climate change leading to changes in precipitation and temperature
conditions, which in turn affect aquifer recharge and the lake water budget. The effects ofglobal warming are increasingly evident (IPCC 2014), and are expected to lead to an increase in
the use of groundwater. A numerical groundwater flow model on the Bracciano lake and its
hydrogeological basin was constructed using the finite-difference code MODFLOW2000. The
model was implemented for steady state, at first and it was calibrated. After that, it was
implemented for transient (monthly time steps over six years) conditions. The Braccianomodel was applied to simulate possible climate change and water-use scenarios to better
understand the behaviour of an example volcanic lake under multiple stresses. The Braccianomodel simulation results helps understanding the climate change effects on groundwater andlake water balance. It could also be a useful tool for analysing climate change adaptation
strategies for water supply and groundwater and lake dependent ecosystems.
Materials and methods
Bracciano volcanic caldera lake is in direct contact with the main aquifer (Mazza et al. in press).
The lake recharging area is exposed to stresses from several public and private pumping wells
tapping the groundwater aquifer. It has been an increasing in the wells withdrawals over thelast thirty years. A spatial interpolation of weather station information including rain andtemperature (data over last 50 years), were considered as input values for the modelling ofgroundwater and lake water balance. Considering an area of around 360 km2, a two layer
numerical groundwater flow model was built to represent the aquifer, using the finitedifference code MODFLOW2000 in Groundwater Vistas 6.1 (Rumbaugh and Rumbaugh 2004).
Around 2000 different uses pumping wells have been included. From regional water
management plan data on water supplied for potable uses have been taken.
Firstly, a steady state version of the model was calibrated using PEST (Doherty 2008). From thesteady state model results it was implemented a six-year transient simulation that extended147

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

from 2000 to 2005 (MODEL T5). In a second step a “MODEL A” was simulated considering a dry
scenario characterized by increased temperature and so lake evaporation by a 1.1 factor andreduced aquifer recharge by a 0.9 factor. Imposed conditions for the dry scenario have been
considered as reasonable in relation to the analysis of the 1975-2010 trend weather data.
Model A simulation leads to a shift in the importance of the three drivers that control lakelevel (Net precipitation, Net groundwater flow, and Surface water inflow).
Results
Performing results came out from steady state calibrated model. The calibration of the steadystate model took account of more than 100 head targets and of 8 flux targets related to mainlake inflow and outflow streams. An Absolute Mean Error of 10.2 M for head targets wasconsidered as a reasonable discrepancy for a basin scale model.
Simulation results shows the strong role of Net precipitation influencing lake level trend,
rather than Net Groundwater flow or Surface water inflow.
Results coming out from MODEL A simulation, led to a gradual decline of the lake level equal
to 0.3 M after six years compared to the T5 simulation (Fig. 1).

Fig. 1. Simulated lake level, MODEL T5 and MODEL A

Fig. 2 shows that Net Groundwater flow to lake increases (MODEL A in comparison to MODEL
T5) despite lower recharge, because lake level have dropped primarily as a function of lower
Net Precipitation and then resulting in stronger hydraulic gradients toward the lake. The
increased Net Groundwater flow contribution partially compensates for decreased Net
Precipitation.
Discussion
The comprehension of aquifer-lake interaction in volcanic lakes could be enriched from the
Bracciano case study. The Bracciano model simulation results helps understanding the climatechange effects on groundwater and lake water balance. It could also be a useful tool for
analysing climate change adaptation strategies for water supply and groundwater and lakedependent ecosystems.

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Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Fig. 2. Three drivers controlling lake level (Net Precipitation: Net Groundwater flow and Surface water inflow) for
both, MODEL T5 and MODEL A

Acknowledgements
The authors wish to acknowledge Daniel T Feinstein (USGS Wisconsin Water Science, Center
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee).
References
Doherty J. (2008) PEST, Model Independent Parameter Estimation-User manual (5th ed.): Brisbane,
Australia,
WatermarkNumerical
Computing,accessed
October1,
2009,at
http://www.pesthomepage.org/Downloads.php.
Mazza R., Taviani S., Capelli G., Giordano G. & De Benedetti A. (in press). In: Springer-Heidelberg (ed)Quantitative hydrogeology of volcanic lakes with management, geothermal and geohazard
implications. In Volcanic Lakes
Rumbaugh J.O., Rumbaugh D.B. (2004) Guide to using groundwater vistas. Environmental Simulations,
Reinholds, PA, USA

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Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Observed Lake Baikal Plankton trends - result of natural processes or climatechanges?
E.A. Silow1, S.V. Shimaraeva1, L.S. Krashchuk1, K.A. Onuchin1, H.V. Pislegina1, O.O.
Rusanovskaya1 & K.S. Shchapov1
1

Institute of Biology of Irkutsk State University, Irkutsk, Russia

Keywords: Plankton trends, climate changes, pollution, Lake Baikal
Introduction
There were several researches, devoted to the influence of global warming on someparameters of the lake Baikal ecosystem. The real complex studies of the reaction of the lakeecosystem as whole to the changes of climate forming factors are just started. The recent
researches of our team have revealed the increase of water temperature at different depths.
This trend of temperature is followed by remarkable increase of the summer plankton biomass(Hampton et al., 2008; Moore et al., 2009).
The under-ice complex of alga species of the Lake Baikal is characterized by the explosive
under-ice development of endemic diatom algae, with periodical extremely high yields. In the
recent paper we analyze our data, allowing the estimation of consequences of the climatechange for the lake Baikal under-ice phytoplankton complex, namely, the most abundantspecies like Aulacoseira baicalensis (K. Meyer) Simonsen, Stephanodiscus meyerii Genkal et
Popovsk., Cyclotella baicalensis (K.Meyer) Skv, as well as for summer phytoplankton complex(Chrysochromulina parva Lackey, Rhodomonas pusilla (Bachm.) Javor, Monoraphidium
pseudomirabile (Korschik.) Hindak et Zagorenko). Previous analysis of zooplankton dynamics
demonstrates some trends for increase of main component of zooplankton, Epischurabaicalensis, some increase of co-dominant species Cyclops kolensis, decrease of number ofendemic Rotifera, growth of number of non-endemic Rotifera. Here we’ll discuss the recent
results of dynamics of total zooplankton and cladocerans.
Materials and methods
Plankton samples have been collected since 1945 at least monthly, generally every 7–10 days,in depth profiles from the surface to 250 m at a single main station (Point #1) in the Southernbasin approximately 2.2 km offshore from Bol’shie Koty (51° 54′,195 N и 105° 04′,235 E) wherewater depth is approximately 900 m. This site is typical for the open Baikal and seasonal andinterannual dynamics of ecosystem components here is in good accordance with the rest of
the lake (Kozhov, 1963; Kozhova & Izmest’eva, 1998). Thin ice prohibits collection in somemonths, usually January. Water temperature is measured using a mercury thermometer insamples retrieved on deck with a Van Dorn bottle. Secchi depth is routinely measured as anindex of water quality.
Discrete depths of 0, 5, 10, 25, 50, 100, 150, 200 and 250 m are targeted for measurement of
abiotic variables and sampling of phytoplankton with a 10 L Van Dorn bottle. Until 1973150

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

phytoplankton samples were fixed with formalin, after 1973 – with Utermohl solution.
Phytoplankton samples are enumerated at the species level.
Single zooplankton samples are collected with a closing plankton net (37.5-cm diameter, 100µm mesh) from depth layers of 0–10, 10–25, 25–50, 50–100, 100–150, 150–200 and 200–250
m. Zooplankton samples have been fixed and stored in formalin throughout the long-termmonitoring program. Zooplankton samples are enumerated at the species level and also
identified by age class.
We’ve used zooplankton data for 1961 – 2010 (50 years). Diatom phytoplankton analyzed for
1950-2010, non-diatom – for 1975-2010 (as tiny forms of phytoplankton could not suffer fixing
with formalin). For biological data, we averaged data within the top 50 m of the lake, theportion of the water column containing the summer thermocline and the most of the plankton
organisms.
Results
Phytoplankton community of the lake consists of two well distinguished complexes: under-ice
complex, formed by large-cells diatom endemic species, and summer complex, composed fromsmall-cells cosmopolitan forms. They are characterized by high frequency of occurrence,
frequency of dominance and their number can be extremely high. Here we can observe longterm dynamics of 3 principal species from each complex (fig. 1). The well seen trends we canobserve for Aulacoseira baicalensis and Monoraphidium pseudomirabile (Korschik.) Hindak et
Zagorenko – representatives of both complexes under study.
The results of zooplankton number dynamics (fig. 2) demonstrate the following. There is sometendency for increase of total number of zooplankton (both maximal numbers and yearly
averaged), possibly connected with the rise of number of dominant zooplankton species(presenting up to 95% of total zooplankton number and biomass) – Epischura baicalensis Sars.
Analysis of number of both Cladoceran species met in Baikal shows expressed trends of rise of
their number.
Discussion
We have analyzed the consequences of anthropogenic influence on the lake ecosystem withmathematical model, taking into account input of nutrients, toxic and non-toxic compounds at
the level of end of 1980th – beginning of 1990th years, when industry and agriculture weremore powerful than they are now. According to predictions of this model (Silow et al., 1995;
Silow, 1999; Silow et al., 2001) we can wait for decrease of biomass of under-ice
phytoplankton and increase of summer phytoplankton, increase of summer zooplankton.
These predictions were supported by observations of 1990-2000th (Hampton et al., 2008;
Izmest’yeva et al., 2011).
We can see that summer phytoplankton complex species, some of them demonstrating
positive trends of the numbers, are characterized by small biovolumes (from 10 to 150 μm 3). It
is in good concordance with the data of other researchers, who demonstrated the gradualincrease of the share of small sized alga connected with Global Change.
A
B

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Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

7,00
6,00
5,00
4,00
3,00
2,00
1,00
0,00
1950

7,00
R² = 0,1759

R² = 0,2731
6,00
5,00
4,00
3,00

1960

1970

1980

1990

2000

2010

C

2,00
1950

1970

1990

D
7,00

R² = 0,0174
6,00
5,00
4,00

3,00
2,00
1,00
0,00
1950

1970

1990

2010

E

F

-1

Fig. 1. Long-term (1951-2010) variability of alga number (lg cells l ) in Baikal. Horizontal lines – average + and –standard deviation, bold line – linear trend. A – Aulacoseira baicalensis, B – Monoraphidium pseudomirabile, C –Stephanodiscus meyerii, D – Chrysochromulina parva, E – Cyclotella baicalensis, F – Rhodomonas pusilla

It is necessary to note, that global climate change causes decrease of share of large-cells
phytoplankton, increase of share of small-cells phytoplankton, mass development of somegroups of zooplankton (cladocerans). All of these processes are described for Baikal(Izmest’yeva et al., 2011; Izmest’yeva, Silow, 2010; Moore et al., 2009; Pislegina, Silow, 2010;
Shimaraeva et al., 2010; Silow, 2010).
We must stress the predicted consequences of chemical pollution of the lake and possible
shifts caused by climate change are practically the same. In both cases we await the growth ofsmall-cells phytoplankton share, strengthening of summer phytoplankton, cladocerans andcyclops development. The picture observed coincide with this. So, today we can’t select one of
the explanations of observed picture – is this consequence of local and regional anthropogenic

152

2010

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

A

B

25

12

R² = 0,1122

20

10

R² = 0,1533

8

15

6

10

4
5

2

C

0
1961
1964
1967
1970
1973
1976
1979
1982
1985
1988
1991
1994
1997
2000
2003
2006
2009

1961
1964
1967
1970
1973
1976
1979
1982
1985
1988
1991
1994
1997
2000
2003
2006
2009

0

D
3000
2500
2000

R² = 0,1089

30
R² = 0,1548
20

1500
1000

10

500

3

2009

2006

2003

2000

1997

1994

1991

1988

1985

1982

1979

1976

1973

1970

1967

1964

1961
1964
1967
1970
1973
1976
1979
1982
1985
1988
1991
1994
1997
2000
2003
2006
2009

1961

0

0

-3

Fig. 2. Long-term (1961-2010) variability of maximal zooplankton number (10 specimens m ) in Baikal. A – Bosmina
longirostris, B – Daphnia longispina, C – total zooplankton, D – yearly average data for total zooplankton

impact in the form of pollution, the result of global climate change, or the effect of natural
oscillating processes.
These trends can be explained by:
1) Global Climate Change (though temperature of the lake shows long-term oscillations).
2) Regional Warming (due to building of reservoirs system in 1950s-1970s).
3) Local Chemical Pollution (due to industrial and agricultural activity in watershed and airshedbasins of lake).
4) Natural Oscillating Behavior of Plankton Components.
Acknowledgements
Current research was supported by Russian Ministry of educations and science, research
project № GR 01201461929.
References
Hampton, S.E., L.R. Izmest’eva, M.V. Moore, S.L. Katz, B. Dennis & E.A. Silow, 2008. Sixty years ofenvironmental change in the in the world’s largest freshwater lake – Lake Baikal, Siberia. Global
Change Biology 14:1947-1958.
Izmest’yeva, L.R., E.A. Silow & E. Litchman, 2011. Long-Term Dynamics of Lake Baikal Pelagic
Phytoplankton under Climate Change. Inland Water Biology 4: 301–307.
Izmestyeva, L. & E. Silow, 2010. Long-term dynamics of summer community of Baikal phytoplankton andclimate change. In: 13th World Lake Conference Papers. ILEC, Shiga. 4 p.
http://wldb.ilec.or.jp/data/ilec/WLC13_Papers/others/9.pdf
Kozhov, M.M. 1963. Lake Baikal and its Life. W.Junk, The Hague.

153

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Kozhova, O.M. & L.R. Izmest’eva, 1998. Lake Baikal. Evolution and Biodiversity. Backhuys Publishers,
Leiden.
Moore, M.V., S.E. Hampton, L.R. Izmest’eva, E.A. Silow, E.V. Peshkova, B.K. Pavlov, 2009. Climate Change
and the World’s “Sacred Sea”—Lake Baikal, Siberia. BioScience 59: 405–417.
Pislegina, E. & E. Silow, 2010. Long-term dynamics of Baikal zooplankton and climate change. In 13th
World
Lake
Conference
Papers.
ILEC,
Shiga.
4p.
http://wldb.ilec.or.jp/data/ilec/WLC13_Papers/others/10.pdf
Shimaraeva, S., L. Izmestyeva & E. Silow, 2010. Long-term dynamics of under-ice community of Baikal
phytoplankton and climate change. In 13th World Lake Conference Papers. ILEC, Shiga. 4 p.
http://wldb.ilec.or.jp/data/ilec/WLC13_Papers/others/13.pdf
Silow, E. 2010. Lake Baikal as possible sentinel of the Climate Change. In 13th World Lake Conference
Papers. ILEC, Shiga. 4 p. http://wldb.ilec.or.jp/data/ilec/WLC13_Papers/S2/s2-6.pdf
Silow, E.A. 1999. The use of two lumped models for the analysis of consequences of external influenceson the lake Baikal ecosystem. Ecological Modelling 121: 103-113.
Silow, E.A., V.A. Baturin & D.J. Stom, 2001. Prediction of Lake Baikal ecosystem behavior using an
ecosystem disturbance model. Lakes & Reservoirs: Research and Management 6: 33-36.
Silow, E.A., V.J. Gurman, D.J. Stom, D.M. Rosenraukh & V.I. Baturin, 1995. Mathematical models of lake
Baikal ecosystem. Ecological Modelling 82 : 27-39.

154

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

A non-homogeneous Markov model for the definition of climate change
scenarios for coastal areas: the case of the Agro-Pontina plain
L. Marotta3, U. Lall2, V. Telesca3, F. Cioffi1 & F. Conticello1
1

Dip. di Idraulica, Trasporti e Strade, Università di Roma ‘La Sapienza’, Roma, Italia,e-mail francesco.cioffi@uniroma1.it, f.conticello@live.it
2
Dept. of Earth & Environmental Eng., Columbia University, MC 4711, New York, NY,e-mail ula2@columbia.edu
3Scuola di Ingegneria, Università della Basilicata, Potenza, Italia,e-mail lucia.marotta.87@gmail.com, vito.telesca@unibas.it
Keywords: Climate Change, Statistical downscaling, Hidden Markov Model (HMM),
Nonhomogeneous Hidden Markov Model (NHMM)
Introduction
The development of climate change scenarios, particularly for critical regions, such as theMediterranean, is becoming very important for the definition of strategies to predict climatechange impacts on the physical environments. Usually, global climate change predictions arebuilt through Global circulation models (GCMs), important tools in the assessment of climatechange but coarse in spatial resolution and so unable to resolve significant sub-grid scalefeatures. Therefore, for assessing the hydrological impacts and so to bridge the gap between
the resolution of GCMs and local scale processes, different downscaling techniques, based on
the identification of statistical relationships between large-scale features and local
precipitation, are carried out. So, in this study, an analysis of the possible changes in AgroPontina plain (Italy) rainfall under different global warming scenarios for the 21st century is
proposed. Hence, the “weather typing schemes”, hidden Markov Model(HMM) and nonhomogeneous hidden Markov Model(NHMM), are used as statistical downscaling tools which
relate the occurrence of weather states to local climate according to their synoptic similarity.
Usually, NHMM is used to simulate daily precipitation at specific period of the year but thisselection prevents an assessment of possible seasonal changes resulting from the global
climate changes. The idea is to construct a model able to capture the seasonality of
precipitation using particular large scale atmospheric predictors which affect the local rainfall
regime.
Materials and methods
The study concerns a coastal area of Central Italy, the Agro-Pontina plain which is a relevant
example of reclamation region and presents the typical hydro-geological features ofMediterranean coastal environments. It is densely populated and is the site of important
agricultural and industrial activities. In the context, climate changes, particularly subsequentchanges in hydrologic cycle, could be a hazard and adversely affect the sustainability, thefuture socio-economic development of the area and the biodiversity heritage of the National
Park ‘Circeo’. For this reason, an analysis of the actual and future precipitation features on155Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Agro-Pontino plain is proposed. Here, given past success with these models in a similar setting,a HMM and a NHMM are developed using a 54-years record (1951-2004) of daily rainfall
amount at 7 stations in Agro-Pontino-plain ("Istituto Idrografico e Mareografico di Roma" and"Areonautica Militare") and re-analysis atmospheric fields of Geo-Potential Height andTemperature at 1000hPa, Meridional & Zonal Wind at 850hPa and Precipitable Water(“NCEP/NCAR” - http://iridl.ldeo.columbia.edu/).

Fig. 1. Graphical representation of NMM and NHMM models

In HMM model rainfall occurrence and amount are governed by a few discrete hidden states,with Markovian daily transitions between them (Hughes & Guttorp (1994); Robertson et al.
(2004)). Instead, in NHMM model, HMM transition probabilities are allowed to vary with time,
as a function of large scale atmospheric variables, exogenous predictors (Abedalrazq et al.
2010, Kwon et al. 2009). In environments studies, NHMM models have found widespread
application in meteorology and hydrology, in studies of climate variability or climate change,
and in statistical downscaling of daily precipitation from observed and numerical climate
model simulation. In the recent past, NHMM has been successfully used to downscaleprecipitation in different region of the world (Robertson et al.(2004); Charles et al.(1999),
Hewitson & Crane(2006), Cioffi et al.( 2014) ) and it is able to reproduce key characteristics ofprecipitation such as inter-annual variability, occurrence and persistence of wet and dry spells
at individual sites, and correlation between precipitation series for pairs of sites (Hughes &Guttorp(1994); Charles et al.(1999) ).
NHMM was used for a selected season but this prevents an assessment of possible seasonalchanges so, here, the whole year is considered to capture the precipitation seasonality using
particular large-scale atmospheric predictors which affect the local rainfall regime.
At first, to identify daily rainfall characteristics and variability, HMM is used to identify anumber of hidden states of daily rainfall occurrence using observations of the 7 stations for
1951-2004.
NHMM is applied to relate hidden states to daily large scale predictors selected and extracted
from the NCAR-NCEP re-analysis dataset for a selected domain.
The averaged composite is constructed for each predictor, from the daily fields corresponding
to a particular state of the HMM "Viterbi" sequence.
Atmospheric variables were reduced by computing the principal component analysis andsubsequently used as predictors for NHMM.

156

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Then, through NHMM, Calibration(1951-1994) and Validation(1995-2004) tests are carried out
in order to select the best combinations of predictors and to construct a reliable predictive
tool able to link the statistics of local daily rainfalls in Agro-Pontina to large-scale atmosphericpatterns.
Results
The aim was the construction of a model able to capture the seasonality of precipitation using
particular large scale atmospheric predictors which affect the local rainfall regime.
This goal has been reached, infact daily rainfall variability is described in terms of occurrenceof 5 hidden weather states identified by the HMM and associated to variables representing
the main characteristics of large scale atmospheric circulation as obtained by reanalysis data.
Moreover, the averaged composite fields associated with each hidden state from HMM
capture the main seasonal characteristics of large scale climatology affecting Agro-Pontina.
Then, the calibration and validation tests, for different predictor combinations, reveal theeffectiveness of the NHMM for the conditional simulation of the rainfall occurrence andamount statistics. Also, from NHMM analysis, the optimal set of predictors to reproduce betterthe observed seasonal rainfall features on Agro-Pontina is identified (Geo-Potential Height andTemperature at 1000hPa, Meridional & Zonal Wind at 850hPa and Precipitable Water). The
following figure shows a good comparison between the total observed rainfall amount and
NHMM simulations in a monthly basis for the optimal predictor combination which gives themost accurate reproduction of seasonal rainfall regime of Agro-Pontina.

Fig. 2. Comparison between monthly median of observed and simulated from NHMM for the best predictor
combination selected for the period 1995-2004

Discussion
An exploration of NHMM potentiality to be used as predictive tool for precipitation has been
carried out. The results reveal the suitability of the NHMM for the conditional simulation of
the rainfall occurrence and amount statistics and particularly it can be considered as a157

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

diagnostic model to identify the link between observed daily rainfall in Agro-Pontina and large
scale atmospheric variable as obtained from reanalysis data.
In the next future NHMM will be run to make future projections of the downscaled
precipitation as by using the GCMs simulations under different global warming scenarios.
Acknowledgements
The authors are grateful to the "Istituto Idrografico e Mareografico di Roma", "Areonautica
Militare" and “NCEP/NCAR” for providing daily rainfall datasets and re-analysis data
respectively.
References
Abedalrazq F. Khalil, H.H Kwon, U. Lall, Y.H. Keheil, 2010. “Predictive downscaling based on nonhomogeneous hidden Markov model”. Hydrological Sciences Journal, 55:3,333-350
A. W. Robertson, S. Kirshner, P. Smyth, 2004. Downscaling of daily rainfall occurrence over northeast
Brazil using a hidden Markov model. Journal of Climate 17(22), 4407–4424.
B. C. Hewitson, & R. G Crane, 2006. Consensus between GCM climate change projections with empirical
downscaling: precipitation downscaling over South Africa. International Journal of Climatology, 26:1315–1337.
B. Betrò, A. Bodini, Q. A.Cossu, 2008. Using a hidden Markov model to analyse extreme rainfall events inCentral-East Sardinia. Environmetrics 19:7, 702-713.
E. Bellone, J. P. Hughes, P. Guttorp, 2000. A hidden Markov model for downscaling synoptic atmosphericpatterns to precipitation amounts. Climate Research. Volume. 15, No. 1.
F. Cioffi et. al., 2014. Projecting Changes in S. Florida Rainfall for 1 the 21st century: An Application of a
Non-Homogeneous Hidden Markov Model. Submit to Journal of Climate dynamics.
H. Han Kwon, U. Lall and J. Obeysekera, 2009. Simulation of daily rainfall scenarios with inter-annual andmulti-decadal climate cycles for South Florida. Stochastic Environmental Research and Risk
Assessment, 23:879-896.
J. P. Hughes & P. Guttorp, 1994. A class of stochastic models for relating synoptic atmospheric patterns
to regional hydrologic phenomena, Water Resources Research, 30(5), 1535–1546.
J. P. Hughes, P. Guttorp, S. P. Charles, 1999. A non-homogeneous hidden Markov model for precipitation
occurrence. Applied Statistics, 48 (1), 15–30.
R.L. Wilby, S.P. Charles, E. Zorita, B. Timbal, P. Whetton, L.O. Mearns, 2004. Guidelines Use of Climate
Scenarios Developed from Statistical Downscaling methods. Task Group and Scenario Support for
impacts and climate analysis (TGICA).
S.P. Charles et al., 1999. A spatio-temporal model for downscaling precipitation occurrence andamounts. Journal of Geophysical Research, 104, p. 31657-31669.
S. Kirshner et al., 2005. Quick Start Manual for the MVN-HMM Toolbox. Donald Bren School ofInformation and Computer Science University of California, Irvine.
W. Zucchini, & P. Guttorp, 1991. A Hidden Markov Model for Space-Time Precipitation, Water Resources
Research, 27(8).

158Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

High Altitude Himalayan Lakes and Biotic Response to Global Environmental
ChangeS. Sharma1, C.M. Sharma2 & R. Raut3
1

Aquatic Ecology Centre, School of Science, Kathmandu University, Nepal, GPO Box: 6250
Kathmandu, Nepal
2
Human and Natural Resource Studies Center, School of Arts, Kathmandu University, Nepal,
GPO Box: 6250, Kathmandu, Nepal
3
Aquatic Ecology Centre, School of Science, Kathmandu University, Nepal, GPO Box: 6250
Kathmandu, Nepal
Keywords: High altitude, Himalaya, lakes, climate change, chironomids
Introduction
Climate change is overriding all other environmental issues, and in particular is true andrelevant for a country like Nepal with its prime location in the Central Himalaya. The geologicalprocess of continental collision is still active in the Himalayan region causing gradual or sudden
erosion. The chemistry and biology of the lake sediments for this reason is important andmainly determined by weathering phenomenon of rocks in the watersheds (Tartari et al.
1998). Many of the studies performed in high altitude lakes in Sikkim and Kashmir (Zutshi
1991, Khan and Zutshi 1980, Sharma and Pant 1979) indicated very low concentration ofdissolved nutrients and minerals and also indicated by limited growth of phytoplankton. Lake
Gokyo was studied for three years (2008-2011) to understand its morphology and limnology,
the detailed account of its morphometric features, environmental conditions and thebiodiversity of diatoms is published elsewhere (Sharma et al. 2011, Juettner et al. 2010). The
main objective of this study is to compare heavy metals in water and sediments from highaltitude Himalayan lakes, and response of non biting midges (Insecta: Chironomidae) to global
environmental change based on sub fossil remains of the head capsules in the sediments.
Materials and methods
The two studied lakes are named as Gokyo or Third Lake and Gosaikunda (Fig. 1). Lake Gokyo isin the Eastern zone protected by Everest National Park authority and Lake Gosaikunda in theCentral zone under Langtang National Park, but both are considered high altitude lakes
situated along the Main Himalayan range.
Lake Gokyo is glacial in origin and is believed to be fed by seepage or spill out from Ngozumba
glacier besides springs from Renjo La Pass to the north-west. There are four other major lakes
in this zone with no direct visual connection to Lake Gokyo, and all belong to the headwatersof Kosi River System. Lake Gosaikunda is snowfed with a perennial source of spring to thenorth-east, considered a holy place by Hindus and Buddhists. There are many lakes in theseries connecting Lake Gosaikunda that fed river Trisuli in the Gandaki River System.

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Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

A GPS (Garmin Venture SC) in tandemwith Ecosounder model PLASTIMOECHOTEST II were used to find the
deepest part of the lakes, the data werelater compiled using GIS software to
draw bathymetric maps.
Two core samples were collected from
Gokyo lake and one from Gosaikunda
lake, cut at 0.5 cm slices, andtransported in an ice box. Additionally a
5 cm depth sediment samples wascollected from the littoral zone of
Gosaikunda lake only using a core of Ø
50 mm and designated as GK1-GK5. GK1
is site used frequently for bathing by
Fig. 1. Location map of the study area (not in scale). Photothe pilgrims to the west, GK2 is wherein portrait size is Lake Gokyo, (Mt. Everest National Park)and in landscape is Lake Gosaikunda (Langtang National
inlet (Trishul dhara) meets the lake, GK3
Park)
and GK4 are East and Southern cornerof the lake respectively and GK5 is close to the outlet of the lake.
Sampling sites were selected at five locations such as middle of the lake, deepest part, inlet,
outlet, and when any visible impact is observed - at the human impact site. Temperature,oxygen, pH were measured along the vertical profile using Orion Star Series Multimeter Test
Kit, and transparency using a Secchi disc. UWITEC water sampler (with a built in thermometerand outlet valve, Ø 10cm, height 76cm) was used for water sampling from different depths.
Water samples for metal analysis were collected in 100 ml plastic bottles pre-treated withdilute HNO3.
Extraction of head capsules from sediment samples was done following the standard
procedure outlined in Walker (2001) for air dried sediment samples with slight modifications.
Identification was performed with reference to Roback and Coffmann (1987), Walker (2007),and Brooks et al. (2007) under a compound microscope (400×).
Results
Metal concentration in sediment samples
The result of the heavy metal concentration in the collected sediment samples from
Gosaikunda lake in May 2010 is as shown in Table 1. The concentration of Iron is very high andvaries from 594,000 ppm in the sample collected below the Trisul dhara (one of the major
inlets to the lake Gosaikunda) to 9,894 ppm in the sample collected from the northern part ofthe lake. The other heavy metals like Cd, Cr, Cu, Pb, Mn, Zn, and Ni were also detected in thesediment sample collected.

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Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Metalsconcentrationinwater samples:
GK1
GK2
GK3
GK4
GK5
Cadmium,
chromium, copper,
0.8
1.3
0.8
<0.5
<0.5
iron,
lead,
manganese, nickel,
<1
<1
<1
9.2
10.3
and zinc levels
were analyzed in
92
262
27
57
9
the water samples
collected from the4.
Iron (Fe)28670 594000 27120 110200 9894
Lake Gosaikunda in5.
Lead (Pb)
68.7
98.2
23.1
41.8
33.4
May 2010 (Table2).
Results
revealed
6.
Manganese
205
1407
108
116
38
most
of
the
(Mn)
analyzed
metal
7.
Nickel (Ni)
31
78
36
39
14
concentrations
below
thelevel
8.
Zinc (Zn)
69
177
93
86
36
Table 1. Metal concentration in the sediments of lake Gosaikunda (May 2010)
recommended by
the WHO for safe
drinking water except Pb that measured 0.025 mg/L. Lead (Pb) and cadmium (Cd) levels
exceeded the limits also in the lake Gokyo in some of the samples creating concern for humanhealth.
S.N Sample Code.
Parameters(ppm)
1.
Cadmium(Cd)
2.
Chromium(Cr)
3.
Copper (Cu)Analyzed Parameters

Chironomid Analysis
The abundance of chironomids varies at different sampling sites along the Littoral zone. It
varies from 467 in sample site GK4 to 52 in sample site GK1 in Gosaikunda lake. The sediment
sample from the site GK1 is characterized by an abundance of the Tanytarsini. Of all the 5randomly selected head capsules from this site, all were Tanytarsini from sub family
Chironominae. The sediment sample from the sample site GK2 and GK3 is characterized by anabundance of the Diamesinae and Orthocladiinae with Pseudodiamesa spp and Rheocricotopus
spp identified up to the genus level. The sample site GK4 and GK5 is characterized by anabundance of the Orthocladiinae. In total, the sediment sample from the lake is mostly
characterized by an abundance of the Orthocladiinae and Diamesinae. The samples werecollected from the littoral zone and this zone tends to be dominated by the Orthocladiinae(Brooks et al., 2006). The abundance of the Orthocladiinae, Diamesinae and Tanytarsini
classifies this lake as an oligotrophic lake.

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Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Discussion
The correlation between heavy metals and chironomids abundance shows that heavy metals
like chromium, manganese, cooper, lead, nickel, zinc and iron except the cadmium shows thenegative correlation to the chironomids abundance. Statistically, chromium shows thenegative correlation with chironomids abundance. Lake Gokyo consist mostly the subfamiliesof Chironominae and Orthocladiinae followed by Diamesinae. The Diamesinae is composed of
the genus Pseudodiamesa. The Chironominae are represented by the genus Micropsectra, andOrthocladiinae by Orthocladius/Cricotopus – type and Eukiefferiella/Tvetenia-type.
Rheocricotopus sp. of the subfamily Orthocladiinae were also found in both the cores sampled.
Acknowledgements
The research was supported in part by Aquatic Ecology Centre, WWF/Nepal, FulbrightCommission/USA and OEAD/ Austria.
References
Brooks, S. J., 2006. Fossil midges (Diptera: Chironomidae) as palaeoclimatic indicators for the Eurasianregion. Quaternary Science Reviews 25, 1894–1910.
Juettner, I., S. Gurung, C.M. Sharma , S. Sharma, M. De. Hann & B.V.de. Vijver, 2010. Morphology of new
taxa in the Cymbella aspera and Cymbella Neocistula groups, Cymbella yakii sp. nov., and Cymbella
cf. hantzschiana from Everest National Park, Nepal. Polish Botanical Journal 55(1): 73–92.
Khan, M.A. & D.P. Zutshi, 1980. Contribution to high altitude limnology of the Himalayan system. I.
Limnology and primary productivity of the plankton community of Nilang lake, Kashmir.
Hydrobiologia, 75:102-112.
Roback, S. S. and W. P. Coffmann, 1987. Results of the Nepal Alpine Zone Research Project,
Chironomidae (Diptera). Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, 139, 87-158.
Sharma, A.P. & M.C. Pant, 1979. Certain physico-chemical features, chlorophyll concentration andphytoplankton population in high altitude lake. Tropical Ecology, 20:101-113.
Sharma, C. M., S. Sharma, R.M. Bajracharya, S. Gurung, I. Juettner, S. Kang, Q. Zhang, and Q. Li., 2011.
First results on bathymetry and limnology of the Gokyo wetlands, high altitude lakes in the Gokyo
valley, Sagarmatha (Everest) National Park, Nepal. Accepted in Limnology (DOI 10.1007/s10201011-0366-0), Japanese Society of Limnology.
Tartari, G. A., G.Tartari & R. Mosello, 1998. Water chemistry of high altitude lakes in the Khumbu andImja Khola Valleys (Nepalese Himalayas). In: A. Lami & G. Giussani (Eds), Limnology of high altitude
lakes in the Mt Everest Region (Nepal). Memorie Instituto italiano di idrobiologia, 57: 151-235.
Walker, I. R., 2007. The WWW Field Guide to Fossil Midges. (http://www.paleolab.ca/wwwguide/
Walker, I.R., 2001. Midges: Chironomidae and related Diptera. In: Smol, J.P., Birks, H.J.B., Last, W.M.
(Eds.), Tracking Environmental Change Using Lake Sediments. Zoological Indicators, vol. 4. Kluwer
Academic Publ., Dordrecht, pp. 43–66.
Zutshi, D. P., 1991. Limnology of high altitude lakes of Himalayan region. Verhandlungen desInternationalen Verein Limnologie, 24:1077-1080

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Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Temporal changes in ionic composition of lakes in the Eastern Alps
B. Thaler 1& D. Tait1
1

Biological Laboratory, Environmental Agency, Autonomous Province of Bozen / Bolzano,
Unterbergstraße 2, 39055 Leifers, Italy
Keywords: major ions, lakes, permafrost, rock glacier
Introduction
The chemical composition of lake water is the result of the mutual dynamic interaction ofclimatic, hydrological and geological factors and is often also influenced by human activities.
The average major ions composition usually remains approximately constant unless severe
modifications within the watershed or of the climate occur. Long term studies allow tracking of
the temporal development, particularly interesting in relation to the ongoing climatic changes.
A long term monitoring of the lakes in South Tyrol, a province of the Eastern Alps in Northern
Italy, involved lakes from valley bottom to high mountain altitude. A first, dramatic, change inthe major ion composition was detected in 2000 for Lake Rasass, a high altitude lake, where asudden tenfold increase of the solute concentrations where observed (Thies et al., 2007;
Ilyashuk et al., 2014). This finding prompted further investigations.
Methods
The monitoring, started in 1979 and included lakes located at elevations between 215 and2900 m above sea level. The lower lakes were sampled from two to six times a year, whereas
high altitude lakes were sampled at much lower frequency and with irregular time intervals.
The area of the investigated lakes ranged between 0.01 and 620 ha.
Data elaboration was based on the ionic concentration of inlets and creeks and on depth
averaged concentrations for the lakes. Statistical analysis involved mainly frequency
distributions and cluster analysis of the major ions. Furthermore, in order to investigate thepotential effect of climate change, a comparison between data collected before and after 2000
was made.
Results
The ionic composition of the majority of the monitored lakes shows negligible temporalchanges. In particular, sulfate concentrations in high altitude lakes are generally lower then in
the recent past due to the decreased sulfur level in the atmospheric precipitation of the lastyears. Despite this fact, the ionic concentration of sulfate, magnesium and calcium of somewater bodies has rapidly increased during the last two decades, while leaving the alkalinity
level practically unchanged. These temporal changes are also accompanied by seasonal
fluctuations which are more readily evident in the creeks than in the lakes themselves (Fig. 1).
The distribution of average sulfate, magnesium and calcium concentrations of more than 200
surface waters above 1600 m altitude showed that only few lakes have so high concentrationsof these three solutes that they fall distinctly outside the normal distribution curve (Fig. 2).

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Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

These lakes proved to be nearly exclusively high altitude lakes with watersheds dominated by
crystalline basement rocks. Similar chemical modifications, albeit at lower level, could also be
observed in some downstream located surface waters as some lakes, creeks and hydropower
plant reservoirs. In few cases drinking waters used for the water supply of high altitude refuges
were also found to be affected.
To investigate the influence of the observed phenomena a cluster analysis was applied to thedataset of lake water compositions. The analysis was performed on mean concentration values
obtained after the year 2000 for lakes located at
all altitudes. The clustering identified five groupsof lakes, the smallest of them containing thethree lakes most influenced by rock glaciers(Table 1). These three lakes are geographicallylocated in the western part of the province,
where crystalline rocks prevail. Although
likewise interesting in this respect, changes innitrogen concentrations, recently increasing in
atmospheric depositions, are difficult to follow
because they can be quickly masked by theFig. 1. Seasonality of sulfate concentrations in threechanges they induce in the primary production.
-1
creeks (mg L )Fig. 2. Frequency distribution of average sulfate, magnesium and calcium concentrations after year 2000 in surface
lakes above 1600 m altitude

164

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Group

Alk

Ca2+

DRSi

Mg2+

SO42-

Group 1 – low concentration of ions with silica

0.126

0.226

1.152

0.062

0.194

Group 2 – low concentrations of ions and low silica

0.236

0.247

0.439

0.086

0.126

2.158

1.255

0.413

0.821

0.153

0.634

0.720

2.220

0.320

0.507

3.330

2.531

2.337

2.202

1.922

Group 3 – high alkalinity, low sulfate(dolomitic lakes)
Group 4 – low alkalinity with sulfate (many of thelakes in this group are partially influenced by rockglaciers)
Group 5 – high sulfate, magnesium and calcium withvarious alkalinity (contains the three lakes mostinfluenced by rock glaciers)

Table 1. Groups of lakes identified by hierarchical cluster analysis (method Ward, indices, DRSi = dissolved reactive
silica)Discussion
The observed increased ionic concentrations in some high altitude lakes are too high todepend only on enhanced weathering driven by climate warming, since the watersheds ofthese lakes are mostly small and the water travel time is short. It is assumed that the main
driving factor for the observed changes is the melting of rock glaciers which were detected
within all the watersheds where the increase in solute concentrations was observed. Increased
ionic concentrations of surface waters were observed also in other studies of rock glacier areas(Williams et al., 2006; Thies et al., 2013).
Rock glaciers, a mixture of ice and rocks flowing like a glacier, are a very common feature ofmountain permafrost areas. Climatic models forecast for the Alps a warming of about 4°C
between now and year 2100 and therefore a significant melting of the permafrost can be
expected. The high concentrations of solutes, mainly sulfate, magnesium and calcium in theoutflow of the rock glaciers are produced by chemical, physical and biological processes taking
place within them (Giardino, 1992; Williams, 2006; Sonnleitner et al., 2011; Manning, 2013).
Hydrological features also play an important role) (Krainer & Mostler, 2002). The final productsof these processes and the concentration level of the outflowing solutes, which in some cases
also include heavy metals like nickel, aluminum and manganese, seem to depend on thelithological composition of the rock glacier itself. A comparison between data collected before
and after year 2000 evidenced which lakes are probably influenced by rock glacier to various
degrees.
Mineralogical investigations of the watersheds containing rock glaciers will predict whatchanges in the chemical composition of their surface waters are to be expected and also
identify the regions where heavy metal enrichment could cause toxicity problems to thedrinking water supply.
The extent to which the observed chemical modifications are reflected on the biotic
components is part of the running Interreg IV Italy-Austria (2011-2014)-project “permaqua”.

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Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Acknowledgements
These investigations have been partly co-financed by EU-projects (Step, Alpe, Molar, Emerge)
and presently by the Permaqua Interreg-project.
References
Giardino, J. R., J. D. Vitek and J. L. DeMorett, 1992. A model of water movement in rock glaciers andassociated water characteristics. In Dixon, J.C. & A.D. Abrahams (eds), Periglacial Geomorphology:
Proceedings of the 22nd Annual Binghamton Symposium in Geomorphology, Amsterdam: 159-184.
Ilyashuk, B., E. Ilyashuk, R. Psenner, R. Tessadri & K. Koinig, 2014. Rock glacier outflows may adversely
affect lakes: Lessons from the past and present of two neighboring water bodies in a crystallinerock watershed. Environmental Science & Technology 48 (11): 6192 -6200.
Krainer, K. & W. Mostler, 2002. Hydrology of active rock glaciers: Examples from the Austrian Alps.
Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research 34: 142-149.
Manning, A. H., P. L. Verplanck, J. S. Caine & A. S. Todd, 2013. Links between climate, change, watertable depth, and water chemistry in a mineralized mountain watershed. Applied Geochemistry 37:
64-78.
Sonnleitner, R., B. Redl & F. Schinner, 2011. Microbial mobilization of major and trace elements fromcatchment rock samples of a high mountain lake in the European Alps. Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine
Research 43: 465-473.
Thies, H., U. Nickus, V. Mair, R. Tessadri, D. Tait, B. Thaler and R. Psenner, 2007. Unexpected responseof high Alpine lake waters to climate warming. Environmental Science & Technology 41: 74247429.
Thies, H., U. Nickus, M. Tolotti, R. Tessadri & K. Krainer, 2013. Evidence of rock glacier melt impacts onwater chemistry and diatoms in high mountain streams. Cold Regions Science and Technology 96:
77-85.
Williams, M. W., M. Knauf, M. Caine, F. Liu & P.L. Verplanck, 2006. Geochemistry and source waters ofrock glacier outflow, Colorado Front Range. Permafrost and Periglacial Processes 17: 13-33.

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Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

INFORMATICS, MAPPING AND MONITORING

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Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Enumeration of benthic animals in a deep lake using a ROV
K. Ishikawa1, E. Inoue1, T. Nagata1 & C. Jiao1
1

Lake Biwa Environmental Research Institute

Keywords: underwater robot, benthos, Lake Biwa, video camera
Introduction
It is not easy to enumerate benthic animals on the bottom of a deep lake. Sediment grab
samplers and fishing nets like dredges have been commonly used to take samples (Downing &Rigler 1984; Haahtela 1978). However, sediment grab samplers cannot take a large sample anddredging nets do not always extend to the bottom because of boat rolling. Therefore, highaccuracy data remains a need for ecological analysis. Recently, observation methods using
digital images with an underwater robot have been developed (Kumagai 2006; Ishikawa &Kumagai 2014). In this study, a ROV (a remotely operated vehicle) was improved to enumerate
benthos on lake bottoms. As a case study, the benthos monitoring methods using the ROV, afishing net and a sediment sampler were compared in Lake Biwa, Japan. Recently, ongoingwarming and hypoxia in Lake Biwa has threaten benthic animals, including endemic species,
living in the profundal zone (Ishikawa 2012) so accurate biological monitoring has been
demanded.
Methods
Improved ROV for enumeration
A commercial ROV (DELTA-150, Qi Inc.) equipped with a front video camera easily provides anunderwater view allows observations of benthic animals on a lake bottom as well as planktonic
and nektonic animals in water. However, front view distance may be limited and variable
depending on water clarity, limiting its benefit for scientifc monitoring. In order to enumerate
benthic animals, a parallel video camera (Handycam HDR-CX180, Sony) and a pair of lazer
pointers as a scalar were attached on a ROV (Fig. 1). In the video images, the length of the twolazer pointers indicate 9 cm with our ROV setting.
ROV benthos monitoring
A ROV observation performed every month from
April 2012 to March 2014 at a 90 m (Stas. N4 andHY90) and 70 m depth areas (Sta. Ie). Video images
were taken for 30 min at each station. After removing
unclear images, benthic animals were identified andcounted with naked eye in each image.
Benthos sampling using fishing nets
A fishery trawl net, or dredge, with 1 m wide iron

168

Fig. 1. An improved ROV with a parallel
camera box for benthos monitoring

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

frame was used to take large amphipoid samples eight times between May 2012 and May
2013 at the three stations. Sample collection covered approximetely 200 m-2 with eachsampling. Benthic animals were collected on a 0.25 mm pore mesh and were identified undera stereo microscope.
Benthos sampling using a sediment sampler
An Ekman grab sediment sampler (15 cm x 15 cm area) was used to take triplicate sediment
samples from April 2012 to January 2014 monthly at the three stations. Benthic animals werecollected on a 0.25 mm pore mesh and were identified under a stereo microscope.
Results
ROV benthos enumeration
Jessogammarus annandalei, Asellus hilgendorfi, Palaemon paucidens, Bdellocepharaannandalei and Branchiura sowerbyi were detected at the three stations. Minimum (Min) andmaximum (Max) densities of these species during the two year research period were 0-1971
ind m-2, 0-224 ind m-2, 0-119 ind m-2, 0-75 ind m-2, and 0-22 ind m-2, respectively. Change oflife style for reproduction and sensitivity to oxygen depletion are reflected in their seasonaldensity variations. Not all of the aforesaid species life cycles or ecological behavior are known.
However it is known that juveniles of J. annandalei are planktonic (Narita 1976; Ishikawa &Urabe 2005) and P. paucidens spawns in the lake shore area (Nishino 1980).
Benthos monitoring with the fishing net
J. annandalei , P. paucidens and A. hilgendorfi were enumerated at the three stations.
Although some Br. sowerbyi and Stictochironomus pictulus were collected their bodies were
fragmented. Min and Max densities of J. annandalei , A. hilgendorfi and P. paucidens were 059 ind m-2, 0-10 ind m-2 and 0-3 ind m-2, respectively.
Benthos monitoring by Ekman sediment sampler

Density of J. annandalei by Ekman
sediment sampler (ind m -2 )

500

450
400
350
300
250

y = 0.1775x + 33.033
R² = 0.5027 n=48

200
150
100
50

0
0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

Density of J. annandalei by ROV (ind m -2 )Fig. 2 Relationship between densities of J. annandalei
obtained ROV and Ekman sediment sampler.

169

J. annandalei, A. hilgendorfi, Br.
sowerbyi and S. pictulus were found at
all stations. However P. paucidens was
not collected because they escaped
quickly and Bd. annandalei was notenumerated because of its low density.
Min and Max densities of J. annandalei ,A. hilgendorfi, Br. sowerbyi and S.
pictulus were 0-459 ind m-2, 0-444 ind
m-2, 44-459 ind m-2 and 0-341 ind m-2,
respectively.

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Discussion
There was a correlation between the density of J. annandalei obtained by ROV and Ekman
sediment sampler (Fig. 2) at the three stations. Density was underestimated using the Ekman
sediment sampler compared with that by ROV. One possible explanation is that J. annandalei
escaped from the Ekman sediment sampler because they can move quickly. On the other hand,
J. annandalei was visible via the ROV video camera and there is no doubt that they were
present in large numbers.
There was no relationship between the density of J. annandalei estimated with the fishing net
and ROV or Ekman sediment sampler. In addition, the density obtained with the fishing net
was much smaller than with either the ROV or Ekman. It was confirmed with a depth sensor
attached to the net that the dredge did not always extend to the bottom because of boat
rolling.
It is not easy to enumerate benthic animals in a deep lake because equipment, including
research boats, have not been specifically developed for the task so few or little historicalbiological data are available. However, J. annandalei had the greatest benthic biomass in Lake
Biwa. The significant difference among monitoring methods for the ecological studies is aserious problem that needs to be addressed.
Therefore, we recommend the following monitoring methods for particular benthic animals in
Lake Biwa (Table 1):
Table 1. Benthic animals in the profundal zone of Lake Biwa estimated by different monitoring methods

Living conditions

SpeciesOn the bottom

Jessogammarus annandalei
Palaemon paucidens
Asellus hilgendorfi
Bdellocephara annandalei

On / Inbottom
In the bottom

theFishing net

Branchiura sowerbyi
Stictochironomus pictulus

Good
Good

Ekman

Good

Good
Good

ROV
Good
Good
Good
Good
Good*

* the case B. sowerbyi on the bottom
ROV is the method of choice for most benthic animal monitoring in Lake Biwa. It is importantthat appropriate monitoring methods are chosen for target species. Future improvements insampling technology will help researchers. For example, at this time the ROV cannot evaluateorganisms in the sediment, only on it. So the next improvement step is how to collectsediment samples.
Acknowledgements
This research was supported by a Lake Biwa Environmental Research Institute research grant
for a “Study on the hypolimnetic waters and bottom environment in the North Basin of Lake
Biwa”.
We thank the crews of R/V Hakken for field assistance.
A WLC-15 presentation grant was provided by the Japan Science Society.

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Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

References
Downing, J.A. & F.H. Rigler (eds). 1984. A manual on methods for the assessment of secondary
productivity in fresh waters. Blackwell Scientific Publications. Oxford, England.
Haahtela, I. 1978. Methods of sampling scavenging benthic crustacia, especially the Isopod Mesidotea
entomon (L.) in the Baltic. Annales Zoologici Fennici 15:182-185.
Ishikawa, K. & M. Kumagai 2014. Monitoring of Jesogammarus annandalei using an underwater robot in
Lake Biwa, Japan. Bulltein Plankton Society Japan 61:45-49 (in Japanese).
Ishikawa, T. & M. Kumagai 2012 Warming and Hypoxia in Lake Biwa. In Kawanabe, H., M. Nishino & M.
Maehata (eds). Lake Biwa: Interactions between Nature and People. Springer: 211-216.
Ishikawa, T. & J. Urabe 2005. Ontogenetic changes in vertical distribution of an endemic amphipid,
Jesogammarus annandalei, in Lake Biwa Japan. Archiv für Hydrobiologie 164:465-478.
Kumagai, M. 2006. What were found by the AUV "Tantan" ?. Proceedings of the International Workshop
for Lake Observation Systems LOS-2006, Otsu, Japan: 25-30
Narita, T. 1976. Occurrence of two ecological form of Anisogammarus annandalei (Tattersall) (Crustacea:
Amphipoda) in Lake Biwa. Physiology and Ecology Japan, 17:551-556.
Nishino, M. 1980. Geographical variations in body size, brood size and egg size of a freshwater shrimp,[Palaemon paucidens] De Haan, with some discussion on brood habit. Japanese Journal of
Limnology 41:185-202.

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Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Contribution of the Limnology Institute of Russian Academy of Sciences to thedevelopment of information systems in limnology
A.V. Izmailova1
1

Limnology Institute of RAS, St.-Petersburg, Russia

Keywords: information systems, lakes, regional lakes, water resources
Introduction
The progress of limnological science has led to the establishment and development ofdifferent kinds of lake databases providing necessary information on the quantity and qualityof surface waters. The first databases contained only information stored on paper. A
tremendous technological leap brought on by the invention of computers, and the ensuing
computerization of all areas of expertise, made it possible to move from the simplest
databases on to complex information systems.
At the Limnology Institute of RAS data on the lakes of the world has since the late 1980´s beencollected by a group of experts led by S.V. Ryanzhin (Ryanzhin et al., 2001). They created theWORLDLAKE database which today contains various data on more than 60,000 lakes andreservoirs. However, the work on the development of databases intended for a wide range ofInternet users was initiated only in the early 2000’s. To provide geographical science withinformation resources three information systems ("Lake Ladoga", "Lakes of the Earth" and"Lakes of Russia") have been developed at the Limnology Institute of RAS.
Materials and Methods
The “Lake Ladoga” information system (IS) was developed at the Limnology Institute in 20022004 within the framework of a TACIS programme aimed at providing monitoring data on
Europe’s largest lake Ladoga to a broad audience of users (Kondratiev et al., 2003). Monitoringof Lake Ladoga and the main rivers in its basin is carried out by various organizations. The
Limnology Institute of RAS has the longest monitoring records and the most completemonitoring programme. In the northern part of the lake regular monitoring activities havebeen carried out since 1989 by the Institute of Water Problems in Northern areas of RAS.
The “Lakes of the Earth” information and reference system was created at the Limnology
Institute in 2006-2008 within a project run by the Presidium of the Russian Academy of
Sciences under the name “Electronic Earth: scientific information resources, information andcommunication technologies, information service, interaction with national and international
systems”. This system is a component of the uniform information analysis system GeoSINet(Geographic Science Information Network). Web, GIS and Greed technologies, which wereused and developed within “The Electronic Earth” project, enable integration of resources ofdifferent types and volumes in the field of geoscience. The “Lakes of the Earth” IS is based ondata about large and thoroughly studied waterbodies, mainly lakes and reservoirs(Rumyantsev et al., 2009). Information stored in this system includes the Limnology Institute’s
own data as well as data obtained from various literary and web-based sources. While the172Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

system was being developed, several thousand publications were used and a relevant
reference base was established.
Work on the “Lakes of Russia” IS was started in 2010. It became a logical continuation of the"Lakes of the Earth" IS. The most important feature of this IS is the fact that it apart fromproviding data on the largest lakes in Russia also contains summarized information on lakewater resources of the Russian Federation defined by federal districts and federal regions. This
information is a result of ongoing work at the Limnology Institute within the framework of the
project "The role of space in the modernization of Russia: the natural and socio-economic
potential", run by the Presidium of the Russian Academy of Science.
All the three IS were created in the form of domain-driven DW (data warehouses) using
modern means of automated processing, including analysis and visualization of data. Theinteractive facilities of these systems support the functions of data storage and analysis, they
are presented in the form of web pages containing menus, forms, text and graphicalinformation. Depending upon the user-selected menu items, it is possible to use different
server modules for processing data. For data retrieval and data analysis special software
allowing to dynamically generate SQL-queries was developed. The program builds a SQLsentence by performing a sequence of specific steps forming the sentence, defines thecolumns and row fetching for return set, and then executes this sentence.
All information contained in the “Lakes of the Earth” and “Lakes of Russia” IS is only submitted
in Russian.
Results
The “Ladoga Lake” IS contains the results of monitoring activities which have been carried out
by the Institute of Limnology and the Institute of Water Problems in Northern areas of RAS
since the 1990’s, including joint activities with Finnish colleagues within the TACIS program.
This IS contains data on hydrophysical, hydrochemical and hydrobiological parameters
received from the network of stations located in the lake area. It also contains remote sensing
data on Lake Ladoga and the Neva Bay of the Gulf of Finland, which are provided by Nansen
International Environmental and Remote Sensing Centre. Constant monitoring of the thermal
regime of Lake Ladoga and the Neva Bay is done with the help of the information provided by
NOAA and MODIS. Staff of the Limnology Institute and the International Nansen Centre areworking together in order to process and analyze remote sensing data and contact
measurements in the relevant water areas.
The system is being continuously replenished with data from new expeditionary research.
The “Lakes of the Earth” and “Lakes of Russia” IS both provide literature-based information on
the most important and well-investigated water bodies. Both systems contain formalized
information (stored in databases and available on request) as well as large amounts of texts,
charts, graphs, pictures with links to the sources of information.
Both systems are organized in a way enabling the user to choose his waterbody of interest on
the home page. Along with the general description of the lake the user can view a dynamicallygenerated menu in the upper right-hand corner, granting access to more specific thematic
information upon request to the database. The user can also access non-formalized
information about the waterbody, presented as a set of html-files.

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Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

The "Lakes of the Earth" IS contains data on 965 lakes of the world, located on all continents(fig. 1).

Fig. 1. Distribution of lakes contained in the "Lakes of the world" IS.

The "Lakes of Russia" IS contains data on 370 lakes and reservoirs (fig.2). This system includes
lakes with a water area of more than 50 km 2, regardless of their limnological exploration
degree. Since the “Lakes of Russia” IS remains an open system, it is supposed to becontinuously replenished, both due to new information on the water bodies already included
in it, and through inclusion of new water bodies.

Fig. 2. Distribution of lakes contained in the "Lakes of Russia" IS.

174

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

In 2012 the "Lakes of Russia" IS was expanded by introduction of a new block, which had beendeveloped for the storage of summarized information on lake water resources of Russian
regions. The system comprises a general description of the region, information on its climate,hydrography and limnology. The limnological information includes the number of lakes, thetotal water surface area, size of lake water resources in volumetric expression. Along withnumerical data the IS provides information on the origin of lake basins, on characteristicfeatures of lakes of different origin, on the distribution pattern of the lakes in the region’sarea. A list of the largest lakes within the area (with references to the State Water Registry) is
provided. There are immediate plans to add some data on the ecological status of regional lakewater resources.
The developed software allows users to search and process information on lake water
resources and provides an opportunity to conduct a comparative interregional analysis.
Discussion
Databases containing descriptive information face serious competition from widely known andpublicly available information resources such as Wikipedia. It is therefore more appropriate tocreate expert-based IS providing unique observational data, calculations and generalizations
made at a proper scientific level. Among the systems created at the Limnology Institute of RAS,
the “Lake Ladoga” IS, which provides users with regular observation data still attracts the mostattention. The development of a new block of the “Lakes of Russia” IS, complementing theexisting reference system with information containing scientific generalizations and results ofactual calculations, seems also very promising.
All IS created at the Limnology Institute are undergoing constant development and updating.
All the systems are available on the website of the Limnology Institute of RAS
http://www.limno.org.ru .
Acknowlegments
Thanks to T. Ulianova as the main developer of databases at the Limnology Institute of RAS,
and to the administration of the Institute for their support in the development of information
systems.
References
Kondratyev S., A. Shkrebets, T. Ulyanova, А. Moiseenkov & A. Izmailova, 2003. On-line information
system for sustainable use of Lake Ladoga. Univercity of Joensuu, Republic of Karelian Institute 3:42-51.
Rumyantsev V.A., A.V. Izmailova & T.Yu. Ulyanova, 2009. Information system “Lakes of the Earth”.
Herald of the Russian Geographical Society 141-3: 8-14. (in Russian)
Ryanzhin S.V., M. Straskraba, W. Geller, 2001. Developing WORLDLAKE – Database and GIS for
limnological studies. Proceeding of 9-th International Conference: 25-28.

175

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Database of the International Data Centre on Hydrology of Lakes andReservoirs
S. Gusev, E. Kuprienok
Keywords: observations, database, hydrology, lakes and reservoirs
Introduction
The International Data Centre on Hydrology of Lakes and Reservoirs (HYDROLARE) is hosted by
the State Hydrological Institute (SHI, St. Petersburg, Russia). It was established at the initiativeof the SHI under the auspices of WMO and Roshydromet and has been in operation since2009. The key function of HYDROLARE is establishment and managing a database on hydrologyof the world’s lakes and reservoirs.
BackgroundThe concept of the HYDROLARE database includes collection, archiving and provision to users
in accordance with WMO principles of the main annual characteristics of lakes and reservoirs
for the period since the beginning of observations until past year with further annual update ofthe data. The main characteristics include mean and extreme water levels, temperature andice cover thickness.
Up to now water level has been the most priority type of data to include in the database.
Initially the database was built up on the archive of the Water Cadastre of the USSR and Russia
containing current observations on lakes and reservoirs of the USSR and an electronic archiveof long-term lake and reservoir regime data for 697 water bodies and 1242 stations.
In order to start the process of collecting data from other WMO Members, a special
questionnaire was circulated to these countries. 14 countries responded to the questionnaire.
Due to a variety of data submission forms (different file content, structure and formats,
databases and web pages of more complicated structure), it required an extensive preliminary
analysis and preparation of the provided data. Water bodies and stations were coded using aunified system, data were referenced to unified coordinate systems and units ofmeasurement, and also some structural and format transformations were made enabling
download of the data to the database. Some data were searched and identified on the web
sites of providers.
Results
The database currently contains different types of level data for lakes and reservoirs of 17
countries (863 stations, 588 water bodies). These are mainly presented by data for Russia and11 former USSR States. This dataset includes data from 459 stations on 297 water bodies of
Russia and 331 stations on 206 water bodies of the former USSR States. These water bodies
include the largest lakes of the European Russia such as Ladoga, Onega, Ilmen and the largest
lake of Siberia Baikal, as well as the largest in Kyrqyzstan Lake Issyk Kul. The rest comprises
data for Finland (36 stations on 36 lakes with surface area more than 100 sq km and length oftime series more than 100 years, including the system of lakes Saimaa, the fourth largest fresh176

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

water lake in Europe), Switzerland (34 stations on 26 water bodies, including Lake Geneva, thesecond fresh water lake in Central Europe), Cyprus (18 reservoirs, including Kouris, the largest
reservoir of Cyprus, with capacity of 115 million cubic m), as well as the fresh water systems of
the North America (five Great Lakes and Lake St. Clair are the largest fresh water accumulationon the Earth). Periods of observations are substantially different for different countries. End
years of observation periods are within the range of 1988 to 2013 (see Table 1). Informationon the status of the database is published in the annual HYDROLARE Newsletter. Regularly
updated information on the status of the database content is available on the web site at:www.hydrolare.net.

Country

Levels at stations

Levels for water bodies
Mean monthly levels forat the first date of eachwater bodies
month

Armenia1938 – 1988

1938 – 1988

1938 – 1988

Belarus1901 – 20092010 – 20122010 – 2012

CyprusEstonia

1921 – 1988

Finland1847 – 2013

Georgia

1928 – 1988

Kazakhstan

1934 – 2008

1934 – 2008

1934 – 2008

Kyrgyzstan

1927 – 2012

1958 – 2012

1958 – 2012

Latvia1925 – 1988

1978 – 1988

1978 – 1988

Moldova

1955 – 2010

1968 – 1988

1968 – 1988

Russian Federation

1859 – 2012

1914 – 2012

1914 – 2012

Slovenia

1954 – 2010

Switzerland

1856 – 2012

Turkmenistan

1952 – 1989

Ukraine1933 – 1988

1958 – 1989

United States of America
Uzbekistan

1946 – 1988

1952 – 1988

1952 – 1988

1918 – 20121860 – 2000

1959 – 1988

1959 – 1988

Table 1. Time periods of data in the HYDROLARE database

HYDROLARE keeps analyzing data for the large lakes of Sweden, Slovenia (the Bled and theBohinj Lakes), reservoirs of Mexico and Australia, the lakes of the USA of the Mississippi Basin,
as well as some Russian archived data in order to further update its database.
Discussion
In the nearest future it is planned to enhance the database adding remote sensing data
provided to HYDROLARE by LEGOS laboratory (France) in the framework of bilateral
cooperation. Further update will be made by inclusion of data on water temperature and ice
thickness in accordance with the database concept.

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Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

In general, one can note both the obvious progress and the challenges related to datacollection, supplement and analysis in the process of the database development. Although allpermanently populated continents having large lakes or even vast lake regions (Finland,
Russia, USA) are presented in the database, there is a number of countries which have not yet
provided their data to HYDROLARE, despite the pledges made earlier and numerous requests
circulated, and the preparation of data retrieved from national web sites is rather time
consuming.
Acknowledgements
The authors express their gratitude to the national services of the WMO Members which
provided their datasets on hydrology of lakes and reservoirs to HYDROLARE and are looking
forward to regular update of the provided data as well as the response from other Members
which have not yet contributed to this international project.
References
International Data Centre on Hydrology of Lakes and Reservoirs, 2014. Annual newsletter № 4, 2014.
ART-Xpress, St. Petersburg.

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Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Investigation of the Caspian sea level variations by the modern methods
E.S. Safarov 1
1

Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences, Institute of Geography named after acad. H.Aliyev,
31 H.Javid str., Baku, AZ1143, Azerbaijan
Keywords: Satellite altimetry, Caspian Sea, sea level, in situ
Introduction
Long-term changes in the Caspian Sea level are affected by various factors. The climate andgeological factors are the most prominent ones. The influence of climate is usually noticed
earlier than the others. The problem of the Caspian Sea level fluctuations has been a reason
for various debates and disagreements among scientists over a long period of time. Theseissues mainly refer to the severe sea level fluctuations observed during the last century(Cazenave, 1997; Kouraev et al., 2011).
Therefore, fluctuation in the level of the Caspian Sea is quite a serious problem and there is agreat need for a comprehensive study of its entire sea area. As most of the level measuring
stations of the Caspian Sea are located in coastal areas of the sea, their observation of are notable to reflect the processes of the central area. Thus, there is a need for more sophisticatedand modern methods for the study of sea-level fluctuations. Especially, the application ofsatellite altimeter observations is of paramount importance.
Methods and used materials
Data from five satellite altimeters are being used in the study Caspian Sea level fluctuations(Topex/Poseidon, Jason 1-2, ENVISAT and GFO). Satellite's orbit is determined by threepositional system: DORIS, GPS and SLR. It is advisable to apply the method of multi-satellite tocalculate sea-level fluctuations. But in this case, deviations of data obtained from different
satellites have to be taken into account (Mamedov & Gardashev, 2010).
The quality of information obtained from altimeters mainly depends on in-situ observations
and calibration of satellite sensors. For this purpose, satellites observing the Caspian Sea were
calibrated along their tracks (within ALTICORE project) in 2005-2009. A number of adjustments
needs to be taken into account while calculating satellite data. These measures will contributeto the maximum match of altimeter and in-situ data. Thus, it is very important to analysethese two data sources interactively in order to be able to replace in-situ observations withsatellite altimeter ones in the future perspective. There are enough number of in-situ
observation stations along the perimeter of the Caspian Sea (Figure 1)
The research work includes the comprehensive investigation of the sea level data observed
from 1992 to 2011 in currently operating 21 in-situ stations. Moreover, correlation
relationships between in-situ observations operating in different parts of the sea have been
revealed. This research work refers to the data of the Coordinating Committee for
Hydrometeorology and Environmental Monitoring pollution of the Caspian Sea(http://www.caspcom.com) for the in-situ observations. As a source for Satellite data have179

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

been used the data from hydroweb organised by CNRS/CNES (http://www.legos.obs-mip.fr).
Thise data covers observations from five different satellitest The main purpose of thisresearch is to investigate possible future application of satellite data in sea-level forecasting by
carrying out comparative analysis between the data from satellite altimeter and in-situ
observation. Correlation relationships have been established among all of the selected groundstations to enable comparative analysis
mentioned above (1992-2011).
Results
The calculations are grouped in the North
Caspian, Middle Caspian and South Caspian
regions. It was determined that in-situ stations
operating in the North Caspian region havesufficientcorrelation
relationship.
Moreprecisely, from the southern part of the North
Caspian region to northern part, correlation
coefficient varry between 0.893-0.933. There
are more in-situ stations in the Middle Caspian
region compared to the Northern region. Basedon comparative analysis of in-situ data during
1992-2011 the highest observed correlation
relationships in this region varried from 0.806 to
0.974 (Makhachkala, Fort Shevchenko, Aktau,
Makhachkala, Kulii Mayak, Kara-Bogaz-Gol andChilov).
The South Caspian region is the second largest
region after the Middle Caspian for the numberof active in-situ stations. Processing of sea level
data indicates that mainly a high coefficient ofcorrelation (0.934 - 0.986) observed in
Turkmenbashi, Neft Dashlari, Neka, OgurchinskFig. 1. The Caspian Sea topography and sea level
and Kulii Mayak stations.
monitoring stations

180

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Fig. 2. Caspian Sea level variations by in situ and altimetry data

The correlation coefficients between stations in different regions of the sea were calculated inthis research as well. So, it was determined that the most accurate sea level observations areachieved in Tyuleniy, Makhachkala, Neft Dashlari, Neka, Ogurcinsk, Kulii Mayak, Aktau andPesnoy stations.
The average annual sea level data for the Caspian Sea and its three regions werecomparatively analysed with the satellite data for the years 1992-2011 (Figure 2). As we cansee from Figure 2, the average annual sea level data of the Caspian Sea is distributed inaccordance with the general level change direction in three different regions. Overall, it wasdetermined that the sea level was on rapid rise until 1995, and has been gradually falling since1996. Although there were short-term level rise from 2003 to 2006, in general, the gradualdecline process is still going on. Meanwhile, there was gradual decline in the Middle and South
Caspian regions from 1996 to 2002 followed by sharp rise since 2003. As the figure shows,although satellite and ground-level data has relatively different numerical values, long-term
distributions have the same characteristics. Given this, the correlation coefficients between
the satellite data and lin-situ stations operating in the Caspian Sea have been calculated. For
simplicity, correlation relationships between satellite and in-situ stations have been grouped inthree regions of the Caspian Sea (Table 1).

181Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Region of the sea

Observation
stations

The period of
the observations

North Caspian

Tuleniy
1992-2011
Kulali
1992-2011
Peshnoy
1992-2004
Lagan
1998-2011
Middle Caspian
Mahachgala
1992-2011
Baku
1992-2011
Chilov
1992-2011
Kulii mayak
1992-2011
Bekdash1997-2008
Aktau
1992-2011
Sumgait
1998-2005
Qara Bogaz Gol 1999-2011
Fort Shevchenko
2000-2011
South Caspian
Lankaran
1992-2011
Anzali
1992-2011
Ogurchinsk
1997-2011
Ashurade
2007-2011
Noushaxr
2001-2011
Neka
1998-2011
Neft Dashlari
1992-2011
Turkmenbashi
1992-2011
Caspian Sea (total) Total: 21
1992-2011

Satellite and in situ
station0.82650.87920.96140.93020.90110.85580.63700.94870.40200.86760.71520.81580.77580.77240.50810.8778
not enough data
0.40570.88110.85570.91970.9

Satelitte andaverage level
0,88

0,91

0,87

0,90

Table 1: Correlation between satellite altimetry data and in situ observation of the Caspian Sea

The table suggests that mainly high correlation was observed between satellite data and insitu stations data. In addition, it was determined that the Middle Caspian region had acomparatively higher correlation relationship with satellite data.
Discussion
Although the sea level measurements of the Caspian Sea are carried out by 21 stations, sealevel statements refer particularly to the observations of some of them. Correlation relations
between all stations in the sea has been established in order to clarify the reasons of this case.
In the early stages of this research sea level measuring stations with the highest correlation
coefficients have been identified.
On the other hand, it was found that there is a high correlation relationship between the datafrom satellite altimeter and in-situ observation. We can concluded that the sea level analysis of
the Caspian Sea via satellite altimetry data is very important and might be an efficientreplacement for data from in-situ observations in the future.

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Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Acknowledgements
This research was done as the part of the doctoral work registered at the National Academy of
Sciences, Institute of Geography, the Division of the Caspian Sea Problems under the title"Study of level fluctuations of the Caspian Sea by satellite altimetry".
Reference
Cazenave A., Bonnefond P & K. Dominh, 1997, Caspian sea level from Topex / Poseidon altimetry: level
now falling, Geophysical Research Letter, 24, 881-884.
Kouraev A.V., J.F Crétaux, S.A. Lebedev, A.G. Kostianoy, A.I. Ginzburg, N.A. Sheremet, R. Mamedov, E.A.
Zhakharova, L. Roblou, F. Lyard, S. Calmant & M. Bergé-Nguyen, 2011, The Caspian Sea, Handbook
on Coastal altimetry, Springer ed., chap. 19, pp 331-366.
Mamedov R. M. & R. Q. Qardashov, 2010, New data on the hydrology of the Caspian Sea, received byremote and contact methods, Proceedings of ANAS, Earth Sciences, Vol 4, pp 90-99.
http://www.legos.obs-mip.fr/fr/soa/hydrologie/hydroweb/
http://www.caspcom.com/index.php?razd=sess&lang=1&sess=17&podsess=61183

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

The system of hydrometeorological observations on lakes and reservoirs of
the Russian Federation
V. Vuglinskii1, S. Gusev1, T. Fuksova11State Hydrological Institute, St. Petersburg, Russian Federation

Keywords: observing system, lakes and reservoirs, Russian Federation
Introduction
There are more than 2,200,000 lakes and reservoirs in the Russian Federation which arelocated in different landscape zones. Although routine hydrometeorological observations ofcertain lakes date back to the mid-19th century, a state observing network for lakes andreservoirs operating on the basis of common standards and regulations was established andintensively developed in the period from 1930 to 1986. In different years observations weremade at more than 800 gauging stations and 1250 offshore sites for more than 430 lakes andreservoirs (currently only 347 stations and 324 sites on 169 lakes are under operation).
Description
Hydrometeorological observing system on lakes and reservoirs of Russia is one of the mainparts of the state system for monitoring quantitative and qualitative characteristics of water
regime. Therefore, most hydrometeorological sites on lakes and reservoirs include water
quality observing stations.
The system is aimed at systematic observations and study of hydrometeorological regime oflakes and reservoirs to provide state authorities, sectors of economy and hydrologicalforecasting services with current information on hydrological regime and assessments ofhuman and climate change impact on hydrological regime elements. Organization and designof the network, methods of observation and data processing are common throughout Russia
and are governed by relevant regulations.
Most gauging stations perform observations of water level and temperature, air temperature,
precipitation and the state of ice cover near the shore. Vertical profiling of water temperature
at various depths, state of ice cover, currents etc. is made at points in offshore areas. All
observations are made by the staff of territorial branches of Roshydromet (UGMSs) undermethodological guidance provided by the State Hydrological Institute (SHI).
Hydrometerological observing system on lakes and reservoirs of the Russian Federation is
subdivided into hydrometeorological observatories (HMO), hydrological stations and gauging
stations. Hydrometeorological observatories and hydrological stations both organize
observations and undertake research. Gauging stations are divided into first, second and thirdorder stations depending on the type and amount of observations. Observation programme ofa first order station providing for the biggest amount and types of observations is given in thetable below.

184Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Category of observations
MeteorologicalHydrologicalSpecialized
works

observations

andTypes of observations
Precipitation, atmospheric phenomena, ice cover,maximum and minimum air temperature.
Near-shore – water level, water temperature, ice
phenomena, ice thickness, snow density on ice. Overlake area at a vertical – air temperature and humidity,
wind direction and velocity, water temperature in asurface layer and in depth, water color andtransparency.
Waves and tides. Water sampling for chemical analyses.

Table 1. First order gauging station observation programme

Most observation sites (about 70%) are located on reservoirs. The largest reservoirs have 5 to
10 gauging stations. Computer processing of the observed data is made at hydrologicalstations using specialized computer technology developed at the State Hydrological Institute(SHI). The final output of the annual data processing is the hydrological annuals covering wholecountry. An electronic archive of long-term data since the beginning of observations has been
established and is periodically updated. SHI manages a database containing the observation
data and long-term series.
FutureIn recent period a strategy has been adopted at national level for developing the system ofhydrometeorological observations on lakes and reservoirs until 2020. This strategy provides for
additional enhancement of lakes and reservoirs observing network, its technical modernization
and automation through implementation of the Federal target programme “Development of
Water Sector of the Russian Federation in 2012-2020”. The amount of observation sites is
projected to increase by more than 1,5 times up to 520-550 stations by 2020. The strategy also
envisages development of observation network on reservoirs under construction in Siberia andthe Far East of Russia (Boguchanskoye, Nizhne-Bureyskoye) as well as increase in the numberof observation sites in the regions with a low density of stations.
References
Water resources of Russia and their use. 2008. State Hydrological Institute, St. Petersburg:
595.
Review of the system of hydrological observations, data processing and generation of
information products in 2013. 2014. St. Petersburg: 39.

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Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Robust remote sensing algorithms to derive ecological status for lakes
K. Alikas1,2, K. Kangro1,3, R. Randoja1,2, P. Philipson4, E. Asuküll1 & A. Reinart1
1

Tartu Observatory, Tartumaa, Tõravere, 61602, Estonia
Tartu University, Ülikooli 18, 50090, Tartu, Estonia
3
Centre for Limnology, Estonian University of Life Sciences, EE61101, Tartumaa, Estonia
4
Brockmann Geomatics Sweden AB, Torshamnsgatan 39, SE-164 40 Kista, Sweden
2

Keywords: Water framework directive, lakes, chlorophyll a, phytoplankton biomass, Secchi
depth, MERISIntroduction
A fundamental work by official legislations is to assess and report on the environmental status
and trend of water bodies (HELCOM 2007, EU Water Framework Directive (WFD) 2000/60/EC).
WFD requires systematic monitoring of all inland waters larger than 0.5 km 2. Due toconsiderable temporal and spatial variability as well as inaccessibility and lack of resources, thestatus of water bodies is difficult to assess effectively by the existing monitoring programs. The
need for new monitoring methods to meet the WFD reporting requirements has beenhighlighted (Dworak et al., 2005). Remote sensing methods allow better spatial and temporalestimation of some key factors - chlorophyll a content and transparency. Their changes are
considered as primary indicators of eutrophication and climate change (Sommer & Winder,2012).
The key objective of this study is to demonstrate how optically complex inland waters can beeffectively monitored in the context of EU WFD by means of satellite derived products with afocus on chlorophyll a, total phytoplankton biomass and transparency.
Materials and methods
Description of lakes under study
The five studied lakes situate in North Europe (Figure 3). L.Vättern is deep and oligotrophic,
L.Vänern is moderately nutrient-rich. L. Mälaren has a complex morphology and bathymetry
with meso-eutrophic conditions. L. Peipsi and L. Võrtsjärv are large shallow lakes. While L.
Võrtsjärv is homogeneously mixed and very turbid, L. Peipsi exhibits strong north-south
gradient in water transparency, where its largest part L. Peipsi s.s. is the clearest andsouthernmost L. Pihkva very turbid. In-situ parameters were measured during national
monitoring programs. Variation of yearly average values of Secchi transparency (SD) in eachlake is in Figure 2. Their optical properties were presented in Alikas et al. (2010) and Paavel &Arst (2009).

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Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Figure 3. Studied lakes and the monitoring stations.

Satellite data processing
MERIS L1b (IPF 6.04) images (full resolution, 2002-2011) were processed with a Radiometry
and ICOL processor to remove smile- and adjacency effects. From the corrected L1 products,
the maximum chlorophyll index (MCI) was calculated following Gower et al. (2008), then Chl_a(Chl_a=10.9*MCI+15.3) and TBM (TBM=5.8*MCI+5.4) (Alikas et al., 2010) was calculated.
From the L2 reflectance and IOPs we used to estimate vertical diffuse and beam attenuation
coefficients at 490 nm, Kd(490) and c(490). The relationship between the sum of theseparameters over photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) and SD is found:

where Kd(PAR)+c(PAR)=-0.0001x2+0.7809x+0.4026, where x=Kd(490)+c(490), based on in situ
measurements.
Regulations in Estonia and Sweden for ecological status assessment

The EU member states have freedom to build up their own monitoring system forfulfilling WFD requirements by choosing 1) the set of biological and physical-chemicalparameters; 2) set class boundaries; 3) define monitoring period and 4) develop method187

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

for assigning final ecological status for a lake. Table 2 gives an overview of relevant
monitoring period for Chl_a, TBM, SD for assigning the ecological status class.

Table 2. Borders for ecological status classes in studied lakes. L. Vättern, L. Vänern, Görväln Bay (L.
Mälaren) represent clear-water lakes and the rest of L. Mälaren humic lakes (Bedömningsgrunder...,2007)

Results
The combination of data from both resources (in-situ and satellite) improves theunderstanding of seasonal trends. The higher frequency of satellite data (i.e. for L. Peipsi 70
days of MERIS data vs. 7 days of in-situ data in 2006) increases the temporal continuity anddetects small scale changes.
Conditions are relatively stable throughout the relevant monitoring period in clearer lakes(Vättern, Vänern -Table 1). Seasonal trends are more pronounced in turbid lakes and affecting
the ecological status class assignment, especially if monitoring frequency is low. There was
100% agreement in resulting status class („Moderate“) between MERIS and in-situ data for L.
Lämmijärv and for Peipsi s.s. in TBM and SD. With respect to Chl_a the agreement in L. Peipsi
s.s is lower, which is explained by monitoring timing (phytoplankton bloom was missed by theregional monitoring in 2007 and in 2009 by MERIS due to cloud cover). The short monitoring188

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

period and relatively stable conditions inside the lake result in very narrow class boundaries(Table 1) for L. Võrtsjärv (0.4 m difference in SD from “High” status to “Bad”). This in turnresults in highly varying status classes in L. Võrtsjärv. During 6 years higher status class fromMERIS was assigned based on transparency and during 4 years based on Chl_a. For bothmethods, L. Võrtsjärv receives better status class based on SD compared to Chl_a. Lower SD
and higher Chl_a were evident in 2003, 2006-2007 due to very low water level, which also
resulted in lower ecological status classes.
Status class estimation for Görväln (L. Mälaren) ranges from “High” to “Moderate” with higher
status class obtained according to in-situ values (57% of years according to transparency and
86% according to TBM). In more turbid Granfjärden and Galten, the status according to Chl_a
was below “Good” according to in-situ and MERIS data, but as seen from Table 1, worse statusclasses cannot be determined without additional information about phytoplankton. In
Granfjärden in-situ measurements gave better status class in 57% of years according totransparency and 71% according to TBM. Status class ranged from “Good” to “Poor” via in-situ
and from “Good” to “Bad” via MERIS. L. Vänern and L. Vättern were in “High” status class byin-situ and by MERIS in all cases.
Lakes and their parts differentiate according to transparency retrieved from in-situ and MERIS
data (Figure 2). The spatial differences were pronounced in L. Peipsi and in L. Mälaren, where
northern parts of L. Peipsi belonging to “Moderate” and southern parts mainly to “Poor” or“Bad” status class and in L. Mälaren, Görväln “High” to “Moderate” and Galten Bay “Moderate”
to “Poor”.

Fig. 4. Average transparency in lakes, measured with Secchi disc (IS) and retrieved from MERIS image (M)189

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Discussion
Relevant products for monitoring large lakes can be produced based on MERIS data. In general,
in-situ and MERIS data showed similar seasonal and yearly trends for Chl_a, TBM and SD in all
studied lakes.
Chl_a concentration is the most frequently investigated parameter regarding the possibilities
to include remote sensing data into estimating parameters important for WFD applications(Bresciani et al., 2011). MERIS data revealed more detailed seasonal dynamics in Chl_a, TBM
and SD compared to conventional monitoring methods. Although TBM and SD are notstandard OC products, the algorithms were applicable to various lakes.
The discrepancies between the status estimate based on field and MERIS data can be
explained by seasonality in combination with timing and monitoring frequency. As shown inthis study and also by other authors (list in Bresciani et al., 2011), the timing of the datacollection will influence the ecological status class assigned for a waterbody.
The ecological status class based on in-situ and MERIS data overlapped for L. Peipsi in almost
all cases. Divergent status classification results were most frequently occurring in L.Võrtsjärv,
ranging from „Good“ to „Bad“ during the 10-year period due to very narrow boundaries ofparameters, and extreme water level fluctuations. Very narrow class borders demand sensitive
remote sensing algorithms, but also very accurate field observation techniques and laboratory
measurements. Therefore the frequently monitored time series of water quality parameters
might give more valuable information about the lakes ecological status than sparsemeasurements.
The suggested methods to estimate Chl_a, TBM, SD are applicable to future MERIS-like sensors
as the upcoming Sentinel-3/OLCI. Despite the differences in in-situ monitoring requirements
and methods for assigning the ecological status class in different member states, remotesensing data could provide a unified picture of lakes and provide complementary long-termmonitoring data.
Acknowledgements
We acknowledge the European Space Agency, the Centre for Limnology (Estonia), Swedish
University of Agricultural Sciences, VeeOBS (3.2.0802.11-0043), ESF grant ETF8970 and FP7
GLaSS (313256) and WaterS (251527).
References
Alikas., K., K. Kangro & A. Reinart, 2010. Detecting cyanobacterial blooms in large North European lakes
using the Maximum Chlorophyll Index. Oceanologia 52: 237–257.
Bedömningsgrunder för sjöar och vattendrag. Bilaga A. Till Handbok, 2007. 4 Naturvǻrdsverket. (InSwedish).
Bresciani, M., D. Stroppiana, D. Odermatt, G. Morabito & C. Giardino, 2011. Assessing remotely sensed
chlorophyll-a for the implementation of the Water Framework Directive in European perialpine
lakes. Science of Total Environment 409: 3083–3091.
Dworak, T., C. Gonzalez, C. Laaser & E. Interwies, 2005. The need for new monitoring tools to implement
the WFD. Environmental Science & Policy 8: 301–306.
Gower, J. F. R., S. King & P. Goncalves, 2008. Global monitoring of plankton blooms using MERIS MCI.
International Journal of Remote Sensing 29: 6209–6216.
HELCOM, 2007. The Baltic Sea action plan. HELCOM Ministerial Meeting, Krakow, Poland.

190

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Paavel, B. & H. Arst, 2009. Bio-optical properties of North-European turbid lakes: Attenuation of solar
light in the water. VDM Verlag Dr. Müller Aktiengesellschaft & Co. KG
Sommer, U., & M. Winder, 2012. Phytoplankton response to a changing climate. Hydrobiologia 698: 5–
16.

191

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Estimating inland water quality from WorldView-2 imagery: decoupling opticalproperties
J. M. Anstee1, V. E. Brando1,2, R. N. Cherukuru1, T. Malthus1, E. J. Botha1, E. Hestir1 & A. G.
Dekker1
1

CSIRO Ocean and Atmosphere Flagship, GPO Box 1666, Canberra ACT 2601
National Research Council, CNR-IREA, Via Bassini 15, I-20133 Milan, Italy,
e-mail brando.v@irea.cnr.it
2

Keywords: matrix inversion; variable SIOP; bio-optical properties; band ratios; seasonalvariation
Introduction
Semi-analytical inversion algorithms based on the matrix inversion methods (MIM, Hoge and
Lyon 1996) use in situ bio-optical measurements of absorption and backscattering to model
satellite reflectance which are then used to linearly resolve for water constituents
concentrations including phytoplankton absorption, the combined coloured dissolved organic
matter (CDOM) and non algal particulate (NAP) absorption (Brando and Dekker 2003). An
adaptation on this method by Hoogenboom et al. (1998) called a linear matrix inversion (LMI)
enabled the retrieval from optically complex waters, of all the optically active concentrations
independently. Brando et al. (2012) extended the model to utilise and adapt to a range ofnaturally occurring inherent optical property (IOP) spectral shapes including absorption andbackscattering coefficients. This adaptation (named a-LMI) allows the model to vary the water
constituents independently, effectively decoupling them, and then to retrieve water quality
concentrations that better represent the natural spatial variability.
The objective of this study was to test the a-LMI inversion algorithm and evaluate the accuracy
and usefulness of its application to eutrophic inland waters, specifically, to determine if the aLMI has the ability to decouple chlorophyll-a from other optically active constituents in highly
turbid, eutrophic conditions.
Materials and methods
Lake Burley Griffin was formed in 1963 and runs through the centre of Canberra (South-east
Australia). The prevailing seasonal weather conditions significantly influence the Lake’s
physical and chemical characteristics (Lawrence, 2012). A limited set of bio-optical data wascollected from a range of sites within Lake Burley Griffin and were used to parameterize the aLMI model as described in (Brando et al. 2012).

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Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Site

Date

Chl a (µg L-1)

NAP (mg L-1)

aCDOM(440nm) (m-1) bbp(555nm)
(m-1)

LBG1

7
January2010

7.2 - 23.5

1.7 - 9.6

0.47 - 0.68

0.035 - 0.119

LBG2

28 January
2010

23.8 - 64.1

2.7 - 8.3

0.45 - 0.65

0.076 - 0.155

LBG3

4
March
2010

71.6 - 126.3

3.8 - 13.5

1.23 - 3.03

0.067 - 0.095

Table 3. The in situ data available for the a-LMI parameterisation for Lake Burley Griffin in 2010

Table 1 illustrates the variability that was sampled within the lake; these widely varying sets ofmeasured IOPs and specific inherent optical properties (SIOPs) were used to create SIOP shapeand amplitude factors for each of the water constituents (specific absorption coefficients ofchlorophyll-a, NAP, specific backscattering coefficients of chlorophyll-a and NAP, the spectral
slope constants for CDOM and NAP and the power lay exponents for NAP and chlorophyll-a)(Brando et al. 2012). Each of these model parameter sets allows a-LMI to represent all the
combinations of the water constituents and constrains the model from producing unnatural
combinations of water constituents.
The inversions of IOPs are based on the relationship between remote sensing reflectance andthe absorption and backscattering coefficients (Gordon et al. 1988). The subsurface remotesensing reflectance ( rrs) is computed for optically deep water through a radiative transfer
equation correcting the above water remote sensing reflectance Rrs for the air-surface
interface (Lee, Carder and Arnone 2002) at a nadir view angle each wavelength ().

Water quality information (e.g. IOPs and concentrations) are found by inverting the remotelysensed signal, given the relationship between the rrs and the inherent optical properties (IOPs)
absorption (a) and backscattering (bb), as is given in Gordon et al. 1988.

Where g0 and g1 are the geometric factors or model constants that vary with the sun andsensor geometry.
High resolution, 8-band multispectral WorldView-2 (WV2) satellite imagery of the lake wereacquired in summer, early autumn and winter 2010 and were free of most obvious
atmospheric effects.
The atmospheric correction c-WOMBAT-c (Brando and Dekker, 2003) was applied to theWorldView-2 data. As there were no coincident radiometric observations with the satellite193

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

imagery, the atmospheric correction was evaluated using pseudo invariant features (PIFs)
around the foreshore of the lake.
Results
As limited concurrent in situ observations existed, the EcoLight 5.2 IOP model (Mobley 2013)
was used to simulate rrs using in situ absorption and beam attenuation measurements. The aLMI model retrievals from the simulated spectra had good agreement between the modeled
and measured results for chlorophyll-a concentration and CDOM absorption at 440nm but
generally underestimated NAP when conditions were highly eutrophic.
The a-LMI model was then applied to the WV2 images (Fig. 5). The a-LMI chlorophyll-a
retrievals were realistic but relatively high for the January image (Fig. 5, top), bloom conditions
for the March (Fig. 5, middle) and lower winter concentrations in July (Fig. 5, bottom). The aLMI model was unable to retrieve results in the eastern section of the lake in January and Julyand in the western section in July.

194

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

21 January 2010

17 March 2010

21 July 2010

Fig. 5. a-LMI results for the three WorldView2 images showing chlorophyll-a concentration variation
over the 6 month period from January to July 2012. The grey areas are where the a-LMI did not retrievea result.

Discussion
The study site exhibited high to extreme variability during the study period. The a-LMI method,with its variable SIOP model that decouples the optical properties of the water constituents,
have compared satisfactorily with data from an independent water quality sampling program
when applied to the WV2 imagery to retrieve seasonal variations in the derived water quality
products (Fig. 6).

195

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Chlorophyll a120West Lake 504

Scrivener Dam 507

530

504

100
505

507

East Basin 529

CHLa Concentration μg L-1

529
N

80

Central Basin 530

SITE 504: WEST BASIN
SITE 505: WEST LAKE OPPOSITE YARRALUMLA BAY
SITE 507: BOOM U/S SCRIVENER DAM – MIDSTREAM
SITE 529: EAST BASIN OFF BOWEN PARKSITE 530: CENTRAL BASIN - MIDSTREAM

West Lake opp
Yarralumla Bay 505
CLW water sample

60

a-LMI WV2 21 Jan 201040

a-LMI WV2 21 Jul 201020

26-Feb-11

18-Nov-10

10-Aug-10

02-May-10

22-Jan-10

14-Oct-09

06-Jul-09

28-Mar-09

18-Dec-08

09-Sep-08

0

a-LMI WV2 17 Mar
2010

Fig. 6. Comparison of the a-LMI result with the temporal range of in situ measurements: the lines
describe the measured chlorophyll-a concentration from regular water quality monitoring at five sites in
the lake. Circles represent the chlorophyll concentrations taken from the targeted fieldwork for thisstudy and triangles are the a-LMI retrievals derived from sites within the WV2 images.

The a-LMI model applied quality assessment flags based upon spectral matching of thesatellite measured spectrum to the optimal calculated spectrum using the available bio-opticalvariability. The disparity between the best modelled spectrum and the satellite spectrum
indicated where the input SIOP variability was not representative of the variability actuallyoccurring in the satellite image. Thus the a-LMI method has an inherent property to discountspurious results and pinpoint where improvements in bio-optical parameterisation are
required - enhancing confidence in the end product.
Previous research has indicated that the variability of the bio-optical properties of the lakewere too complex for band ratio algorithms. This study confirms that the variability of the biooptical properties of the lake were shown to be too large for a single fixed SIOP model
parameterisation as is implicit in many other semi-analytical inversion or empirical inversion
methods. The a-LMI model worked satisfactorily when applied to this turbid eutrophic inlandlake and its application to other inland waters has potential. Successful application of the aLMI method with its variable SIOP model, would be dependent on the representativeness ofthe parameterisation of the SIOPs.
Acknowledgements
Financial support was provided by CSIRO Land and Water: Capability Development Fund
Projects and the CSIRO Flagship: Water from a Healthy Country. The imagery was provided
under license by Sinclair Knight and Mertz and DigitalGlobe, the field monitoring data was196

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

provided by the National Capital Authority. Thanks to Paul Daniel, Rebecca Edwards and Nora
Egli who assisted in the field campaigns.
References
Brando, V. E. & A. G. Dekker (2003) Satellite hyperspectral remote sensing for estimating
estuarine and coastal water quality. IEEE Trans.Geosci.Remote Sens., 41, 1378-1387.
Brando, V. E., A. G. Dekker, Y. J. Park & T. Schroeder (2012) Adaptive semianalytical inversionof ocean color radiometry in optically complex waters. Applied Optics, 51, 2808-2833.
Giardino, C., V. E. Brando, A. G. Dekker, N. Strombeck & G. Candiani (2007) Assessment ofwater quality in Lake Garda (Italy) using Hyperion. Remote Sensing of Environment, 109,183-195.
Gordon, H. R., O. B. Brown, R. Evans, J. Brown, R. C. Smith, K. S. Baker & D. C. Clark (1988) A
semianalytical model of ocean colour. Journal of Geophysical Research, 93(D9), 1090910924.
Hoge, F. E. & P. E. Lyon (1996) Satellite retrieval of inherent optical properties by linear matrix
inversion of oceanic radiance models - an analysis of model and radiance measurement
errors. Journal of Geophysical Research-Oceans, 101, 16631-16648.
Hoogenboom, H. J., A. G. Dekker & J. F. De Haan (1998) Retrieval of chlorophyll and suspended
matter in inland waters from CASI data by matrix inversion. Canadian Journal of Remote
Sensing, 24, 144-152.
Lawrence, (2012) Investigation into the state of Lake Burley Griffin and Catchment Water
Quality Assessment, Office of the Commissioner for Sustainability and the Environment,
http://www.envcomm.act.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0008/248255/Investigation_into_the_sta
te_of_Lake_Burley_Griffin_and_catchment_Water_quality_assessment.pdf.

Lee, Z., K. L. Carder & R. A. Arnone (2002) Deriving inherent optical properties from watercolor: a multiband quasi-analytical algorithm for optically deep waters. Applied Optics, 41,5755 – 5772.
Mobley, C. D. a. L. K. S. 2013. HydroLight 5.2 - EcoLight 5.2 Technical Documentation.

197

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

A critical review on monitoring of lake water quality and ecosystem
information using satellite images: towards a new era of water color remotesensing
Fukushima1 T., Matsushita B.1, Oyama Y.1, Yang W.1 & Jaelani L.M.1
1

Graduate School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Tsukuba

Keywords: satellite remote sensing, lake water quality, algal bloom, macrophytes, monitoring
Introduction
Many methods have been proposed to retrieve the parameters related to lake water quality
and/or ecosystem information from satellite images. Water quality includes chlorophyll a(Chla), suspended solids (SS), colored dissolve organic matter (CDOM), water clarity, diffuse
attenuation coefficient (Kd), inherent optical properties (IOPs) etc. and ecosystem information
contains primary productivity, distributions of macrophytes, algal blooms, etc. First, general
problems in water color remote sensing are pointed out and summarized. Second, we have
tried to classify previously proposed methods from the view of retrieving items, monitoring
purpose, information of target lakes, sensor/satellite information, atmospheric correction, etc.
Third, future research directions to utilize satellite images for appropriate lake management
are discussed as a start towards a new era of water color remote sensing. Finally, in thecontext of a new era, conceptual sequential judgement system is proposed to capture thewater and/or vegetation characteristics in the lakes as to which little information has beenobtained.
General problems in water color remote sensing
Three inherent problems in water color remote sensing are mentioned and identified for lake
research. They are (1) atmospheric correction, (2) mixtures of several components, and (3)disturbances on water surface and bottoms.
Classificationofprevious
methods
Sensor/satellite information
Monitoring purposes
Selection of retrieving method Band number and wavelength Regular monitoring Temporal/spatial resolution
 Preliminary analysis
Information of target lakedepends on the information of SN Prediction & Horizontal Scale
managementtargeted lake. A set of Macrophytes, Bloom Depthinformation is listed in Fig. 1.
 IOPsRetrieving items
 Turbidity
Several our studies (Oyama et al.
 Concentrations ofAtmosphere information
Chlorophyll a, tripton, Aerosol type and2009; Yang et al., 2011a; Yang et
CDOM, turbidity,
concentration
 Values of transparency, Kdal., 2011b; Matsushita et al., Area of macrophytes
 Bloom level
2012; Jaelani et al., 2013; Oyama
 Values of IOPs
Method Production rate
et al., in press) and relevant
previous studies are exemplified
and then classification of many
Fig. 1 Pre/post information to select the analytical methods

198

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING• Data-bank (database) of SIOPs• Most turbid lakes (L. Tonle sap): atmospheric correction andwater quality estimation• Classification of different regimes (or Hybrid model: switch
between different algorithms): clear, turbid, most turbid,,,• Classification of phytoplankton/macrophytes at class levelor categories based on their habitat of growth• 2D Mixel of cyanobacterial bloom and macrophytes• Optical depth (deep: only water, shallow: sediments)• High spatial and temporal resolution: data fusion• Blending images of different sensors• Correspondence to vertical water quality profile• Combination with hydrodynamic/ecological modelling

Table 1 Future study for lakes

Atmospheric corrected and cloud/haze excluded data

Future research directions
Based on the discussion on theprevious
sections,
futureresearch
directions
areproposed as shown in Table 1.

Gordon & Wang (1994), Wang (2007),
Jaelani et al. (submitted)

Oyama et al. (submitted)

Feyisa et al. (2014)

AWEI

Land

methods proposed in these
papers is tried from the view of
pre/post information of thetargetlake(bathymetry,presence or absence ofmacrophytes, color of bottoms,etc.).

Water area

FAI

Bloom level

Bloom

Floating M

Hu (2009) Oyama et al. (2014)

NDWI4,5FAI

Sartori et al. (2010)

SAR-I

Emergent M

Bottom (optically shallow)Cannizzaro & Carder (2006)
B-I

Sediments

Undecidable

D-I

Louchard et al.
(2003): Hyper

Water (optically deep)

Submerged M

Odermatt et al. (2012)

T-I

Case-II
Matsushita
et al. (2012)

Case-I
Water quality etc.

Water quality etc.
Moore et al. (2014)

AWEI: Automated Water Extraction Index
NDWI4,5: Normalized Difference Water Index using B4 and B5
FAI: Floating Algae Index
SAR-I: SAR backscattering intensity
D-I: Depth index
B-I: Bottom index
T-I: Turbidity index

Fig. 2 Constructing conceptual sequential judgement

Conceptual sequential
judgment system
As one example offuture research target,a system of conceptual
sequential judgement
is proposed for thewater body regardingon which water and/or
vegetation informationis seldom available.
Many
indicesareproposed to judge
what kind of pixel is it(Fig. 2).

Acknowledgements
This study is partly supported by the Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research of MEXT, JAPAN(23404015, 24110006, 25420555, and 26281039) and Environmental Research and Technology
Development Fund (B-0909 and S-9-4-(1)).
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Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

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atmospheric correction algorithms in Lake Kasumigaura, Japan. International Journal of
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distinguishing global Case-1 and Case-2 waters using SeaWiFS measurements. ISPRS J.
Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing, 64: 74-87.
Moore T. S., M. D. Dowell, S. Bradt & A. R. Verdu, 2014. An optical water type framework for
selecting and blending retrievals from bio-optical algorithms in lakes and coastal waters.
Remote Sensing of Environment 143: 97-111.
Odermatt D., A. Gitelson, V. E. Brando & M. Schaepman, 2012. Review of constituent retrieval
in optically deep and complex waters from satellite imagery. Remote Sensing ofEnvironment 118: 116-126.
Oyama, Y., B. Matsushita, T. Fukushima, K. Matsushige & A. Imai, 2009. Application of spectral
decomposition algorithm for mapping water quality in a turbid lake (Lake Kasumigaura,
Japan) from Landsat/TM data. ISPRS Journal of Photogrammetry Remote Sensing 64: 7385.
Oyama, Y., B. Matsushita & T. Fukushima: Distinguishing surface cyanobacterial blooms andaquatic macrophytes using Landsat/TM and ETM+ shortwave infrared bands. Remote
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Sartori L. R., N. N. Imai, J. C. Mura, E. Novo & T. S. F. Silva, 2011. Mapping Macrophyte Species
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Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing 49: 4717-4728.
Wang, M. H. 2007. Remote sensing of the ocean contributions from ultraviolet to near-infraredusing the shortwave infrared bands: simulations. Applied Optics 46: 1535-1547.
Yang, W., B. Matsushita, J. Chen & T. Fukushima, 2001a. Estimating constituent concentrations
in case II waters from MERIS satellite data by semi-analytical model optimizing and lookup tables. Remote Sensing of Environment 115: 1247-1259.
Yang, W., B. Matsushita, J. Chen & T. Fukushima, 2011b. A relaxed matrix inversion method for
retrieving water constituent concentrations in Case II waters: the case of Lake
Kasumigaura, Japan. IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing 49: 3381-3392.

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Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Detection and monitoring capabilities of future satellite sensors for lakes andreservoirs
E.L. Hestir1, M. Bresciani2, C. Giardino2, V. Brando2, 3, E. Matta2, P. Villa2 & A. Dekker3
1

Department of Marine, Earth & Atmospheric Sciences, North Carolina State University,
Raleigh, NC, USA
2
National Research Council, Institute for Electromagnetic Sensing of the Environment, CNRIREA, Milano, Italy
3
Land and Water Flagship, Commonwealth Scientific & Industrial Research Organization,
CSIRO, Canberra, Australia
Keywords: remote sensing, hyperspectral, primary productivity, chlorophyll, phycocyanin
Introduction
Freshwater is a fundamental resource for human life, and the services provided by surface
freshwater ecosystems underpin global water and food security and economic productivity. To
improve understanding of global freshwater responses to multiple stressors, standardized,
accurate data are needed. Timely, spatially explicit information from optical remote sensing
can provide important input into managing and mitigating negative effects of human land
management and climate change and variability.
High spectral resolution (hyperspectral) remote sensing, or imaging spectroscopy, provides
measurements across 100s of discrete bands, forming a contiguous spectrum that enables
detection and identification of earth surface materials, which provides quantitative
measurements of ecosystem properties and processes incomparable to other remote sensing
modalities. Archival, global mapping satellite missions provide systematic measurements overyears to decades, providing a time series of consistently measured data to assess system
condition, identify change, and understand process for a limited, but important suite ofbiophysical variables. The following case studies illustrate how the characteristics of a
hyperspectral global mapping satellite mission, such as the planned Hyspiri mission, address
the needs of freshwater aquatic system scientists and managers. We use as our example forfreshwater aquatic ecology the remote sensing of primary producers. In the following casestudies we highlight published data and existing methods, demonstrating the maturity of thescience. However, each case study demonstrates existing gaps in the spatial, temporal, andspectral characteristics of the application, highlighting the need of a mission that will fill thesegaps.
Materials and methods
The Mantua lake system is an important freshwater wetland system in Northern Italy thatprovides critical habitat for hydro-hygrophilous vegetation and water birds in the region. The
Mantua system is formed by the damming of the Mincio River, a tributary of the Po, and fed by
Lake Garda, the largest lake and longest river of Italy, respectively. The lake waters are
extremely productive, characterized by eutrophic to dystrophic levels. Recent studies (e.g.,201

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING(Bolpagni et al. 2014; Bresciani et al. 2009; Bresciani et al. 2013; Villa et al. 2014a; Villa et al.
2014b) have shown the capability of three sensors mounted on ground, airborne and satellite
platforms, in observing optical properties of different primary producers of these lakes.
Results
Figure 1 shows the phycocyanin (PC) index in Upper Mantua Lake, calculated from an abovewater in situ high temporal frequency, high spectral resolution radiometer using Kutser et al.’s(2006) algorithm. The measurements are plotted in grey dots, the measurement made at
10:30 am is plotted in red, and the black line indicates the spline-smoothed daily mediantrend. The grey vertical bars indicate the overpass dates of Landsat 7.
We estimated the CHL concentration in Mantua lakes using airborne data gathered from APEX
(Airborne Prism EXperiment). The image was acquired on the Upper Lake on 21 September
2011, with a ground resolution of four meters. The APEX data were converted into CHL
concentration according conversion factors specific for Mantua lakes (Bresciani et al. 2013).
The APEX-derived map was then convolved to the spatial resolution of Landsat, Hyspiri, MERIS
and MODIS using nearest-neighbor re-sampling.
Discussion
Figure 1 shows the daytime and day-to-day dynamics of cyanobacteria in Lake Mantua fromhigh spectral resolution radiometric measurements. High spectral resolution is necessary for
detecting PC spectral features. Of the current spaceborne multispectral sensors, only MERIS
has the spectral bands in the positions required todetect PC (Kutser 2009), and even then it lacks the highspectral resolution to detect PC when it is present inlarge quantities. The temporal frequency of a global
mapping mission with a revisit time similar to Landsat is
likely not adequate to cover the temporal dynamics
evident in this example (Figure 1). High temporal
resolution
imaging
spectroradiometryfromgeostationary satellite platforms could synoptically
capture the temporal dynamics of cyanobacterial
Fig. 1. Phycoyanin index measured from blooms. However, spatial resolution limits the practicalhigh spectral resolution above water
application of such platforms for systems such as theradiometry
Mantua lakes.
Figure 2 shows the map of CHL concentration derived from the APEX image. Clearly the maps
show how the spatial resize affects the ability to measure the patchy spatial distribution of CHL
captured in the 4 m pixel of APEX; the 30 m and the 60 m resolution of Landsat and Hyspiri stillallow the spatial trends of CHL concentration to be captured, although finer scale patterns
vanish. Neither MERIS nor MODIS have the appropriate spatial resolution to assess CHL in the
Mantua lakes.

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Archival, global mapping missions with multispectral (e.g., Landsat) or narrow band moderate
spectral resolution sensors (e.g., MERIS) have provided high quality data from which many
ecosystem process studies of the terrestrial andcoastal zone have been achieved. However, thesesensors have measurement resolution tradeoffs thatmake them unsuited for freshwater ecosystem
studies. For example, while Landsat has the spatial
resolution for freshwater systems, it cannot provide
the spectral resolution to resolve phytoplankton
pigments. Similarly, MERIS spectral bands are well
suited for water column characterization and highfrequency measurements, but the pixel size limits thenumber of freshwater systems resolvable from that
sensor.
Unlike multispectral terrestrial and ocean color
Fig. 2. CHL concentration in Upper Mantua
missions that have band positions selected for
Lake from the APEX airborne imaging
targeted applications that necessarily limit the spectrometer (top), and re-sampled tobiophysical variables retrieved from a given sensor, a different sensor spatial resolutions. Color
hyperspectral mission (with necessarily high fidelity) scale ranges from purple to red for CHL-3provides the spectral information needed to retrieve ranging from 0 to 60 mgm
multiple biophysical variables simultaneously from both the water column andwetland/riparian components of freshwater ecosystems. The result of this capability is that byusing just one measurement, it is possible to gain improved understanding of ecosystemproperties and processes, using converging lines of from different parts of the spectrum. In ourcase studies, we presented the estimation of only a single biophysical variable at a time. Whilecurrent algorithms tend to be targeted to retrieve just one or a few biophysical variables at atime, algorithm developments supported by comprehensive high quality hyperspectral
datasets (e.g. HICO) may lead to algorithms that perform multiple variable retrievals from asingle processing chain. A hyperspectral global mapping mission will provide the data needed
to investigate robust algorithm development, including a global atmospheric correction
solution and new biophysical variable retrievals, such as phytoplankton functional types(Devred et al. 2013).
Acknowledgements
We thank R. Colombo and his group (University of Milano Bicocca) for the experiment with themultiplexer radiometer irradiometer (MRI) in Mantua lakes. APEX data were acquired thanks
to the European Facility for Airborne Research (EUFAR) project. E. Hestir was supported by
CSIRO Division of Land and Water. A. Dekker was supported by the CSIRO Earth Observation
Informatics Transformation Capability Platform. This study was co-funded by Italian Space
Agency (CLAM-PHYM project, contract n. I/015/11/0), European Union (FP7-People Co-fundingof Regional, National and International Programmes, GA n. 600407 and FP7-Space INFORM GA
n. 606865) and the CNR RITMARE Flagship Project.

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Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

References
Bolpagni, R., Bresciani, M., Laini, A., Pinardi, M., Matta, E., Ampe, E., Giardino, C., Viaroli, P., & Bartoli,
M. (2014). Remote sensing of phytoplankton-macrophyte coexistence in shallow hypereutrophic
fluvial lakes. Hydrobiologia, 1-10
Bresciani, M., Giardino, C., Longhi, D., Pinardi, M., Bartoli, M., & Vascellari, M. (2009). Imaging
spectrometry of productive inland waters. Application to the lakes of Mantua Italian Journal of
Remote Sensing (Rivista Italiana di Telerilevamento), 41, 147-156
Bresciani, M., Rossini, M., Morabito, G., Matta, E., Pinardi, M., Cogliati, S., Julitta, T., Colombo, R., Braga,F., & Giardino, C. (2013). Analysis of within- and between-day chlorophyll-a dynamics in Mantua
Superior Lake, with a continuous spectroradiometric measurement. Marine and Freshwater
Research, 64, 303-316
Devred, E., Turpie, K., Moses, W., Klemas, V., Moisan, T., Babin, M., Toro-Farmer, G., Forget, M.-H., & Jo,
Y.-H. (2013). Future Retrievals of Water Column Bio-Optical Properties using the Hyperspectral
Infrared Imager (HyspIRI). Remote Sensing, 5, 6812-6837
Kutser, T. (2009). Passive optical remote sensing of cyanobacteria and other intense phytoplankton
blooms in coastal and inland waters. International Journal of Remote Sensing, 30, 4401-4425
Villa, P., Bresciani, M., Braga, F., & Bolpagni, R. (2014a). Comparative Assessment of Broadband
Vegetation Indices Over Aquatic Vegetation. IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Applied Earth
Observations and Remote Sensing, PP, 1
Villa, P., Mousivand, A., & Bresciani, M. (2014b). Aquatic vegetation indices assessment throughradiative transfer modeling and linear mixture simulation. International Journal of Applied Earth
Observation and Geoinformation, 30, 113-127

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Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Application of GIS and Remote Sensing techniques to analyze lake waterbalance in a sparsely gauged catchment: case study Burabay National Nature
Park, Kazakhstan
A. Kassymbekova1, G. Nessipbekov1 & V. Yapiyev 1
1

Nazarbayev University Research and Innovation System

Keywords: lake management, Geographic information systems, remote sensing, hydrology
Introduction
The Burabay National Park (BNP) is located in the North of Kazakhstan within the watershed of
the Esil river basin, which in turn is the part of a big Ob river basin. The whole lake system isbounded within 52°59¢ - 53°07¢N and 70°13¢ - 70°17¢E and at an average altitude of around
341 meter above sea level. The area is characterized by strong continental climate with anaverage annual rainfall of 317 mm and evaporation rates of 600-700 mm. Remote sensing
techniques have been widely used to study components of hydrological cycle in different
geographical locations. Geographic Information Systems and remote sensing play an importantrole in effective management of water resources and provide an opportunity to create andanalyze data related to lake management issues.
The term “lake management” means management designed to maintain an ongoing viability oflake ecosystems that provide the basis for aquatic and non-aquatic life. In order to aim suchgoals, it is important to know the present ecological conditions of lakes and their biological,
chemical and physical characteristics. With the use of GIS and Remote Sensing, water systems
data can be analyzed and alternative management scenarios can be presented. The final
outcome will help decision makers such as park authorities and governmental institutions toeffectively monitor the lakes conditions, implement recovery strategies, and address any otherwater issues in Burabay park area.
Burabay National Nature Park was established in August 2000 and is under the supervision of
the Executive Office of the President. The topography of this area has lowlands, plains, forestsand hills. Burabay National Park has 14 lakes with an area of more than 1 km each and manyother small lakes. For our research, we mainly observe four of them: lakes Shortan, Borovoe,
Ulken Shabakty and Kishi Shabakty. There is no ongoing complex research regarding thehydrological cycles of the Burabay lakes. The area is poorly gauged with any types ofequipment for studying the catchment, for example, the absence of rain gauges. There is nocomprehensive work that has been done to study lake systems in strongly continental climateswith mean annual temperature difference of around 60 oC using GIS and Remote Sensing. This
study intends to assimilate data using Remote Sensing techniques and utilize GIS as a platform
for building Decision Support System for sustainable lake management under continental
climate conditions.

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Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Materials and methods
Remote sensing and GIS have a wide range of applications in different fields. Hydrologicalanalysis of the water bodies will be more efficient with the use of these tools. For example,
authors Usali and Ismail discuss in their research the applications of GIS and remote sensing inmonitoring water quality parameters such as turbidity, dissolved organic matter, suspended
matter and phytoplankton (2010). Remote sensing in hydrology gives an opportunity for
obtaining and interpreting the data and mainly acts as an information source (Baban, 1999).
GIS techniques are used to combine different data, analyze them, create new data, compare
and evaluate results.
The similar to our research project was held in Lake Koronia, Greece. Alexandriris and otherresearchers used remote sensing and GIS for planning and restoration of the Lake Koronia(2007). Remotely sensed data and on-ground field data were assessed to determine the levelof degradation of Lake Koronia (Alexandridis et al., 2007). Watershed assessment in thisresearch project was used to consider the main driving factors of the degradation in thewatershed area.
In our studies, the first step towards the use of GIS and remote sensing in Burabay lakes
management was to assess the watershed of the lakes as well. At this step, data acquisition
plays an important role. The satellite images Landsat7/ETM+ with 15m spatial resolution,
topographical maps and digital elevation model Aster GDEM v.2 of the area were used in orderto get watershed delineation of the lakes. All procedures were performed on WGS 84
geographic coordinate system. The watershed delineation process was performed on ArcGIS
10.1 using Hydrology tools of the Spatial Analyst function:

Fig. 1. Watershed delineation procedures
Watershed assessment of the area can be derived creating the watershed on ArcGIS 10.1 using
the above stated scheme.

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Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Results
Layers such as flow direction, flow accumulation, flow length and other steps towards
watershed delineation were produced on ArcMap using the hydrology tools of the Spatial
Analyst function. The final outcome of the Burabay watershed area looks like this:Fig. 2. Final outcome: watershed delineation of the Burabay lakes.

The data on watershed delineation of Burabay lakes is the fundamental step in the analysis ofhydrological cycle of the lakes. This data gives us the overall map of the watersheds and lakes
ecosystem and provides an opportunity for a future use of GIS tools in our research.
Digital elevation model will be used for further surface hydrological analysis and bathymetricdata can be created in order to study the bottom of the lakes. The purpose of this study was todemonstrate the effective use of GIS in delineating watersheds of the Burabay lakes. The
advantage of remote sensing is its ability to capture and record land surface details. Its spatial
resolution and aerial coverage provide the researcher with a broad view of a land surface.
Remotely sensed data can be stored and analyzed effectively in a GIS.
Discussion
Data acquisition is one of the important and time consuming steps in GIS and remote sensing.
Unfortunately, restricted availability of the data on Burabay park lakes consumed time which
could be efficiently used if the data was easily available. The issue was even more complicated
due to a lack of cooperation between different entities who are interested in research in thisarea and unwillingness to share data with others.

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Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

For future research goals, it is recommended to combine GIS and remote sensing data with onground field work for a higher quality data that we can further use. The watershed delineationof Burabay lakes, such as Shortan, Burabay, Kishi Shabakty and Ulken Shabakty will help tobuild the whole image of the Burabay lakes basin (watersheds) and will strengthen theeffective lake management and conservation strategies through the hydrological assessmentof area.
In our study, remote sensing can be further used in snow hydrology. Snowmelt runoff
modelling is applied to evaluate hydrological effects of the climate change. Remote sensing bysatellite images can demonstrate the dynamic changes of snow coverage over the area (Seidel
and Martinec, 2004). Since Burabay National Nature Park is located under the continental
climate in the north of Kazakhstan, the snow cover of the region can be a good indicator of theeffects of climate change on lakes systems. Another future application of GIS and remotesensing in the research can contribute to sustainable water resource management bymonitoring water quality parameters. So, both GIS and remote sensing combined with field
trip data can be efficiently used for lake management issues. GIS and remote sensing provide
solutions in water resources planning and management. Alexandridis et al. in their research
pointed out that new possibility like GIS is employed to reduce costs such as time and money
during the research (2007).
References
Alexandridis, T., V. Takavakoglou, T. Crisman, & G. Zalidis, 2007. Remote Sensing and GIS Techniques for
Selecting a Sustainable Scenario for Lake Koronia, Greece. Environmental Management, Vol. 39:
278-290.
Baban S.M.J., 1999. Use of remote sensing and geographical information systems in developing lake
management strategies. Hydrobiologia 395/396: 211–226.
Seidel K. & J. Martinec, 2004. Remote Sensing in Snow Hydrology. Runoff Modelling, Effect of Climate
Change. Chichester. Praxis Publishing. Print
USALI, N. & M. ISMAIL, 2010. Use of Remote Sensing and GIS in Monitoring Water Quality. Journal of
Sustainable Development, North America Vol.3: 228-238.

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Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Monitoring the spatio-temporal dynamics of water quality in Lake Malawi
from space
S.W.M. Peters1 & K.E. Poser1
1

Water Insight BV, Wageningen, Netherlands

Keywords: Remote sensing, water quality
Introduction
Lake Malawi is the southernmost and third largest of the East African great Lakes. The lake
provides Malawi with vital ecosystem services including fresh water, food and livelihoods. It is
important for local transportation, and through its outflow into the Shire River, it provides thecountry with its main source of hydroelectric power. In addition, it is an important tourist
destination. The lake and its tributaries provide an estimated 70% of the animal protein
consumed in the country. Lake Malawi is oligotrophic, the production of phytoplankton islimited mostly by the loss of nutrients to an almost permanent stratified, anoxic water layer at
a depth below 250m (Eccles 1962). The Lake Malawi Ecosystem Management Project (2002),
that studied the water quality of the major contributing rivers, concluded that several rivers
are substantially altered by human activities within their catchment, and that these rivers
especially in the southern part of the Lake were already changing the water quality and algal
communities in local and larger areas of the lake. The nutrient and sediment loading to thelake from its tributaries was estimated to have increased by 50% within the last century (Hecky
et al. 1999). However, little systematic information exists on the spatio-temporal and longterm dynamics of water quality in this lake. In a project within the eoworld program, the use of
remote sensing for monitoring the ecological status of the lake was assessed. In the following,in particular the results for chlorophyll-a will be presented and discussed.
Materials and methods
Several water quality parameters were derived from Envisat-MERIS full resolution images andwater temperature from Envisat-AATSR images for the years 2010 and 2011. MERIS images
were preprocessed with the C2R atmospheric correction algorithm (Doerffer and Schiller 2007)
and processed with the WISP algorithm (Peters in prep) into the water quality parameters
chlorophyll-a, total suspended matter, coloured dissolved organic matter and k d (vertical
diffuse attenuation coefficient). The images were analysed individually and also aggregatedinto monthly mean values and mean values over the entire lake and different parts of the lake,
respectively. To explain the observed patterns, records of the Malawi Meteorological Services
were retrieved and compared to observed anomalies in water quality.

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Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Results
Overall, the chlorophyll-a concentrations were found to be very low (around 0.5 mg/m 3) andnot very variable. A time series of monthly averages over the whole lake is given in Figure 1.
Spatially, concentrations are higher in the southern part of the lake, in particular along thesouth-western shore, and in the very north.

Fig. 1. Mean monthly chlorophyll-a concentration averaged overLake Malawi

Temporally, in the months of October and February, elevated concentrations were observed,
with an atypical high peak in October 2010 in the Northern part of the lake (see Figure 1 andFigure 2). The mean concentration of the whole lake reached values around 2.7mg/m3, but alarge area of the lake showed concentrations around 20-30 mg/m3.
For validation, no actual match-up in-situ measurements were available. Therefore, acomparison with the few published records of chlorophyll concentration was performed.
Guilford et al (1999) sampled several stations close to the south-western shore during threeseasons and found mean Chl-a concentrations between 0.5 and 1.5mg/m3. The World Lake
Database contains one data set of Chl-a concentration for one station containing monthly
average values. At a depth of 10m, these values range from 0.2 to 1.3mg/m 3. Based on these
historical data we can conclude that the Chlorophyll-a values derived from satellite data arevery well in accordance with known ranges.

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Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Fig. 2. Chlorophyll-a concentration in Lake Malawi derived from MERIS images on 20/09/2010 (left),
03/10/2010 (middle) and 15/10/2010 (right)

Discussion
The observed spatial and temporal patterns of Chl-a for the most part conform to
expectations: Spatially, the higher-than-average values along the south-western shore can be
explained by the higher population density in the river catchments in this area, leading tohigher erosion rates and higher sewage discharge. The nutrients transported into the lake leadto higher primary production that is reflected in the Chl-a concentrations. Temporally, theslightly elevated concentrations values in October and February can be related to the start andpeak of the rainy season, leading to increased erosion, and subsequently nutrient inflow into
the lake.
Several hypotheses explaining what caused the very high peak in October 2010 were
investigated using ancillary information including surface temperature data and weather
records. The first hypothesis that the peak was caused by high amounts of riverine inputs atthe onset of the rainy season was rendered unlikely because rains did not commence until late
October 2010. A second hypothesis that this peak was caused by severe storms causingsudden deep mixing was also not supported by weather records, because there is no evidence
for high wind speeds during October 2010. The third hypothesis is that vertical turbulent

211Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

mixing caused nutrient-rich water from deeper layers to be propelled upwards, leading to an
algal bloom. The reason for this mixing could be a sudden stop of the lake circulation driven bytrade winds, leading to an unstable situation in the hydraulic flow within the lake. The
hydraulic energy could be transformed to vertical turbulent mixing (maybe also caused by adampening of seiches) and, during a short period, water from deeper layers could be propelledupwards. So far, the third hypothesis seems the most likely. Further investigation is necessary
to understand the causes and effects of such algal blooms.
Acknowledgements
This work was supported by ESA and World Bank under the eoworld programme, project“Zambezi river basin mapping”.
References
Eccles, D. H., 1962. An internal wave in Lake Nyasa and its probable significance to the nutrient cycle.
Nature, 194(4831): 832–833.
Doerffer, R., & H. Schiller, 2007. The MERIS Case 2 water algorithm. International Journal of Remote
Sensing, 28(3-4), 517–535.
Guildford, S.J., W.D. Taylor, H.A. Bootsma, L.L. Henzel, R.E. Hecky, & L. Barlow-Busch, 1999. Factors
controlling pelagic algal abundance and composition in Lake Malawi/Nyasa. In Bootsma, H.a. &R.E. Hecky (eds), Water Quality Report, Lake Malawi/Nyasa Biodiversity Convservation Project.
SACD/GEF: 143-190.
Hecky, R.E., H.J. Kling, T.C. Johnson, H.A. Bootsma & P. Wilkinson, 1999. Algal and sedimentary evidence
for recent changes in the water quality of Lake Malawi/Nyasa. In Bootsma, H.a. & R.E. Hecky (eds),
Water Quality Report, Lake Malawi/Nyasa Biodiversity Convservation Project. SACD/GEF: 191-214.
Lake Malawi Ecosystem Management Project, 2002. Integrated environmental and social analysis.
World Bank Report E590, 13pp.
Peters, S. (in prep.): A Water-optics Iterative Semi-analytical Processing Suite of algorithms.

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Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Using High Performance Computing to enable interactive design of measures
to improve water quality and ecological state of Lake Marken
J. Donners1, M. Genseberger2, B. Jagers2, C. Thiange2, M. Schaap2, P. Boderie2, A. Emerson3, M.
Guarrasi3, T. de Kler2 & M. van Meersbergen4
1

SURFsara
Deltares3
Cineca4
Netherlands eScience Center
2

Keywords: ecological state, water quality, shallow lake, interactive design, high performancecomputingIntroduction
For several Dutch shallow lakes, high suspended sediment concentrations result in reduced
ecological values and prevent goals and standards from being met (Water Framework
Directive, Natura 2000).
Mainly due to wind driven waves (fine) sediment particles on the bed are resuspended andtransported by hydrodynamic flow. High concentrations of suspended sediment particles
generally result in low transparency values. Light on the bottom is important for waterplants
to grow, gradients between clear and turbid water are important for fish-eating waterbirds toget food.
Given this background of underlying physical and ecological processes and interconnections,currently several measures are studied to improve the ecological state of Lake Marken. These
measures involve the construction of structures in the lake that influence the physicalprocesses to improve water quality and ecological state.
The design process of the structures asks for an interactive approach in which different aspects(economical, engineering, recreational, safety for flooding, ecology) from different
stakeholders can be combined. For this purpose, for Lake Marken in the Netherlands, amultidisciplinary coupled model exists. However, due to current wall-clock times for scenario
runs with the model, interactive sessions (that combines drawing measures with calculations
effects with the model with stakeholders) are not feasible yet.
Here we show results of a research project by Deltares, SURFsara, and Cineca (partly
sponsored by PRACE - FP7) to enable interactive sessions with the model in the near future.
Methods
The heart of the multidisciplinary model is a silt model for Lake Marken to studyhydrodynamics, waves, and sediment in Lake Marken which has been under development by
Deltares since 2007. The silt model takes into account wind-driven currents and waves tocompute the amount of resuspension and sedimentation for a typical year. See also Figure 1
for a schematic representation of the modelled processes.

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Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Fig. 1. Schematic representation of processes that are taken into account in the silt model for Lake Marken

In the silt model, for wave effects initially a fetch length approach was used (Genseberger etal., 2011), the same approach is used in studies for other shallow lakes in the Netherlands(Penning et al., 2012). After validation in 2012 with measurements around a large scale
experimental structure in Lake Marken the silt model was improved for simulating moredetailed measures. For this purpose the fetch length approach was replaced by the third
generation wave model SWAN (Booij et al., 1999).
For computing currents the silt model uses the shallow water solver Delft3D-FLOW.
Hydrodynamic computations by Delft3D-FLOW are coupled on-line on an hourly basis to thewave computations by SWAN. After this, resuspension, transport of sediment by currents,
sedimentation, and light penetration are computed off-line with the advection diffusion
reaction solver Delft3D-WAQ. Currently, typical wall-clock times on modern multicore
desktops of a coupled hydrodynamic and wave computation are in the order of days. The partwith Delft3D-WAQ is only in the order of hours. Therefore we focused on the coupledhydrodynamic and wave computations.
During the project we tried to reduce wall-clock times of the coupled hydrodynamic and wave
computations for the silt model by taking into account hardware and software. Here we
considered both the separate modules Delft3D-FLOW and SWAN as well as its couplingmechanism Delft3D-WAVE. For Delft3D-FLOW we used previous research on its parallel
performance on supercomputers (Donners et al., 2013). The computer codes of Delft3D-FLOW,-WAVE, and SWAN were ported by SURFsara and Cineca to several PRACE infrastructures.
Also an interactive design session was held in the Collaboratorium at SURFsara. The
Collaboratorium is a visualization and presentation room that can accommodate up to 7
people with connections for video, audio, network, and power. One side of the room consistsof a video wall to display several high-resolution images, animations, and notes. The session
can be enhanced with video conferencing, touch interaction, and 3D projection.
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Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

The goal of the interactive design session was to experience a.o. benefits of the approach,expectations by users at forehand, and which aspects should be improved. For the session weused a practical case of Lake Loosdrecht (see also Penning et al., 2012). Lake Loosdrecht is asmaller lake than Lake Marken but it has some similar aspects which are of importance for theapproach. We used a simplified model based on fetch length with wall-clock times of maximal
4 minutes. Several participants (from landscape design to local authorities) that are involved incurrent combined environmental and societal projects on Lake Marken joined the session. See
Figure 2 for an impression.

Fig. 2. Impression of interactive design session for practical case of Lake Loosdrecht
Results
The coupled hydrodynamic and wave computations for the silt model of Lake Marken were
benchmarked and optimized. The original goal of the project was to reduce wall-clock times ofa typical one year simulation to about 1 hour to enable the use of the model in an interactive
design session. At current state of the art hardware wall-clock times can be reduced up to 12hours. So interactive design sessions for a typical one year simulation with the more detailed
silt model are not feasible yet.
However, the interactive design session yielded a surprising result. The model used for thesession is much more simplified than the model of Lake Marken. However, the participants
indicated that it really was of benefit for a better understanding of the physical and biologicalprocesses and to have a better dialogue and more efficient design process.

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Discussion
Based on this main outcome of the interactive design session, we concluded that the more
simplified fetch length method is of use for interactive design sessions to have a dialogue withstakeholders about possible measures. More details of these measures should than be studied
later on with the more detailed silt model of Lake Marken.
Acknowledgements
We acknowledge PRACE for supporting a part of this research.
References
W. E. Penning, M. Genseberger, R. Uittenbogaard, and J. C. Cornelisse, 2012. Quantifying measures tolimit wind driven resuspension of sediments for improvement of the ecological quality in large
shallow lakes, Hydrobiologia, 10.1007/s10750-012-1026-z.
M. Genseberger, P. M. A. Boderie, and M. Van der Wal, 2011. Fetch length reduction as an effective andmultipurpose measure for shallow lakes, poster presented at the 7th International Shallow Lake
Conference, Wuxi, China.
Booij, N., Ris R.C., and Holthuijsen L.H. 1999. A thirdgeneration wave model for coastal regions. Part I,
Model description and validation. J. Geoph. Research 104(C4): 7649-7666.
John Donners, Menno Genseberger, Bert Jagers, Erik de Goede, and Adri Mourits, 2013. Delft3D-FLOWon PRACE infrastructures for real life hydrodynamic applications, poster presented at EGU General
Assembly, Vienna, Austria.

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UAV and GIS Integrated Vegetation Analysis of Trasimeno Lake
S. Venturi1, S. Di Francesco2, F. Materazzi3 & P. Manciola1
1

CIPLA, Centro Interuniversitario per L’Ambiente. Piazza dell’Università 1, 06125 Perugia
Università Niccolò Cusano. Via Don C. Gnocchi 3, 00166 Roma
3
Siralab Robotic s.r.l. Terni
2

Keywords: Environmental monitoring, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, Geographic Information
System, Multispectral, Vegetation Indices
Introduction
Photogrammetric and remote sensing methods based on micro and mini UAV (Unmanned
Aerial Vehicle) are nowadays extremely interesting.
These performances are due to the technological progresses in sensors miniaturizing, to theextreme portability of these aircrafts, to the easy driving also by not expert staff. Moreover,the cost much lower than the traditional remote sensing allows the possibility of frequent
flights at low altitude also in impervious areas.
This paper deals with the potentiality of using high-resolution multispectral image dataacquired by UAV SR-SF6 in order to analyze on a temporal and spatial scale the extension of
Phragmites australis (or Common Reed) localized in the south of Trasimeno Lake. The
Phragmites australis influences considerably the ecological balance of the Lake. Indeed theepiphytic microorganisms in the submerged part contribute to both the metabolism ofnutrients and the killing of bacteria (Bresciani et al., 2012).
Moreover, the Phragmites australis affects the evapotranspiration levels representing asignificant contribution to the Lake water balance (Dragoni, 2005).
The use of remote sensing techniques for environmental parameters monitoring and control isin accordance with the goals of Water Framework Directive (2000/60/EC) which defines theenvironmental quality objectives for the major water bodies.
Materials and Methods
The test area takes place in the south-Est of Trasimeno Lake and it extends for about 11,000
m2. It is within an important naturalistic oasis nearby S. Savino hamlet and holds one of themost extended Reed beds of Trasimeno Lake. Afterwards a brief description is reported
dealing with the UAV SR-SF6, the control software, the sensors utilized, the orthorectification
images algorithms, the valuable Vegetation Indices (VI) also useful for the Reed Beds analysis.
UAV and sensors description
Platform UAV SR - SF6
The UAV SR-SF6 is a hexacopter VTOL (Vertical Take Off and Landing) categorized as mini-UAV
weighting 3.5 kg with payload 1.5 kg and developed by Skyrobotic of Terni. It is equipped with
an autopilot (FMS SR5000) allowing the autonomous vehicle navigation. The autopilot is able
to communicate with the Ground Control Station (GCS) over distances of up to 1 km. A suitable217

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

control software - installed on a tablet rugged Panasonic with Android Operating System - isconnected to the GCS with a hotspot Wi-Fi. The control software enables to let the vehicle
through the flight path specified during the mission planning.

Fig. 7. Basic components of SR-SF6 platform and technical details. On the left, upward: hexacopter,
Ground Control Station (GCS), Tablet
equipped with control software for mission planning. On the right: Skydirector, GIS based mission
planning software (mission editor). Ortophoto GoogleEarth ®.

In Fig. 7 the mission editor shows highlighted the area photographically covered by the flight,
the start point and the central point of the area, the camera positions path. The flight wascharacterized by constant height and speed, respectively 70 m and 2 m/s and by theacquisition of 24 frames to cover the area. The forward overlap planned was 70% and the side
overlap 50%.
Multispectral Camera
The sensor on the vehicle is a multispectral camera ADC Micro Tetracam able to acquire
pictures in the RED, GREEN and NIR channel. Afterwards the sensor specifications:
Array Elements
Pixel Size

2048x1536
3.2 mmSensor Dimensions 6.55x4.92 mm
Focal Lenght
8 mm
Output10 bit DCM, 8 bit RAW e 10 bit RAW
Table 1. Tetracam ADC Multispectral Camera - Sensor Specifications

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Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Considering the sensor dimensions, the focal length and the geometric flight characteristics,
the field of view (FOV) is equal to 57.3 m x 43 m with a spatial resolution on the ground of 24mm.
DEM and ortophoto generation
The 3D surface model reconstruction was obtained from single frames using the typical closerange photogrammetry technology, almost consolidated in several commercial software.
These technologies are based on automatic orientation process (appropriate operators
identify homologous points - tie points - between frames) and on 3D points cloud generationthat enables the DEM reconstruction (Lo Brutto & Spera, 2011). The ortophoto generated by
DEM was georeferenced using aboard GPS data and without ground control points (GCPs).
However, the orthophoto has a not significant error for performed analyses.
Vegetation Indices
Vegetation Indices, generally extracted by satellite imagery, represent a good indicator formonitoring vegetation conditions: health, growth levels, water and nutrient stress...etc.,(Silleos et al., 2006). By the combination of Green (G), Red (R) and Near Infrared (NIR) bands
different indices can be derived: RATIO, RVI, NDVI, NRVI, TVI, CTVI, TTVI, GNDVI.
Especially, NDVI (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index) is one of the most used index also
thanks to the ability to differentiate green vegetation area from other surface types: water,soil,…etc. It relates spectral chlorophyll absorption in the red band with the one in NIR band. It
is definitely expressed as the difference between the NIR and the red band normalized by thesum of these, according to the following formula, (Gini et al., 2012):

NDVI 

NIR  R
NIR  R

The index ranges from -1 to 1, with 0 representing the approximate value of no vegetation(Silleos et al., 2006).
Results
Thanks to numerous tests carried out and to the flying characteristics of the hexacopter, it waspossible to obtain high-resolution photos without unexpected deformations (rolling shutter)caused by slow acquisition speed of multispectral sensor type (Gehrke & Greiwe, 2013).
The Fig. 8 presents the false colors orthophoto (Green, Red & NIR channel) and NDVI map,
obtained by GRASS GIS technology with appropriate functions allowing algebraic operations
between rasters, (Neteler & Mitasova, 2008).
The comparison of NDVI Index with the orthophoto shows that NDVI positive values indicate
the presence of vegetation, with highest values located at the regions characterized by thehighest vegetative and leaf density (NDVI between 0.5 and 1). The areas with negative values(NDVI between -1 and 0) indicate the presence of water.
Once we know the areal distribution of NDVI, GRASS allows the valuation of the areas where
the index takes on values in a definite range.

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Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Fig. 8. A – False color orthophoto (R, G & NIR) of test area; B - NDVI map (georeferenced EPSG: 3004)

Discussion
This paper deals with the possible integrated use of GIS technology with high-resolution
images acquired by UAV SR-SF6 in order to analyze the environmental parameters describing
the Phragmites australis (Common Reed) of Trasimeno Lake.
The GIS based overlay of multiple information levels (multispectral orthophotos by drone,satellite orthophotos, vegetation indices maps, DEMs…etc.) allowed a first evaluation of Reed
bed extension in the test area.
The planimetric accuracy of the objects was influenced by the georeferencing of orthophoto.
In our case, since ground control points were not used, the georeferencing is based on GPS
coordinates measured by the onboard receiver. Therefore, the accuracy of the orthophoto iscomparable with the one of GPS receiver, expressed as CEP (Circular Error Probable) and equal220Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

to 2.5 m. This value that can further decrease if automatic SBAS (satellite - based
augmentation systems) corrections are used.
Therefore, the metric properties of measuring device are largely sufficient for vegetation
parameters monitoring.
The good accuracy level allows to use the UAV SR-SF6 measurement missions as basis forcalibration of larger scale measurements.
Furthermore, the possibility of using the spectral response in different bands allows toquantify the more interesting botanical stage of vegetation cover. Subsequent applications
could be implemented to measure the vegetation cover albedo.
Acknowledgements
The authors thank the Skyrobotic s.r.l. for UAV using and for technical support in flights
execution.
References
Bresciani, M., C. Giardino & P.Villa, 2012. Tecniche di telerilevamento applicato allo studio dellavegetazione acquatica del Lago Trasimeno, ARPA Umbria, Tutela Ambientale del Lago Trasimeno
Vol. IV: 179-188.
Dragoni, W., 2005. Il problema del bilancio e dell’evaporazione del Lago Trasimeno, International
meeting Lacustrine systems management - The case of Trasimeno Lake: comparing experiences,
Castiglion del Lago, Perugia.
Gehrke, R., A. Greiwe, 2013. Multispectral Image Capturing with Foveon Sensors, International Archivesof the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences, Volume XL–1/W2, UAVg2013, Rostock, Germany
Gini, R., D. Passoni, L. Pinto & G. Sona, 2012. Aerial Images from an UAV System: 3D Modeling and tree
species classification in a park area, International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote
Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences, Volume XXXIX – B1, XXII ISPRS Congress, Melbourne,
Australia.
Lo Brutto, M., M. G. Spera, 2011. Sperimentazione di procedure automatiche in fotogrammetria closerange per il rilievo di Beni Culturali, Atti 15a Conferenza Nazionale ASITA, Reggia di Colorno.
Neteler, M., H. Mitasova, 2008, Open Source GIS: A GRASS GIS Approach, Third Edition, Springer
Publisher, New York.
Silleos, N. G., T. K. Alexandridis, I. Z. Gitas & K. Perakis, 2006. Vegetation Indices: Advances Made in
Biomass Estimation and Vegetation Monitoring in the Last 30 Years. Geocarto International, Vol.
21, No.4, 21−28.

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LAKE AND HUMAN CONNECTION

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Internal waters culture and civility: the Linguistic Atlas of Italian Lakes (ALLI)
A. Batinti1, A. Lamanna1 & E. Gambini2
1
2

Voxteca Department of Human and Social Sciences, University for Foreigners of Perugia, Italy
ALLI - University of Perugia, Italy

Keywords: italians lakes, geolinguistic and ethnolinguistic project, the linguistic italian lakes
atlas
The linguistic Atlas of Italian lakes is a geolinguistic and ethnolinguistic project aimed atcollection, documentation and study of life, history and language of all the communities who
have lived by the Italian internal waters.
First investigations were held in Umbria and Tuscany during the Sixties/Seventies by theprofessor Giovanni Moretti, who had given the idea of the project, and these investigations
allowed to elaborate instruments and methods for collecting and documenting.
The research program was and is evolved by the central research group, directed at the
beginning, by the Cattedra di Dialettologia Italiana della Facoltà di Lettere dell’Università di
Perugia. Twelve academics from 12 Italian Universities, engaged in the study of respective
areas of appurtenance, participated to the achievement.
The project officially was born in 1982, during the first conference in Castiglione del LagoPassignano S.T., entitled: "Language, history and life of Italian lakes”.
In all the center of documentation, located close to Lake Trasimeno (S. Feliciano di Magione,
Passignano) and to the other Italian lakes, the areas of investigation are available and destined
also for non specialists, to get knowledge about internal waters culture, to be aware of humid
environments and of their multiple aspects.
During the conference emerged the need of extending investigations of the major Italian lakes,
using a 524 questions questioner, including different sections: geomorphology, atmosphericfactors, sailings, floatages, fishing, fauna and flora.
The linguistics and ethnographics materials, collected in 95 dots of investigations in the 63
humid areas (lakes, rivers, glades, …) in the italian areas, have been examined from different
points of view: by the linguistics, anthropologists, historians, archeologists and by all theacademics interested in exploring the peculiarity of human-water relationship.
There is a lack of systematic attention towards the internal waters culture in the geolinguistics
and ethnolinguisics fields.
Its marginality, its residuality in some areas (due to the ongoing socio-cultural changes and thetechnological development), the theorical and methodological in-depth analysis, gave theengaged researchers a new point of view.
The extralinguistic reality of ALLI is an essential and key element in the investigation, tounderstand the linguistic factor not as an isolated phenomenon, but inside the language andculture system. All the linguistics datas available in the ALLI, if examined in the respective
semantic field and in the historical-linguistic prospective, could be also comparable in thegeografic variation.

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The close integration between historical linguistics and dialectology is based on the realization(especially from historical linguistics) that the linguistic alteration can hardly be studied
without considering time and space differentiaton.
The data for all surveys have been implemented in a computer file (in which each term istranscribed using three different systems: IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet), CDI (Charter
of Italian dialects), Simplified (use of symbols of the Italian with the addition of otherconventional), with the aim of creating a database, linked to various Documentation Centers.
In S. Feliciano has been active since 1984, the Museum of Fisheries of Lake Trasimeno, at firstsponsored by the Center for Documentation Project ALLI, who oversaw the publication of apublishing series Papers of the Museum of Fisheries of Lake Trasimeno.
With the CD Rom (2000), Fishing Lake Trasimeno in antiquity, E. Gambini, has launched a newline of studies on the Umbrian lake, highlighting the possibilities offered by cross-reading of
the archaeological data and the linguistics, in order to achieve a better understanding of the
deep and strong roots of the great local fishing tradition, which has offered its best fruits in the
Middle Ages with large peaches with fixed installations on the open lake, the so-called bulls.
Such investigations are desirable on the other lakes and rivers in which archaeological andlinguistics researches were carried out. Forms of weight with the network in clay, similar to
those of Lake Trasimeno, were found, among other things, in the lake of Bolsena and in the
Chiana Valley along the Clanis.
The cultural and linguistic system related to the winds, already studied in 1992 by G. Costa inthe volume Anemonimi Benacensi, was studied with the focus on Lake Trasimeno, in thevolume of C. Cecchini and C. Cencioni (2000), The Winds of Trasimeno and the culture of thefishermen, is enhanced with a new contribution of Costa (2011), in which the author collectsand examines the complete vocabulary of the names of twenty Lake Garda, reconstructs theethnolinguistics taxonomy that organizes the cognitive system, and indicates some of thehistorical, cultural and linguistic components that underlie the formation of a guidance
geodynamic system, which is unique in the Europe.
The semantic field of the winds can be a vantage point for the identification of themechanisms of language variation and their reflections in the field of culture. The winds, infact, affect fishing and navigation, as they do not perform the same action on all banks, theyfavor a plurality of experiences and cultural responses and consequently a complex andarticulate semantic field with plenty of lexical variation.
The historical-linguistic and etymological recognition conducted in the volume V. Valente and
C. Marinelli (2002) Fishing with the ice in the tradition of Lake Trasimeno, by Valens on the
documentation of ancient Greek and Latin and the most recent of linguistic atlases made it
possible to delineate the geographical and historical background of the giacchio (network
launch) and confirming the widespread use and popularity of the network and the cultural
impact in social communities very different from each other, to the point that there are many
figures of speech related to the ice which also appear in the sacred texts and literary works
belonging to different times and places.
Perspectives and research directions, which are present in the most recent publications of the
project can be considered as further information and/or an extension of the themes that224

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emerged in the many previous contributions and in conference proceedings and meetings ofthe study.
The CD-ROM Avifauna: the great crested grebe (Podiceps cristatus) and Coot (Fulica atra),names and traditions, are proposed paths of observation of the avifauna of Lake Trasimeno,
read through the names of birds; linguistics analysis allows us to discover the importance of
this component in the ecosystem of the lake and outline the perception and attribution ofvalue to man. The contribution of Batinti A., Gambini E. (2010), names of systems and fishingsites. Notes of the lake place names, from the analysis of project data ALLI emerge obvious
correlations between the names of fishing systems (techniques with fixed installations) andthe names of the spaces and surfaces of water, in which they were charged. As a reminder ofthe historical importance of this connection reference may be made to the presence of Lake
Trasimeno, the lexical forms and tuoro Torale in a document of 1074.
By examining the materials used in the numerous publications of various addresses, whichconstitute the current assets of the project ALLI, Antonio Batinti and Ermanno Gambini, in
their last contribution ALLI: Proposal for a route search: Ethno-linguistic and archaeologicalinvestigations in humid Italian environments (2004), have verified the possibility of
establishing a new light on the complementarity between the ethno-linguistic investigations
related to Italian and wet environments, for example, parallel those of classical archeology andespecially with the most protohistoric recent acquisitions on settlements lacustrine.
Objectives of the project ALLI
All the data concerning the main subsets 4 (boats, nets, flora, fauna) of the 11 foreseen in thebaseline questionnaire will feed into an archive, where the linguistic, ethnographic, historicaland geographical aspects will be highlighted relating to the individual lakes, obtained throughthe held investigations and already published publications. In the CD will be included a
selection of about 200 questions in the reference questionnaire that have had answers
enough spread all over the Italian territory and therefore comparable. The sample sodetermined may be analyzed from various points of view, by linguists, anthropologists,
geographers, historians, and scholars interested in investigating this area of research.
The road that the Project ALLI intends to follow to achieve a useful result not only for theaudience of specialists, but also for the users of the various documentation centers managed
by different local authorities of the Trasimeno and other wetlands, in Italy and abroad, is tooffer moe targeted products and can be circumscribed.
Do not overlook the contribution that a better understanding of the "culture of inland waters"
can offer to those who will be called upon to plan interventions in these special environments.
It will become critically useful to tell the story of the complex management of this large
laminar lake (Lake Trasimeno), for administrators aware of the special characteristics andeconomic value of this asset, which will seek to maintain a well-balanced relationship between
the exploitation and protection of resources that it has offered in the past in abundance.

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Telling Italian Lakes in Newspapers A Semiotic Approach to the Narrative
Representation of Lakescapes
G. Zaganelli1 & T. Marino1
1

University for Foreigners of Perugia, Italy

Keywords: lakescape, newspaper, narrative, semiotics, visual rhetoric
Introduction
Lakes have had several representations in the world of art, film and literature, which haveoften created an “imaginary” where lakes are, from time to time, a place of reflection and apause in narration or, conversely, a place of action.
But what about the representations of lakes in the language of journalism?
To giving an answer at this questions we starts from the empirical methodology of textual
research, putting together samples of journalistic texts and analysing the processes of“theming” (lexical and visual isotopic chains).
This paper aims, therefore, to provide a taxonomy of the imaginary around lakes, trying todefine possible contextual labels associated to it and the actions that readers consider
consistent or likely within these labels.
Methodology
The study of the narrative context, in which the lakescape is placed, allows us to better define
the issues that are associated with it and the narrative role played by the lake. In this way, theanalysis provides us with results related to the collective imaginary associated with lakescapes.
To describe such collective imaginaries, our study involves the construction of a diachronic
sample of Italian journalistic texts. This sample is made with the application of two search
criteria: a qualitative one, based on a search of lemmas (a search in digitalized archives using
as search keys terms related to the semantic field of lakescapes) and a strictly quantitative one(restricting the search to the following areas: “title”, “sectional title”, “title header” of the
major Italian newspapers).
Two types of analysis are applied to the samples of texts:
The study of narrative structures;
The reconstruction of the cognitive attitude linked to narrative structures.
Case study
As an example of our analysis we present a small case study carried out by a random search on
digital archives of three major national newspapers (La Repubblica, Corriere della Sera, La
Stampa). The case concerns the journalistic representation of two Italian lakescapes: The Lake
Trasimeno and The Lake Garda.
In both cases it is possible to outline the process of theming related to the lakescape
identifying four main semantic fields, each with different semantic and passional valuations:
tourism, habitat, history & culture, and crime.

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The semantic field of tourism is characterized by semantic values derived from the opposition
between the polarity of the beauty and the polarity of the ugliness. In some cases the contrast
between these two values is thematized, especially in articles with a political significance, that
aim to raise the awareness of local administrators to the proper exploitation of the lakescapeas an economic resource linked to the tourism industry. It is a very broad set of issues ranging
from politics, economy and employment up to related issues such as food&wine, art andmusic. The passional tone of tourism semantic field can be both euphoric (positive) in relation
to the success of the lakescape as a tourist site, and dysphoric (negative) in relation to failure.
The semantic field of habitat is closely related to the semantic field of tourism, even if it has
significant differences in the cases of the “scientific presentation” of the lakescapes, such as,
for example, the design of the Idroscalo on Lake Garda, or the relationship between theconstruction of high speed railway lines and the Garda area. These articles deepen technicaland scientific issues, often with a popularizing intention. In these cases, passionate tones areabsent, because articles tend to be objective and to avoid the passional entanglement of thereaders.
Also the semantic field of history & culture is closely related to the semantic field of tourism,
but it shows specific themes that in the majority of cases involve the historical reconstructionof the lakescape. In these cases the lakescape is not only a touristic site but a cultural site.
Consider the case, for example, of the archaeological studies related to the Battle ofTrasimeno and the wars between the Romans and Carthaginians. The passional tone of thesearticles ranges from a euphoric participation (positive) in the case of success of the historicalresearch and a scientific detachment (passional neutrality) in the case of purely scientificillustrations of the lakescape as a cultural site.
The semantic field of crime departs almost completely from the background related totourism, habitat and history. While the previous three semantic fields have a political tinge,
with concrete actions to exploit the place, the semantic field of crime tends to emphasize noir
issues related to the lakescape, in most cases inspired by incidents of crime to build fictional
worlds in which shades of mystery, magic and danger are attributed to the lakescape. In thiscase, the passional tone is totally dysphoric (negative).
There are different plots corresponding to each of these theming processes and they can be
categorized into two main types: “plots of reflection” and “plots of action”. We call “plots ofreflection” stories that see the lakescape as a place of action, a scenery or environment moreor less characterized by the immobility of the inanimate place, which does not act. On thecontrary, in “plot of action” the lakescape is not limited to be a scenario of actions, but it plays
a narrative role.
For each semantic field, finally, it is possible to distinguish different strategies of enunciation.
The cases of topics related to tourism and culture are generally associated with a search forcomplicity between the newspaper (author of the article) and the reader, which is expressedby direct pronouns (us/you, us/you and me/you). In the case of issues related to the habitat,
an objectifying style that uses the pronouns of the third persons or impersonal formulas
prevails. In the case of crimes the style of enunciation is varied: sensationalistic and direct in
the initial phase or during the disclosure of unexpected information, detached and indirect in
the phases of description or summarizing.

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In relation to the narrative strategies of the texts, the reader takes two main cognitive
attitudes in front of the lakescape, which probably he/she tends to keep even in front of otherwater landscapes: the attitude of the scout or the attitude of the investigator. These are twovery synthetic mental schemata, which provide for many possible actions. In the frame of thescout, the reader looks at the lakescape with curiosity, assuming as a possible action
settlement, knowledge, and identity construction.
This is a typical frame of the reader aroused by newspaper articles that speak about lakes asplaces for tourism and culture.
In the frame of the investigator, the reader looks at the lakescape with suspicion, assuming asplausible actions the responses to threats.
This is a typical frame of the reader aroused by newspaper articles that speak about lakes asplaces for crime stories or adventure in a unknown habitat.
Conclusion
The perception of lakescapes, in the collective imaginary of newspaper readers, is conditionedby the narrative strategies adopted in the plot about the lakescape, perhaps to a greater
extent than the strictly scientific knowledge of the lakescape. Analyses such as our study,
therefore, are useful in policy planning and for the proper orientation of the general public,
providing a balanced point of view about reality less affected by the processes of rhetoricalmanipulation of information.
In the case of lake Trasimeno, for example, the prevalence of theming related to the semantic
field of crime may have a negative impact on the development of the local economy related totourism. In fact, our research on the full sample shows a higher score (45 %) associated to thesemantic field of tourism. However, the number of occurrences referring only to Lake
Trasimeno in the headlines associated to "crime" is much higher. By filtering on titles on Lake
Trasimeno the highest percentages of results falls in the semantic field of “crime” (about 70 %)and rest in the semantic field history & culture (30%). The result is rather disconcerting
considering the fact that lake Trasimeno should be known worldwide as the site of a famous
battle in Roman history, therefore as an archaeological site rather than a scene of crime or
accidents.
The so called Behavioral Sciences should certainly include research oriented to the study oflanguages and modes of processing and dissemination of information. This kind of analysis
could support the dissemination of scientific knowledge or the application of knowledge interms of structural projects, providing the necessary narrative strategies to make acceptableredesign operations on landscapes, and new points of view about lakes.

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








Tourism
Maschera dopo sole sul Lago di Garda (Corriere dellasera)
Anello ciclabile attorno al Garda siglata l’intesa tratutti i territori
Le stelle Michelin brillano sul lago ormai diventato
tempio dei gourmet
Turismo e innovazione così le nuove generazioni fanno
grande il Garda
Turismo, Garda superstar Iseo e Franciacorta in calo
Il Garda alla ricerca della stagione perfetta
Al lago Trasimeno la settimana del viver lentoMusi fo sunset. Il bello del Trasimeno un festival a
misura d’uomo (e di lago)








HabitatDesenzano, si punta all’idroscalo per cambiare il
volto al lungolago
Garda, un sogno chiamato Idroscalo
Garda, rientra l’allarme alghe tolti i divieti
Il Garda scrive a Renzi: rivedere il tracciato Tav
Vietati i bagni nel Trasimeno
Lago di Garda si aggrava l’emergenza

15%

45%

History & Culture








Artisti del palato e della culturainsieme per il Garda
A spasso nel tempo sulle rive del lago Trasimeno. A
Tuoro cena del rione Colonna e a Castel Rigone la festa
dei Barbari
Trasimeno e l’ossaia di Annibale
Annibale torna sul Trasimeno
In riva al Trasimeno. Una stonehenge del nostro
tempo.
Migliaia di uomini peduti dal nemico in vari attacchi asud del Trasimeno
Il Duce in volo a Castiglione del Lago.

Crime







Nella cassa in fondo al Garda c’era il corpo dellapornostar
Medico annega nel lago Trasimeno
Tredici signore annegate nel lago Trasimeno
Due figli dell’industriale Marelli annegano con
un amico nel lago Trasimeno i tempesta
Si capovolge un’imbarcazione al motore e sei
gitani muoiono nel Trasimeno
Ogni casa di Castiglione del Lago visitata dalla
morte
30%

10%

Fig. 1, Theming of the lakescape in the headlines of Italian newspaper.

References
Brandt, L. 2008. Literary Studies in the Age of Cognitive Science. Cognitive Semiotics 2: 6-40.
Bruner, J. 1991. The Narrative Construction of reality. Critical Inquiry 18: 1-21
Fauconnier, G. & M. Turner. 2002. The Way We Think: Conceptual Blending and the Mind’s Hidden
Complexities. New York. Basic Book.
Herman, D. 2003. Stories as a Tool for Thinking. Narrative Theory and the Cognitive Sciences, California,
USA, CSLI Publications. 163-192.
Marusek, S. (ed.). 2012. Visual Semiotics of the Spaces We Inhabit. International Journal for the
Semiotics of Law 27.

230

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Basin management for protection of a tropical lake: Exploring alternatives
P. Shrivastava1
1

Barkatullah University, Bhopal India

Keywords: Soil erosion, siltation, lake storage, land use, lake ecology
Introduction
Lake catchment land use pattern exercises great influence on the lake ecology. Siltation in thelake resulting from erosion of soil from agriculture field in the catchment causes irreversible
damage to the lake ecology. Alternative land use to the present agriculture, needs to be
identified. The present study has been done on a typical tropical lake (Ramsar site) in central
India. It has maximum water spread area of 32 km2 with average depth of 3 m. It is bounded
between the latitudes 2001 0’-23020’ and longitudes 77015’-77025’. It is drained by the 365 sq
km watershed, with average rainfall of 1200 mm. Approximately 80% (280 km2) catchment
area is used for agriculture. This lake is a major source of potable water supply to the city. In
case of average rainfall the water supply from the lake is 29 million gallons per day (MGD).
About 40% of the city population is still dependent on Upper lake for drinking water supply.
With the increasing population of the city, the projected demand of water was calculated as
approximately 344 MLD for 2011 with population of 2 million that is increasing at 3.5% yearly.
Environmental problems affecting the lake ecology
Soil erosion and siltation: Soil erosion from the agriculture land has adversely affected the lakestorage capacity. Upadhyay et al (2012) reported siltation rate of 1.4 mcum and predicted lakelife of 83 years. This would mean mobilizing other water resources to meet the increasingwater demand of the population at additional cost. According to a study (SAPROF, 1994) thesilting rate has been estimated to be 1 to 2.58 cm per year on an average. The estimatedsedimentation rate from the catchment area is in the tune of 3.67 ha m/100 km 2/year. The
storage capacity of the lake was reduced by about 5 million cum. About 6.6 km 2 area of thelake near Kamala park was deposited with silt and sediment to an average thickness of 0.75 m.
Agrochemicals use: Agricultural runoff adversely affects the trophic status of the Upper lake
(Mishra, 2006). The nutrient level is causative to increased primary productivity in the lake as
exhibited by excessive growth of macrophytes (Shrivastava et al, 1992). This also leads to algal
growth, high coliform and turbidity in the lake (Shrivastava & Joshi, 1994,Vipin et al, 2009 andValech et al. 1995).

231

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Addressing the soil erosion in catchment & siltation in lake
Organic farming
Lake conservation authority and Winrock international made some initial efforts to explore thefeasibility of this eco friendly approach as an attempt to provide solution. Organic farming
proposed in the catchment encountered several constraints due to land holding pattern,costing /pricing of the agro produce, the international requirements for certification of theland, marketing of produce and the other relevant infrastructure required to be in place.
Desilting
Under the Bhoj wetland conservation project, removal of silt was one of the sub projects
identified for ecological restoration and to create additional storage capacity of the lakeequivalent to 7 mgd water supply. Although the post project assessment done by external
evaluators Masahisa Nakamura,Victor Muhandiki and Thomas Ballatore indicates shortfall inachievement of targets in several subprojects.
Watershed treatment
To mitigate inflow of silt, agricultural residues and other wastes into the lakes, 73 check dams
made of loose boulder/Gabion structures having a cumulative silt trapping capacity of about
0.35 million cum have been constructed across 28 inlet channels in the catchment, thecapacity of these structures is far below the requirement (1.4 mcum) and is less than quarterof the total silt load that the lake receives annually. Restoring these structures stipulates costand recurrent in nature. The upstream group of the people would be opposed to bearing any
such cost. This conflict becomes major constraint in catchment management.
Identifying alternative land use to address the erosion problem
Agriculture is becoming less profitable due to several reasons, water availability being
important among other factors. For aforestation or reforestation of the agriculture land, there
seems to be no inclination of the farmers as this does offer potential livelihood alternative tothem. It therefore becomes necessary to explore acceptable alternatives to agriculture in thecatchment.
It is therefore important to explore possibility to convert land use to urban land use todifferent degrees depending upon how much of pollution originating from agriculture isrequired to be reduced. The proposed land use can be a suitable combination of residential
and institutional infrastructure development along with forest and greenery spread over thearea in consideration. Both sewage and solid waste by prevention and reuse (Wolsink, 2010)
may be more professionally managed. Non point source of pollution requires stringent
measures to be enforced by the authority in the region. Lake Biwa inhabits considerable
human population in its catchment but has very effecient governance that has demonstrated
protection lake ecology from adverse impact arising from land use. Owing to high opportunity
cost and the preference shown by the people/developers in this area, a separate tax structure
can be thought of in order to mobilize extra financial resources. Population/ density can be oflower level so as to sustainably manage the environment of the catchment. System ofgovernance in the area may be different for powers and authority vested with the agency
controlling the area. Decision making should be more transparent and involve stakeholders.
Process of consultation should precede the decision taken developmaboutent and232

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

enforcement of law in the region with the objective to effectively manage the environment of
the area.
The proposed land use change may effectively address the problem of erosion of soil and theresulting siltation apart from eliminating inflowing agrochemicals in surface runoff thatempties into the lake.
Adopting roof top rain water harvesting having highest run off coefficient of 0.7 and upto
80% collection efficiency of water for aquifer recharge and also for runoff to reach the lake,shall be an environmental friendly approach. The catchment under the proposed project
should yield approximately more than 13 mcum runoff volume with average precipitation of1000 mm where as in the present condition this value should be approximately 0.37 mcumwith run off coefficient of approximately 0.1 for green field. Natural drainage in the area
requires to be protected as this takes water to the lake as surface runoff. The arising foodsecurity issue is serious and needs to be addressed as it is a major concer of the expanding
population in the area would need this security. A trade off may be reached by compromisingwith reduced rate of land conversion for residential purpose in other areas around Bhopal.
This should compensate the resulting loss of agriculture production from land conversion inlake catchment.
Land area can also be used for solar energy production and the water collected from thepanels may be harvested easily and this may be source of livelihood for the catchment
inhabitant.
References
Anon (2005). Bhopal Development Plan, Town and Country Planning Organisation, Bhopal, mimeo
Hope, R.A. Borgoyary, M. & C. Agarwal. 2006. Incentives that work for farmers and wetlands - a casestudy from the Bhoj wetland, India Project technical report for DFID FRP R8174: “Socio-economic
opportunities from upland catchment environmental services: A Negotiation Support System
Minhas, P.S. and J.S. Samra, 2004. Wastewater Use in Peri-urban Agriculture: Impacts andOpportunities. Bulletin No. 2, CSSRI, Karnal 132001, India.
Mishra. S.M. 2006. Impact of the rural catchment on the Bhoj wetland and options for mitigation.
Interim report, Lake Conservation Authority of Madhya Pradesh, Bhopal.
Sachdeva, S. 2009. Integrated Lake Basin Management and Conservation Issues of Bhoj Wetland
available on wldb.ilec.or.jp/data/ilec/WLC13_Papers/S8/s8-4.pdf SAPROF, 1993. Inception reporton Conservation and management report OF lake Bhopal prepared for Overseas economic
Cooperation Fund, Japan
Shrivastava, P. and G.H. Joshi, 1992. Status Report of Upper Lake of Bhopal, Submitted to EPCO
Shrivastava, P. Joshi, G.H. Vyas, V. and A. Swarup, 1994. Observations on the Management of A Tropical
Wetland Ecosystem, J. Hydrobiol. Vol. X, p 15-28
Strauss, M. and Blumenthal, U. (1990). Human Waste Use in agriculture and Aquaculture: Utilization
Practice and Health Perspectives. IRCWD Report 09/90. International Reference Centre for Waste
Disposal, Duebendorf, Germany.
Upadhyay, R. Pandey, K. Upadhyay, S.K. and A. Bajpai, 2012. Annual Sedimentation Yield and SedimentCharacteristics of Upper Lake, Bhopal, India Vol. 2(2), Research Journal of Chemical Science p 6574.
Valecha, V. Vyas, V. and Valecha, R. 1995. Rehabilitation of The Twin Lakes of Bhopal, In Ecology and
Pollution of Indian Lakes and Reservoirs Ed. P K Misha Pp 93-97.

233

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Vyas,V. Saxena,S. and P. Shrivastava, 2009. Conservation and Management of Bhoj Wetland (Upper
Lake ) of Bhopal, India,With Reference To Integrated Lake Basin Management.
2wldb.ilec.or.jp/data/ilec/WLC13_Papers/S17/s17-17.pdf
Wolsink, M. 2010. Contested environmental policy infrastructure: socio-political acceptance of
renewable energy, water, and waste facilities. Environmental Impact Assessment Review 30,
302010234

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

The project for the lakeside landscape as explanation of variability
F. Toppetti1
1

Sapienza University of Rome, Department of Architecture and Design

Keywords: project, cure, ecology, fickleness, alternation, change, variability
PremiseWhen the earth’s crust is considered as a whole figured as plains, elevations, depressions,water basin and more different configurations of parts, territory can be evaluated as malleable
spatial material. In this scenario, multifarious factors work as driving force and able tomodeling earth’s surface layer. The earth is constantly changing and water, volcanic eruptions
and wind are key factors in the coevolutionary process. The resulting situation may assume
any kind of formal characteristics in a topological sense: vertex, bowls, borders and sweeps.
Architecture is part of breaking up, organization and re-building process of the matter, it aim
to do a continuum that exceeds distinction between nature and artifact.
In this framework, forms in which water appears on our planet highlight its particularconformation. These forms are various and make up real and iconic space meaning richness
and variability. In this way water-based forms are start point of life development. Historicallyseaside areas, rivers, falls, lakes and wetlands were the best places for human settlements.
Western civilization gradually deluded itself in thinking to control nature, to model her
according to settlement rules, consequently society thought to be independent fromenvironmental conditions. Through technical control, modern positivism tried to win thechallenge to transform landscape without evaluating negative environmental feedbacks. The
construction of landscape space is inseparable from particular ways of seeing and acting.
Damming and redirecting rivers, reclaiming wetlands, dwelling deserts, has generated in a few
time significant implications on the ecosystem (Toppetti, 2012, 2013).
Project as cure
Relationship between water and society evolved into various splitted fields of specific interest
expelling cohesive vision. The result was the separation of waterscape amenities among
defense and security fields, vital needs, aesthetic appearances considered in terms of purevisibility. Furthermore it was possible to defend settlements also without water presence, it
was always possible to admire lakes and rivers although contaminated.
Rewriting the terms landscape and environment in a contemporary, global perspective andnowadays widely shared, we can consider waterscapes as emblematic of an holistic vision, in
which new coalition are experienced between mankind and nature. It is clear how many of theworks accomplished in the past, when everything seemed to be admitted, show now their limit
in facing environmental feedback they created and which are before everyone's eyes.
Usually those projects considered nature as something stable, so instability was something
unusual. Variations of the extension of flooding areas was considered a problem as well as
shifting rivers that periodically modify their flow, because it was commonly considered235

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

necessary to settle and exploit every space, even if it was borderline in terms of safety andhealthiness, instead of leaving tolerance allowances and controlled spaces in which nature isuntouched. It's been a long time since ecology introduced the concept of evolution andinvariability of processes, thanks whom landscape main structure can change from fixity tomobility.
In this sense, contemporary landscape project increase aforesaid key points and traces its
areas of application as a “new regulation tools” that officiates natural coevolution process.
New regulation tools works in sync with process for to re-establish balance althoughnecessarily unstable. That is to say, it is indispensable to put in place measurements forturning in positive the “territory deformations” by suggesting legitimate compatible with therules of long-term natural cycles. A project aimed as “landscape care” (Emery, 2011) thatmeans works for configuring steps level of alteration controlled by introducing main questionof responsibility towards future arrangement.
What does this mean referring to landscape, in particular about lakescape? Too often, theadoption of these instances involves into univocal interpretation that once again wreaks thereturn at a presumed state of nature, lost whit human intervention. This is the only viable
route to take. It's not a coincidence that also the most advanced European normatives, moreor less explicitly, hitherward points (cf. in particular DQA 2000/60CE).
Specifically LakescapeSpecifically in lakescapes, the theme of project as "therapy" materializes itself in ecological andenvironmental maintenance and requalification, through a trans-disciplinary approach inwhich specific technicism and sector-based methodology make way for an integrated vision.
Even if it has been too often taken as central objective, re-naturalization seems to be the only
way forward. But thinking that complex ecosystems scared by unavoidable anthropization
could be brought back into wild nature condition is short-sighted, unable to imagine a mature
habitat in which the presence of mankind acts as completion, in order to direct the great
natural project.
So the question shifts on legitimate and effective action based on seriously dynamics ofenvironmental co-evolutionary knowledge, oriented for an overall environmental
sustainability, eclectic and inclusive. Sometimes it may also coincide with an increase ofnatural requirements. Quality is the discriminating factor, expressed in complementary andmultifarious ways as the reshaping of land topography, spatial arrangement of public space,capacity of technical works aimed as “inflection” within linear landscape modification.
Renewed water protagonism as project material is the second main factor, more relevant andspecific, it is base point of the proposed scenario. Water gives an important quality to thelandscape: the variability, expressed in terms of spatiality and figurability (Lynch, 1960). Water
is a medium of the fickleness of landscape, the project will take water not only in its
aesthetical or functional terms, but it evocates water’s reminiscent and poetical power and its
adapting and overboarding force. Best practices in the world reach significant results,
harbingers of future developments. Instead in Italy policies and planning practices are still
fixed on traditional measures and old rhetorics (Palermo, 2009) based on technical andengineering approach. It is a matter of comforting strategy that are incline to curbs problems,236

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

perpetuates mistakes, unfit to carries out the new expectations of sustainable transformation.
Therefore the local government, that controls and manages the land and water planning,
pursue choices pertaining to outdated measures.
Lakeskape project as expression of fickleness (oppure “Lakescape project as nexus between
flickleness and starting process”)
Work intends to present some theoretical considerations and the possible operational impacts
related to the instability of the water landscapes from an experimental reflection carried out inthe academic field on the case of Barrea Lake which is located in the Abruzzo National Park,
outlining the topic in the current scientific debate, and in relation to some best-practices
identified in the European panorama and beyond. The wetland that includes the basin and theecotonal zones is inserted since 1976 in the protected areas list of the Ramsar Convention. The
lake, formed in 1951 by a dam construction across the Sangro River, as many basins aimed forenergy use, has a variable water regime. The dry up in summer is perceived as a source of
impoverishment for biodiversity and as a negative factor for the overall quality of thelandscape for instance to jeopardize the tourism economy of the area. This condition induces
the Municipality and the local population to support the project for the construction of a newearthen dam, which would guarantee the permanence of a small upstream water reservoir,
compromising the basin unity and its specific characters now consolidated. In alignment withthe research and accomplishments, of major interest, experimented on similar situations inrecent years, the topic of alternation is not considered as criticism but as a resource, in termsof delivery of ecosystem services and for the quality of the landscape in general, to be taken asa value (ecological and economic) within a new design vision integrated by the lake landscape 1.

Fig. 1. Layers of landscape project1

The case study refers to second degree thesis in Landscape Architecture (School of Architecture,
Sapienza University of Rome) entitled “Filtering linescape. New Villetta Barrea’s lakeside waterfront”. Thesis edited by Federico Di Cosmo in collaboration with Professor Fabrizio Toppetti. Work is fully
explained in “Fickle lakescape project” Poster in World Lake Conference 15 Perugia

237

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Fig. 2. Digital representation of interplay within projected areas and lake flood. In this case submergible
island works as informal recreational space and landamark.

References
Emery N., 2011. Progettare costruire curare. Per una deontologia dell’architettura, Casagrande,
Bellinzona.
Lynch K., 1960. The image of the city, Mit Press, Cambridge Ma.
Maciocco G., G. Sanna, S. Serreli, 2011. The Urban Potential of External Territories, Franco Angeli,
Milano.
Palermo P. C., 2009. I limiti del possibile. Governo del territorio e qualità dello sviluppo, Donzelli Milano.
Prominski M., A. Stokman, S. Zeller, D. Stimberg, H. Voermanek, 2012. River Space Design. Planning
Strategies and Projects for Urban Rivers, Birkhäuser, Basel.
Toppetti F., 2013. “Le cose che non abbiamo ancora pensato”, in Ippolito A. M. (a cura di), Il progetto di
Paesaggio come ricomposizione dei conflitti, FrancoAngeli, Milano, pp. 136-141.
Toppetti F., 2012. “Le conseguenze del progetto”, in AA. VV., Naturalmente architettura… il progetto
sostenibile, Di Baio, Milano, pp. 133-136.

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Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

The diachronic evolution of the Western Greece’s Lagoons
Gazis, M.1, Koukoulakis, P.2, Hatzopoulos, J.N.3, & Kalavrouziotis I.K.4
1

Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Sport, 6th Ephorate of Prehistoric and Classical Antiquities, Al.
Ipsilandou 197, Patras, Greece, e-mail:mgkazis@culture.gr
2
Soil Science Institute, NAGREF, Altladidos 8, GR-544 54, Thessaloniki, Greece
e-mail:koukoula@otenet.gr
3
University of Aegean, Department of the Environment, University Hill, Mitilene, TK 81100
Greece, e-mail:ihatz@aegean.gr
4
School of Science and Technology, Hellenic Open University, Aristotelous 18, 26 335, Patras,
Greece, e-mail:ikalabro@eap.gr
Keywords: Diachronic evolution, lagoons, Western Greece

Introduction
1 The lagoons of western Greece
The Araxos lagoon, lake Prόkopos, the marsh of Làmia and the lagoon of Kotychi to the South,in the Prefecture of Elia, make up the chain of wetlands of the western Peloponnese, andalong with the lagoon of Mesolongion-Aitoliko constitute the main wetlands of western
Greece.
The Araxos lagoonor “Kalogria" (the nun) or “Papa”, covers an area of 380 ha with adepth ranging between 0,5-3,5 m.
Today, according to the Greek legislation, dated April 29 2009, the area of the Kotychi andStrofylia lagoons has been declared as a protected zone (Figure 1). The map shows that there
are two major zones with different level of protection. i.e. Zone A is protected by NATURA
2000 agreement, while Zone B is protected by the Greek legislation, which has characterized
this area as a national Park.

239

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Figure 1.National park of Kotychi and Strofylia wetlands

The strategic development
The strategic location of the lagoons had been recognized by the ancient inhabitants of thisregion. The prehistoric citadel of Teichos Dymaion occupies an imposing rocky hilltop at thesouthernmost tip of the so-called “Mavra Vouna” (black mountains), between the lagoons of
Prokopos and Pappas, near the village of Araxos. Archaeological research has shown thathuman occupation here began in the Late Neolithic (mid-4th millennium B.C.) and continued
almost uninterrupted into the period of Venetian occupation (Mastrokostas 1965, Kolonas
2006). The first significant settlement remains date to the Early Helladic period (ca. 3000 –2000 B.C.), but the most prosperous and period was the Mycenaean, (13th - 11th cent. B.C.),

240

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

when the settlement expanded and the emblematic cyclopean fortification was erected(around 1300 B.C.)2, to strengthen and symbolize the defensive character of the site (Driessen1999)3.
All the above can be described as different aspects of a broader bio-culturalenvironment, in the sense that Maffi 4 has introduced. In the case of Teichos Dymaion we havea combination of biological and cultural factors that were in action side by side 5.
Teichos Dymaion can be seen as a prime example of a site strategically located inorder to make the most of what its setting had to offer, both in terms of subsistence as well asof culturally oriented possibilities (Gazis 2010).
The socioeconomic evolution
During the Bronze Age and specifically during the Mycenaean period (ca. 1600-100 B.C.), we
find organized settlements, as a consequence of the combined marine and terrestrial
resources. Easy access to water and to fertile land were crucial for the advance of agriculture,animal husbandry, cultivation of trees as well as the commercial activities with the towns of
the Western Greece.
The geomorpological evolution of lagoons
Diachronically, the main creators of the Messolonghi lagoon were the two big rivers of theregion, Acheloos and Evinos.In Table 1 the diachronic evolution of the alluvial deposits are
given. The values of this table were computed based on Villas 1983 after overlaying 2 maps
over a current map using GIS method Hatzopoulos, (2008).
It is found that the present protected area includes 22627.7 Ha having increased by 212% in
relation to the past due to the soil material brought Acheloos river (Diamanti and all., 2014).

2

A number of factors that had led to the choice of specific locations for the construction of Late Helladic
fortifications have been outlined by Karageorghis 2001.
3
For a review of the site’s history and role see Gazis 2010.
4
L. Maffi, defines biocultural diversity as "the diversity of life in all its manifestations: biological,
cultural, and linguistic — which are interrelated (and possibly coevolved) within a complex socioecological adaptive system." (Maffi 2007). She also notes that “ … the emergence of this field came fromthe observation that all three diversities are under threat by some of the same forces and from theperception that loss of diversity at all levels spells dramatic consequences for humanity and the earth.”(Maffi 2005).
5
Certain geographic areas have been positively correlated with high levels of bio-cultural diversity,
including those of low latitudes, higher rainfalls, higher temperatures, coastlines, and high altitudes.

241

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Period1900-2000 A.D.
1700-1800 A.D.
1200-1500 A.D.
800-1100 A.D.
100-400 A.D.
700-400 B.C.
2000-1600 B.C.

Hectares[Ha]
32627.729355.528880.5
26148.723027.2
17388.1
10457.4

Difference[Ha]03272.2475
2731.83121.55639.16930.7

Change %
0.0
10.0
1.6
9.5
11.9
24.5
39.9

Total Change[Ha]22170.3
18898.1
18423.1
15691.3
12569.86930.70

Total Change
%
212.0
180.7
176.2
150.0
120.2
66.3
0.0

Table 1. The evolution of alluvial deposits in Acheloos River Delta, since 2000 B.C.

The complex of the lagoons covers an area of 15000-22,627.7 ha, Hatzopoulos, (2008), andincludes the wider area of the wet land system, the coastal ecosystems and the swamps. The
whole wetland system includes 42% of the lagoons on a national level, and the Messolonghi
lagoon is one of the greatest in Greece as well as in the Mediterranean basin.

Conclusions
The study of the evolution of Western Greece’s wetlands (lagoons, rivers, lakes andmarshlands) has disclosed the following:
These wetlands have played, and continue to play an important role in the economic, socialand cultural development of this part of Greece.
The prehistoric citadel of Teichos Dymaion was the only fortified mycenaean acropolis inwestern Greece, and the emblematic cyclopean fortification (erected around 1300 B.C.)6,
strengthened and symbolized the defensive character of the site (Driessen 1999)7.
References
Fourniotis, N., Stavropoulou-Gatsi, M., Kalavrouziotis, I.K. 2012.Acheloos River: The Timeless, and Since
Ancient Period, Contribution to the Development and Environmental Upgrading of Western Greece,
3rd IWA Specialized Conference on Water and Wastewater Technologies in Ancient Civilizations,2224 March, Istanbul, pp. 420-428.
Lykokanellos, G., I. K. Kalavrouziotis, G. Karaberou, S. P. Varnavas, 2013.Assessment to environmental
conditions in the Kotychi lagoon, Western Peloponnessos Greecce, 13th SGEM GeoConference on
Ecology, Economics, Education And Legislation, SGEM2013 Conference Proceedings, ISBN 978-6197105-04-9 / ISSN 1314-2704, June 16-22, 2013, Vol. 1, 125 - 132 pp
Diamanti,M, Hatzopoulos J. and Kalavrouziotis, I.K. 2014. Diachronic environmental evolution of the
Mesolonghi Lagoon in Western Greece and Archeological evidence, IWA Symposium on Water,
wastewater and Environment: Traditions and Culture, 22-24 March Patras, Greece.
Villas C.A., 1983, The Holocene evolution of the Acheloos River Delta, Northwestern Greece: Associatedenvironments, geomorphology and Microfossils, PhD Thesis, University of Delaware
Hatzopoulos J. N., 2008, “Topographic Mapping” Covering the wider field of Geospatial Information
Science & Technology (GIS&T), Universal Publishers, 740 pages.

6

A number of factors that had led to the choice of specific locations for the construction of Late Helladic
fortifications have been outlined by Karageorghis 2001.
7
For a review of the site’s history and role see Gazis 2010.

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Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Gazis Μ. 2010, The prehistoric citadel of Teichos Dymaion. In search of identity, in Ν. Merousis, L.
Stefani, Μ. Nikolaidou (eds.) ΙRΙΣ, Studies in memory of A. Pilali by her students, Thessaloniki 2010,237-255. (in Greek)
Driessen J. 1999, The Αrchaeology of Aegean Warfare, in R. Laffineur (ed), POLEMOS, Le contexte
guerrier en Égée à l’âge du bronze. Actes de la 7e Rencontre Égéenne internationale (Liège, 14-17
Αvril 1998) (AEGAEUM 19) Liège 1999, 11-20.
Karageorghis V. 2001, «Patterns of Fortified Settlements in the Aegean and Cyprus c. 1200 B.C.», in V.
Karageorghis & C.E. Morris (eds.), Defensive Settlements of the Aegean and the Eastern
Mediterranean after c. 1200 B.C. Proceedings of an International Workshop Held at Trinity College,
Dublin, 7th-9th May 1999, Nicosia 2001, 2-9.
Kolonas L. 2006, The work of the scientific Committee for the protection, study and promotion of theprehistoric settlements of the Patras region, in V. Lambrinoudakis et.al. The work of the scientificCommittees for the restoration, conservation and promotion of monuments, Athens 2006, 219-221,
figs. 7-12. (in Greek)
Maffi L. 2005, Linguistic, Cultural, and Biological Diversity, Annual Review of Anthropology, Vol. 34,(2005), 599-617
Biocultural diversity and sustainability, in J. Pretty, A. Ball, T. Benton, J. Guivant, D. R. Lee, D. Orr, M.
Pfeffer, H. War (eds.), The SAGE handbook of environment and society, 2007, 267-275.
Mastrokostas Ε. 1962, Excavations at Teichos Dymaion, Praktika tis en Athinais Archeologikis Etairias(Annals of the Archaeological Society in Athens) 1962, 127-133. (in Greek)
Excavations at Teichos Dymaion, Praktika tis en Athinais Archeologikis Etairias (Annals of theArchaeological Society in Athens) 1965, 128-136. (in Greek)

243Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

LAKE BASIN MANAGEMENT EXPERIENCES AND CHALLENGES244

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Towards practical measures for improving the ecological state of lake Marken
by combining in depth system knowledge with stakeholder aspects
M. Genseberger1, R. Noordhuis1, C. X. O. Thiange1, P. M. A. Boderie1, M. P. M. Koenraadt2, V. A.
Maronier2, G. J. Roovers2, A. Jellema2, A. van Winden3, C. Maka3 & J. H. A. Wijbenga4
1

Deltares
Antea Group
3
Stroming
4
HKV Consultants
2

Keywords: shallow lake, Water Framework Directive, suspended sediment, ecology,
stakeholders
Introduction
Lake Marken is a shallow lake in The Netherlands with an average depth of about 4 meter anda surface of 700 square kilometer. For this lake, high suspended sediment concentrations
result in reduced ecological values and prevent goals and standards from being met (Water
Framework Directive, Natura 2000). Mainly due to wind driven waves (fine) sediment particles
on the bed are resuspended and transported by hydrodynamic flow. High concentrations ofsuspended sediment particles generally result in low transparency values. Because the lake islargely artificial and shallows and transition zones are underrepresented, this aspect
dominates the ecology of the lake and diversity is low. Light on the bottom is important forwaterplants to grow, gradients between clear and turbid water are important for fish-eatingwaterbirds to get food. Waterplants reduce resuspension and provide habitat for young fishand many species of invertebrates, that in turn can feed birds. These are the main underlying
physical and ecological processes and interconnections. With this knowledge, a practicalmeasure to improve the ecology that is currently studied is the construction of sheltered areasin the North West part of Lake Marken. Construction of dams, islands, and shallow areas will
influence the physical processes to improve water quality and ecological state. The study of
the required size, shape, and location of the structures is being carried out. Next to the indepth knowledge of physics (via a coupled silt model for Lake Marken) and ecology, this also
included an interactive approach with different stakeholders for aspects other than ecologicalimpact (like implementation costs, engineering, recreation, and safety). Here we will show
how the combination of knowledge of the underlying physical and ecological processes andthe interactive approach with stakeholders worked out during the study.
Methods
The following methods were used:a coupled silt model for Lake Marken to study effects of the structures on hydrodynamics,
waves, and sediment,
ecological expert judgements by interpreting results of silt model simulations with in depth
ecological expert knowledge to assess the ecological impact of the structures, and245

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

an interactive approach with different stakeholders for other aspects (like implementation
costs, engineering, recreation, and safety).
The study had to follow formal rules for design and realization of infrastructural projects by
the Dutch public works about the objectives and how these objectives were quantified.
Therefore, at the start of the study, some effort was needed to specify the outcome of thestudy, how this was going to be measured, and how these results were going to be translated
and evaluated such that policy makers can use them.
For the interactive approach with different stakeholders four working sessions were holdduring the study. In these sessions we discussed the aim and necessity of the measures andasked the stakeholders for their interests, wishes, and suggestions. Figure 1 gives animpression. The first two sessions resulted in three possible scenarios. After the fourth session
we had enough information to evaluate them.

Fig. 1. Impression of interactive session with stakeholders to discuss location, type, shape, and size of structures.
Starting top left, clockwise: historical background of region, different stakeholders debating on location, several
functions of locations marked on map, additional issues marked with memos, navigation routes drawn on map,and final layout of one possible scenario

The coupled silt model for Lake Marken to study hydrodynamics, waves, and sediment in Lake
Marken has been under development by Deltares since 2007. It takes into account wind-driven
currents and waves to compute the amount of resuspension and sedimentation for a typicalyear. In this model, for wave effects a fetch length approach was used (Genseberger et al.,2011), the same approach is used in studies for other shallow lakes in the Netherlands(Penning et al., 2012).
The silt model only covers a part of the system that we need to address in the study. Figure 2
shows a schematic representation of the system with underlying physical, chemical, andbiological processes and their interconnections. For the ecological expert judgement we246

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

interpreted results of the silt model and used in depth ecological expert knowledge ofvegetation, fish, benthos, and birds from the recent so-called ANT study. In this ANT study longterm trends and intercorrelations were analyzed for different species and their foodweb in theLakes IJssel and Marken.

Fig. 2. Schematic representation of the system with underlying physical, chemical, and biological processes andtheir interconnections. The orange enclosure highlights the part that is modeled with the silt model of Lake
Marken. The green enclosure is the part that is assessed by ecological expert judgement (based on results of thesilt model and in depth knowledge of relevant processes and their interconnections)

Results
As mentioned before, at the start of the study, we defined the objectives of the study and therules how to quantify the objectives. Effects on ecology were mainly estimated by modelingthe changes in the amount of light on the bottom for each scenario. Important are the changes
in the area where more than 2% and 10% of surface light reaches the bottom, representing
potential habitat for low density vegetation and vegetation with sufficient density andstructure to function as habitat for fish and invertebrates. Based on this, we combined andtranslated the results of the scenario analysis with the silt model, the ecological expert
judgement and the interactive approach with different stakeholders into an evaluation that is
usable for policy makers. As an example we show one of the tables that summarize thisevaluation. Here table 1 shows the summary of the ecological effects of the three possible
scenarios, the measure “Westcoast Dams”, the measure “Central Island”, and the measure“Eastern Archipel”.

247

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

AspectCriterium

Westcoast Central
Dams
IslandEastern
Archipel

Waterplants
andfish population
Protected areas

Expected development insheltered areas

+

0/+

+

Goals to maintain under Natura 2000
Effects on Ecological Main Structure
Protected species

+
+
+

0/+
0
0/+

++
0
++

Protected
species

Table 1. Summary evaluation ecological effects of measures

Discussion
Here we showed how the combination of knowledge of the underlying physical and ecologicalprocesses and the interactive approach with stakeholders worked out during the study. For
shallow lakes this type of multidisciplinary and practical study has not been done before on
this large scale in the Netherlands. Therefore we think it is a significant case study.
The interactive approach with stakeholders in four working sessions was quite intensive. Also
keeping this in phase with the assessment with silt model and ecological expert judgement
may be further improved. However, the combination has shown its added value: in depth
knowledge from experts was transferred to stakeholders during the working sessions,stakeholders came with creative and practical solutions, landscape architects were able to
make designs with all ingredients available, and also policy makers were involved in all phasesof the study.
References
W. E. Penning, M. Genseberger, R. Uittenbogaard, and J. C. Cornelisse, 2012. Quantifying
measures to limit wind driven resuspension of sediments for improvement of the ecologicalquality in large shallow lakes, Hydrobiologia, 10.1007/s10750-012-1026-z.
M. Genseberger, P. M. A. Boderie, and M. Van der Wal, 2011. Fetch length reduction as aneffective and multipurpose measure for shallow lakes, poster presented at the 7thInternational Shallow Lake Conference, Wuxi, China.

248

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Water balance model for management and restoration of Te Waihora (LakeEllesmere), New Zealand
G.A. Horrel1
1

National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA), Christchurch, New Zealand

Keywords: water balance model, sea incursions
Introduction
Te Waihora (Lake Ellesmere) is a shallow lake located on the east coast of the South Island (Fig.
1). It is the fifth largest lake in New Zealand, and has a catchment area of 2072 km 2, comprising
777 km2 from foothills and 1295 km2 from plains.
Prior to human settlement the lake opened naturally when the beach barrier was breached at
approximately 4.0 m above mean sea level (amsl) with a surface area of 315 km 2. After Maori
settlement near Taumutu (Fig. 1), the village was subjected to flooding at high lake levels.
Maori opened the lake when heights exceeded 2.7 m amsl. Currently the lake is opened at
1.13 m amsl between 16 June and 31 July and at 1.05 m amsl from August to March. Openings
are made at lower lake levels in spring for fish recruitment and autumn for fish migration. At
the mean lake level of 0.8 m amsl. the lake area is 189 km 2 and mean depth is 1.4 m.
Te Waihora is an internationally significant wetland for wildlife especially waterfowl andwading birds. This merited protection by a National Water Conservation Order (WCO) in 1990.
Recent amendments in 2011 to the WCO recognised four outstanding features: indigenous
wetland vegetation, customary fisheries, Maori historical, spiritual and cultural characteristics,
and significance in accordance with Maori customs and traditions, resulted in environmental
openings replacing lake drainage openings.
The lake water has been enriched with agriculturally sourced nutrients and is turbid with highlevels of re-suspended sediment from the lake bed. A water balance model has therefore beendeveloped to assist with lake management and restoration (Horrell 1992 and 2009). This paper
describes its application to Te Waihora.
Methods
The water balance model developed is specific to Te Waihora and covers its various inflows,
outflows, and sea conditions, all of which affect lake openings, and resultant lake level
fluctuations.

249

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Figure 1: Location of Te Waihora (Lake Ellesmere) and photo of artificial opening.

The lake water balance equation is:
ΔS = ( Ir + It + Ig + Irs + Ias +Is) – (Os + Oe + Oa)
where: I = inflows, O = outflows, ΔS = change in lake storage, with particular inflows Ir =rainfall, It = tributaries, Ig = groundwater seepage, Irs = rough weather sea incursions, Ias =artificial opening sea incursions and Is = Kaitorete Spit seepage, and particular outflows Os =Kaitorete Spit seepage, Oe = evaporation, Oa = artificial opening. These variables were
estimated for a 42 year daily dataset, as follows.
Rainfall (Ir): Lake rainfall was estimated from 18 New Zealand Meteorological Service stationsin the vicinity of the lake. The mean annual rainfall on the lake surface is approximately 564
mm.
Tributaries (It): Forty tributaries flow into Te Waihora, all except one being runoff from Banks
Peninsula or emergent ground water. The exception is the Selwyn River sourced from thefoothills. For 1970-86 tributary inflows were calculated from lake height rise, developed fromavailable calm lake height readings and a lake area curve while accounting for known variables.

250

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

From June 1986 tributary flows were estimated using correlations with primary recorded
tributary flow sites.
Groundwater seepage (Ig): Groundwater seepage through the bed of the lake was surveyedusing seepage meters and estimated to be 0.44 m 3 s-1 (Ettema and Moore 1995), an increaseon a 1988 geological estimate of 0.08 m3 s-1.
Sea incursions: Sea water incursions into Te Waihora frequently occur across the low gravel
barrier separating the lake from the sea near Taumutu. Sea water incursions occur in two
situations: rough sea conditions (Irs), and those during artificial openings (Ias) when high tide
encroaches into the lake, and later waves overtop the immature barrier.
Rough weather sea incursions (Irs): Flow rates are estimated by differencing all the known
variables, and comparing with the inflows required to create the new calm lake levels. Recordsof sea wave conditions from the south show that sea inflows could occur when ocean waves
are greater than 2.5 m in height.
Artificial opening sea incursions (Ias): Flow rates of 30.8 m3 s-1 for a period of 10 days were
determined from openings using the methodology employed for rough weather sea incursions.
Figure 1 displays an opening-reduced lake level at low tide with lake water outflow of 160 m 3 s1
. Two hours later on the incoming tide 250 m 3 s-1 of sea water was measured entering thelake.
Kaitorete Spit seepage (Os): A 3 km length of Kaitorete Spit near Taumutu forms a 150-200 m
permeable gravel barrier between the lake and the sea. Estimates of seepage flow through thisbarrier from well measurements were analysed to derive a relationship between lake heightand seepage rate.
Evaporation (Oe): Daily lake evaporation was derived from a Class A evaporation pan
measured at Lincoln (9 km to the north of the lake) for the period 1970-91. After 1991
calculated Penman evaporation values were increased by a factor of 1.47 to replicate Class A
pan. Open water daily lake evaporation estimates were derived using data from Lake
Okeechobee in Florida (Hounam 1973), and adjusted for the Southern Hemisphere. Estimatedaverage annual open water lake evaporation is 1075 mm.
Artificial opening outflows (Oa): On average the lake is artificially opened 3.6 times per year fora period of 17 days with an outflow rate of 75 m3 s-1.
Additional information
Wave conditions: Sea conditions directly influence the success of the lake opening operationand the lake closure. Model daily wave records were constructed from New ZealandMeteorological Service ship log wave information for 1970-91 with the remainder from a wave
hindcast model (Gorman et al, 2003).
Lake opening: Rules for handling rough sea condition impacts on opening development were
derived from comparison of nine artificial opening work logs with wave rider buoy information
measured near the Rakaia River mouth and comparisons to ship log data.
Lake closure: Analysis of sea conditions required to close the lake provided rules for themodel.
Lake area curve: A lake height - area curve was derived from a bathymetric survey combinedwith an adjacent land survey.

251Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

The model completes a water balance at day’s end by calculating the total volume change
divided by the lake area to produce the new lake level.
Results
Lake water balance
Variable water balance comparisons are possible from June 1986 when primary flow records
and correlations with tributaries provided complete tributary inflows.
Lake variables

Flow

Percentage

Precision

SummerAutumnWinter3

Spring3

Period: 9 June 1986 to 31 December
2011(m s )%(m s )(m s )(m s )(m1)

Rainfall inflows

3.49

18.5 +± 0.30

3.04

3.48

4.23

3.20

Tributary inflows

10.8

57.4 +± 1.23

6.82

7.15

15.69

13.16

Groundwater inflows

3 -1

3 -1

3 -1

3 -1

s

-

(m
1
)

s

0.44

2.3 +

± 0.44 - 0.22

0.44

0.44

0.44

0.44

Rough weather sea incursion inflows

1.49

7.9 +

± 1.49 - 0.75

1.06

2.15

1.68

1.05

Artificial
inflows

2.59

13.8 +± 0.78

0.82

0.47

4.32

4.55

Kaitorete spit seepage outflows

1.22

6.2 -

± 0.30

0.92

1.19

1.57

1.15

Evaporation outflows

6.68

34.2 -± 1.20

12.40

4.71

1.94

7.81

Artificial opening outflows

11.64

59.6 -± 1.16

3.95

4.16

21.40

16.16

Storage change

0.01

0.5 -

openingsea

incursion

Table 1: Te Waihora (Lake Ellesmere) annual average water balance and seasonal variability

The change in storage is considered almost insignificant with a net loss in storage equivalent to0.01 m3 s-1. The total outflows (19.54 m3 s-1) are greater than the total inflows (18.81 m3 s-1) by
0.72 m3 s-1 after consideration for storage change.
Model performance
For 1970-2011, the number of modelled openings was 152 compared with 147 actual
openings. This 3.4 % difference is considered a close reproduction of what happened to thelake and the magnitude of the lake variables (inputs and outputs). The probable reasons forthe different opening numbers and timing are: using averaged rates of outflow and artificial
sea incursions inflows, which in reality varied with each opening. Also, modelled sea condition
records may predict different opening dates, while some of the variable inflows or outflows
may be uncertain.
Figure 2 displays a regulating effect of evaporation upon actual and modelled summer lake level in January 1979,
which resulted in the first modelled winter opening being close to date of the actual opening.

Discussion
The model was developed to study lake management options using 42 years of daily data.
Scenarios examined included varying opening levels, opening seasons, closing levels, input andoutput volumes, lake area, and a permanent opening. The key model outputs for lake
managers are: new lake level regime; number of openings; timing of openings.

252-

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Uses of the model include: specifying the opening level regime recommended in the Draft
WCO (adopted 1990); modelling proposed irrigation bywash from 60,000 hectares for theCentral Plans Irrigation Scheme (upstream of the lake); developing key Environment Court
evidence in 2011 for amendments to the 1990 WCO from testing scenarios to improve thefrequency of environmental autumn and spring lake openings; modelling consenting processes
to artificially open the lake for Canterbury Regional Council to manage the lake optimally withregard to ecological values; and supporting lake resuscitation research into alternative opening
location and weir to avoid low lake levels and reduce salinity.
Key knowledge advances from the water balance modelling include: the avoidance of shoreline
desiccation from prolonged summer and autumn low lake levels, 70% enhancement ofenvironmental openings to improve fish recruitment in spring and fish migration in autumn,
how to achieve fewer artificial openings, how to reduce salt concentrations, an explanation on
how the Trophic Level Index may be reduced from 7.5 to 6, and seasonal variation of lake
variables.
Other uses of the model include studies into: fish habitat and recruitment, wetland habitat,
salt marsh communities, macrophyte re-establishment, discolouration, and flooding risk toagricultural production in reclaimed areas.

253

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Fig. 2. Comparison between actual and modelled lake level and openings (the sharp level decreases) from 1970 to 1980: Te Waihora254

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

References
Ettema, M.; Moore, C.R. (1995). Seepage in Lake Ellesmere. Canterbury Regional Council Report No
U95/18. 29 p.
Gorman, R.M.; Bryan, K.R.; Laing, A.K. (2003). Wave hindcast for the New Zealand region: nearshore
validation and coastal wave climate. New Zealand Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research
37(3): 567-588.
Horrell, G.A. (1992). Lake Ellesmere water balance model: variable analysis and evaluation. Master ofEngineering Science Thesis, University of New South Wales. 153 p.
Horrell, G.A. (2009). Lake Ellesmere (Te Waihora) water balance model: variable update 1991 to 2007.
NIWA Client Report:CHC2009-102. 27 p.
Hounam, C.E. (1973). Comparison between pan and lake evaporation. World MeteorologicalOrganisation, Technical note No. 126 WMO No.354.

255

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Non-Point Pollution and Erosion int the Lake Chapala Basin, Mexico
A. Juarez-Aguilar¹, T. Silva², L. Davalos-Lind³, O. Lind4, S. Ochoa², R. Moncayo², C. Escalera², A.
Diaz¹, F. Quintero¹, G. Cruz² & R. Velazquez¹
1

Corazon de la Tierra-Institute of Environmental Development, Ramon Castañeda 979,
Guadalajara
City,
Mexico,44270,
tel.
52+33-38251361,
e-maildireccion@corazondelatierra.org.mx
2
CIIDIR-Unidad Michoacán. Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Justo Sierra 28, Jiquilpan, Mexico.
59510 tel. 52+353-5330218 e-mail tsilva09@hotmail.com
3
Center for Reservoir and Aquatic Ecosystem Research (CRASR), Baylor University, Waco, Texas,
USA, 76798, tel. 1+254-7102179, e-mail laura-davalos-lind@baylor.edu
4(CRASR), Baylor University. Waco, Texas, USA, 76798, tel. 1+254-7102179, e-mailowen_lind@baylor.edu
Keywords: Lake Chapala, non-point pollution, siltation, Multistakeholder Platform
Introduction
Lake Chapala is Mexico's largest water body, an ecosystem of high priority due to the set ofenvironmental services it provides, including biodiversity, weather regulation, fisheries andwater for irrigation, industry and human consumption. Lake Chapala has a surface of 1112 km²,
it forms part of the Lerma-Chapala basin, which covers 52 532 km² and is composed of 19 subbasins. Back in 2009 a dyagnosis of scientific research was prepared, which showed the hugeamount of lacking data related to the lake and its basin. Derived from it, a two-years project
was conducted, concentrating in the lake itself and the sub-basin that drains directly into thewaterbody (Lake Chapala basin). The project focused into knowing the volumes, types andsource areas of agrochemicals and soil loss, thus generating a series of complementary
management tools (GIS, SWAT and a Multistakeholder Platform).
Materials and methods
There were used several methods for each aspect of the research. For erosion measurement
there were used 20 run-off plots (monitoring stations) allocated in agricultural areas, divided
into three categories: a) irrigated cultivation, b) rainfed cultivation, c) hillside cultivation.
Additionally, another 20 run-off plots were installed in forest covered areas. Three sedimentcollections were accomplished during 2011 rainy season.
Use of agrochemicals (fertilizers and pesticides) was determined using a survey, applied to 368
farmers. Farmers were organized into three groups, matching the categories of cultivation. The
survey also collected information about the productive process (land extension and ownership,technology, volume of production) and farmers' social features (number of family members,
education level, monthly income, etc).
To determine water quality, there were stablished 20 sampling points at Lake Chapala in-flow
points, to measure AGP (Algal Growth Potential) and nutrients presence, which were sampledduring three campaigns: rainy season, dry season and stabilization season (2011-2012).

256

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

A GIS system was constructed using contents from municipal, state and federal agencies,
complemented with satellite images. As part of the process, a basemap was developed
alongside with a digital elevation model. Several thematic maps were created, some requiring
infrared analysis using a especial software (Explorafor). As for the Soil and Water Assesment
Tool (SWAT, a model to predict quality and quantity of surface and ground water, and to
predict the impact of land use), the one created for this project used as inputs the GIS system,
climatic data series from 1940-2005 (ERIC III, version 2.0) and Mexico Metereological Stations.
For nutrients and agrochemicals there was used the farmers survey; for water erosion it wasused the data generated by the run-off plots and for the nutrients in water it was used theinformation from water sampling points.
Finally, for the Multistakeholder Platform (MSP) it was used as reference the model set out by
Faysse and Vladimir (2005), complemented with the one used previously in the Lerma-Chapalabasin by Juarez and Enriquez (2012). To create the MSP it was necessary to construct a
Conflict-Collaboration Matrix (modified from Grimble, et al., 2005) to show up the conflic
conditions between stakeholders, related to ther main components of the project.
Results
Natural vegetation areas in the Lake Chapala basin contributed only with 2.5% of total soil loss
by rain erosion, while cultivated areas produced 97.5% of it. From this quantity, close to 45%
soil loss is generated in hillside crops, which represent only 7.17% of the total cultivated area.
Hillside areas are used by the poorest farmers, which also use the highest amount ofagrochemicals per hectare, due to the fast loss of fertile soil and the consequent lack ofnutrients.
As a whole, the three groups of farmers use more than 25000 tons/year of fertilizers,
generating a load of nutrients than enter constantly into the lake, they also use more than 340
tons/year of pesticides in the direct vicinity of Lake
HilsideChapala, including 22 classified as “extremely toxic”
surfacIrrigatiefor plankton, fishes and birds (INE, 2012).
on
7.20%
2011 was a year of scarce rain. However, during its
surfacerainy season there was a loss of 102,652 tons of soil
40.30
Rainfecoming from cultivated areas. The SWAT model%dpredicts that during strong rainy seasons such
surfacamount could increase up to 415% There was foundethat just a small portion of farmers use soil
52.40%
conservation practices, mostly because loss ofknowledge, given the fact that such practices were
widely used until 1970-1980.
Fig. 1. Categories of cultivated land in the
Water monitoring sites that received mixed
Lake Chapala basin(urban-industrial) non-point pollutions showedduring the dry season the greatest potential topromote algal growth. The rain dilution effect was unremarkable in September and mostnotorious in January. Agricultural and livestock sources showed higher fertility amounts in therainy season due to increased runoff, almost zero during the dry season. Contributions of257

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

productivity stimulants studied from the analyzed sources are considerable, the biota of thereceiving water body (Lake Chapala), seems to serve as processor of nutrients. Consistent withprevious fertility patterns studies (Hernández et al., 2001), sites that had the highest water
fertility were mostly limited by nitrogen, those sites with lowest water fertility were limited byboth N and P (co-limitation).
In the case of the GIS, its final version included 24 layers, with several thematic maps, being
the one of Current Land Use the most useful for its level of accuracy, showing the allocation ofhillside cultivation areas. Also, it was important the updating of the Lake Chapala perimeter,using remote sensing methods.
The SWAT agrochemicals future scenario shows them spreading throughout the basin. A directconsequence is the possibility of increasing eutrophication in Lake Chapala and its affluents.
Pesticides also follow a similar trend, with risks of affecting terrestrial and aquatic organisms,
as some of them (such as methyl parathion) have high toxicity levels.
Finally, the MSP shows that farmers are not the only stakeholders related to analysed issues:
53 different groups and institutions were identified, organized in five sectors (productive
groups, research institutions, government agencies, councils/commisions and NGOs). Even
having influence in the basin, 67% of stakeholders have no physical presence in the area,
which don't stop them to define projects, and regulations. All groups had a wide perceptionthat agrochemicals didn't represent a pollution source and therefore it wasn't necessary to
regulate their use. Nevertheless, when informed about the findings of this project, several
farmer groups expressed strong concern about it. Working with them, it was clear that anindirect approach could be more effective, using three arguments: a) improving economic
benefits for farmers, b) protection of human health, and c) reducing of poverty. Using thisstructure, two particular MSP were defined, one for reduction of rain erosion and other one
for agrochemical control. Both MSP were defined for a three-year period, working in threedifferent areas of the basin, taking into account the cultural and organizative particularities
found during the research.
Some Lines of Action must be taken to control the excessive use of agrochemicals, being thesea) inform broadly to the government sector about the agrochemical types and volumes foundin the area and their possible effects, b) to use the knowledge and attitudes of organic farmers
to promote involvement of other agricultural groups, c) involve environmental NGOs andresarch institutions in the process to avoid social polarization and the emergence of conflicts.
This project is one of a few that pay attention to the non-point pollution issue and its effects
on Mexican lakes. Our findings shows that there is a poor understanding of the problem,
therefore there aren't regulations nor management policies. We expect that this information
could be used as a first step to improve the current situation, not only of Lake Chapala but alsoof other water bodies in Mexico.
Acknowledgements
To the National Council of Science and Technology (CONACYT-Mexico), FIDERCO and theGovernment of Jalisco State, for their financial and institutional support. To Masahisa
Nakamura and Walter Rast (ILEC) for their constant presence and advisement.

258

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

References
CICLOPLAFEST. 2004. Catálogo de Plaguicidas en México. Comisión Intersecretarial para el Control delProceso y Uso de Plaguicidas, Fertilizantes y Sustancias Tóxicas. México.
Faysse, N. and V. Vladimir. 2005. A Methodology for Intervention in the design and evaluation of ashort-term Multi-Stakeholder Platform. NEGOWAT Project. Bolivia. 21 pp.
Juárez, A y R. Velázquez. 2007. Sistematización de la metodología de manejo forestal comunitario en la
Sierra Cóndiro-Canales. INDESOL/Corazón de la Tierra. México 144 p.

259

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Water Sensitive Urban Design, WSUD
F.P. Di Giacomo 1
1

Alpha Consult srl

Keywords: WSUD water sensitive urban design, phytoremediation, constructed wetlands,
urban aesthetics, urban catchment
Introduction
The paper draws the attention to the need of spreading the concept of WSUD Water Sensitive
Urban Design applied to urban lakes safeguard, merging urban/territorial planning andlandscaping with sanitary engineering and using the urban catchment as a reserve ofadditional water source. WSUD tries to blend the use of urban aesthetics and urban park withthe use of species able to act as biological treatments for runoff waters in constructedwetlands: a sort of Phytodepuration Park, to reduce water pollutants in the urban drainages,
opening the door to a systematic urban catchment water reuse.
WSUD
The paper’s objective is to show systems combining urban landscape design and biologicaltreatments for the reduction of pollutants coming from the urban open spaces and agriculturalactivities in the periurban areas, using solutions such as ecotone strips, filter ecosystems andartificial wetlands. The ecotone strips refers to the transition area between two ecosystems(Odum 1982), such as the transition area between land and water environments. It may be a
strip of riparian vegetation with a woody or rushy character, or a meadow or forest separating
farmlands from reservoirs or watercourses. Ecotones, as barriers limiting the flow of chemicalcompounds from the land into lakes or rivers, are referred to as buffer strips (Vought et al.
1994). Specific types of buffers include riparian vegetated buffer strips, vegetated filter strips,
protective zones, biogeochemical barriers, shelter beds, and hyperrheic zones. The hyporheic
zone is a region beneath and alongside a stream bed, where there is mixing of shallow
groundwater and surface water.
The paper intends to draw the attention to a sort of wide-scale urban environmental
restoration programme for the urban water quality and urban catchments, and considers ofparamount interest to stress the need of introducing the concepts of water sensitive urban
design in Europe especially regarding urban lakes as constant safeguard measure; moreover it
draws the attention to the need of realizing WSUD projects and to boost the WSUD
methodologies and research, that unites a wide range of professionals and forms a new
multidisciplinary sphere of action to protect urban lakes and internal waterways, thus pushing
to the introduction of a new set of infrastructures and products to realize WSUD also in ourlatitudes with the winter climate constraints and using local species.
This presentation objective is to give a contribution to foster the stakeholders to harmonize
urban planning with the related hydraulic structures and agricultural best practices to makepossible a new urban runoff re-use policy. Moreover there is the need on one side to consider

260

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

the urban catchment as a new source of water for urban uses and from the other side it isnecessary to envisage a new set of hydraulic infrastructures construction around the urban
lakes meant to intersect polluted runoff from the catchment to safeguard lake waters quality.
The paper provides considerations on stormwater management with an added insight into
incorporating WSUD into a highly functional and well integrated public open space design.
Urban sprawl and WSUD are linked together because from the spontaneous growth of thetowns near lakes and internal waterways derives the need for a urban design sensitive towards
the preservation of the water resources.
Another issue included in WSUD are the social, environmental and economic values that areassociated with urban lakes. Urban lakes interact with the surrounding environment, and thereis need to identifying and prioritizing lake management issues and values over sectarian
interests. Strategies Guidelines to help determine appropriate management and rectification
responses are needed. A fine combination of both the WSUD and traditional conveyance withconsiderations of storm water management, are necessary for a well integrated use of public
open spaces. To this aim we have set up the WSUD Association Italy Onlus, with the mission ofserving the community of those involved in the WSUD, promoting the development of theculture of creating communities committed at various levels to the sensitive use of water
resources; and with the purpose of international leadership in WSUD throughout all its
activities.
Case Studies
The selected case studies refer to two on going activities in the Lazio Region, following two cofinanced projects: a Filas Co-research and a Life Project.
A first example is the proposed treatment of the superficial water runoff into the lake of Vico;a study proposed as mitigation measure within the co-research project between Alpha Consult
and five Research Institutes: DIAP Department, University of Rome “Sapienza”, DAFNE
Department, University of Viterbo, the Italian Geographical Society, the National Research Unit
for Climatology and Meteorology applied to agriculture and the National Research Centre for
the Study of the Relationships between Plant and Soil.

Fig. 1 Vico Lake

Lake Vico offers a very interesting example within the Latium volcanic lakes studied, because
the pollutant load to Lake Vico is much more vulnerable than those of Bracciano and Bolsena
and whatever rains in the basin goes to the lake and there is only a small outflow of very
superficial waters. In fact the specificity of the place makes the untarred rural roads becoming
rivers in case of rain, impossible for tourist purposes and dangerous to the runoff of nutrients
into the lake. The local situation often shows areas of degradation where there is need torecover the degradation by arranging open spaces and constructed wetlands. Hazelnut trees261

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

are present in the area surrounding the lake and the fertilization processes increase the lakes
water nutrients accumulating them in the deeper water layers. The runoff analysis into thelake of Vico was the first activity of the project, providing the water quality input values.
DAFNE, carried out surveys, to define the location of the places where to harvest the waterrunning along the slope and into the lake and locate lateral reconstructed wetland on courseof affluent streams incoming paths to allow the creation of recreational tourist points withwater
qualityfunctional
control
to
fight
water
eutrophication and helping inthe soil erosion control.
The project aims also attourism
activities
encouragement a sort of“paths of water: from Van
Wittel to the present days”.
The main project tasks areLakeenvironmental
regeneration by means of adrainage collection trunk line
going around the shore, areasof phytodepuration spots
organized as tourist viewFig. 2. Drainage collection trunk line around the lake and areas wherepoints
and
park
areas
phytodepuration spots can be locatedconnected to Rio Vicano paths,
emissary of Vico Lake; more information available at www.alphaconsult.it/pst.
A WSUD for Mastro Pietro ParkThe second case of studies refers to Mastro Pietro channel in the Pontina Plan with theimplementation of an experimental system for phytoremediation in the municipality of Latina
in the Marina area. The WSUD project envisaged a linear park in the area with the realizationof an experimental plant of over 4300 square meters of phytodepuration, consisting of several
basins for water purification. The concept idea is to exploit the different elevation of the todrainage channels and outflow part of the waters from Mastro Pietro channel and after thephytodepuration process the purified waters are entered in the Colmata channel. The
preliminary design and survey started in 2010-2011, with Alpha Consult srl collaboration withProfessor Ezio Ranieri, Bari University, under Life Rewetland Project involving both the local
Government and the Province of Latina. Works are now almost completed. The project is an
example of a widespread introduction of constructed wetlands for a wastewater treatment ofAgro Pontino internal waterways/channels using WSUD principles.
References
Odum, H.T.1982. “Role of wetland ecosystems in the landscape of Florida”- International Scientific
Workshop on Freshwater Ecosystem Dynamics in Wetlands and Shallow Water Bodies”,

262

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Proceedings, sponsored by the Scientific Committee on Problems of the Environment, of the UNEP,
Moscow, USSR, Vol.2,pp.33-72;
Di Giacomo, F.P.1992: "Nigerian Water Management Applications a Success", vol.5,No.3, april1992:
GISWORLD, Geographic Information System Publication;
Vought, L.B.M. Hahl, J. Pedersen, C.L. & Lacoursiere, J.O.1994. Nutrient retention in riparian ecotones,
Ambio, 23(5):pag342-348.
Di Giacomo, F.P.1999: “Gis technology and bio-monitoring for water quality control of coastal areas:
challenges for coastal and port engineer towards 2000”: Coast and Ports ’99: The 14th Australsian
Coastal/Ocean Engineering Conference, 7thAustralasian Port and Harbour Conferences Perth.
W.A.AUSTRALIA, April1999 - Conference Proceedings vol.2pag.181.
Di Giacomo F.P. et alia 1999: "Watershed Mapping, Compartment of the Hydrographic andMareographyc Office of Rome ", maps, sub-basins coding and Database definition”, PresidenzaConsiglio Ministri, Dip. Servizi Tecnici Nazionali,-Servizio Idrografico e Mareografico, Istituto
Poligrafico Zecca dello Stato, Gen.1999.
Di Giacomo, FP, Crocco M, 2006: - “Sprawl development monitoring and his recovery with the help of
GIS tools: density and dispersion settlement analysis in urban planning”, Pierenzo Piazzo -Kappa
Edizioni ISBN 88-7890-690-5; Pagg 195-206 – gen.2006.
Di Giacomo, F.P., et alia 2009: A GIS for coastal zones integrated management - 6° Europen Congress forregional development-and cartography and GIS - EUREGEO-Munich, Germany 9th-12th may 2009 –proceedingsVol.II Section V.-Coastal Management System - pag.11-13.

263

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Volcanic lake basins integrated framework for landscape functionality
assessment
T. V. Di Giacomo 1
1

Ekotec s.r.l.

Keywords: lake basins, landscape functionality assessment, GIS technology, water
management tools
Introduction
A co-research project for the Lazio Region is undergoing, financed by European Community
through Filas S.P.A., with the coordination of Alpha Consult in cooperation with five research
institute namely: Sapienza University of Rome DIAP Department, University of Tuscia - DAFNE
Department, Italian Geographical Society, CRA-CMA National Research Unit for Climatology
and Meteorology applied to agriculture and CRA-RPS National Research Centre for the Study of
the Relationships between Plant and Soil.
The project analyses the environmental systems linked to the five volcanic lakes of the Lazio
Region that represent sensitive case studies to anthropic transformations. The paper will
explain the type of data needed to run the GLEAMS Model, Groundwater Leaching Effects ofAgricultural Management Systems, and how they were structured on the GIS and thereafter inthe simulation Portal with the presentation of the main used themes and the new developed
tools.
Materials and methods
The project takes into account the methodology to evaluate the functionality of lakes’
landscape in ecological terms and socio-economical uses.
The ecological terms concern in verifying nutrient cycling, water purification gained bychanging land use, biodiversity instead socio-economical uses refer to recreational andaesthetic features of the landscape to encourage local economic for instance horse trails,
fishing and agricultural production.
The aim of the project is to set up an integrated framework for landscape functionality
assessment in land use planning for the management of urban and agricultural planning in the
Lazio Region volcanic lakes hydrological basins and realize a web service based to allow theplanner to use environmental modeling to study the impacts of land uses on the project area.
In particular, the system analyzes and simulates the impact of diffuse sources of pollution(mainly nitrogen and phosphorus) on surface water bodies of the Lazio Region, in particular on
the crater lakes of Bolsena, Vico, Bracciano, Albano and Nemi.
One central aspect of the project is to create a web portal to communicate the results of theresearches. The portal collates the works carried out by Alpha Consult to set up the Web GIS
for the publishing of data produced by the Research Institutes for the project PST-CSA
territorial strategic planning for proper environmental sustainability.

264Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Results
The GIS and WEB GIS tools implemented makes it possible for local technician to provide
assistance to politicians to understand what are the priority choices to be made and to provide
an aid to negotiation with local stakeholders (farmers, tourist offices, active citizens groups
and associations).
The new features developed specifically for the portal allow to perform simulations on the
network. These simulations are designed to aid the planner to create different planningscenarios and to show the changes that planning involves in the water quality of the lakes.
The functions allow to make on-line, on the network, activities that a GIS system allows locallyon personal computers and benchmarks can be continuously updated in real time. In this way
it is allowed to share simulations between multiple stake holders and it is possible to see what
effect the choices made could create.
The display update is automatic and allows to extract different data scenarios, which areessential for the planner. According to Professor Bernardo Secchi: "The definition of scenarios
in recent years seems to have become an essential component of the decisions on thetransformation processes of the city and the territory. The fast change and the multiplicity ofactors involved need to project the hypothesis of the project within the future to assess thelikely impacts, reliability, sharing" (Secchi, 2000).
The proposed methodology and the online geographic information system (GIS &WEBGIS) willallow all governments of the region to carry out simulations of a change of scenario forchanges in land use and its impact on the state of water resources. Such a cognitive tool tosupport the decision-maker might affect in a decisive way in the early stages decision withrespect to spatial planning, where now the parameters to keep in mind and the data to take
into account apply to a plurality of issues to be addressed simultaneously that are outside therange of a single expert.
Discussion
The first step in building a web environment for communicating research results has beencollecting PST Project data highlights that were organized in GIS and poured in the Portal.
After collecting suitable data worthy of mention is the effort of having overlaid in the same
projection, maps derived from different sources with the difficulties of changing map
projection to the data sets that have been placed together in a continuum space, which
provides the user with a territorial container that specializes at every scale by showing thedata to the most appropriate scale and with the necessary details to the actual scale ofconsultation. Display design is complemented by the graphic design that automatically allows
the user to turn on or turn off data more suitable to be displayed to the particular scale.
A special attention has been dedicated to transpose the vector data of the different theme inpolygonal topologies ready to be not only overlapped but merged together to form a single
information layer (the so-called overlay) on which to apply the modeling (Figure 1). The
overlay have merged together layers of: Rain data, Watershed map, Land use map and Slopes
map.

265

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Fig. 1. The result of the overlay between soil use, slope, basin, rain data

In this way one polygon has only one value in each of the different theme. The polygon
obtained by the intersection of the basic themes is so connected to a single record of thedatabase storing the result of the model.
Extending GIS technology on the internet is a powerful tool for the dissemination of data andfor the sharing of related information available to multiple users simultaneously. In therealization of the project on this platform have been developed accessory functions in order toensure that in addition to classic queries connected to the polygons on the GIS (to select, viewand edit values) the user could also operate to repeat the simulations made by the GLEAMS
model highlighting the results on the cartography.
To make interactive simulations the selections made on the online mapping needed to be
managed by a number of suitable features that produced the end result. The result is obtained
as a given polygon, and as an aggregate of all the polygons in the river basin whereas taken
together, provide the environmental quality of the lake.
The main difficulty has been to ensure that the user could perform a interactively simulation
changing online the land use value to view the results in the lakes health layers with theupdated related values.

266Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Fig. 2. The GIS Portal, provided with functions that allow to visualize the results on the lake water nutrient content
simulating changes in the land use

The user may decide to change directly on the fly the land use type of one/more polygons, by
acting on the overlay theme value. The system/geodatabase identifies the selected polygons
and change the value of contributions of environmental modeling parameters such as
phosphorus or nitrogen.
These simulations are driven and based on predefined scenarios stored in the database, thatcan be improved, and allow to change the value of a theme and see what happens in the othertopic: in this way changing the land use will produce the result of getting the result forpollution in the lake. That is not only to enable queries to the database but to be interactive inthe use of GLEAMS model data, all without leaving the Web GIS cartographic consultation.
Thus, the portal gives access to structured data that have been placed on the Web Server andthe interaction on the Web GIS determines the possibility of multiple users on a network towork on a common territorial board and simulate scenarios placed at the disposal of all.
The University of Tuscia work produced GLEAMS model processing data that have been
conferred to the on-line DBMS. In order to accommodate the modeling data it was necessary
to perform GIS basic themes intersection (topological overlay) and then producing output
tables in the geodatabase describing overall polygons overlay data. The polygons of theoverlay have been connected to data from the GLEAMS model processed in the SQL databasemerging geographic information and model results, available for the online mapping
simulation.
References
Caiaffa E. “Geographic Information Systems”, Enea Ente per le Nuove tecnologie l’Energia e l’Ambiente,
ISBN 88-8286-140-6, 2006.
Secchi B. “Prima lezione di urbanistica”, Editore: Laterza, ISBN: 8842060607, May 2000.
Wong T.H.F., Allen R., Brown R.R., Deletić A., Gangadharan L., Gernjak W., Jakob C., Johnstone P., ReederM., Tapper N., Vietz, G. and Walsh C.J. “blueprint2013 – Stormwater Management in a Water
Sensitive City”. Melbourne, Australia: Cooperative Research Centre for Water Sensitive Cities, ISBN
978--‐1--‐921912--‐02--‐3, July 2013.

267

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Urban lake management strategy: effect of distinct types of lake surroundings
and shoreline landscape development on water quality of urban lakes in
Megacity Jakarta
C. Henny1 & A.A. Meutia2
1

Research Center for Limnology-Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), Cibinong 16911,
Indonesia
2
Research Institute for Humanity and Nature (RIHN), Kyoto 603-8047, Japan
Keywords: urban lakes, water quality, management strategy, megacity
Introduction
Rapid urbanization has greatly impacted on the degradation of water resources. Urban lakes inmegacity Jakarta have suffered from water pollution due to point and non-point sources
originated from surface run off and discharge of untreated domestic and industrial waste
waters. One of the most serious problems of water pollution is eutrophication due to nutrient
overloading especially phosphorus where the lakes experience the excessive algal blooming
including nuisance toxic cyanobacteria of microcystis and even invasive floating andsubmerged aquatic macrophytes (Birch and McCaskie, 1999; Priadie, 2011, Prihantini et al
2008; Sulawesty et al, 2012). Urban lakes tend to become more eutrophic and greener than
non-urban lakes (Schueler and Simpson, 2001; Naselli-Flores, 2008). The eutrophication
problem has caused lake reducing its carrying capacity and losing its ecosystem service such as
water supply, recreation, fishing or some other direct human use. This paper is aimed to
examine the water quality especially association with eutrophication problem in several urban
lakes in megacity Jakarta according to the types of lake surroundings and shoreline
development and to propose possible management strategy.
Materials and methods
This study examines what important indicators related to distinct types of lake surroundings
and shoreline landscape development affect an urban lake water quality in relation to nutrientand organic pollution. The urban lakes examined are in the area of megacity Jakarta which isbasically the capital city of Jakarta and surrounding regions (Fig. 1). The types of lake
surroundings identified according to the criteria from the previous study (Henny and Meutia,
2014). We examined the water quality of 9 urban lakes in megacity Jakarta with distinct typesof lake surroundings based on the types of inhabitants around the lake’s buffer zone area suchas urban village (dense irregular housing), rural village (agricultural area and few residential
housing); rural-urban village (mixed rural and urban village); sub-urban village (mixed planned
residential and irregular housing with less green area) and urban-industrial area (mixed urban
village and industrial area). Shoreline landscape development in lakes includes natural
shoreline (with more green open space), natural-artificial shoreline (lack of green open spacewith concrete jogging tract) and artificial shoreline (no or less vegetated cover, concrete
retaining wall and jogging track). Physical and chemical parameters measurements included268

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

temperature, pH, turbidity, conductivity, salinity, Dissolved Oxygen (DO), total dissolved solids(TDS) and secchi depth (SD). The measurements and the water sampling were done in Marchand May 2014. The measurements were conducted by using the Water Quality Checker (WQC,
Horiba U). Lake water was sampled at several sites of lakes for lab measurements such as
Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) as organic material parameter, nutrient (total nitrogen (TN)and phosphorus (TP)) and chlorophyll-a concentrations. The analyses of COD, TN and TP weredone by using HACH method procedure (HACH, 2005). Chlorophyll-a was measured by using aspectrophotometer (HITACHI) according to the standard method procedure (APHA, 2005).
Trophic state index (TSI) also was calculated to classify the trophic status of the lakes by using
equation from Carlson and Simpson (1996).
Results
Lakes in rural village with natural shoreline and various types of vegetation in lake’s bufferzone are still well maintained indicated by the presence of submerged aquatic and emergent
plants in lake littoral area. Spotted several types of dragonflies and butterflies suggest that
ecologically the lake’s condition is well preserved. The lakes contain less nutrient (as TN, TP),chlorophyll-a, organic matter as COD concentrations and less turbid water indicated by higher
water transparancy mesurements of secchi depth (Table 1). On the other hand, lakes in suburban, industrial and urban village with more artificial shoreline development have quite highconcentrations of nutrient, chlorophyll-a and organic matter in its water (Table 1). Based on
trophic state index (TSI) calculation by Carlson and Simpson (1996) on the concentrations ofchlorophyll-a, TP, TN and secchi depth, the lakes were classified from mesotrophic to eutrophic(Fig. 2). The results indicate that the value of TN:TP ratio of 20 is the borderline condition formeso and eutrophic conditions (Fig. 2). Higher values of TSI (P) indicated that phosphorus wasa major factor causing the eutrophiction by algal bloom in the studied urban lakes. Two lakes(Gintung and Rawa Besar) in urban village area were considered hypereutrophic withindication of blooming of toxic cynobacteria of microcystis.
Discussion
Eutrophication problem have been one of challenging problems in most of urban lake inmegacity Jakarta. High nutrient pollution from N and P loadings have been causing severe
eutophication problem in most of lakes especially shallow urban lakes which indicated by darkgreen water color as a sign of green algae blooms and sometimes with excessive macrophyte
coverage on the water surface. Several lakes with surroundings type of urban village andagricultural area in megacity Jakarta has been reported to have problem with cyanobacteria
contamination and invasive floating macrophyte coverage from the type of Eichornia sp.
(Priadie, 2011; Prihantini et al, 2008; Kristiana, 2003; Sulawesty et al, 2012). However, thelakes in rural area with more natural shoreline development show better water quality.
Previous study on several shallow lakes in rural area and natural shorelines also indicateslower TN, TP and chlorophyll-a concentrations, while the lakes in agricultural area containhigher TN, TP and chlorophyll-a concentrations (Sulastri, et al., 2008). The lakes which its
littoral area covered with submerged and emergent aquatic plants have better water quality
with less turbid water, low nutrient, chlorophyll-a and organic mater concentrations than the269Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

lakes that are no indication of submerged and emergent aquatic plants presence in its liitoral
area. The presence both controlled submerged and emergent aquatic plants in lake’s littoral
area apparently can improve lake’s water quality. The results suggest that phosphorus isapparently a major factor causing the eutrophiction by algal bloom in the studied urban lakes
and therefore the reduction of nutrient especially phosphorus loadings should be one ofmanagement strategies to maintain better lake water quality. In addition, the submerged andemergent aquatic plants should be restored and controlled in littoral area to improve
ecological condiditons of the lakes.

Lake
Tonjong
Dora
Cibuntu
Kemuning
CikaretBabakan
Gintung
Rawa Besar
Rawa Kalong

Surroundings Type
Rural Village
Agricultural Area
Rural-Urban Village
Rural Village
Rural Village
Sub-Urban Village
Industrial-Urban Village
Sub-Urban Village
Urban Village

Shoreline
Development
Natural-Artificial
Natural-Artificial
Natural-Artificial
NaturalNaturalArtificial
Natural-Artificial
Natural- Artificial
Artificial

TN
mg/L
1.086 - 2.684
0.610
0.763
1.232
1.757 - 3.029
1.161 - 3.100
1.778 - 3.384
2.065 - 2.069
1.538

TP
mg/L
0.014 - 0.309
0.014
0.026
0.026
0.037 - 0.074
0.031 - 0.315
0.117 - 0.331
0.187 - 0.318
0.379

Klorofil-a
mg/m3
0.719
2.648
5.472
1.477
1.867
5.585
46.65043.73435.774

COD
mg/L
82.26
43.54835.48480.64598.387172.581141.935
169.355
72.581

Table 1. Nutrient, chlorophyll-a and COD concentrations in urban lakes

Fig. 1. Location of megacity Jakarta (a: Indonesian map by Google Map, 2103 and b: theMegacity Jakarta by Mimura (RIHN Researcher, 2013)

Fig. 2. Trends of TSI in association with TN:TP ratio and chlorophyll-a concentration

270

regions composed of

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Distinct lake surroundings and shoreline development are indeed to have an impact on urban
lake water quality especially associated with the eutrophication problem. Reducing thephosphorus loadings to the lakes by managing nutrient input to the lake, setting the lakeshoreline with more natural and more green open space, restoring the submerged macrophyte
and maintaining emergent plant in the lake littoral area can be good management strategy to
reduce the eutrophication problem in urban lakes in megacity Jakarta and to preserve a longterm stability for good lake water quality.
Acknowledgements
The research is funded by Toyota Foundation, Japan. The author thanks Y. Mimura to haveprovided with the map of megacity Jakarta. Special thanks to Ira Akhdiana S.Si., to have helpedwith lake sampling.
References
APHA. 2005. Standard methods for the examination of water and wastewater. Washington DC.
Birch, S. and J. McCaskie. 1999. Shallow urban lakes: a challenge for lake management. Hydrobiologia
395/396: 365-377.
Carlson, R.E. and J. Simpson. 1996. A coordinator’s guide to volunteer lake monitoring methods. North
American Lake Management Society. 96 pp.
Hach. 2005. Water Analysis Handbook. 3rd edition. HACH Company. Colorado, USA.
Henny, C. and A. A. Meutia. 2014. Urban lakes in megacity Jakarta: Risk and management for futuresustainability. Procedia Environmental Sciences 20: 737 – 746.
Naselli-Flores, L. 2008. Urban lakes: Ecosystem at risk, worthy of the best care. In: SENGUPTA, M. and
DELWANI, R. editors. Proceedings of Taal 2007: The 12th World Lake Conference. 1333-1337.
Priadie, B. 2011. Urban lake revitalization: Evaluation of Lake Cangkring quality in Tangerang city. Jurnal
Sumberdaya Air. 7(1): 1-104.
Prihantini, N., Betawati, W. Wardhana, Hendriyanto, D. Widtawan, Y. Ariyani and R. Rianto. 2008.
Biodiversity of cyanobacteria at several lakes in Jakarta, Depok and Bogor. MAKARA SAINS. 2(1):44-54.
Schueler, T. and J. Simpson. 2001. Introduction: Why urban lakes are different. Urban LakeManagement. Watershed Protection Techniques. 3(4): 747-750.
Sulastri, E. Harsono, T. Suryono, and I. Ridwansyah. 2008. Relationship of land use, water qulity andphytoplankton community of some small lakes in West java. Oceanology and limnology inIndonesia.34 : 307 – 332.
Sulawesty, F., A. Satya and T. Chrismada. 2012. The changes of phytoplankton community structure of
Lake Rawa Kalong, a shallow polluted tropical lake in West Java. International Symposium on
Southeast Asia Water Environment.10: 335-341.

271

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Coliform and E. coli levels at several urban lakes in Jakarta Megacity
A.A. Meutia1, C. Henny2 & Y. Uchiyama1
1

Research Institute for Humanity and Nature (RIHN), Kyoto 603-8047, Japan
Research Center for Limnology-Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), Cibinong 16911,
Indonesia
ami.meutia@gmail.com
2

Keywords: Urban lake, Jakarta, megacity, total coliform, E. coli
Introduction
Urban lakes, natural or man-made lakes (situ/waduk in Indonesian) in Jakarta Megacity(Jabodetabek) have played an important role for irrigation, flood control and groundwater
storage for a long time. Many of man-made lakes were believed to be built during Dutchcolonial. For decades, these urban lakes suffered from unplanned rapid development,
urbanization and illegal occupancy. Hence, the actual function of the urban lakes has not been
activated in the optimum condition. Moreover, because of the government’s neglect and the
low awareness of public, almost all of urban lakes have been polluted and filled with untreatedsewage and solid waste. As a result, the urban lakes became breeding grounds of pathogenic
bacteria, especially the one that causes waterborne gastroenteritis.
Waterborne diseases can occur when a human-being ingest or gets in touch with water that
contains pathogenic organisms. Pathogens can enter into water supplies from human andanimal wastes. Gastroenteritis caused by waterborne disease is very common in Indonesia due
to ineffective public health controls and poor hygiene standards. About 1.7 to 5 billion cases ofdiarrhea occur every year (WHO, 2013). The morbidity and mortality of the disease are muchhigher among childeren and older people. Situation is deteriorated when the amount ofbacteria is diffused by the flood that hits megacity Jakarta every year and elevates the risk ofwaterborne gastroenteritis.
Flood disaster is the most common (40%) natural disasters worldwide and is strongly related tothe change of weather and climate (Howard et. al., 1996). Megacity Jakarta’s predictable, buthazardous annual floods inundate the cities every rainy season from December to February,
engulfing tens of kilometers of residential city areas with up to four meters of sewage-infused
floodwater for days (Sakethi, 2010). Post-flood disease is one of the most serious problems
among the increasing incidences which come after flooding. Many diseases out-break because
water sources are contaminated with fecal material and toxic chemicals. The flood water
mixed with pathogenic bacteria in urban lake can spur diseases, including diarrhea such as thecase in 2007. Moreover, people around the lake are fond of fishing and eat fish from theseurban lakes.
These facts show the importance to study about environmental health of urban lake relating to
the floods and urban ecosystem in Jakarta megacity by using indicator of total coliform andE.coli bacteria.

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Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Materials and methods
The examined urban lakes were within 8 types of the urban ecosystems as described by Hennyand Meutia (2014). These types were developed from 4 type urban ecosystem described by
Hayashi (2013). We use data taken by BPLHD DKI Jakarta for coliform bacteria and E. coli forurban lake in DKI Jakarta from 2009 to 2011. The method was Indonesian National Standard(SNI), SNI 06-4158-1996 for coliform count and SNI 19-3957-1995 for E. coli count. As water
qualities data from Jakarta Megacity’s urban lakes were quite rare, for other urban lakes
surrounding DKI Jakarta, we measured the total coliform and E. coli using Standard Methods.
The sample was duplicated and taken from inlet, middle and outlet of the urban lakes during
the rainy and dry season. Then, the data was plotted to the Map by using GIS.
Results
To compare with the 8 types of urban ecosystem in DKI Jakarta, the urban lakes located in 6
types of urban ecosystem have extremely high level of total coliform and E. coli. Meanwhile,the urban lakes which located in Planned Residential Area and Rural-Urban (Ruban) Village
Area such as Rawa Dongkal, Babakan, Sunter Hulu and Lembang have low level. In the case of
Lembang lakes, in 2009 total coliform and E. coli level did not exceed the maximum standard,
although in 2010 and 2011 the total coliform level increased to be higher than the standard. A
similar condition appear in Elok which is located in a High-Raised Residential Area. High level of
total coliform also was measured at urban lakes surrounding DKI Jakarta region. However, E.
coli concentration is still in the permitted level. Only E. coli in Rawa Kalong which is located inIndustrial Area exceeded Indonesia Water Quality Standard, but not exceed standard ofGovernor Regulation.
Discussion
In this study, we use two kinds of Indonesian water quality standard as describe in
Government Regulation PP No. 82 (2001). This is general water quality standard for water ofagriculture or aquaculture use. This water quality standard recommended maximum total
coliform bacteria 10000 CFU/100 mL and E. coli 2000 CFU/100mL. For urban lake in DKI Jakarta,
we use local government regulation that is DKI Jakarta Governor Regulation number 582(1995) for river water that allowed total coliform to maximum of 20000 CFU/100 mL and E. coli
4000 CFU/100mL.
Megacity Jakarta (Jabodetabek) consisted of DKI Jakarta as capital of Indonesia and othersurrounding 7 local governments that are Bogor Regency, Bogor City, Depok City, Tenggerang
Regency, Tanggerang City, Bekasi Regency and Bekasi City. DKI Jakarta has own regulation, butthese local governments have no regulation. Our research used these regulations.
Figure 1 (top) shows that total coliform bacteria level of several urban lakes in DKI Jakarta
increased every year. In 2009, only 7 urban lakes have high concentration of total coliform
exceeded water quality standard. In 2010, 10 urban lakes had higher level concentration of
total coliform. Moreover, in 2011 the condition was worsened as 12 urban lakes had total
coliform above the standard.

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Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Coliforms are bacteria associated with environmental sources such as soil or fecal material.
Total coliform found in the water of urban lake indicates that disease caused by microorganism

Fig. 1. Total Coliform (top) and E. coli (bottom) levels in urban lakes DKI Jakarta in year 2009 (left), 2010 (middle)
and 2011 (right). For total coliform count, blue circle shows less than 10000 CFU/100mL, green triangle isbetween 10000 to 20000 CFU/100mL, red plus is over 20000 CFU/100mL. For E. coli count, blue circle shows lessthan 2000 CFU/100mL, green triangle is between 2000 to 4000 CFU/100mL, red plus is over 4000 CFU/100mL.

may be present. Moreover, in 2010 and 2011 higher concentration of total coliform indicatedstrongly that other more harmful bacteria might be present. When levels are higher, there may
be an elevated risk of waterborne gastroenteritis.
For E. coli, in 2009 and 2010, 9 urban lakes had high level above the standard, although thelevel varied. For instance, E. coli level at Kalibata lake increased slightly, but at Taman Ria
Senayan lake it decreased to the level below water
quality standard. However, in 2011, E. coli level
increased in many urban lakes, as 12 urban lakes had E.
coli level above the standard (Figure 1, bottom). The
existence of fecal coliform, particularly E. coli, indicatedthe existence of mammal or bird feces in the water.

Fig. 2. Coliform in urban lakes megacity
Jakarta in year 2011. Blue circle shows lessthan 10000 CFU/100mL, green triangle isbetween 10000 to 20000 CFU/100mL, redplus is over 20000 CFU/100mL.

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Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Fig. 3. E. coli levels at several urban lakes
in megacity Jakarta in year 2011. Bluecircle shows less than 2000 CFU/100mL,
green triangle is between 2000 to 4000
CFU/100mL, red plus is over 4000
CFU/100mL.

One of the reasons might be effect of climate change. Bates et al. (2008) identify that higher
water temperatures and changes in rainfall will affect water quality and exacerbate many
forms of water pollution, with negative impacts on ecosystems and human health.
Figure 2 shows total coliform bacteria of urban lakes in megacity Jakarta. It shows that highlevel of total coliform also could be found in other cities surrounding Jakarta. None of urban
lakes in these cities have total coliform level allowed below the standard. Although they havehigh level of total coliform, E. coli level of those urban lakes is below the standard (Figure 3).
Acknowledgements
This research is funded by both Research Institute of Humanity and Nature (RIHN) and Toyota
Foundation. The authors would like to thank BPLHD DKI Jakarta who had provided the urban
lakes data.
References
Bates, B.C., Kundzewicz, Z.W., Wu, S. and Palutikof, J.P. (eds), 2008. Climate Change and Water.
Technical Paper of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
Hayashi K, 2013. Characteristics of living environment of tropical Asian megacities-Case of Jakarta
metropolitan area. In Okabe A., Asian Tropical Megacities. Japan Center for Area Development
Research 581: 27-31.
Henny, C. & A. A. Meutia, 2014. Urban lakes in Megacity Jakarta: Risk and Management Plan for Future
Sustainability. Procedia Environmental Sciences 20: 737-746.
Howard MJ, Brillman JC, Burkle FM, 1996. Infectious disease emergencies in disasters. Emerg. Med. Clin.
North Am. 14: 413–428.
Sakethi, M., 2010. Why Jakarta Flooding: Flood mitigation of the capital city Province of Jakarta. PT
Mirah Sakethi.
World Health Organization (WHO), 2013. Diarrhoeal disease Fact sheet N°330.

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Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

The Lake Trasimeno: exploitation and defense of the resources of the lake.
The break of an ancient balance between 18th and 19th century
Gambini E.1 & Massarelli R.2
1
2

A.L.L.I. Project, Università degli Studi di Perugia
Indipendent researcher, formerly Università degli Studi di Perugia

Keywords: Trasimeno, lake, environment, resources, Etruscan
Introduction
Origin of the name
Since antiquity the Lake Trasimeno was the core of several productive activities, as shown by
the archaeological evidence. An interesting case is the one given by the Etruscan Tabula
Cortonensis (Agostiniani & Nicosia, 2000). The Tabula Cortonensis (Fig. 1) is a bronze tablet,
45.5 cm high and 28.5 cm large, written on both sides with a ca. 200 word long Etruscan text,
broken into eight fragments (whose only seven survived), dealing with the selling of someparcels of land from a group of people to another group of people, with a third group named
as witness. The Tabula, written approximately around the 2nd century B.C., was probably foundin 1992 near Cortona, in Tuscany, during some home-building excavations. On the back side
there is a sentence concerning something that has to be done celtinêi tisś tarsminaśś, that is,Fig. 1. The Tabula Cortonensis: a) front side; b) back side276

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

according to most scholars (e.g. Agostiniani & Nicosia, 2000: 113−114), “in the fields of theLake Trasimeno”. In fact it is very likely that the name “Trasimeno” belonged originally to theEtruscan language: this would explain some uncertainty in rendering this name in Latin
literature (Trasimenus, Trasimennus, Trasymenus, Trasumenus, Trasumennus, Tarsumennus) as
in the Greek one (Ταρσιμέννη λίμνη). Ancillotti (2008) even suggests that tarsminaś, though
Etruscan, might have belonged originally to an ancient Indo-European layer, and its meaning
be “the one which drains”, relating to the most prominent feature of the Lake Trasimeno,
namely the fact that it periodically drains out and than fills back with water. Ancillotti's
hypothesis requires further investigation concerning the laws of sound change in IndoEuropean linguistics, and the fact that such a linguistic layer is not witnessed by any text
represents unfortunately an obstacle; in fact, his hypothesis is based mainly on toponymy.
However, the idea that “Trasimeno” might have meant originally “the one which drains” is inany case a fascinating suggestion.
On the whole, the case of Tabula Cortonensis suggests that since then the shores of the Lakewere the object of productive exploitation, mainly of agricultural nature, probably pursued
with settlements not different from Roman villae.
The break of an ancient balance
In the last millennia the Lake Trasimeno went through a difficult relationship with humansettlements and productive activities. Slight movements of the level of water yield relevant
movements of the shore line, and this makes the management of this area more and moredifficult (Cattuto et al., 2011: 7–14, 17–45, 101–164).
At the beginning of 13th century the City of Perugia ruled the Lake and its surroundings. The
rights on fishing and hunting, on farming on the shore fields – the so called pedate – and on
the fields of the islands were not exercised directly, they were temporarily outsourced to
private contractors.
For a long time, first the City of Perugia, later the Papal State kept the balance between
exploitation and protection of such goods. The rules and laws of that time, on the whole, arean example of good management: with the amount of local practices, they constitute a legacyof knowledge of great interest.
The whole lake basin was under such control. Oak woods were protected. Thousands of tonsof tree branches were required to make the offshore underwater fish burrows work properly.
In the half of 15th century two thousands of permanent fishing settlements – the Tori – wereactive. In wintertime the tench (Tinca tinca), the pike (Esox lucius) and the eels (Anguillaanguilla) used to seek refuge there and were hunted with big seines. The canals that tookwater to the Lake were kept carefully through periodical maintenance. Even the lake bottom
was safeguarded, because it was where the tench used to look for warmth in wintertime.
Fishing was restricted during the breeding season and in summertime. Restriction affected also
the fishing equipment and techniques that were considered harmful. Proper rules affected
when and how to cut the marshy vegetation that surrounded the shore; what was cut waslater sold for its purposes. No grazing animal was allowed to get into the cane thicket wherefish used to breed. Fields above the pedate belonged to private owners, while the pedate, thefields along the shore, belonged to the community.

277Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Fig. 2. Project of drainage by Ing. Barilari, 1865.

278

Purple dotted line. 1918–1922. Years when approximately the edge of the floodway was reduced from m. 258.42 to m. 257.66 above sea level.

Purple line. Level of the edge of the floodway from 1882 to present.

Green dotted line. Average levels between 15 th and 19th century (m. 259.80 ca. above sea level).

Orange line (1969–2014). Annual highest and lowest levels, taken at the S. Savino hydrometer (m 257.33 above sea level).

Blue line (1921–1968). Annual highest and lowest hydrometric levels (values taken the first day of each month).

Trasimeno
Lakelowestmod.).
of theandlevelsstripe)water(large
al. 2011:in394−395
lowesthighest andto 2014.
AnnualTab. 1.
with the Pompili floodway
comparison(monthlyetaverage)levels (Cattuto
water
stripe)1882(thin fromhighestAnnualline
Pink(1882–1920).
edge level.

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

279

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

In the Statute of 1279, chapter 242, we read that, at the time when the Lake became aproperty of the City of Perugia, boundary stone pillars were planted on the line drawn by theflood of the Lake (Caprioli, 1996: I, 236–237). The City owned the whole lake and all the landthat was left after the flood. This ensured the good management and the productivity of sucha large lake through time, as it used to be since when the Roman Laws ruled. In Iavolenus, inthe Digestus (D. 50, 16, 112), we see that when the shore of a lake (the so called litus) is public
property its boundaries are set according to the maximum level of flood (Speroni, 2010: 529–
530). The Lake of Perugia in rainy times was able to store enough water to face any droughtyear without problems; water fluctuating up and down ensured a large natural shore groundwhich was renewed periodically and constituted an ideal set for fish breeding.
Around 1770 the medieval floodway (1421−22) became inadequate to ensure the productivityof shore fields and the life of towns and villages, constantly under threat of flood. Farming
productivity improvements pushed the farmers to take advantage of the shore fields and of
the water of the lake for irrigation. At the end of 18 th century and during the following century
many projects of partial or total drainage of the Lake Trasimeno were submitted; in the mostconservative ones the Lake was intended to be reduced to one or more basins for irrigation(Fig. 2). Only the steadiness of the City of Perugia and later of the Province of Umbria saved
the Lake Trasimeno from a premature death.
After the end of the Papal State, as the control on the lake lost its effectiveness, fishing during
summertime caused the reduction of the tench and above all of the roach (Rutilus rubilio).
A Consortium for Drainage was set by the local landowners. As a result, a new floodway wasbuilt (1896−98), 12 times bigger than the medieval one. Its toughtless use led the Lake
Trasimeno to serious low level crises. To gain new land the edge of the new floodway was
further reduced, thus closing the lake into a straitjacket. The environment loss was huge. In
1917 all the bigger permanent fishing settlements were abandoned.
The Consortium was held to be responsible of the serious low level crisis of the Lake in the first
fifteen years after the Second World War (Ministero LL. PP., 1958: 2−6). No fish breeding was
set in order to face the changes occurring in the fishing economy. Landholders refused toinvest their money, abandoning the Lake and dropping out the usual maintenance.
The intent of exploiting the water of the Lake for irrigating purposes survived even in the 20 th
century, causing a new low level crisis, now overcome after twenty five difficult years (Tab. 1).
The knowledge of the life cycles of the Lake that inspired the past management should berecovered and stand as a heritage. New, economically sustainable solutions need to be foundin order to avoid the use of farm slurry with water for irrigation and to ensure themaintenance of the cane thicket. The web of the canals need to be recovered and kept
efficient. Our present scientific knowledge on such an ancient lake needs to be significantly
improved, in order to offer it at its best to the following generations (Cattuto et al., 2011:235−244).
Acknowledgements
We would like to thank Barbara Angeli for her helpful comments regarding the English versionof this paper. Nonetheless, any mistake is only our fault.

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Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

References
Agostiniani, L. & F. Nicosia, 2000. Tabula Cortonensis. L’«Erma» di Bretschneider, Roma.
Ancillotti, A., 2008. Il nome del lago Trasimeno. In Facchetti G. M. (ed), Mlaχ mlakas. Per Luciano
Agostiniani. Arcipelago Edizioni, Milano: 13−26.
Caprioli, S., 1996. Statuto del Comune di Perugia del 1279. Deputazione di Storia Patria per l’Umbria,
Fonti per la Storia dell’Umbria 22. Vol. I: Testo edito by S. Caprioli; Vol. II: Descrizioni e indici by A.
Bartoli Langeli, Perugia.
Cattuto, C., E. Gambini & C. Marinelli, 2011. Il Trasimeno. La complessa gestione di un lago laminare(with contributions by A. Batinti & O. Fillanti; images by G. & M. Agabitini, E. Pasquali & D.
Spedaliere). EFFE Fabrizio Fabbri Editore, Perugia.
Ministero LL. PP., 1958. Commissione per lo studio idrogeologico del Lago Trasimeno. Relazione
preliminare. Ministero dei Lavori Pubblici, Roma.
Speroni, M., 2010. «Lacus est quod perpetuam habet aquam»: i laghi dell’Insubria dall’età romana alla
fine del Medioevo. La disciplina giuridica. Aevum. Rassegna di scienze storiche, linguistiche efilologiche 84: 529−550.

281

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT: PARTICIPATION AND CHALLENGES

282

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Current IWRM Practices in Malawi and their Implications on Lake BasinManagement
Chidammodzi1, C.L., V.S. Muhandiki2 & N. Dumba1
1
2

Graduate School of Environmental Studies, Nagoya University, JapanThe Program for Leading Graduate Schools, Nagoya University, Japan

Keywords: Integrated Lake Basin Management (ILBM), Integrated Water Resources
Management (IWRM), water resources management assessment
Introduction
Malawi is endowed with abundant water resources which include Lake Malawi, a Great African
Lake hosting the greatest freshwater fish biodiversity in the world (Bootsma & Hecky 1999).
The country has a total renewable water resource per person of less than 1,400 m 3/year,
making it a water stressed country (USAID, 2009). The National Water Policy (2005) advocatesIntegrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) as the basis for sustainable water
development and all water resources management activities are required to apply IWRM
principles. An Integrated Water Resources Management/Water Efficiency (IWRM/WE) Plan
was developed in 2008 to guide the country in addressing its key water related challenges. The
IWRM/WE Plan for the 2008 - 2012 period aimed to improve the livelihoods of the people
through sustainable development, use and management of water resources. This study
assesses the effectiveness of the implementation of the IWRM/WE Plan so far, highlights
achievements made and challenges encountered, and draws insights on how to incorporate
Integrated Lake Basin Management (ILBM) within the IWRM framework to ensure sustainable
management of lakes in the Sub-Sahara African context. Considering that the IWRM concept
seeks to attain a balance between water for livelihoods and water for nature, our objective is
to assess whether or not the projects: (1) took into account all users; (2) utilized decentralized
structures; (3) recognized women’s role and improved their access to water; (4) empoweredpoor people, helped reduce poverty, improved livelihoods and promoted economic growth;and (5) collectively worked towards maintaining the resource base.
Methods
We reviewed a wide range of documents, published and unpublished. We also conducted key
informant interviews in Malawi in April and May 2014, at the Departments of Water
Resources, Environmental Affairs, Irrigation, Land Resources Conservation and Development(agriculture), Fisheries, Forestry and a few others. In the same period, we conducted a survey
in the Lake Malawi Basin, targeting rural communities.
Results
Malawi is implementing IWRM through projects aimed at addressing the specific issues
communities are facing. Our results are based on the experiences from these projects andgeneral water resources management in the country. The areas assessed are explained below.

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Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Is IWRM taking into account all users?
The priority has been on improving access to water in the rural areas. Major water users in thiscontext are households, farmers (both small- and larg-sacle), fisherfolk and natural ecosystems,
among others. The projects in the water sector are integrating these users in both the planningand implementation stages in an attempt to realize win-win situations wherever possible.
Challenges include policy conflict among sectors in some cases and insufficient capacity at the
local government level.
Is IWRM utilizing decentralized structures?
Generally, implementation is following the Traditional Authority Structures at the local
government level (district councils). Where appropriate, Water User Associations (WUAs) havebeen established. The WUAs comprise of local users and they are given the responsibility to
manage the water resources. The National Water Act (2013) requires the establishment of
Catchment Management Committees (CMCs) in all river basins to be responsible forcatchment management and they are required to advise the Water Resources Authority on
water resources conservation, among others. These have not yet been established. However,there currently is a project in the largest river basin (Shire River) underwhich CMCs are in theprocess of being established.
Is IWRM recognizing women’s role and improving their access to water?
Generally, access to clean water in Malawi is good. The country’s MDGs target for 2015 is 74%
and the Government of Malawi reported to have reached 81% access in 2010. Through oursurvey, we checked whether or not this achievement is reflected in the Lake Malawi Basin, thelargest water catchment in the country consisting of several important river basins. Out of 510
responses, 85% had access to clean water, quite reflecting what the country had reported
earlier.
Is IWRM empowering poor people, helping reduce poverty, improving livelihoods andpromoting economic growth?
Most of the recent projects in the water sector have a livelihoods component and are designed
to address a variety of needs e.g. linking dam development projects to irrigation schemes, fish
ponds etc. Meeting multiple domestic and productive water needs is given the highest priority
in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) IWRM demonstration projects in an
approach termed “Local-Level IWRM”. In this approach, poor people’s multiple water needs
and their priorities are the starting point of the planning and design of new infrastructure or
rehabilitation and sustainable management of institutions (Koppen et al., 2009). This has
proven to be a better approach from the experiences of the demonstration projects in which
Malawi also participated.
Is IWRM collectively working towards maintaining the resource base?
Maintaining the resource base entails managing the catchments in a way that ensuressustainability of all dependent ecosystems. This includes protecting catchments from284

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

degradation, rehabilitating degraded catchments, maintaining natural habitats etc. To someextent, some of these activities are integrated within the activities of the local management
committees e.g. irrigation farmers implementing river bank protection activities, communities
maintaining local forests etc. However, a lot more needs to be done as much of the catchment
management is still fragmented, with the forestry sector playing a major role. The CMCs would
be better placed in managing catchments in a way that ensures sustainability of the resourcebase. Current challenges include hiccups in decentralizing catchment management. IWRM iscurrently following the decentralization structures where the local government plays a central
role. Many river catchments however cut across two or more districts. This calls for adecentralized catchment management system that is able to cut across district jurisdictions
wherever necessary.
Discussion
Malawi’s water resources management has placed much attention on water resources
development than on conservation. The focus is on improving access to water resources
through provision of new infrastructure or rehabilitation of existing ones. This is justified
because from the perspective of communities “improved water management” essentiallymeans “improved access to water” (Koppen et al., 2009). Mulwafu & Msosa (2005) argue thataccess to water resources is an important factor to poverty alleviation because inter alia, poor
people depend on water resources as a direct input for production and as a basis for healthand welfare. Koppen et al., 2009 also observed that once water has been made accessible tocommunities, they tend to utilize it in their own innovative ways to improve their wellbeing
e.g. engaging in small enterprises such as mat and basket weaving, brick making etc. However,
it is important for the country to also place considerable attention on catchment conservationand protection to ensure that the resource base on which these poverty alleviation activities
depend is sustained.
To ensure continued integration especially with respect to the various service providers underthe IWRM umbrella, sufficient and stable resources need to be available to cover expenses
related with the involvement all affected stakeholders e.g. coordination. Currently, many
integration efforts rely on funds from projects and implementation is difficult where there are
no projects due to resource constraints. Local governments play a central role in pursuing thisintegration and therefore, adequate resources should be provided for their coordination andsupervision role.
Many of the problems that lakes are facing originate from their catchments. For example, themajor problems Lake Malawi is facing are a result of deforestation, uncontrolled bush fires,
poor land husbandry, pollution from agricultural activities, heavy extraction of water for
irrigation from some rivers, etc. originating from the catchment. The lake catchment comprisesof several river catchments making IWRM very relevant to ILBM since the approach provides
the starting point. If the river catchments are sustainably managed, incorporating the uniquecharacteristics of lakes of integrating nature, long retention time and complex response
dynamics, sustainable lake basin management will follow. Therefore, establishment of CMCs
should be given priority as their envisioned role is essential in realizing sustainable
management of water resources.

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Acknowledgements
We appreciate the assistance of the various institutions of the Government of Malawi inproviding information and data.
References
Bootsma, H.A. & R.E. Hecky, 1999. Lake Malawi/Nyasa – An African Great Lake and Great Resource. In
Water Quality Report, Lake Malawi / Nyasa Biodiversity Conservation Project, eds. Harvey A.
Bootsma and Robert E. Hecky, 17-28. SADC / GEF.
Government of Malawi, GoM, 2005. National Water Policy. Ministry of Water Development and
Irrigation.
Koppen, B., J. Chisaka & S.S. Shaba, 2009. Lessons Learnt from the IWRM Demonstration Projects:
Innovations in local-level Integrated Water Resource Development. SADC/IWMI.
United States Agency for International Development, USAID, 2009. Malawi Water and Sanitation Profile.
Available at:
http://www.vub.ac.be/klimostoolkit/sites/default/files/documents/malawi_water__sanitation_profile_
usaid.pdf. Accessed on October 19, 2012.
Mulwafu W.O. & H.K. Msosa, 2005. IWRM and Poverty Reduction in Malawi: A Socio-economic Analysis.
Physics and Chemistry of the Earth 30:961-967.

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Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Approaches by the Ibaraki Prefectural Government to Improve Water Quality
in Lake Kasumigaura with Forest and Lake Environment Conservation Tax
T. Kitamura 1
1

Ibaraki Prefecture, Department of Civil Affairs and the Environment, Environmental
Management Division
Keywords: Local government, Local tax, Lake Kasumigaura, Grant, Ibaraki prefectural
government
Introduction
Lake Kasumigaura (the general term for Lake Nishiura, Lake Kitaura, and Hitachitone River), thesecond largest lake in Japan, is located in the southern part of Ibaraki Prefecture in the easternpart of Japan, facing the Pacific Ocean（Fig.1). The lake is relatively shallow, with an average
depth of four meters. About one million people live in the lake basin, and lake water is used as
tap water, industrial water, and agricultural water. There is also a thriving fishing industry on
the lake. Water pollution of Lake Kasumigaura increased from the 1960s owing to economic
development and a rise in population. This has had a detrimental effect on irrigation andenvironmental
conservation.
Consequently, in 1982, an ordinance
was passed for the prevention ofeutrophication of Lake Kasumigaura,
and a master plan for the prevention ofeutrophication of lake waters was
agreed. Ibaraki Prefectural Governmentis striving to reduce the environmentalload on the lake and is implementing
measures against pollution based on
the 1987 plan for conservation of lakewater quality. However, the water
quality of Kasumigaura has not
improved since the 2000s, with achemical oxygen demand (COD) of 7–9
mg ・ L-1 (environmental standard 3
mg ・ L-1). To address this, Ibaraki
Prefectural Government introduced theforestandlakeenvironment
conservation tax in 2008 and has
Fig.1. Location of Lake Kasumigaura
promoted environmental conservationof the lake and responsible forestry management in the Kasumigaura basin. As of 2013, theenvironmental conservation tax for lakes and forests has been introduced in 33 prefectures,287

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

the first being Kochi Prefecture in 2003. About this time, I reported on the water quality of
Kasumigaura in recent years and the measures against pollution of the lake taken using theforest and lake environment conservation tax.
Description of the forest and lake environment conservation tax
The taxable period of the forest and lake environment conservation tax in Ibaraki Prefecture isten years (2008–2017). The tax rates for one year are 1,000 yen for an individual with anaddress in Ibaraki Prefecture, and 10% of an equally divided prefectural corporation tax for
corporations with an office in Ibaraki Prefecture. The income from tax revenues for one year isabout 1,600 million yen. Half the total tax revenues are used for forest conservation, and theremaining half are used for measures against water pollution of Lake Kasumigaura.
Measures against water quality purification of Lake Kasumigaura
The measures against water quality purification of Lake Kasumigaura that were implemented
from 2008 to 2012 are summarized in Table 1.
Measures concerning household effluents, etc. (point source）
The connecting of agricultural communities to proper sewerage and drainage facilities wasstrongly encouraged. Installation of combined-type septic tanks was facilitated to reduce theload on Lake Kasumigaura from household effluents. On-site inspection of factories was
performed to check drainage, and help was given for the installation of plant for composting
livestock excrement.
Measures concerning agricultural drainage (non-point source）
Paddy fields are widely distributed along Lake Kasumigaura. Agricultural drainage-water flows
directly into the lake through bank-based water canals. To ameliorate this, a circulating
irrigation system that controls the load on Kasumigaura by returning irrigation water to the
paddy fields was established.
Facilitation of water conservation activities by citizens of Ibaraki Prefecture
To facilitate the improvement of water quality by local citizens, equipment for environmental
studies and activities, etc., was lent out at no charge. Civic organizations were helped288

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Table 1. The state of implementation of the measure concerning water pollution granted with Forest and Lake
Environment Conservation Tax (H20-24)

financially in undertaking environmental activities. Given the importance of education aboutwater environment conservation, ship tours of the lake demonstrating about water quality
were organized for schoolchildren, junior high school students, and adults. Because of theimportance of shoreline vegetation to breeding fish, measures to conserve the lake’s reed
beds were also implemented.
Conservation of waterside environment (lake and river)
Eutrophication and algal blooming are major problems for Lake Kasumigaura. Ibaraki
Kasumigaura Environmental Science Center researched phytoplankton multiplication and the
dynamic state of nitrogen, phosphorus, and organic matter in the lake and its associated rivers.
It attempted to control algal blooming by installing ozonation and supersonic treatment
equipment in the areas where blooms tend to occur. Patrols checking for algal blooming andsample collection were also carried out.
Water quality in Lake Kasumigaura
Change in long-term water quality of Lake Kasumigaura is shown in Fig.2. When the forest andlake environment conservation tax was introduced in 2008, annual average COD was 8.8 mg･L1. By 2012, it was 7.8 mg･L-1. Annual average of T-N (total nitrogen) was 1.3 mg･L-1 in 2008 and
1.0 mg･L-1 in 2012; annual average of T-P (total phosphorus) was 0.12 mg･L-1 in 2008 and0.084 mg･L-1 in 2012. As can be seen, water quality in recent years has tended to improve.
However, T-N and T-P concentrations are still high (environmental water quality standard of T-

289

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

N is 0.4 mg･L-1 and that of T-P is 0.03 mg･L-1). Therefore, phytoplankton levels may increase,
and water quality may continue to worsen.
12

COD

COD (mg・L-1）

11
10

10

8

7.5

6.6

8.5

8.7

7.6

8.2 8.1

7.7

8.4

7.4
7.2

8.1

8.0

7.9

7.5

7.7

7.5

8.7
8.7

7.9

8.2

8.3

7.4

6.8

8.8

8.5 8.4

8.2
8.4

7.3

7.0

6

9.5

9.1
8.7

8.2
7.8

7.6

6.8

6.3

4
1972

1977

1982

1987

1992

1997

2002

2007

2012

2.0

T-N
T-N (mg・L-1）

1.6
1.4
1.3

1.3

1.2

1.2
1.1

0.96

0.8

1.0

1.3

1.2
1.1
1.0

1.0
1.0

0.90

1.3

1.2
1.1 1.1

1.0

0.89 0.91 0.90

1.0

0.98 0.96 0.94

0.99

0.96

1.2
1.1

1.1 1.10.93

1.00.85 0.88 0.88 0.91 0.93

0.87
0.80

0.4
1972

1977

1982

1987

1992

1997

2002

2007

2012

0.15

T-P
T-P (mg・L-1）

0.12

0.09

0.06

0.12
0.11

0.11

0.11

0.11

0.10
0.10 0.097
0.10
0.090
0.10 0.10 0.10 0.10 0.10
0.084
0.095
0.086
0.093
0.078
0.088
0.071
0.077
0.081
0.065 0.061 0.065
0.071
0.060
0.055
0.064
0.061 0.060
0.054
0.058
0.060
0.051
0.051 0.054
0.040
0.040

0.03
1972

1977

1982

1987

1992

1997

2002

2007

2012

Fig. 2. Changes in Water Quality of Lake Kasumigaura

Conclusion
Although water quality of Lake Kasumigaura has tended to improve in recent years, it is still
not meeting environmental water quality standards. Continued efforts are still required to
improve water quality and implement further measures against water pollution.

290

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Strengthening lake Chivero basin management technology pillar by Harare
ILBM team, Zimbabwe
S.T. Muserere1, Z. Hoko2 & I. Nhapi3
1

City of Harare, Harare Water Old Mutual House, Harare, Zimbabwe
Civil Engineering Department, University of Zimbabwe, MP 167 Mt Pleasant Harare, Zimbabwe
3
Chinhoyi Technical University, Chinhoyi, Zimbabwe
2

Keywords: Lake Chivero, Local Environmental Action Plan, Marimba River, Mukuvisi River,
WetlandIntroduction
According to a 2014 Agence France-Presse (AFP) article; towards the end of the 21st century,
water stress is likely to affect billions and this could be an unseen driver of conflict. The
hydrologists forecast that if current trends go uninterrupted, freshwater faces a double crunch-- from a population explosion, which will drive up demand for food and energy, and theimpact of climate change (Ingham, 2014). "Approximately 80 percent of the world's population
already suffers serious threats to its water security, as measured by indicators including water
availability, water demand and pollution," the Nobel-winning Intergovernmental Panel on
Climate Change (IPCC) warned in a landmark report in March 2014. To ascertain programs in
the Lake Chivero basin a desk study was conducted in 2014 with the aim of bringing forthpollution levels and basin management strategies under implementation. The study focusedon wetlands protection, urban agriculture and wastewater management among others.
Zimbabwe is a signatory to the Ramsar Convention on wetlands of 1971 and has domesticatedprovisions for the protection of wetlands under the Environmental Management Act Chapter
20; 27, Statutory Instrument 7 of the 2007 on the Environmental management (Environmental
Impact Assessment and Ecosystem Protection). The Ramsar Convention embodies
commitment by member states to maintain the ecological character of wetlands and to planfor the ‘wise use’ or sustainable use of all the wetlands in their territories.
Harare residents practice cultivation of crops on slopes, flood plains, wetlands, river banks andalong servitudes, which practices have caused siltation leading to Lke Chivero siltation. Someof the effects of diminished water are reflected with residents resorting to digging unprotected
wells thereby exposing them to diseases such as cholera, dysentery and typhoid. Harare
suburbs are situated upstream Lake Chivero the main supplier of water hence these practices
have a direct impact. To address urban agriculture challenges the Harare municipality has
drawn up Local Environmental Action Plans (LEAP). Agriculture has changed Harare lifestyle
dramatically, food and fiber productivity soared due to new technologies, mechanization,
increased chemical use specialization and government policies that favor maximum
production. Although these changes have had many positive effects and reduced many risks infarming which include prominent among these are topsoil depletion, groundwatercontamination. Sustainable agriculture integrates three main goals namely Environmental
health, Economic profitability, Social and economic equity. Sustainability rests on the principle291

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

that we must meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future
generations to meet their own needs.
On the other hand discharges of partially treated wastewater with high nutrients load,
especially phosphorous, has been the major challenge, and apparently if the discharges go
uncontrolled the lake stand as a health time bomb. Indications are that sewage discharge rankvery high in lake pollution with economic ripple effects on water treatment costs downstream
at Harare’s water treatment plant. Health concerns have been raised on Lake Chivero water
quality. In response the health officials banned the consumption of fish caught in the lake,
once a common food source for many Harare residents (Schwan, 2012). The City in 2009
embarked on massive wastewater plant rehabilitations and is currently on-going.
In the SADC region water has played a unifying role to spearhead cooperation in the Region
with the Protocol on Shared Watercourses being the first treaty to be ratified at the level of
SADC (Rampa and van Wyk, 2014).
Materials and methods
Data collection
Data used was gathered from the field campaigns conducted in the period 1999 to 2012, dryseason samping done in October and the rainy season sampling in January of the respective
years. The corresponding results were incorporated in the diagnosis of each river.
The laboratories involved for the corresponding nalysis were as follows:1.
Analytical laboratories (Zimbabwean laboratory) for the analysis of pH, NH 4, NO3, PO4,
TP, Iron, Mn, BOD5, COD, TKN, dissolved solids, suspended solids, chloride, oil and fat
2.
University of Zimbabwe Chemistry department Pb, Cd, Ni, As, Zn, Al, Cu, Cr, CN, oil,phenols and detergents
3.
City of Harare Laboratory for the bacteriological analysis (Total Colifrom and Faecal
Coliform).
Data conditioning
It could have been useful to compare the results with river quality criteria, however there wasno Zimbabwean criteria for river water quality. Criteria from other countries such as USEPA
guidelines were therefore used.
Location of sampling points
Rivers monitoring points as well as Lake Chivero outlet tower.
Selection of parameters
Water quality parameters related to urban agriculture, wastewater pollution and wetland
protection were analysed.
Sampling method
The six criteria for quality data collection were followed i.e. collecting representative samples,
formulating the objective of the sampling program, proper handling and preservation ofsamples, tracking chain of custody, sample ID procedures, field quality assurance and proper
analysis (Tjandraatmadja et al., 2009).
Testing methods292

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Sample analyses were in accordance with Standard Methods for the Examination of Water
and Wastewater.
Results
The following preliminary results can be presented:
Sampling Site
Depth
pH
Calcium (mg CACO3/L)
Magnesium (mg/L)
Conductivity (uS/cm)
Ammonia (mgN/L)
Nitrate (mgN/L)
PO4 (mgP/L)
TP (mgP/L)
Iron mgFe/L)
Chloride (mgCl/L)
Sulphate (mgSO4/L)
BOD (mg/L)
TKN (mg/L)
Dissolved Solids (mg/l)
Suspended Solids (mg/L)
Oil, Fat (mg/L)

ManyameMarimba

Marimba

4
7.9
46
28
276
0.43
0.04
0.19
0.24
0.36
34
59.1
8.2
8.4
126
39.1
15.3

0
8
54
32
326
2.92
0.03
0.39
0.52
0.84
46
51.1
14.8
18.2
258.8
55.4
22.5

4
7.7
56
56
315
3.4
0.03
0.39
0.78
1.44
42
51.9
15.6
15.1`
252.8
83.7
23.7

Lake
Chivero
0
9.9
36
38
207
Nil
Nil
0.16
0.18
Nil
26
40.1
5
149.2
3.2
7.9

Discussion
Mukuvisi and Marimba RiverspH generally was in the neutral range 6 to 8 in Marimba and Mukuvisi Rivers
Medium to high ammonia concentration, low nitrate concentration. Conversely, TKN
was present in very high concentrations indicating the rivers were contaminated with organic
matter, most likely linked to urban and industrial effluents.

Orthophosphates concentration was in the medium to low during the dry season andvery high during the rainy season. Total phosphates were present as orthophosphates during
dry season and mainly present as organic phosphorous during the rainy season. The high levelof total phosphorous corresponds to organic matter probably linked with washing of polluted
urban areas.

Organic matter was globally present at high concentrations both during dry and rainyseason.

Oil and fats concentrations were very high during the dry season which could be linked
with the high levels of organic compounds. Lower concentrations were measured during rainyseason probably due to a dilution process.

Dissolved solid concentrations were low in the upper part of the rivers, and strongly
increased downstream probably due to input from the water table and untreated sewage
waters. Suspended solids were globally measured at higher value during dry season thanduring the rainy season.

293

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEINGHigh concentrations of heavy metals were obtained during the dry season for lead,
cadmium, and at a lesser degree for nickel and chromium. Arsenic concentrations were very
high during the dry season and varied during the rainy season. Phenols concentrations were
low in the upper reach of the rivers and may be high in the lower parts of the rivers.
Lake Chivero results
 The results obtained on nutrients concentrations confirm that Lake Chivero is aeutrophicated lake. The euthrophication is enhanced by the very important nutrient input
from the rivers. Moreover, the sediments store nutrients that can sustain the euthrophic
process at the occasion of a flooding.
 Heavy metals were high in raw water samples and low in filtered samples indicating thatmost of the heavy metals are bound to particles.
 The samples collected downstream of Lake Chivero did not present a heavy metal
contamination of the measured PCBs compounds.
References
APHA-AWWA-WEF (2005) American Publishing Health Association, American Water Works Associationand Water Environment Federation
INGHAM, R. A. L., A. (2014) A future of thirst: Water crisis lies on the horizon. IN WORLD (Ed. France,
Agence France-Presse.
MEIJER, S. C. F. & BRDJANOVIC, D. (2012) A practical guide to activated sludge modelling, Delft, UNESCOIHERAMPA, F. & VAN WYK, L. A. (2014) Regional food security and water in SADC The potential for sectoral
synergies within CAADP for the implementation of the SADC Regional Agricultural Policy. IN
MANAGEMENT, E. C. F. D. P. (Ed.
SCHWAN, K. (2012) Poor Water Quality Threatens Zimbabwe's Health. The Disease Daily.
TJANDRAATMADJA, G., POLLARD, C., GOZUKARA, Y. & SHEEDY, C. (2009) Characterisation of priority
contaminants in residential wastewater, Australia, CSIRO.

294

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Socioeconomic and Institutional Issues of Management of two FreshwaterLakes in West Bengal, India
S. Das1, B. Behera2 & A. Mishra2
1
2

Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and Environment, India
Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, India

Keywords: lake; institution, conflict, West Bengal, India
Introduction
Lakes are one of the most important, yet threatened natural resources of West Bengal, India. A
vast area of West Bengal is covered by different types of aquatic ecosystems mainly lakes,
rivers and wetlands (SAC, 2010). Apart from supporting a huge amount of biodiversity thesewaterbodies play an important role in providing different types of ecosystem services to the
local people. However, despite of its importances, the lake ecosystems in West Bengal arethreatened from the pressure of the development need of the millions of poor people. The
huge amount of population pressure and improper institutional arrangement are two of themain factors for degradation of the lakes (Reddy & Char, 2006; Sen, 2007; Das, 2012). There isa research gap in detail analysis of the socioeconomic and institutional aspects of lake
management in West Bengal.
The present study makes an attempt to find out the dependency of the surrounding
community on the lake ecosystem. Moreover, it tries to find out the underlying institutional
mechanisms affecting the management of the lakes.
Materials and methods
Two lakes were selected from the Gangetic Alluvial Plain and the Red Lateritic Zone of West
Bengal respectively. The selected lakes are Chupi-char lake (or Purbasthali oxbow lake),situated at the border of
Burdwan and Nadia districtof West Bengal andBarabundh lake (a manmade water harvesting
structure)
locatedin
Bankura district of West
Bengal (Fig. 1).
Data on the socioeconomic
conditionofthehouseholds of the areaaround these lakes werecollected
bykey
informant’sinterview,
focus group discussion andhousehold survey. The
Fig. 1. Location map of the study area295

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

social and economic factors determining the use of lakes for different purposes were identified
by tobit and logit models. The market price method was used to calculate the imputed value ofdifferent products collected from the lakes. The institutional dynamics associated with theselakes were assessed by focus group discussion and key informant’s interview. The study was
carried out in 2011-2012.
Results
Livelihood and Economic dependence
Local people depend upon the two lakes for a variety of purposes like irrigation, fishery,
cultivation in the sides of the lake, collection of fodder, jute retting, etc. However, the extent
of these benefits varies from one place to another (Table 1).
The results of the tobit and logit models show that the models are overall significant. The
livestocksize
ispositively significant to
Number of the households
Name of the benefit
the imputed value ofderive benefit from
Chupi-char
Barabundhthe products collected
Fishery44 (58.67)
58 (77.33)
from the lakes for
Cattle feed collection
6 (8)
48 (64)pooleddata
andLeafy vegetable collection
9 (12)
21 (28)
Barabundh lake. The
Jute retting
24 (32)0 (0)socialcaste
Irrigation
36 (48)44(58.67)
Crop cultivation in the side of the lake
4 (5.33)0 (0)backgroundisHousehold purpose
60 (80)57 (76)
negatively significant(Number in the Parenthesis shows the corresponding percentages)
to the pooled data andTable 1. Different types of benefits derived from Chupi-char and Barabundh
Chupi-charlake.
lake by respondent households
Landholding size isnegatively significant to the imputed value for pooled data, Chupi-char lake and Barabundh
lake. These findings indicate that socially and economically backward section of the society
depends more on the common pool resources like lakes than the advanced sections asmentioned in most of the literatures on the common pool resource. The combined result of
the logit model shows that the social caste and landholding size are positively significant to theaccess to the lakes for irrigation. This indicates that upper caste people with more amount oflandholding size are preferred for getting irrigation access over the socially backward sections
with very little or negligible amount of land holding. This is common for traditional ruralsociety of India, where social caste plays determining role in the use and access of resources.
Institutional aspects of the two lakes
Both Chupi-char and Barabundh have gone through different types of institutional dynamics
over the time. Chupi-char was formed due to the change the course of the Bhagirathi-HooghlyRiver. Change of the river course caused land right problems which ultimately resulted in the
encroachment of the sides of the lake by the farmers and conflict between the farmers andfishermen. Two fishermen cooperative societies and five numbers of Water Users’ Associations
are operating on the lake. Most of the people perceive that both of the co-operative societies
have become socially irrelevant due to corruption and lack of decentralization. They also296

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

opined that these societies do not take care of the need of most of the traditional fishermen
dependent on the lake. The Water Users’ Associations receive enough water from the lakes
and they operate at very small scales. So they are not interested to take any measure for the
restoration of the lake. There is also a conflict between the fishermen of the two districts
related to the boundary issues. Due to these multiple levels of conflicts and the defunctcondition of the co-operative societies, there is no regulation against unsustainable practices
like the use of very fine nets for fish catching, wastewater discharge, encroachment of thelake, excessive amount of jute retting, etc. The lake has become silted, infested by water
hyacinth and showing the symptoms of eutrophication. The aesthetic value, navigation, fisheryand household use have been greatly affected.
In case of Barabundh, there is a conflict between de-facto and de-jure property rights among
the upper caste Brambhin families and local tribal families. Due to these conflicts there is no
regulation in resource use and no collective action can be taken for the restoration measures
like dredging, maintenance of the embankment, etc. These have affected different types ofactivities like irrigation, fishery, household water use, livestock rearing, etc.
According to the local people, the local administrations do not have any role in conflict
resolution for sustainable use of the lakes.
Discussion
The surrounding people depend on the two lakes by different ways like using fresh water forhousehold purposes, irrigation; fishery; jute retting; collection of fodder for livestock; grazing;collection of leafy vegetables, etc. The socially and economically marginalised section of thecommunity depends more on the lakes for collecting different products like fish, shellfish,
fodder, whereas the upper caste people have more access to the lakes for irrigation. In spite of
the importances of these lakes, in both the cases, absence of clear of property right has caused
mismanagement of the lakes. There is no comprehensive policy for the lakes and wetlands in
India and specifically for West Bengal. Some of the national level programmes on lakes andwetlands and few of the rules and regulations against the degradation of the aquatic
ecosystems do not provide any sustainable conflict resolution mechanisms. Central and state
government should come up with a comprehensive policy for lakes and wetlands considering
its biophysical, socioeconomic and institutional dynamics. Sustainable livelihood diversification
by a mix of farm and non-farm activities can open up possibilities for sustainable managementof the lakes. Establishment of vibrant local institution is essential for enforcement of rules andregulations. Local institution should be well connected with the local administrative bodies andline department of the government. Non-government organisations should be involved inawareness generation and institution building procedure.
Acknowledgements
We are thankful to a number of people for this study, especially Dr. Dhrubojyoti Ghosh, Special
Advisor, IUCN; Dr. Subir K. Ghosh, Thematic Group Lead, Ecosystem Management Group(Capacity Building), IUCN; Dr. S. C. Santra, Professor, Department of Environmental Sciences,
University of Kalyani; Dr. A. K. Nandi, Associate Professor, Department of Agricultural
Economics, Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya; the scientists at the Institute of297

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Environmental Studies and Wetland Management (IESWM), Kolkata for their valuablesuggestions. We also acknowledge the co-operation of to the Department of Fisheries,
Government of West Bengal and Mr. Raja Chatterjee, Secretary, The Junglees, for providing us
the necessary information during this study. We are also thankful to the villagers for providing
data related to the use of the lakes. We are indebted to the friends and colleagues for theirvaluable suggestions and inspirations.
References
Das, S., 2012. Utilization and management of wetland resources of West Bengal, India. PhD thesis,
Indian Institute of Technology- Kharagpur.
Reddy, M. S., Char, N. V. V., 2006. Management of Lakes in India. Lakes & Reservoirs: Research andManagement 11 (4): 227-227.
Sen, S., 2007. Management guidelines for wise use of freshwater wetlands: a community based
approach for selected wetlands of West Bengal. PhD thesis, Indian Institute of TechnologyKharagpur.
Space Application Centre (SAC), 2010. National Wetland Atlas. India & West Bengal.

298

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

A tool for sharing best practices in lakes basin management.
V. Abete1, U. Bartoccini2 & C. Biscarini1
1

UNESCO Chair "Water Resources Management and Culture" University for Foreigners Perugia,
Italy
2
University for Foreigners Perugia, Italy

Keywords: Lakes Basin management, Best practices, GIS analysis, Deming cycle, knowledge
and capacity sharing.
Introduction
Possible ways of improving organizations are to identify, communicate and facilitate thetransfer of practices that seem to work successfully somewhere else. The purpose of thepresent work is to present the project “Best Practices for Lake” (BP4L) , aimed to explore
outcomes and share lessons learned from the best practices applied in the sustainable
management of lake areas by local authorities and other stakeholders. The primary goal is theselective observation of a set of exemplars across different contexts to derive moregeneralizable principles and theories of proper lake area management. This aims at enhancing
knowledge and capacity exchange, involving different kind of stakeholders: researchers,
environmental practitioners, local authorities, private actors and civil society.
Materials and methods
The BP4L aims to bring together the international scientific community with the local
authorities and other stakeholders for the dissemination of good practices relating to the
management of areas adjacent to lakes.
The main goal of BP4L inspired to the Best Practices Research field is to foster the
improvement of the way of working of an institution, by adopting certain principles of anotherinstitution that appear to be more successful (Bardach, E. 1994). The study consists of two
basic elements that are referred to as target site and source site. Target sites are institutions
whose way of working needs to be improved, while source sites are institutions providing
inspiration for such an improvement
First, we need to analyze the target site and to find out in which aspects the institution falls
behind others, where are the main problems and what is needed to reach an improvement on
the basis of a clear definition of the goals, especially important for non-profit and public
institutions with their various missions and purposes of activity.
Further steps, referred to as explanation of the process, are oriented to answer the question“how?”. Therefore, we look for exemplars of working practices that appear superior,compared to those in the target site. The key to the success is to find exemplars which areworth to be followed and, among them, to select the best one. Finally, in the extrapolation
step, we convert the experience from the exemplar to the target site (Veselý, A. 2011).

299

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

A good basin management of a lake can be realized only through a continuous improvement of
the lake basin governance, that integrates institution policy, participation, science, technology
and finance (Nakamura et al 2012). The table 1 summarises the development phases of the
BP4L model, through a Deming cycle Plan-Do-Check-Act.

PLAN

Obj 1
Spatial analysis

Obj 2
Knowledge sharing

Obj 3
Communication

Descriptionoftheproblem,formulation of the objectives,
definition of the research fields
Realization of actions, selection of thepotential usersthrough GIS andindices development

Assessmentofknowledge and toolsof practices sharing
Public announcement
and selection of theexperiences submitted

Development of thecommunication plan

Description
results

Scientific, inclusive, participate cultural andpublic events
Face to face with experts
Publications
Comparison of results Monitoring success ofwith objectives
trial.
AttendanceDirect and indirect
involvement of thepotential users

DO

CHECK

and

verificationgofQuantitative geospatial analysis

ACT

REPOSITORY: in a
public official Database ( Gelso)
Monitoring
Standardization of successful approach.
Standardization of successful results.
Quality improvement.
Starting follow-up actions.
Table 1. Deming cycle of BP4L project.

Reflecting of processes

For the definition of the target users we focused on municipalities. We applied additional
selection criteria under the hypothesis that the two variables, lakes and municipalities, aredefined through the following general functions:
Lakes = f (vl, n, AL)
Municipalities = f (vm, AC, ACL, LC, CL)
where:
 n = Presence of a proper name of the lake; AL = Total area of lake; vl = Vulnerability function related to lakes (uses, water quality, etc)
 AC = Total area of the municipalities ;
ACL = Total area of the lake portion in each municipality;
 LC = ACL/AC Percentage of the municipal territory occupied by the lake CL = ACL/AL = Percentage of the lake area that falls within each municipality
 vm = vulnerability function related to the municipality (demographic driven, land use,
economic outcomes, etc)
The post-processing phase consits into highlighting excellences and critical situations andcollecting a dynamical and geographical repository.

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Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Results and discussion
On the basis of the data available in the Italian Geoportal of the Ministry for the Environment,
Land and Sea, we developed the project plan relating to lakes and ponds surveyed on the
Italian territory (Table 2). The ponds initially surveyed in the Italian territory are 993 for a total
occupied surface of 1982 km2. These ponds fall on 838 municipalities and 91 provincial
territories, and each of the 20 Italian regions contains at least one lake. The total area of theinvolved municipalities is 59236 km2.
In order to refine the research by excluding very small ponds and artificial irrigation reservoirs,
we selected only those lakes with an area greater than 50000 m2. This allowed to reduce theanalysis to 599 lakes.
Then we also excluded all those lakes whose name was missing(i.e. null attribute name in thefield of the database), thus further reducing the total number of lakes to 351 lakes, which
represent almost the 35% of the initial lakes population and corresponds to a total surface of1822.82 km2.
The selection was conducted through a pre-selection and a final identification of threedifferent target groups, defined in table 2 as Target A, Target B and Target C, through the useof the indices defined above.
LAKES
Name=NULLMUNICIPALITIES

AL kmqN°lakesLC

CL

N° municipalities

0,05<A<0,15

86

>20

100

TA = 88

0,15<A<1

132

>20

100

1<A<5

88

>20

>40

5<A<10

21

>20

>40

A> 10

24

>30

>0

TB = 113

TC = 71
Total: 255

Table 2. Selection criteria depending on the variables lakes and municipalities.
TA=Target A, TB=Target B, TC=Target C are the users that are defined by different thresholds.

The selected municipalities were then invited to submit projects for the BP4L Award (2014, 1stEdition) entitled "Virtuous experiences in the sustainable management of lake areas" andpromoted by the Italian Ministry of Environment, the Italian High Institute for Environmental
Protection and the Institute for Environmental Protection and Research - ISPRA, La Sapienza
University of Rome, and the University for Foreigners of Perugia. This initiative aims atselecting projects for the best practices in sustainable management of lake environment.
The best practices should have made an outstanding contribution to the environmental
conservancy of lake areas, integrated into the social and economic development on asustainable basis. Moreover, these practices should be transferable and flexible. The practices
could focus on a variety of sectors such as: urban planning, energy, engineering and hydraulicworks, waste management, landscape conservancy, tourism and culture heritage, integrated
and inclusive strategies.

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Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

The communication plan has been developed on two levels: 1-, potential users (municipalities)
were contacted directly by the most accredited Italian institutions (Ministry and Academic
institutions); 2- an information campaign through the social network and the mass media has
been performed in order to involve other stakeholders
The sharing of knowledge was realized through scientific and educational events at the 15th
World Lake Conferences which was held in Perugia in September 2014. The main findings fromthe selected projects are going to be inserted into the ISPRA database, named GELSO - Local
Management for the Environmental Sustainability (European database on the good practices
for local sustainability) in order to create a "network" of information exchange among local
authorities.
This process, just started, would allow the construction and the continuous updating of aworking tool for public administrations, environmental associations, environmental experts,
general public and for everyone who needs to know what is going on in the matter ofenvironmental sustainability.
The analysis was conducted for the Italian territory with a focus on the Trasimeno Lake, theresponse has been excellent, as the proposals came from different areas of interest (academia,
government, NGOs, civil society, professionals). The spatial analysis was conducted in both thedesign and the check phases, where the results were critically analyzed. Moreover, we
introduced information layers relating to the main geomorphological parameters of the basins
relative to each lake.
123

123

123

123

123

ACL (km2)
CL
LC

2

7

7

2

ORVIETO

BASCHITERNIALVIANOTUORO SUL TRASIMENOPASSIGNANO SULTRASIMENOPANICALEMAGIONE

2

GUARDEA

Lake Area (km2)

CASTIGLIONE DEL LAGO

120
110
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0

Fig 1. Lakes of Umbria Region (Italy) 1 Municipalities vs Indices (right). GIS analysis for Lake Trasimeno.

References
Bardach, E. 1994, Comment: The problem of “best practice” research. Journal of Policy Analysis andManagement, 13: 260–268Nakamura, M. Rast, W. Kagatsume, T. and Sato, T. I LEC an d RCSE Shiga University. 2012 . “Primer: Development of ILBM Platform Process, Evolving Guidelines
through Participatory Improvement", 26p.

302

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Nakamura, M. Rast, W. Kagatsume, T. and Sato, T. I LEC an d RCSE - Shiga University. 2012 . “Primer:
Development of ILBM Platform Process, Evolving Guidelines through Participatory Improvement",
26p. (Downloadable from ILEC website: http://www.ilec.or.jp.)
Veselý, A. 2011, Theory and Methodology of Best Practice Research: A Critical Review of the Current
State. Central European Journal of Public Policy – Vol. 5303

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Assessment of water governance for sustainability of Pashan Lake, Pune,
Maharashtra, India
J.Sayali & B.i Thorve
Keywords: Pashan Lake, water governance, restoration, public participation, decision-making
Introduction
Distressed status of the lentic-lotic systems due to urban growth with respect to its availability,
quality, quantity and ecology impinge on the livelihood of people ultimately. Ecological healthof the rivers and lakes which describes the quality of water can be identified by checking
Dissolved Oxygen (DO) levels. They are found way below the prescribed limits in most of theurban rivers and laekers. Combined sewerage systems are the largest source of water pollution
in all the class I and Class II cities of India1. Many water bodies like Yamuna River in Delhi, Mithi
in Mumbai, Hooghly River in Kolkata, Mula- Mutha in Pune, Hussensagar Lake in Hyderabad
etc are polluted due to discharge of sewage, industrial and solid wastes2. Urban tributaries likeRam river have become the carriers of wastewater and converted into nalahs directing it
towards the river. One of the victims of the haphazard development is Ramnadi in the city. It isreported that the original width of Ramnadi was 48 m, but now due to increased pressure onland use to over growing population the river width has been reduced to hardly 5- 8 metres atsome places. The City Development Plan has deomted Ramnadi from river to drain causingmajor concern amongst the citizens and environmentalists who have been working for therivers of Pune for the revival their ecosystems. There has been millions of money spent on
cleaning the river corridors, repairing and connecting drainage pipelines and installing newtechniques to treat waste water. Unfortunately, the plan lacks in focus and green
infrastructure as well as allocation of funds.
Ramnadi River Basin
Ram River is a small watershed which lies between Mula River at the north and Mutha River at
the south (fig. 1). It originates at Warpewadi and continues to flow through Bhukum, Bhugao,
Bavdhan, Pashan, Someshwarwadi, Aundh and meets Mula near Baner. The total catchment
area of Ramnadi River is 50.35 sq km and has an elevation ranging from 550 m to 800 m above
mean sea level. The study area receives 590 mm of average annual rainfall in the months ofJune to September as well as experiences showers in October and November.

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Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Fig. 1. Basin of Mula river, Pune, Maharashtra State, India and its tributary Ram River

3

Geomorphologically, Ram river’s basin area is made of weathered basaltic rocks over millionsof years and it has sloping terrain. In the upland area river course in flanked by high hills. The
drainage pattern is mainly dendritic and sub-dendritic involving higher order streams which
are seen in the lower reaches of the watershed 4. Downstream areas with gentle slopes particularly Bavdhan, Pashan, Aundh and Baner have undergone rapid hydromodifications due
to urbanization at a startling speed in the last two decades. Most of the pervious land surfaces
have been converted into the impervious one for the purpose of construction andtransportation. These landscape alterations have caused flash floods and reduce the storage
capacity of aquifers. The area which falls outside jurisdiction of Pune Municipal Corporation isrelatively covered by agricultural land and semi ever green type of land which is beenpurchased and modernised with infrastructures by developers, industrial houses fordevelopment (Table no. 1).

Sr. No.

Site

Brief description

Characteristic features

1.

Upstream

Bhukum Village

Crenon and rhithron environment, zero order, first orderand second order streams.

2.

Mid-stream

Saikamal
BavdhanSociety,

Third order stream, potamon environment, Flood prone
area

3.

Down-stream

Someshwar
PashanMandir,Third order and fourth order river, potamon environment,
highly polluted, Historical site, joins Mula River.

Table 2. Catchment of Ram River

Methodology
Survey of people’s interpretation of water governance that are directly or indirectly dependent
on Ramnadi River was conducted within river basin to have opinionated view on current
situations related to river basin management practices. Ramnadi River basin was divided into
three parts; Upstream, Mid-stream and Downstream, to carry out the survey. Sample size was305

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

100 and it involved men and women from different age groups, economic and educational
statuses. The questionnaire was in english and Marathi (regional language). This questionnaire
on “Study of Water Governance for Ramnadi River Basin” addressed multiple perspectives and,was examined and dissected in very human terms: who should be responsible for Ramnadi
River basin Management?; how can institutional capacity improve?; what control measures
should be taken to ensure good water quality of Ramnadi?; which actions will you take
immediately to maintain the natural quality of river? Overall all the discussions points included
the questions of how basin level activities can be managed sustainably for people andenvironment.
Observations and discussion
Water, like religious faith and principles, is able to move, motivate millions of people. Since thevery birth of human civilization, people are settled close to it or moved from scarce area toabundant water area. People everywhere and every day need it, fight over it, write, sing, anddance about it. One must treat water as the most valuable commodity in the world, the mostpriceless natural resource.
British colonial water law in India in 19th century introduced a concept of government’s control
over water for maximization of revenue by announcing the rights to regulate water. Itemphasized the common law principles for the rights of landowners to access water5.
Nineteenth century is the considered as a landmark period of legal command over activities
responsible for environmental pollution6, but colonial understanding of hydrology could notcome to terms with the peculiar ecological health of Indian rivers, lakes and their basins7. Lateron after indepedence, Constitution of India was developed in 1950 acknowledging theowership of the people of India and trusteeship of the governments over water resources.
"Regulation and development of inter-State rivers and river valleys to the extent to which such
regulation and development under the control of the Union is declared by Parliament by law
to be expedient in the public interest."8
Public participation means different responses in different scenarios in different geoclimatic conditions depending on socio-cultural-occupational aspects. In the countries having
heritage of thousands of years like India, participation is more of a significant ethical tool,encouraging the supplier to improve services and to identify the needs of the consumers.
While tackling the various issues of water, there is a far-reaching acknowledgment ofintegrated approaches for water governance. Given the breadth of challenges and inherentrole of many organizations and stakeholders, modes of cooperation and coordination havebeen widely identified in the research literature as being essential for improvement ofoutcomes9. A concerted water planning, sounding and dynamic stakeholder involvement isessential for watershed development in the urban sector. Good water governance builds mass
education, awareness and involvement in the stewardship of the rivers and lakes. Thisapproach plays a crucial role in diminishing conflicts and initiates positive changes in river
basin.
People surveyed, were reached harmonious notion that Ramnadi river basin management
is the responsibility of the city municipal corporation – local self government. According to
official documents, only half of the length of river comes under Pune Municipal Corporation306

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

jurisdiction, ensuing that river is divided into three authorities – local governance, district
governance and state water department. But from the survey, it is clear that very few people
are aware of jurisdiction of government stakeholders. This has created an inept approach to
the river basin management resulting into Pashan Lake being a receptor of upstream pollution.
Neglecting behaviour has increased the pressure on land and water resources at the down
streams along with exploitation and reduced availability of water to the vulnerable groups.
Majority of the people opinionated that water issues cannot be managed effectively by water
controlling institutions alone. Appointing knowledgeable water specialists and a healthy
communication between decision makers and stakeholders must be facilitated for capacity
building of institutions. Majority of the respondents think that enforcement of current policy /legislations / rules at all governmental layers is crucial but it is not sufficient to maintainecological health and water quality of Ramnadi River and downstream Pashan Lake. Many
respondents stated to upgrade state policies and form link between the national and state
action plans ensuring the involvement of key stakeholders.
Some respondents said awareness and education would lead to responsible behaviour andformation of a Lake and River Basin Management Committee. It can bring all the stakeholders
together on one platform. While analyzing the views and aspirations of people from the city,
the concern about removal and treatment of waste water was explicitly evident with
enforcement of laws and regulations to restrain the illegal discharges into the streams of thecatchment. The second issue prioritized by respondents was to make policy reforms andamendments in rules and regulations and better implementation on ground.
Conclusion
Rural and urban populations in the catchment of Ram River and Pashan Lake are aware ofmodernization and hydromodifcation of water resources. They are expressive enough to spellout the concerns for the conservation and protection of water bodies by developing a
consultative platform for Integrated Lentic-Lotic Basin Management (ILLBM) for a small part ofhuge catchment of World Lake Vision Candidate – Ujjani Lake, Pune District, Maharashtra
State, India.
References
CPCB (2013) Report of Performance evaluation of sewage treatment plants under NRCD. Central
Pollution Control Board, Delhi.
Joshi, Sandeep (2007) Environment management for environmental professionals, businesses andindustries. Published by Shrishti Eco-Research Institute, Pune, India.
Pune Municipal Corporation. (2012). Revising/Updating the City Development Plan (CDP) of Pune City2041 . Pune.
Umrikar, B., & Iyer, U. (2007). Impact analysis of urbanization on surface and ground waters using RS-GIS
techniques: a case study of new part of Pune Municipal Corporation, India. Department of Geology,
University of Pune.
Leelakrishnan, P. (1992) Law and Environment. Cochin, India: Eastern Book Company
Anon. (2013). Rivers, up close and personal., Available on Down To Earth:
http://www.downtoearth.org.in/content/rivers-close-and-personal. Accessed on 18 June, 2014.
Joshi, Sandeep (2014) Personal discussion.

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Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

The Constitution Of India (1950): Schedule VII: List I- Union List: Entry 56
Universitas(2012)
Theme
7:
Urban
Water
Governance.
Available
www.universitas21.com/RelatedFile/Download/491. Accessed on 18 June, 2014.

308

on

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Socio-economic analysis to evolve governance policy for ecological restorationof polluted water bodies with reference to study of polluted river in Ludhiana
City, India
M. Kashyap1, P. Agre2, S. Ambegaokar1 & M. Mirajkar4
1
2

SEERAM, Pune, e-mail drmangesh@seeram.org
Shrishti Eco Research Institute, Pune, e-mail pa.raj1509@gmail.com

Introduction
Pollution of inland freshwater systems is a global challenge having very complex reflection insocio-economic structure of the upstream-downstream societies. Discharges from the
upstream urban and industrial growth not only pollute the surface waters but ground waters
also get polluted severely. In era of global warming, changing climatic trends affecting thewater availability in the water basins all over the world, it is essential to reform the socioeconomic paradigms of development.
Buddha Nallah – a naturally isolated stream of Satluj, this old stream – Buddha nallah istraversing through Ludhiana city. Buddha stream once a water source for villages in vicinity ofLudhiana city till 1960’s, has become dumping yard receiving all liquid and solid waste streams
from the urban, peri-urban areas of Ludhiana, - the industrial city of Punjab. It is just like anyother ordinary (including Capital of India) city in India with sloppy, careless attitude towards
maintaining the wholesomeness of urban water bodies. Thus the water of Buddha stream is
not suitable for any use and after the confluence the same defiles the Satluj river to such an
extent the water is black coloured upto 40 km and it’s impact is observed on species of Harike
Wetland 80 km downstream. Though having a large water front in vicinity, people from thesevillages and most part of Ludhiana city are compelled to use ground water for irrigation anddomestic use.
“Buddha NEER Project” (Buddha Nallah Ecological and Economic Restoration Project), a first of
its kind demonstrative R & D bioremediation project by Government of India 1, 2 has started
with the advent of Central Pollution Control Board and Chief Minister of Punjab in the end of
July 2010 and supported by then Minister for Environment, Government of India designed by
Shrishti Eco-Research Institute (SERI), Pune and being implemented by Green Infrastructure(GRIN), Pune (Green Curator)3.
SESS, SEERAM and SERI’s expert team has evaluated the current status and trends of pollution
impacts downstream of Ludhiana city. Socio economic and health survey was carried out with
aim to realize the impact of this pollution on livelihood and health of community on the banksof Buddha nallah and Satluj River.
Materials and methods
Volunteers from SESS, SEERAM and PAU conducted this survey on the stretch of Buddha
stream downstream to Ludhiana city till Harike Lake, which is a Ramsar site, after confluenceof Satluj and Buddha stream. During the survey about 75 villages on the both bank of Buddha
stream and Satluj River were visited. Total span of the study was about 10 – 12 months309

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

inclusive of pre-survey (2 months), survey (1 month) and post-survey data analysis (6 months)
plus period required for logistic arrangements.

Fig. 9. Buddha Stream and Satluj River Ludhiana to Harike wetland

While preparing the questionnaire most care was taken to include all the aspects contributing
the socio-economic development of those villages. It gives information about the family
members, education, source of income, agricultural details, health information, healthassessment, community facilities available, etc.
Results
Pollution load
Colour of Buddha stream water becomes darker as it traverses through Ludhiana City after
receiving effluent discharges from densely populated areas and imparts colour to Satluj River
water after confluence remains upto 40 km downstream.
Estimated pollution load in terms of COD is about 300 – 500 tons/day4.

Fig. 10. Physical appearance through satellite image at confluence of Buddha Stream with Satluj River

Dissolved Oxygen (DO) of Buddha Stream becomes zero and remains <1 till the confluencewith Satluj River. Anaerobicity in Buddha stream gives rise to enormous foul odour in theambience making it nauseating for the villagers.
Buddha stream hydrologic system contains solvents, toxic carcinogenic chemicals and heavy
metals in excess in surface and ground waters. Radioactive Uranium is found to be 100 times

310Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

that of prescribed standard limit of 0.003mg/L5. Concentration of radioactive Uranium iscomparatively more in groundwater samples than surface water samples and the same water
is being used for drinking purpose. Volatile organics and fecal coliforms are noticed not only insurface waters of Buddha nallah and Satluj River but in groundwater samples also.
Livelihood and healthInteraction with people in those villages evolved the socioeconomic and health issues of thecommunity mostly dependent on ground water due to polluted Buddha stream and Satluj
River. Though going through worst situation the humanity shown by the villagers touches
hearts as well their concern about the situation was well reflected through their emotions.
Many of villagers complained about serious water-borne illnesses.
The villages with ease of transportation facility e.g. Hambran, had both- a better literacy rateand lifestyle. Most people had independent water filters installed in their houses. Fewer
people complained of health problems, but lifestyle diseases like hypertension and diabetes
were on the rise.
As we progressed towards the interior, the access to the villages became difficult and literacy
and basic hygiene levels dropped. Most villages had open drains and were beset by hordes ofmosquitoes and flies. In many villages there was no network of water supply, and where thevillagers were dependent on water from bores that were shallow the health complaints weremore especially of typhoid and jaundice.
Lack of health facilities and proper treatment regimens has led to many people complaining ofrecurrence, highlighting the fact that there are many, who are carriers of this disease, in thisarea. The women looked anemic and tired because of malabsorption due to intestinal
parasites. Many admitted that their children had parasite infestations and so were not robustin health. Many young women had very dry skin and very dry and fragile hair. The curative
steps of a higher water intake were annoyed by them as the water was not palatable. There
were many people who complained of having kidney stones, and there were a few who had
gall stones. The bone density camps that conducted by DMC and Hambran Hospital in the rural
areas, observed a significant rise in the cases of osteoporosis.
Discussion
Studies of socio-economic impacts of constant, uninterrupted dispersal of pollution from point
and non-points sources on health and agro-economics is presented with respect to the casestudy of Ludhiana – the industrial city in Punjab State of India. Pollution control measures are
insufficient to tackle the ever-increasing industries and subsequently the population leading tosever contamination of surface water bodies finally ending into Lake Harike – a tail end Ramsar
Wetland. Enroute from Ludhiana city to Lake Harike the population and agriculture on thebanks of stream receive contaminated water affecting their health and economy. It can bestated that the spreading of contamination through the surface-ground water exchanges has
led to various water borne diseases. About 10% of the 40,000 population is suffering fromdysentery and various alimentary ailments and 1% of the population is distressed due tocancers. Economically, the downstream rural population is severely facing pollution stress due
to degraded quality of crops resulting from use of dirty water. It is recommended that the311

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

development policy needs to integrate with goals of attaining regional economic stability
commensurate with environmental health and population health.
Environomics (Environmental Economics) of Buddha NEER Project6
Cost of treating the severely polluted 600 MLD flow like Buddha Stream by conventional biomechanistic systems, the capital expenditure is estimated to USD 99 million (INR 600 cr) withannual operational costs about USD 4.9 million (INR 30 cr) . Buddha NEER’s ISEO using green
bridge system and maintenance – monitoring of 5 years, the total budget is about USD 3.6
million. (INR 22 Cr)
The focus of ISEO is the process of remedial actions by ecosystem and not the infrastructure.
Secondly, the land required for treatment structure is zero being in-stream system and that ofconventional system the requirement is at least 200 acres. So, as far as land savings areconcerned, there is no match.
Infrastructural STP, ETP or CETP having cumbersome civil and mechanical units are considered
to be “assets” having resale value. But there is no such “resale-ability” in case of ISEO being
only “process” oriented structures built using locally available materials and consumablebacterial cultures.
It’s a repulsive notion as far as financial institutions classical theories of economics. But, thekind of restoration ISEO brings to the water body is far more than conventional engineeringand ecological practices. If ecological accounting is included in the projects, then the profit andloss statements will change drastically with inclusion of incremental social, ecological capitaland exponential continuous benefits.
As per ecologically corrected water from Buddha NEER Project for agriculture, would be
benefited in terms of be about 15000 ha under irrigation. With previous experiences of
Udaipur’s improved agricultural and fish productions, the benefits are far-reaching as it is thelower strata of poverty stricken masses that enjoy it.
Sustainable management of water bodies is possible when the entire lentic-lotic system ismaintained on the basis of ecological technologies, supported by well-stated policies and wellinformed institutions, public support and participation, scientific knowledge and uninterrupted
finance. (Ref. Dr. Masahisa Nakamura and Dr. Walter Rast, ILBM Platform Development
Process, ILEC, Japan).
In-stream ecological operation of polluted drains will revive the agro economic and healthstatus of the 40,000 villagers downstream of Ludhiana city.
References
Ref. www.envfor.nic.in Prime Minister’s Facebook page
DPR Buddha NEER project (December 2010) submitted to MoEF, NRCD, Government of India.
Pradnyesh Agre etal. (2012)Water quality time series of Satluj river and Buddha stream Ludhiana,
Punjab (2007‐2012) ,submitted to CPCB, MoEF, NRCD ,Government of India
www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/dwq/chemicals/en/uranium.pdf
Joshi Sandeep (2014), presentation on technological assessment of Buddha NEER Project in international
conference on wastewater technology for greening India.
Pradnyesh Agre etal, Sept.2013 “Green Bridge for livelihood of poor communities: case study of
Ecological restoration of Ahar River Udaipur

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Sandeep Joshi, Sayali Joshi, Pradnyesh Agre, Pallavi Patil “Sustainable Management of Lentic – Lotic
Water System: Case Study of Ujjani Reservoir - WLV Lake” , published by SESS, Pune 2013
Sandeep Joshi(2012) , Buddha NEER Project: A Hope for Use of Ecologically Corrected Water for
Agriculture, SERInews Vol.7, No.4 ,Pradnyesh Agre (2012)Buddha Stream: Old stream of River Satluj requires ICU,
http://seriecotech.com/blog/?page_id=15
Socio economic survey along Buddha stream downstream to Ludhiana City, SERInews November 2013.

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Comparative research on the views and knowledge of local residents ofcentral Greece in two wetlands. Smokovos lake case and Metamorfosis
marsch in Karditsa’s prefecture, Central Greece
G. Efthimiou1, K. Ntouras2, V.P. Tagkouli3, M. Spai2 & P. Tagkoulis2
1

Department of Forestry and Natural Environment Management, T.E.I. of Sterea Hellas, 36100,
Karpenissi, Greece, e-mail efthimiou@teiste.gr
2
Department of Forestry and Natural Environment Management, Τ.Ε.Ι. of Thessaly, 43100,
Karditsa, Greece, e-mail das4000@teilar.gr
3
Agronomist, 69 K. Mantopoulou str., 43200, Palamas, Greece, e-mail tagkouli@gmail.com
Keywords: wetlands, lake, environmental knowledge, sex
Introduction
Wetlands, because of the fact that they are ecosystems, ensure biodiversity while they satisfy
many human needs. Several studies emphasize the importance of using local people's views as
starting on the design and implementation of appropriate management plans for sustainable
development (Keftoyanni, 2010).
Environmental knowledge is defined as the ability of individuals to understand and evaluate
the impact of society on the natural environment and to develop positive values and attitudes
through knowledge and awareness (Gambro & Switzky, 1996).
In the context of environmental education, environmental literacy refers to the knowledge andawareness of an environmental issue. Also it refers to the positive involvement and attitude of
students towards the environment. The high level of environmental literacy reflects theimplementation of the effectiveness of environmental education (Leeming et al, 1997, Eagles& Demare, 1999). Tan Geok-Chin Ivy et al (1998) argue that through knowledge and awarenesspositive values and attitudes are developed. Knowledge is considered as precondition for
appropriate action (Hines et al 1986,1987, Engleson & Yockers, 1994).
The purpose of this research is a comparative research on the views and knowledge of local
residents in two wetlands, the artificial lake of Smokovos case and the marsh of Metamorfosis
in Karditsa’s prefecture, based on the sex of the respondents. It is investigated whether sex isassociated with the level of general knowledge on wetlands and especially with these twowetlands of study area.
To achieve this purpose a survey was conducted with a sample of 498 adolescent residents of
the area in which the above wetland systems belong. The existence of differences in the
averages of the levels of knowledge of the sample for the wetland ecosystems in general andfor the wetland of their region were investigated as for the sex of the respondents.
The level of knowledge was recorded as low in general and specifically for each wetland, withno statistically significant findings for sex. Teenagers in the wider area of marsh of marsh of
Metamorphosis had highest averages in comparison with the averages of the teenagers thatlive in the wider area of the Smokovos wetland. Boys who live in the surrounding area of314

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Metamorfosis, have highest averages in relation to girls in their area. The opposite is occurredin the wetland of Smokovos. However, these findings were not statistically confirmed.
Materials and methods
The survey was conducted using structured questionnaires from the spring of 2012 to thespring of 2013. The inhabitants' knowledge on general and local environmental issues
concerning wetlands, was recorded and evaluated. It was followed Papapanagou (2006)
methodology. Moreover, it was used the same research tool, which was modified where it was
required. The data were processed with the statistic program SPSS. Actually, methods ofdescriptive and inferential statistics were used.
The sample consisted of 498 adolescents from the wider areas of the wetlands that were
controlled. The 260 (52.2%) of the respondents were males and 238 (48.8%) were females. As
for the wetland of Metamorfosis, there were 293 inhabitants of this region, of whom 153 weremales (52.2%) and 140 females (47.6%). In addition, for the wetland of the artificial Lake of
Smokovos there were involved 205 inhabitants of the wider area. The 107 (52.2%) of thesewere males and 98 (47.8%) were females.
The variables that were used in that comparative research were created to measure theknowledge of the inhabitants (Efthimiou et al, 2012, Tagkouli et al, 2014, Papapanagou, 2006).
Specifically, the variable W_Gen concerns the knowledge of wetlands in general, the variable
W_OWN concerns the knowledge of the area of the wetland and the variable W_TOT concerns
the sum of knowledge about wetlands. The variable LMH_W_Gen was created after
categorizing the three levels of knowledge (low, medium and high), and it is concerned to theknowledge about wetlands in general. Moreover, there were created two more variables, theon the categories of knowledge about wetlands generally variable the LMH_W_OWN and the
LMH_W_TOT which are about the knowledge for the wetland of their region and theknowledge of the wetlands in general, after the same categorization. Then, the averages ofeach variable were compared by region and sex.
Results
VARIABLE

SEX(a) Mean(b)
MeanMeta(a)-(b)Smokovos
morfosi

M 7,00F
6,78
M 6,87
W_OWN
F
6,73
M 13,70
W_TOT
F
13,38
M 1,79LMH_W_Gen
F
1,82
M 1,98
LMH_W_OWN
F1,96
M 1,89LMH_W_TOT
F
1,91
Table 1. Mean difference by Sex
W_Gen

6,43
6,66
6,03
6,06
12,35
12,65
1,73
1,74
1,85
1,81
1,79
1,85

0,57
0,12
0,84
0,67
1,35
0,72
0,06
0,08
0,13
0,15
0,10
0,06

Metamorfosi:
Smokovos:
Mean
MALE- Mean
MALEMean FEMALE
Mean FEMALE

0,22

-0,23

0,13

-0,03

0,32

-0,31

-0,03

-0,02

0,02

0,04

-0,02

-0,05

315

Differences in the level ofknowledge of individual variablesof the adolescents in our sample,
as for the sex were occurred andpresented in Table 1. The
teenagers of Metamorfosis area,
have higher average of knowledge
in addition to the teenagers of
Smokovos area, in all individual
variables and the overall one, as it
is occurred by the differences on
the averages. Regarding sex on thearea of Metamorfosis the level ofknowledge of males are higher

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

than females on W_Gen, W_OWN, W_TOT and LMH_W_OWN variables, while for thevariables LMH_W_Gen and LMH_W_TOT the level of knowledge for females is higher thanmales.
Analyzing Smokovos area the level of knowledge of the females is higher than males for the
W_Gen, W_OWN, W_TOT, LMH_W_Gen, LMH_W_OWN variables, while the level ofknowledge of males is higher than females for the LMH_W_OWN variable. As for
Metamorfosis area, the level of knowledge of males is higher than females, whereas the
opposite is occurred on Smokovos area where the level of knowledge of females is higher thanmales. These differences in averages are not statistically confirmed.
Discussion
These results agree with those of Efthimiou et al. 2012, Tagkouli et al. 2014). The fact thatmost of the respondents know a little about the wetlands of their region is very distinctive, as
it is cited on the previously mentioned researches. To improve the level of knowledge isrequired more well organized information, events, integration on environmental educational
activities egration on environmental educational activities and creation of infrastructures forattendance to audience and finally, improvement of the level of knowledge of the researchedareas is needed.
Further research on wetlands so as to identify and confirm these results by use of several
methods and qualitative research is also needed. The results of this research, can be used forfurther development of environmental programs regarding to environmental education to alllevels of education (Ntouras, 2013). It is desirable to pursue development of positiveenvironmental initiatives by the local community that will lead to the development andenhancement of environmentally friendly attitudes.
References
Eagles, P., & Demare, R. 1999. Factors influencing children’s environmental attitude. Journal ofEnvironmental Education 30, 33-38.
Efthimiou G., Ntouras K., Tagkoulis P., and Skondra A., 2012. Survey of knowledge of residents on
wetlands. the case of the marsh of Metamorphosis Karditsa. Thessaly 1st Environmental
Conference, 8-10 September 2012, Skiathos ISBN: 978-960-6865-50-3 pp:449-454
Engleson, D. & Yockers, C., 1994. A guide to curriculum planning in environmental education, Wisconsin
Dept. of Public Instruction (Madison, Wis.), V. 94371, 2nd ed. P. x, 170p.
Gambro, S., & Switzky, N., 1996. A national survey of high school students' environmental knowledge.
The Journal of Environmental Education, 27 (3), 28-33.
Hines, J. M., Hungerford, H.R. & Tomera A.N., 1986/1987. Analysis and synthesis of research on
responsible environmental behavior: A metaanalysis. The Journal of Environmental Education,
18(2), 1-8.
Keftoyanni V., G. Abakoumkin, D. Vokou, 2009. Environmental perceptions of students, farmers andother economically active members of the local population near the protected area of Axios,
Loudias and Aliakmonas Estuanes Greece
Ntouras, K., 2013. Environmental Attitudes of Larisa’s Technological Institute students, T.E.I of Thessaly,
Karditsa, p. 64.

316

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Papapanagou. E., 2006. Develop training material for environmental education and evaluation of thesensitizing attitudes of different groups of students. Doctoral Thesis, Faculty of Science,
Department of Biology, Patras University
Tagkouli, V., Efthimiou, G., Ntouras, K., Tagkoulis, P., and Mertzanis, A., 2014, Artificial lake of Smokovos:
A research on views and knowledge about wetlands of adolescents local residents, 12th
International Conference "Protection & Restoration of the Environment - PRE12", Skiathos Island,
29 June- 4 July 2014 (accepted).
Tan, C. G. I., 2004. Effects of cooperative learning with group investigation on secondary students'
achievement, motivation and perceptions. Unpublished doctoral thesis, Nanyang Technological
University, Singapore.

317

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Water analysis of Godawari river (Dhangar Takali to Vishnupuri Dam),
Maharashtra, India
P.R. Wesanekar1, Shelake, Nitin1, U.D. Kulkarni2 & K. Sakshi2
12

Dept. of Geology, N.E.S. Science College, Nanded, India
Dept. of Civil and Water Management Engg, S.G.G.S. Institute of Engg. & Tech. Nanded

Keywords: River water quality, Jal Dindi, Awareness, Sarovar Samvardhini
Introduction
The Godawari River is one of the major rivers of India. It originates at Nashik in Sahyadri rangesof Maharashtra and meets the Bay of Bengal at Rajmundri of Andhra Pradesh traveling a
distance of 1465 km. Its catchment area is 312812 km 2 with 48.6% coverage in Maharashtra
and 23.4% coverage in Andhra Pradesh. It is located between 73 024’ to 8304’E and 16019’ to22034’N. The holy Godawari river is shrinking due to sand mining, sedimentation of dams,
industrial and domestic pollution (industrial 18%, domestic 82%). There is not even minimum
environmental flow maintained in the river at many stretches. (Shinde and Waikar, 2007).
Hydrology Project is being implemented by Government of Maharashtra with the assistance ofWorld Bank with its head office for Maharashtra at Nashik, for the monitoring water quality inthe river. There are 75 hydrological observation stations and 42 water quality monitoring
stations in Godavari basin (Figure 1). SWEDES and HYMOS software are used for data entry andanalysis. Further for the purpose of close monitoring of given reservoir/lake, a concept called
Sarovar Samvardhini as an organization of stakeholders dependent on the lake system has
been developed in India. It was initiated with Global Water Partnership under the thematic
network of Lakes and Reservoirs. Indian Association of Aquatic Biologists (IAAB) is the driving
agency for this theme in India.
Shankar Sagar Sarovar Samvardhini
The Ministry of environment and Forest (MOEF), Govt. of India, has issued guidelines for
management of lakes and tentative actions are suggested. It envisages a comprehensive andholistic approach for lake conservation. The socioeconomic development of the people
dependent on the lake is also fully integrated in the plan. It covers:
1. prevention of pollution,
2. catchment area treatment,
3. desilting and weed control and4. research and development studies.
In line with this and as a part of Global Water Partnership’s initiative to establish a thematic
network on water quality of lakes in South Asia, Shankar Sagar Sarovar Samvardhini wasformed in 2005 around the manmade lake, Shankar Sagar an irrigation project at Nanded, in
Godavari basin. It has started its activities with a workshop attended by 70 people fromgovernment departments, students of engineering/science colleges, faculty, professional
engineers, farmers, fishermen, aquatic biologists, and NGOs connected with river cleaning318

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

activity. The activities of Sarovar Samvardhini were conducted as per the guidelines of MOEF
for creating awareness, conducting research work and peoples mobilization (Kulkarni and
Waikar, 2012).
International Seminar at Yashwant College, Nanded on River Water Quality in 2007 and thetechnical sessions at SGGS Institute of Engineering and Technology, Nanded on Jal Dindi in2011 were organized. Consequent upon this, Goda Jal Dindi has been started as a regular
activity in Shankar Sagar lake and was successfully conducted in 2012, 2013, and 2014 forthree days. It is an activity performed with engineering/science students and faculty travellingin boat in Shankar Sagar lake with following objectives:a) To create awareness among the stakeholders and students of schools around the lake
about conservation and protectionb) To monitor water quality of the lake on annual basisc) To conduct research in the academic institutes on various aspects of the laked) To train Jal Mitra (friends of river) to protect the sources of water from pollution
Materials and methods
The river water samples were collected at left and right bank and middle of the river to study
the physical and chemical variation across and along the Shankar Sagar lake for a stretch of 40
km shown in Figure 1. Water samples were collected at regular interval of 1 km with one liter
capacity plastic containers. Dissolved oxygen was measured by portable D.O. meter (Hachmodel). Calcium, Total hardness, Alkalinity, Chloride were determined by titration method andthe remaining parameters were determined by Systronics Water Analyser. Water Quality Index
was calculated and used to determine the health status of Godawari River (Shinde and Waikar,2008) for the area studied.
The journey in the lake (Goda Jal Dindi) was performed with the help of professionalorganizations, academic institutes (three) and administrative departments for three days.
Results and Discussion
Results of samples collected at 45 locations were averaged and presented in Table 1 along withminimum and maximum values. The variations of parameters in which significant variations
were observed were plotted in Figure 2. The pH varied from 8.21 to 8.88 with average of 8.534
which indicated the impact of bank erosion. Low turbidity values have been observed in therange of 1.02 to 2.6 NTU. The TDS varied from 320 to 720 ppm with average of 362.8 ppm.
Higher values were observed near the villages indicating impact of occupational activities.
However it is in the acceptable range as the desirable limit for drinking water (BIS TDS:
500ppm) but can be accepted in the absence of alternate source. The Total Alkalinity of riverwater varied from 120 to 250 ppm with average TA of 209.11ppm. The conductivity varied
from 200 to 519 micromhos/cm with average of 379.6. The Ca, Mg and Chloride values wereobserved in the range from 20.048 to 264.52 ppm with average of 98.65 ppm, from 0.86 to
62.69ppm with average of 29.22 ppm and from 29.75 to 209.5 ppm with average of 90.81 ppm
respectively. Higher values of Ca, Mg, Chloride and Total alkalinity were observed near thevillages. The DO values were observed to be favorable for fishing activity as it was around319

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

9ppm. The total hardness varied from 120 to 300 ppm which was less than the BIS desirable
limit for drinking water (500 ppm).
pH

TDS

EC

DO

Turbidity

Ca

TH

Mg
3
(CaCO )

Cl

TA

Mg

Avg

8.53

362.8

379.6

10

1.42

98.65

218.04119.7590.81

209.10

29.22

Max

8.88

720

519

12.6

2.6

264.53300

256.95205.90

250

62.70

Min

8.21

320

200

7.65

1.02

20.05

120

3.53

29.74

120

0.86

Table 1. Chemical Analysis of Godawari River (Shankar Sagar lake) from Dhangar Takali to Vishnupuri

As an outcome of Goda Jal Dindi in Shankar Sagar, 150 students and faculty have participatedin last three years to conduct water analysis of the lake and conducted awareness programmes
in the schools and villages by interacting with more than 1000 students and 500 villagers. The
water quality indices were found to be decreasing very steeply from Gangapur Dam station to
Nasik and critical at Nasik, Kopargaon, Toka, Pategaon and Wadvali (locations upstream of
Dhangar Takali shown in Figure 1) for all seasons and years as WQI values were less than 0.3.
The strong seasonal variation of WQI at all sampling stations was noticed. The monthly,
seasonal and yearly WQI were showing decreasing linear trend (Shinde & Waikar 2007).
Compared to this, the water quality of the lake was better and free from pollution. The higher
values of certain parameters near the villages were a matter of concern which can be tackled
during Goda Jal Dindi.

Fig. 1: Location map of the study area

TH

Ca

5000
1

TOTAL…

HARDNESSy
5000

TA

y

CALCIUM1

Mg y = 0,0243x…

TDS

100

1

SAMPLESSAMPLESSAMPLES

y

5000

y =…

1000

TDS

Mg

0
0 of different water quality parameters from Dhangar
Fig 2 Variation
Takali to Vishnupuri
Mg

TDS

1 13 25between
37
17 25 33
41 parameters in Godawari river (Shankar sagar)
Fig. 2. Variation1 of9 water
quality
Dhangar takali and
VishnupuriSAMPLESSAMPLES320

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

References
Shinde, H.H., Waikar, M. L. 2007. Water quality status of the upper Godavari sub basin. Proceedings of
National Conference on Emerging Trends in Engineering & Technology, FRONTIER-2007, held at
B.N. College of Engineering, Pusad. (M.S.), December 17-18, 2007, pp 332-340.
Shinde, H. H. Waikar, M. L. 2008. A framework for benchmarking of water quality of upper Godavari subbasin. Proceedings of National Conference on Sustainable Water Resources Development andManagement, held at Government College of Engineering, Aurangabad (M. S.), June 13-14, 2008,
pp 24-33.
U. D. Kulkarni and Waikar, M. L., 2012. Management of Lakes: Role of Sarovar Samvardhini, Paper
presented at 14th International conference on Urban Lakes: Ecology, Rejuvenation, Technology andEconomics held Mumbai Sept., 2012.

321

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

The Legal Framework
Alessandra Lanciotti 1
1

Professor of International Law at the University of Perugia

Keywords: transboundary lakes, water conventions, international environmental law, generalprinciples, sustainable development.
Introduction
Lakes are not isolated water bodies, but are affected by, and themselves affect, a range of
upstream and downstream water systems, thus their management is strongly linked tosustainable development. Indeed, concern for conservation of lake waters and natural
resources is not a recent achievement, as demonstrated by some ancient documents, among
which a manuscript from the 15th Century that codified a complex set of rules on fishing,navigation and other economic activities regarding the Trasimeno Lake, the water basin near
Perugia (in Central Italy), the town which hosted the 15 WLC.
So far, over 500 multilateral, normcreating treaties on several issues
concerning environmental protection havebeen initiated, drafted, negotiated andadopted within or under the auspices of
the UN, as well as a long series of nonbinding instruments, such as declarations,recommendations and resolutions (the socalled ‘soft law’). Most of the times, therules are new when the treaty is first
formulated, then they become binding
once it is ratified by a considerable numberof States or even before that, in case they
can be considered reproductive ofcustomary law. Many of those rules arealso applicable to transboundary lake
management. The aim of this paper is to
give a general overview on such rules.

Fig1: Lake Trasimeno (Alinari’s Archive, Florence 1890)

Materials and Method
The ongoing treaty-law making process on issues related to the assessment and protection ofwater resources testifies a long evolution that lead to the dismantlement of absolute
sovereignty claims over water resources by the territorial State (“absolute sovereignty
doctrine”, epitomized by the Harmon doctrine), in favour of a sustainable use of freshwaters
so as to meet a common interest (“absolute territorial integrity doctrine”).

322Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Although many uncertainties linger on the scope of International norms applicable to this
sector, due to the fact that the provisions enshrined in existing multilateral instruments have a
different nature and legal status, in several occasions International judges and arbitrators
acknowledged the existence of some important general principles of International
Environmental Law (IEL) that are applicable to disputes concerning the exploitation ofhydrological basin, even in the absence of any specific consent by the States concerned(www.internationalwaterlaw.org/cases/icj.html). Two seminal judgments can be mentioned
here in which the International Court of Justice, the main UN judicial body, dwelt upon theformulation, content and applicability of general principles of IEL to disputes related to the useof freshwaters: the Case of the Gabcikovo-Nagymaros Dam Project, (Slovakia v. Hungary, 25
September 1997) and the Pulp Mills Case (Argentina v. Uruguay, 20 April 2010). In bothsituations, besides the specific bilateral treaties applicable to the specific case, the Court, in its
attempt to reconcile the diverse interests over matters of transboundary water management,
evaluated the applicability of principles such as: “equitable and reasonable utilization”,
according to which utilization of water is not considered to be equitable and reasonable if theinterests of the other riparian State in the shared resource and the environmental protectionof the latter are not taken into account; the “no harm rule”, that incorporates the concept thata State shall use waters in its territory in a manner that does not cause appreciable harm toother riparian States, efficiently expressed in the Roman maxim: sic utere suo ut alienum non
laedas, which states that entitlement to a right corresponding to a legal obligation involves theobligation that such a right is not abused by his holder; the principle of cooperation, as well asthat of prevention, which has its origin in the due diligence required of a State in its territory
and is connected to the duty to avoid significant prejudice to other users. Another generalprinciple the existence of which is still disputed imposes the duty to carry out anenvironmental impact assessment before initiating industrial activity, where there is a risk thatthe proposed industrial activity may have a significant adverse impact in a transboundary
context on a shared resource.
Nonetheless, the above described general principles of International environmental law per se
are not sufficient to establish an effective and efficient regulation of all the activities regarding
a transboundary lake. Treaty law is of course the best way to embody and further specify thesaid principles in order to reconcile the diverse interests at stake. To this extent, a successful
instrument is the 1992 Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses
and International Lakes, negotiated among UNECE Member States. It is a frameworkagreement in force since 1996 among many European States that fosters the implementationof integrated water resources management, in particular the basin approach, requiring State
Parties to prevent, control and reduce transboundary impact, and to use transboundary waters
in a reasonable and equitable way so to ensure their sustainable management. In this respect
its implementation contributes to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals andother international commitments. The same logic applies to the 1997 Convention on the NonNavigational Uses of International Watercourses (UN Water Convention), just entered into
force (14 August 2014) for 35 States, and also to the Draft articles on “The law of323

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

transboundary aquifers” adopted by the International Law Commission in 2008, which will be
discussed by the UN General Assembly in its 71st session.
As a matter of fact, effective lake management and governance requires consideration not
only of the relevant International rules dealing with freshwaters, but also of other norms
whose respect or disrespect can have an impact on a whole lake basin and which, therefore,
do form part of the legal framework of lakes. This is particularly the case of the Multilateral
Environmental Agreements on biodiversity-related issues (MEAs) promoted by the UN system,
such as the Convention on Biological Diversity (1992), the Convention on the Conservation ofMigratory Species (1978), as well as the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands of International
Importance (1971), which remains, however, outside the UN system of MEAs.
Lastly, as far as the preservation of natural landscape is concerned, we cannot forget theopportunity to enhance the conservation of lake basins offered by the 1972 UNESCO
Convention on the protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage, by means of theirinscription in the World Heritage List as part of the World Natural Heritage.
Results
The analysis of International law and State practice demonstrates the existence of a cluster ofgeneral rules of International Law, binding on all States, that provide the basic legal framework
for a sound lake regulation. This legal systems lays on a three-pronged pillar built on the basisof a few principles: equitable utilization, no-harm rule and cooperation, which are mutuallyinterdependent and involve some kind of self-imposed constraint on State sovereignty for the
pursuit of the common interest related to environmental protection and equitable water
allocation. Around those principles new norms and standards have been set forth in a great
number of instruments over the last decades, which have further developed the legal
framework. Consequently, “such norms have to be taken into consideration, and such new
standards given proper weight, not only when States contemplate new activities but also whencontinuing with activities begun in the past. This need to reconcile economic developmentwith protection of the environment is aptly expressed in the concept of sustainable
development” (ICJ, Gabcikovo-Nagymaros Case, 1997).
In conclusion, non compliance by States with the rules forming part of the legal framework
applicable to lakes, such as those briefly outlined above, constitutes damage to the common
interest and does not guarantee an equitable utilization by all actors involved.
References
Ramsar Convention on Wetlands of International Importance, 1971
UNESCO Convention on the protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage, 1972
UN Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species, 1978
UN Convention on Biological Diversity, 1992
UNECE Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes,
1992
UN Convention on the Non-Navigational Uses of International Watercourses, 1997
Draft articles on “The law of transboundary aquifers” International Law Commission 2008
Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) agreed at the Rio+20 Conference 2012324

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Case concerning the Project of Gabcikovo-Nagymaros Dam, (Slovakia v. Hungary, judgment of 25
September 1997); Case concerning Pulp Mills on the River Uruguay (Argentina v. Uruguay,
judgment of 20 April 2010), International Court of Justice, www.icj-cij.org/docket/index.
Boisson de Chazournes L., 2013, Fresh Water in International Law, Oxford
Glen G. (ed.), 2010, The Impact of Climate Change on European Lakes, Springer
Kohen, M.G., 2011, Les principes généraux du droit international de l’eau à la lumière de lajurisprudence récente de la Cour internationale de Justice, in L’eau en droit international Paris, 91108
Marchisio S., 1999, Water Management and General Principles of International Law, in Sustainable
Development and Management of Water Resources: A Legal Framework for the Mediterranean,Rome
Vincenti V., in 2002 Thinking about the environment. Our debt to the Classical and Medieval past,
Oxford, 135.

325

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

The role of biodiversity-related meas: providing another layer of international
legal protection to lakes and their natural resources?

Marco Citelli1
1

PhD Graduate in International Law & Economics (Università Commerciale L. Bocconi)
marco.citelli@gmail.com; marco.citelli@phd.unibocconi.it.
Keywords: biodiversity; multilateral environmental agreements, CBD; protected areas; lakes.
Introduction
Multilateral environmental agreements on biodiversity-related issues (biodiversity-related
MEAs) entail a whole set of international law rules on the protection, conservation andsustainable use of natural living resources (as species, natural habitats and ecosystems). The
maintenance and management of said resources, worth of international legal protection underthese agreements either for their ‘outstanding universal value’, their being a ‘common
heritage’ or constituting a transboundary issue engendering a ‘common concern’, is typicallydemanded to national authorities in turn responsible for the realization of administrative
arrangements in this respect as, for instance, the creation of protected areas.
Three Conventions on wildlife and habitat protection for more than four decades have beenfunctioning as the main international legal instruments in this regard (the 1971 Convention on
Wetlands of International Importance especially as Waterfowl Habitats, the 1972 Convention
concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage and the 1978 Convention
on the Conservation of Migratory Species). Each of them contains rules providing for thecreation of protected sites, to be implemented with the view to realize a strict regime ofprotection (at local level) that is supported by initiatives variously undertaken by each COP (atinternational level). The 1992 United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), a global
treaty with an overarching scope embracing all biodiversity issues, at the same timesuperseded and supported the functioning of its sectoral ‘predecessors’. This is because as theother biodiversity-related MEAs, the CBD contemplates the realization of protected areas as ameans for in situ conservation (article 8, paragraphs a) to e)) and is equipped with a moresophisticated system of governance.
The study at hand comprises a brief and preliminary overview of the substantive provisions
enshrined by each MEAs on the designation of protected sites. This analysis will be
instrumental to answer a number of questions. Firstly, it will be seen whether and to what
extent said provisions are implemented in order to provide effective legal protection tolacustrine biodiversity and lake ecosystems. Secondly, an attempt will be made to see if and towhat extent the rules on designation of protected areas supplement extant systems ofinternational legal protection introducted by virtue of other legal instruments as, chiefly, the1992 UNECE Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses andInternational Lakes (UNECE Water Convention).

326

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Hence, attention will be devoted to an assessment of the practice being developed by the
Conferences of the Parties (COPs) under each biodiversity-related MEA. More precisely, theaim will be to see if and how decisions supportive to the effective legal protection of lacustrine
biodiversity and lake ecosystems are actually adopted, starting from decisions on, andinitiatives relating to, the designation and maintenance of lake protected areas.
The overall objective of this paper is to see how and to what extent the designation of lake
protected areas pursuant to biodiversity-related MEAs is capable of reconciling the exercise ofState sovereignty and the global interests attached to the protection of the Earth's lakes while
discouraging the indiscriminate grabbing of lacustrine natural resources.
References
Books and Articles
Bowman M., Davies P., Redgwell C., Lyster’s International Wildlife Law, Cambridge, 2011.
Gestri M., La gestione delle risorse naturali d’interesse generale per la Comunità internazionale, Torino,
1996.
Sands P., Principles of International Environmental Law, Cambridge, 2003.
Wiersema A., ‘The New International Law-Makers? Conferences of the Parties to Multilateral
Environmental Agreements’, in (2009) 31 Michigan Journal of International Law, at. 231-287.
International agreements and decisions adopted by the Conference of the Parties and other bodies
instituted under said agreements
CBD COP 10, Decision X/2 on the ‘Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020’.
CBD COP 11, Decision XI/23 on 'biological diversity of inland water ecosystems'.
CMS COP 10, Resolution 10.5, Strategic Plan for Migratory Species 2015-2023.
Convention on Wetlands of International Importance especially as Waterfowl Habitat, Ramsar (Iran), of
4 Feb. 1971, in force 21 Dec. 1975, in (1976) 996 United Nations Treaty Series, p.245.
Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species, Bonn (Germany), of 23 Jun. 1979, in force 1 Nov.
1983, in (1991) 1651 United Nations Treaty Series, p. 333.
UNECE Convention on the Protection and the Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International
Lakes, Helsinki (Finland) of 17 Mar. 1992, in force 6 Oct. 1996, available atwww.unece.org/env/water/
UNESCO Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage, Paris(France) of 16 Nov. 1972, in force 15 Dec. 1975, in (1972)11 International Legal Materials, at 1358
United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity, Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), in force, of 5 June 1992, inforce 29 Dec. 1993, in (1993) United Nations Treaty Series, Vol. 1760, at 79.
World Heritage Committee, Decisions adopted by the World Heritage Committee at its 35 th Session(Paris, 2011), WHC-11/35.COM/20, of 7 July 2011.
World Heritage Committee, Decisions adopted by the World Heritage Committee at its 36 th Session(Saint-Petersburg, 2012), WHC-12/36.COM/19, of 6 July 2012.
World Heritage Committee, Decisions adopted by the World Heritage Committee at its 37th Session(Phnom-Penh, 2013), WHC-13/37.COM/20, of 5 July 2013.
World Heritage Committee, Decisions adopted by the World Heritage Committee at its 38 th Session(Doha, 2014), WHC-14/38.COM/16, of 7 July 2014.

327

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

International Case Law
Certain Activities carried out by Nicaragua in the Border Area (Costa Rica v. Nicaragua), Application to
the ICJ, of 10 Nov. 2010, available at www.icj-cij.org/docket/files/150/16279.pdf.
Certain Activities Carried Out by Nicaragua in the Border Area (Costa Rica v. Nicaragua), Provisional
Measures, Order of 8 March 2011, I.C.J. Reports 2011, p. 6
KasikililSedudu Island (Botswana v. Namibia), Dissenting Opinion of Vice-President Weeramantry in, ICJ
Report (1999), at 1045.
WebsitesRamsar Sites Database, www.ramsar.wetlands.org/Database (last accessed on 4 September 2014)328

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

The contribution of the UNECE Water Convention to the prevention andresolution of transboundary water disputes
Cristina Contartese1
1

University of Luxembourg

Keywords: UNECE Water Convention; international water law; Implementation Committee;
dispute prevention and resolution
Introduction
While international water law as a whole can be said to enhance the functioning of dispute
avoidance and settlement on the use of international watercourses, the purpose of thepresentation is to address specifically the contribution of the Convention on the Protection
and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes (1992 UNECE Water
Convention) to the prevention and resolution of transboundary water disputes. Attention will
be paid to the recently established Implementation Committee of the UNECE Water
Convention as well as to the various means and procedures foreseen under this Convention. It
will be argued that the role of the Implementation Committee, the provision on disputesettlement, together with the procedural obligations on cooperation, provide an effective
framework for the prevention, management and settlement of water disputes.
Discussion
The Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International
Lakes 1992 (hereafter ‘UNECE Water Convention’), which was negotiated in the framework of
the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) (Tanzi, 2013), was adopted on
17 March 1992 in Helsinki and entered into force on 6 October 1996. The purpose of the
UNECE Water Convention is to prevent, control and reduce the transboundary impact withrespect to tranboundary watercourses and international lakes. Being a framework Convention,
it establishes some basic substantive and procedural obligations, while it allows the Riparian
States to complement them in agreements, which are able to take into account the specificcharacteristics of the transboundary water resources in question, such as their hydrogeologicalfeatures, and States technological, financial or administrative capacity.
The normative content of the Convention is based on three pillars: the no-harm rule, thereasonable and equitable utilization, and the principle of cooperation; while in line with otherMultilateral Environmental Agreements, the Convention also refers to other principles aiming
at environmental protection, such as the precautionary principle, the polluter-pays-principle,
integrated water management, and intergenerational equity.
As for the first of the two substantive principles, that is, the no-harm rule, the core obligationof the Convention is the duty to ‘prevent, control and reduce any transboundary impact’(article 2, par. 1). As the Parties are required to ‘take all appropriate measures’ when achieving
such an objective, the no-harm principle expresses a due diligence obligation. Among theappropriate measures to be taken in order to prevent, control and reduce any impact, the329Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEINGUNECE Water Convention obliges the Parties ‘[t]o ensure that transboundary waters are used
in a reasonable and equitable way, taking into particular account their transboundary
character, in the case of activities which cause or are likely to cause transboundary impact’(art. 2, par. 2, let. c). The two principles of no-harm and reasonable and equitable utilization
are, therefore, ‘indivisibly intertwined’ (Tanzi, forthcoming).
Under the UNECE Water Convention, the principle of cooperation and its proceduralapplications deserve special attention. Thanks to its mandatory and detailed nature, theprinciple of cooperation provides the distinguishing feature of this Convention from otherinternational water law instruments, and fosters dispute prevention and settlement among
Riparian States. The first essential obligation for Riparian Parties is to enter into bilateral or
multilateral agreements, or other arrangements, in order to define their mutual relations andconduct regarding the prevention, control and reduction of transboundary water impacts(article 9, para. 1), whose content should consist of three elements: first, ‘the Riparian Parties
shall specify the catchment area, or part(s) thereof, subject to cooperation’; secondly, ‘[t]hese
agreements or arrangements shall embrace relevant issues covered by this Convention, as wellas any other issues on which the Riparian Parties may deem it necessary to cooperate’; thirdly
and most importantly, such agreements or other arrangements ‘shall provide for theestablishment of joint bodies’ (Guide to Implementing the Water Convention, 2013). Under
the Convention, such joint bodies represent the main institutional channel of cooperation
between the Riparian Parties, as they are called to perform several tasks related to the
management, control and harm prevention of transboundary water resources. Moreover,further specifications of the principle of cooperation are the establishment andimplementation of ‘joint programmes for monitoring the conditions of transboundary waters,
including floods and ice drifts, as well as transboundary impact’ (article 11), common researchand development activities for water-quality objectives (article 12), the exchange of available
data and information (article 13), including critical situations that may have transboundary
impact, and where appropriate, the setting up of warning and alarm systems (article 14), as
well as providing mutual assistance (article 15).
The UNECE Water Convention contains a specific provision on dispute settlement (article 22),
which refers to the ‘solution by negotiation or by any other means of dispute settlement
acceptable to the parties to the dispute’, and foresees an “opt-in” formula, where a Party may
declare in writing to accept as compulsory the jurisdiction of the International Court of Justiceor of an arbitral tribunal with regard to disputes that could not be settled by negotiation and in
relation to States that have likewise opted in. Although one may notice that this provision does
not explicitly refer to various forms of third-party dispute settlement, such as good offices,
enquiry, mediation or conciliation, it is the obligation to establish joint bodies for bilateral andmultilateral co-operation referred to above, whose tasks cover the widest range of prevention
and joint management measures, that displays a direct impact on dispute avoidance andresolution (Tanzi & Contartese, forthcoming).
Through the Implementation Committee of the UNECE Water Convention, established in 2012at the Sixth Session of the Meeting of the Parties (MOP) to the Convention, the Contracting
Parties have been given a further means to deal with non-compliance by Convention States(Lammers, 2014). The Implementation Committee, whose mechanism is described as ‘simple,

330Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

non-confrontational, non-adversarial, transparent, supportive and cooperative in nature,building on the distinctive collaborative spirit of the Convention’, is vested with a relatively
wide spectrum of tasks geared towards supporting the implementation of and compliancewith the Convention (UN Doc. ECE/MP.WAT/2012/L.4, Appendix I). In particular, through theParty to Party mechanism, a State Party is afforded an alternative to adjudication which may
combine the features of mediation, conciliation, or simple advisory assistance with the aim toassist the country whose measures affect other Riparian States. In such a case, the allegedly
affected country, which is to inform the Party whose implementation and/or compliance is inquestion before bringing its submission to the Committee, as well as the other Riparian State
involved, is required to submit information concerning the difficulty in question to thesecretariat, which will transmit the dossier to the Committee. The Committee has the power todecide several measures, and furthermore, ‘[u]pon consideration of the report and of any
recommendations by [the Committee]’, the MOP can decide measures, which vary fromsuggesting assistance to the concerned State(s) to the issuing of a statement of concern, adeclaration of non-compliance, or even the suspension of the special rights and privileges
accorded to the Party concerned under the Convention.
Conclusion
The presentation has emphasized the role that different provisions under the UNECE Water
Convention play in strengthening both the prevention and resolution of transboundary waterdisputes. Having regard to the principle of cooperation, the UNECE Water Convention
establishes stringent obligations, inter alia, on setting up joint bodies, which prevent potential
conflicts among Riparian States being in charge of several tasks concerning water management
measures, while the Implementation Committee provides a means for dispute prevention as
well as an alternative tool to the provision of article 22 for dispute settlement.
References
Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes, 1992.
ILM 31: 1312 ff.
Decision VI/1, Support to implementation and compliance, 2012. UN Doc. ECE/MP.WAT/37/Add.2.
Draft decision on support to implementation and compliance, 2012. UN Doc. ECE/MP.WAT/2012/L.4.
Guide to Implementing the Water Convention, 2013. UN Doc. ECE/MP.WAT/39.
Lammers J. G., 2014. The Helsinki Water Convention: A New Implementation Mechanism andCommittee. Environmental Policy and Law, 44/1-2 : 117-124.
Tanzi A. & C. Contartese, forthcoming. Dispute prevention, Dispute Settlement and Implementation
Facilitation in International Water Law: the Added Value of the Establishment of an
Implementation Mechanism under the Water Convention. In Tanzi A., McIntyre O., Kolliopoulos A.
& A. Rieu-Clark (eds), The UNECE Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary
Watercourses and International Lakes: Its Contribution to International Water Cooperation, BRILL.
Tanzi A. & C. Contartese, forthcoming. The Implementation Committee of the Helsinki Water
Convention: a New Tool of Public Participation for the Management of Water Resources?. In
Tignino M. & K. Sangbana (eds.), Public Participation and Water Resources Management : WhereDo We Stand in International Law?/La participation du public et la gestion des ressources en eau:
où en le droit international ?, UNESCO International Hydrological Programme.

331Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

LAKE BASIN BEST MANAGEMENT PRACTICES

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Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Identification and classification of artificial and heavily modified lakes in Italy
M.C. Mignuoli 1, M. Barile1, C. Vendetti1 & G. Scanu1
1Italian Ministry of Environment and Protection of Land and Sea

Keywords: heavily modified water bodies, artificial water bodies, water uses, mitigation
measures
Introduction
This paper summarizes the current state of play with respect to the assessment of the criteria
for the identification and the classification of artificial and heavily modified lakes in Italy in thecontext of the implementation of the Water Framework Directive (WFD: EC, 2000). The
Directive, which establishes a framework for the protection of all water bodies and, overall,aims at achieving “good ecological status” (GES) for all waters by 2015. In accordance witharticle 4(3), the WFD provides that for certain water bodies, under specific circumstances, theenvironmental objective is to achieve the “good ecological potential” (GEP) rather than the
GES. This is the case of the artificial water bodies and of those water bodies which have been
physically altered by human activities (i.e. the “specified uses” such as, e.g., water supply oflakes/reservoirs). These water bodies may be designated as “artificial” (AWB) or “heavily
modified” (HMWB), reconciling thus the socio-economic activities and the environmental
objectives. The assumption is that the structure and functioning of biological communities of
the aquatic ecosystems of HMWB and AWB are different from those of “natural” water bodies
because of physical alterations or artificial characteristics due to water uses.
Materials and methods
Technical criteria for the identification and designation of rivers and lakes as HMWB or AWB
are established, for Italy, in the Ministerial Regulation of november 27 th 2013, n.156 (Ministryof Environment and Protection of Land and Sea, 2013). The Regulation was necessary to fully
implement the provisions of Article 4, paragraph 3, of the Directive 2000/60/EC as transposedin Article 77, paragraph 5, of the Legislative Decree n. 152/06 (Italy, 2006), which gives legal
regulations for the identification and designation of those water bodies. The Decree, set up
with the assistance of the National Institutes of Science (ISPRA and CNR-ISE), makes also theappropriate changes necessary to conform to Annex 3 of Part III of 152/06 the technicalrequirements of Directive 2000/60/EC and contains the main output of the Guidelines issued
by the European Commission on the subject (Common Implementation Strategy, 2003),
defining a coherent national methodology for the identification of AWB and HMWB.
Good ecological potential is defined in the Annex V 1.2.5 of the Water Framework Directive asan ecological state in which “there are slight changes in the values of the relevant biologicalquality elements as compared to the values found at maximum ecological potential (MEP)”.
The values for the biological quality elements according to MEP should reflect, “as far as
possible, those associated with the closest comparable surface water body type, given thephysical conditions which result from the artificial or heavily modified characteristics of the333Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

water body”. The definition recognizes that the MEP biological values (a) depend on the MEP
hydromorphological conditions and (b) may be different from those of any natural surface
water body type because no such natural type is completely comparable.
The Directive defines the MEP hydromorphological conditions as those “consistent with the
only impacts on the surface water body being those resulting from the artificial or heavily
modified characteristics of the water body once all mitigation measures have been taken to
ensure the best approximation to ecological continuum, in particular with respect to migrationof fauna and appropriate spawning and breeding grounds”. The mitigation measures referredin the definition of MEP hydromorphological conditions are limited to those that would nothave a significant adverse effect on (a) the wider environment or (b) the use or uses that are
dependent on the modified characteristics. The purpose of designation of a water body as a
HMWB or AWB would be defeated if mitigation measures that would have such adverse
effects were included.
This also means that GEP cannot represent a state that could only be achieved using measuresthat would have a significant adverse effect on the wider environment or on the use or uses
justifying designation in accordance with Article 4.3 of the WFD. GEP therefore represents astate in which the ecological potential of a water body is falling only slightly short of the
maximum it could achieve without significant adverse effects on the wider environment or on
the relevant water use or uses. An assessment of disproportionate costs of the mitigation
measures should not be considered.
Results and Discussion
The biological assessment methods sensitive to hydromorphological alterations, related tolakes and also rivers, are at the moment under development. Considering the complexity ofthe definition of the ‘good ecological potential’ (GEP), already arisen in several discussion at EU
level, the Ministry has established a working group to collaborate with scientific institutes inorder to refine a methodology to derive GEP for lacustrine and river water bodies designed as
HMWBs or AWBs. In this context a draft document reporting a list of mitigation measures tobe applied in all AWBs and HMWBs has been compiled. It is foreseen that this activity will becompleted on time for its use in the next River Basin Management Plans.
The document reports the two methods described under the Common Implementation
Strategy (common strategy developed by the EU Member States and the European
Commission for supporting the implementation of the Directive2000/60/EC, “establishing aframework for Community action in the field of water policy”) for defining good ecologicalpotential. The original method is described in Guidance n. 4 on heavily modified water bodies(Common Implementation Strategy, 2003). An alternative method is described in the technicalpaper prepared by the drafting group on hydromorphology and published in 2005 ( sometimes
called the “Prague method” or the “mitigation measures method”: Kampa & Kranz, 2005).
Figure 1 summarizes the main steps involved in the alternative approach to defining GEP (leftside of Figure) and compares this with the main steps in the approach set out in CIS GuidanceDocument No. 4 (right side of Figure).

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Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Fig. 1. Steps involved in defining GEP using alternative approach (left side) compared to the relevant steps in theapproach described in CIS Guidance Document No. 4 (right side); red arrows: steps following CIS method,green arrows: modifications of CIS method (from: Kampa & Kranz, 2005 )The first step of the alternative approach is similar to that of the approach in CIS GuidanceDocument No. 4. All mitigation measures are identified that would (a) deliver ecologicalimprovements; (b) not have a significant adverse effect on the wider environment; and (c) nothave a significant adverse impact on a water use that relies on the heavily modified or artificial
characteristics.
As the first step of both approaches is similar, the document prepared by the Italian Ministry
proposes a first list of mitigation measures for specified water use.
ReferencesEC, 2000. Directive 2000/60/CE of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2000
establishing a framework for community action in the field of water policy. – Off. J. of the European
Communities L327 (22.12.2000): 1-72.
Common Implementation Strategy, 2003. Guidance document n. 4 – Identification and designation ofheavily modified and artificial water bodies. Produced by CIS working group 2.2 – HMWB, 118 pp.
Italy, 2006. Decreto legislativo 3 aprile 2006, n. 152. Norme in materia ambientale. Supplemento
ordinario alla Gazzetta Ufficiale n. 88 del 14 aprile 2006 – Serie generale.
Kampa E. & N. Kranz, 2005 (prepared by). Workshop summary report “WFD and Hydromorphology”. 1719 October 2005, Prague, 38 pp.
Ministry of Environment and Protection of Land and Sea, 2013. Regolamento recante “Criteri tecnici perl’identificazione dei corpi idrici artificiali e fortemente modificati per le acque fluviali e lacustri perla modifica delle norme tecniche del decreto legislativo 3 aprile 2006, n. 152, recante norme inmateria ambientale, predisposto ai sensi dell’articolo 75, comma 3, del medesimo decreto
legislativo”. D.M. n. 156 del 27 novembre 2013.

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Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Enhancement of quality of fish product of Trasimeno Lake: PSR UMBRIA
project
F. Asdrubali1, R. Branciari2, R. Franceschini3, A. Presciutti1 & S. Schiavoni1
1

CIRIAF, University of Perugia, via G. Duranti 67, 06123 Perugia, Italy
University of Perugia
3
University G. Marconi Rome
2

Keywords: Biodiversity, fish products, food quality, cold chain
Introduction
Trasimeno Lake is considered a high value ecosystem due to its wide biodiversity. Today,
ﬁshing is still one of the main commercial activities of the area. Owing to the introduction of
exotic species, profound changes have occurred in the composition of the ﬁsh community. The
new species such as Carassius auratus (Gold fish) have adapted well, while the indigenous
species such as tench, carp, pike and eel, have declined in abundance over the years .
The Regional Fund PSR Umbria 2007-2013 (Cooperation for the development of innovative
products, processes and technologies for agricultural, food and forest service) is supporting a
R&D project related to the Lake Trasimeno in order to: enhance the knowledge of its fish
fauna, prepare plans for the preservation of the ecosystem and to find solutions to reduce thenumber of goldfish and simultaneously benefit the local fishermen’s yearly income. Processing
raw goldfish fillets could be a solution to the problem, as they can be easily transformed into
more attractive.
Freshwater fish is an important source of essential fatty acids for human nutrition. The aim of
this study was to study a new process to exploit the abundance of this species to obtain a new
fish product with high nutritional quality for consumers, using local aromatic herb and highquality olive oil.
Fish products spoil in relatively short time and temperature variations may cause a potential
hazard for the consumer. Application of an optimized quality and safety assurance system forchilled distribution of fresh fish products requires continuous monitoring and control ofstorage conditions from production to consumption.
In the last decade, the incidence of food borne disease has increased in Europe, despite theintroduction of Practice and Hazard Analysis of Critical Control Point (HACCP) and theproliferation of food safety regulations. Another goal of the project was to allow innovative
tests to monitor the cold chain such as time temperature indicator labels.
These systems are user friendly and allow to verify if the temperature of the product has
exceeded the correct storage value.
Fish processing technology
Fish caught in Trasimeno Lake was scaled and cut in fillet. The fillets where grinded two times
because fishbone are dangerous and Gold fish has many thorns. That is why they were turned
into hamburgers.

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Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Hamburger 150 g weight were produced by adding instant mashed potatoes, parsley, chives,
salt and pepper. The product was frozen in a blast chiller and keep at -18°C temperature
below. The production is carried out in a CE stamp laboratory for processing of fish products.
Chemical analysis of hamburger
Fatty acids contents were determined by gas chromatography after lipid extraction according
to the Folch et al. (1957) method. The transmethylation was performed according to theprocedure of Ward (2002) The
Nile Perch
GoldfishCarpcommercial
analysis were carried out using ahamburger
hamburger
hamburger
Perkin-Elmer AutoSystem-XL gas
a
b
c
SFA
37,23 ±0.02
31,10 ±0.04
12,70 ±0.06
chromatograph equipped with a
a
b
c
MUFA
32,54 ±0.05
44,37 ±0.06
69,78 ±0.07
CP-Select CB for FAME fused
a
b
c
PUFA
29,69 ±0.11
24,02 ±0.012
17,50 ±0.04
silica capillary column (100 m xabcn 3-PUFA
12,70 ±0.08
6,63 ±0.06
2,80 ±0.11
0.25 mm i.d., film thickness 0.39aabµm, J&W, Agilent technologies,
n6 -PUFA
16,55 ±0.12
17,05 ±0.08
14,61 ±0.04abcPalo Alto, CA, US) and with an6/n3
1,30 ±0.06
2,57 ±0.07
5,21 ±0.06
flame ionization detector (FID).
Individual fatty acid methyl Table. 1. Quantitative fatty acids content in hamburger of goldfish, carp
and a commercial with Nile Perch (percentage).
esters were identified by
SFA saturated fatty acids
comparison with a standard
MUFA monounsaturated fatty acids
mixture containing 37 FAMEs
PUFA polyunsaturated fatty acids
n3 omega 3(Supelco, Bellefonte PA, USA).

n6 omega 6
The quantitative levels of themain fatty acid groups of thethree different hamburgers arereported in Table 1.
Smart labels for Lake Trasimeno fish products
The method chosen to check the quality of the cold chain of Trasimeno fish product is the Time
Temperature Indicator (TTI) label.
The usage of TTI for the evaluation of thermal abuse of food products has been verified in
the scientific literature (for instance Mai et al. 2011). The system is characterized by atransparent label applied on a white one; the first becomes coloured if exposed over atemperature threshold.

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Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Fig. 1. Example of the relationship between colour
intensity, storing temperature and storing time.

The TTI label selected for the project should
be applied to the packaging in atemperature range between -5 °C and 0 °C.
The transparent label does not became
intensely coloured if exposed totemperature up to 20 °C for less than 30
minutes.
These systems can be also employed by theend-user (consumer) to verify if the
products marked with the TTI are properly
stocked after their purchase.
In fact, they do not request a data logger ora data reader to be consulted; the intensityof the color is directly proportional to thetime of exposure to temperatures higher
than the threshold value and size of theoverrun (Fig. 1).
Result and discussion
The amount of PUFA, MUFA and SFA of goldifish Hamburger were different from the other two
products. It is worth noting that goldfish hamburger may provide a considerable amount of
PUFA and in particular n-3 fatty acids in comparison with carp Hamburger and the commercial
one. n3 PUFA approximately are represented by 1.92 % of EPA (Eicosapentaenoic acid) and6,33 by DHA (Docosahexaenoic acid). From a nutritional point of view, the EPA + DHA content
is of great interest because of the role of these fatty acids in the therapy and prevention ofcardiovascular diseases (Uauy & Valenzuela, 1992). The n-6/n-3 ratio of goldfish hamburger
give an acknowledged nutritional index for human health, the value in goldfish hamburger was
lower than that of the other products and of the value reported by other authors (Dal Bosco,
2010). A decrease in the n-6/n-3 ratio in the human diet is essential to prevent coronary heartdisease by reducing plasma lipids and to reduce the risk of cancer (Kinsella, Lokesh, & Stone,1990). Nutrition advisers recommend an increased intake of n-3 in human diets with areduction of n-6/n-3 ratio to values below 4 (Kark, Kaufmann, Binka, Goldberger, & Berry,2003).
These results suggest that goldfish hamburgers are characterized by a high nutritional value
and the technological process can be a strategy to enhance the value of this fish. Furthermore
the preservation of quality of the product can be assured by the application of TTI technology,
a simple, inexpensive device that indicates with an easily measurable, time temperaturedependent change the temperature history and quality status of the food they are attached to.
The need to assure the quality of food to the final consumer is the main goal of every subject
involved in the supply chain, especially when the food has to be stored and processed underparticular conditions. This is true for fish, that always needs to be at the right temperature:
modern technologies help to manage the Cold Chain, for example TTI can monitor thetemperature the food has been exposed to throughout its life.

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Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

The employment of an user friendly quality indicator will give value to the innovative fish
products developed thanks to the activities of the PSR Umbria Project, making them more
attractive for consumers.
References
Dal Bosco A., E. Mourvaki, C. Mugnai & C. Castellini, 2010. Nutritional evaluation of fillets, pulp andcroquette of wild caught Trasimeno lake goldfish (Carassius auratus L.). Ital. J. Food Sci. 2:192.
Folch J., M. Lees & G.H. Sloane-Stanley 1957. A simple method for the isolation and purification of total
lipids from animal tissues. J. Biol. Chem. 226:497
Kark, J. D., N.A. Kaufmann, F. Binka, N. Goldberger & E.M. Berry, E. M., 2003. Adipose tissue n-6 fatty
acids and acute myocardial infarction in a population consuming a diet high in polyunsaturated
fatty acids. American Journal Clinic and Nutrition, 77, 796–802.
Kinsella, J. E., B. Lokesh, & R.A. Stone, 1990. Dietary n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids and amelioration ofcardiovascular diseases: Possible mechanisms. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 52, 10–28.
Mai, N., H. Audorff, W. Reichstein, D. Haarer, G. Olafsdottir, S. G. Bogason, J. Kreyenschmidt & S. Arason,
2011. Performance of a photochromic time–temperature indicator under simulated fresh fish
supply chain conditions. International Journal of Food Science & Technology 46, 297-304.
Uauy, R., & Valenzuela, A. (1992). Marine oils as a source of omega-3 fatty acids in the diet: How to
optimize the health benefits. Progress in Food Nutrition Science, 16, 199–243.
Ward A.T., Wittenberg K.M., Przybylski R, 2002.Bovine Milk Fatty Acid Profiles Produced by Feeding
Diets Containing Solin, Flax and Canola J.Dairy Sci., 85, 5, 1191-1196

339

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

An effective comparison of the production methodologies of nanocrystalline
cellulose (NCC) obtained from Phragmites australis
F. Cotana1, G. Cavalaglio1, V. Coccia1, A. Petrozzi1, M. Gelosia1 & E. Pompili1
1

CIRIAF (CRB Section), Interuniversity Research Center on Pollution and Environment, M. Felli,
University of Perugia, via Goffredo Duranti, 67, 06125, Perugia, Italy
Keywords: Nanocrystalline cellulose, biorefinery, bio-based product, Phragmites australis,
ionic liquids, acid hydrolysis
Introduction
Nanocrystalline cellulose (NCC) is an high quality bio-based product, obtainable from cellulosic
materials and its relevant cross-sector properties have been largely demonstrated (Habibi etal., 2010, Dufresne et al., 2000, Brinchi et al., 2013). The possibility to produce such a precious
by-product from residual and marginal matrices could represent an opportunity for rural lands(e.g. lake riversides), offering an innovative way to save resources and to produce energy andbio-chemicals. The energy valence of the ligno-cellulosic residues is the more explored, indeed
several species of ligno-cellulosic residues have been already used to produce bioethanol (e.g.
Cotana et al., 2014(a)). The production of high quality bio-based materials is instead the moreinnovative research task. Currently, a major barrier to be overcome is the sustainability of the
production process, looking forward for industrial scaling up purposes. A promising production
method consists in the use of ionic liquid technique (e.g. Zakaria et al., 2011), allowing thedeconstruction of cellulose and the reclaiming of its crystalline content, using sustainable
components. The present work will present the main results coming from the production ofcellulose nanocrystals from Phragmites australis that is a very common arboreal variety
widespread along lake rivers. In this context, two different methods were applied to obtain
NCC: the method including an acid hydrolysis step, and the procedure exploiting the green
ionic liquids.
Materials and methods
Materials
The feedstock used in the traditional method was Phragmites australis (P.a.) ground with
Retch mill, and sieved to 0.5 mm (P.a. S2 sample). In the experimentation with ionic liquids five
types of feedstock were tested: Phragmites australis chipped, size 1-2 cm (P.a. S1 sample);
Phragmites australis ground with Retch mill, sieved to 0.5 mm (P.a. S3 sample); Phragmites
australis after Steam Explosion pretreatment (R08 = 3.6) (P.a. S4 sample); Phragmites australis
after Steam Explosion pretreatment (R0 = 4.0) (P.a. S5 sample); Phragmites australis afterSteam Explosion pretreatment (R0 = 4.4) (P.a. S6 sample).

8

R0 is the severity coefficient of a classic Steam Explosion pretreatment process, as defined for instance in Cotana et(a)al, 2014 .

340

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

All ionic liquids were purchased from Sigma Aldrich (Missouri, United States). [EMIM][Ac] (1Ethyl-3-methylimidazolium acetate) was > 90% pure and [BMIM]HSO4 (1-Butyl-3methylimidazolium hydrogen sulfate) was BASF quality.
The traditional methodology of NCC extraction
The extraction methodology consisted of a five step protocol allowing the separation of thenanocrystalline content of cellulose (Cotana et al., 2014 (b)). The samples obtained from thistrial were deposited and dried on special support and analyzed by scanning electron
microscopy (SEM).
The ionic liquids (ILs) methodology of NCC extraction
Pretreatment of biomass with [EMIM][AC].
Phragmites australis was dissolved in [Emim][Ac] and a strongly basic aqueous solution ofphosphate was added. The resulting three-phase system has a salt-rich aqueous phase, a solidphase rich in cellulose, and an IL-rich phase containing most of the lignin. For every sample, 2 gof biomass were added to 20g [Emim][Ac] and incubated at a temperature of 140°C for 1h withstirring. The samples were then cooled to 70°C, and 20.0g of 40.0 wt% K 3PO4 solution wereadded to precipitate the cellulosic components [Shill et al. 2010]. The samples were cooled toroom temperature and centrifuged to provide a well-defined three-phase system. The IL andsalt-rich phases were removed, and the remaining solids were washed with a water:acetone
solution (1:1, v/v) and then with citrate buffer (50mM pH 4.8), to remove any residual IL or
phosphates.
Preparation of Cellulose Nanocrystals with [BMIM]HSO4.
Two samples, one obtained from the ionic liquid treatment and one by the traditional process,were treated with the ionic liquid [BMIM] [HSO4] in a 100ml flask. The ratio of solute/solvent
was 1:30 w/w. The process was carried out at a temperature of 90°C using diathermic oil bathfor 1h under vigorous stirring [Man et al. 2011]. To stop the reaction an equal volume of cold
deionized water was added and the solution was sonicated for 30 minutes in the ultrasonicbath. The solid components obtained were washed several times with deionized water andsubsequently centrifuged at 3000 rpm for 15 minutes. All the supernatant obtained werecollected and centrifuged again at 7500 rpm for 30 minutes in order to sediment thenanocrystalline component. The pellet obtained was re-suspended in deionized water and left
on dialysis overnight. As the same with the traditional methodology (par. 2.2), the samples
obtained from this trial were deposited and dried on special support and analyzed by scanningelectron microscopy (SEM).
Results
The preliminary results of the experimental campaign are summarized in Table 1. In particular,
for each initial sample typology, a specific SEM analysis was carried out, in order to verify thepresence of NCC after the different production methodologies.

341

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Type of pretreatment carried out

Typologyof initialsampleTraditional method(Cotanaetal,(b)2014 )

P.a. (S1)

P.a. (S2)P.a. (S3)P.a. (S4)P.a. (S5)P.a. (S6)(*)

Ionic liquid[EMIM][Ac](Shill et al.
2010)
X

Type of NCC production
methodology
Ionic liquid[BMIM]HSO4(Man et al.
2011)

Acid
Hydrolysis(Cotana et(b)al, 2014 )
X

X
(*)

X
(Step1+Step2+Step3)

X
(*)

X

X
(*)
X
(*)
X
X
X

X
X
X

Name
of
obtained
samples

Presence ofNCC (Y/N)

P1
P2a

N

P2b

Y

P3a

N

P3b

N

P4
P5
P6

N
N
N

N

a half of the initial measured weight

Table 1. Relevant processes of the experimental campaign

Indeed, the S1-S4-S5-S6 samples were firstly pretreated with the [EMIM][Ac] ionic liquid and ina second phase, they were destined to the acid hydrolysis. This particular subsequence oftreatments was chosen since after the [EMIM][Ac] pretreatment, the samples appeared notenough deconstructed. Therefore, the more aggressive acid hydrolysis process was applied but
not significant presence of NCC was detected for P1, P4, P5, and P6, as shown in Fig. 1. In
addition, concerning S2 and S3 samples, the pre-treated biomass was equally divided in two
parts, allowing to test the two different NCC production methodologies (i.e. acid hydrolysis
and [BMIM]HSO4). In this case, not relevant presence of NCC was detected for P2a, P3a andP3b produced samples, while, well-defined NCC particles were obtained for the P2b sample, as
shown in Fig.1

342

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING.
Fig. 1. SEM images (P1-P6) of the treatedsamples of Phragmites australis

Discussion

Fig.2. Some examples of the monomeric sugars thinfilm (ii, iii, iv, v) and the un-decostructedlignocellulosic biomass (i, vi)

australis

The experimental campaign mainly confirmed the effectiveness of the acid hydrolysis
methodology used for the production of NCC particles from ligno-cellulosic biomass (Bandesonet al. 2006) as confirmed by the SEM images of P2b sample in Fig 1. On the other hand, theionic liquid methodology, even if promising in terms of production efficiency of NCC from MCC(Man et al. 2001; Zakaria et al. 2011), it did not produced significant results in thisexperimental campaign. Anywhere, the not successful production of NCC particles can bejustified by the structure of the initial biomass and in particular by the inaccessibility of
crystalline cellulose and the not sufficient pretreatment applied.
In addition, some NCC particles could be probably covered by the presence of a thin film ofmonomeric sugars. They were mainly produced during the hydrolysis of amorphous cellulose,
as shown in Fig.2. This picture reports some examples of the over-mentioned effects and thatthe ionic liquid is not working in an optimized way for ligno-cellulosic biomass.
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to acknowledge the CIRIAF/CRB Section laboratories for providing theequipments for the experimentation. In addition, particular gratitude goes to the Departmentof Physics of the University of Perugia for performing the SEM analises.
References
Bandeson, A. Mathew & K. Oksman, 2006. Optimization of the isolation of microcrystalline cellulose byacid hydrolysis. Cellulose 13:171-180.

343

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Brinchi, L., F. Cotana, E. Fortunati & J.M. Kenny, 2013. Production of nanocrystalline cellulose fromlignocellulosic biomass: Technology and applications. Carbohydrate Polymers 94: 154– 169.
Cotana, F., G. Cavalaglio, M. Gelosia, A. Nicolini, V. Coccia & A. Petrozzi, 2014 (a). Production ofbioethanol in a second generation prototype from pine wood chips. Energy Procedia 45: 42 – 51.
Cotana, F., V. Coccia, G. Cavalaglio, E. Pompili, M. Gelosia, A. Petrozzi, 2014 (b). Cellulose nanocrystals
obtained from cynara cardunculus and their application in the paper industry, 14th CIRIAF
National Congress on Energy, Environment and Sustainable Development, ISBN/EAN: 978-88-6074603-0.
Dufresne, A., N. Dupeyre, & M.R. Vignon, 2000. Cellulose microfibrils from potato tuber cells: Processing
and characterization of starch–cellulose microfibril composites. Journal of Applied Polymers
Science 76: 2080–2092.
Habibi, Y., L. A. Lucia & O. J. Rojas, 2010. Cellulose nanocrystals: Chemistry, selfassembling, andapplications. Chemical Reviews 110: 3479–3500.
Man, N. Muhammad, A. Sarwono, M.A. Bustam, M.V. Kumar & S. Rafiq, 2011. Preparation of Cellulose
Nanocrystals using an ionic liquid. J Polym Environ (2011) 19:726-731
Shill, S. Padmanabhan, Q. Xin, J.M. Prausnitz, D.S. Clark & H.W. Blanch, 2010. Ionic liquid pretreatmentof cellulose biomass: enzymatic hydrolysis and ionic liquid recycle. Biotechnology andBioengineering, Vol. 108, No. 3, March, 2011 511-520
Zakaria M., N. Muhammad, A. Sarwono, M. A. Bustam, M. V. Kumar & S. Rafiq, 2011. Preparation of
Cellulose Nanocrystals Using an Ionic Liquid, J Polym Environ 19: 726–731.

344

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Simultaneous saccharification and fermentation of common reed (Phragmites
australis) at high solid loading
F. Cotana1, G. Cavalaglio1, V. Coccia1, A. Pisello1, A. Petrozzi1, D. Ingles1 & M. Gelosia1
1

CIRIAF - Biomass Research Centre, University of Perugia

Keywords: Ethanol, common reed, Simultaneous saccharification and fermentation, High solid
loading
Introduction
Lake environments offer a good availability of biomass such as common reed (Phragmites
australis), a perennial grass that grows in wetlands or near inland waterways. Traditionally,
common reed is used for local handicrafts such as roofs, baskets and beach umbrellas,
Sathitsuksanoh et al. (2009). Thanks to recent advancements in conversion technologies,
common reed's processing residue can be used as a feedstock for the production of cellulosic
ethanol, giving an added value to rural economy.
In the present study an optimization of the bioethanol production process using steam
explosion pre-treatment at different severity parameter (R0) values was carried out. The
ethanol yield was also investigated using different values of solid loading at the same enzyme
dosage and R0, with a simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF) process.
Materials and methods
Feedstock
Arundo phragmites L. was gathered from lake Trasimeno. The moisture content was equal to5.95%. The common reed was chipped to a final size of 1-2 cm and then stored in the dark.
Steam explosion, analysis of raw material and water insoluble substrate
The steam explosion pre-treatment was described elsewhere Cotana et al. (2014).
The composition of solid materials (RM and WIS) was determined according to the National
Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL, Golden, CO) analytical methods for biomass.
SSF
SSF was carried out in a 5-L automated reactor (Biostat® A-Plus – Sartorius) for 96 h and filled
to a final weight of 2000 g (WIS + water).
In the first step of SSF the WIS was pre-hydrolyzed at 50°C and pH 5 for 24 h using Cellic™Ctec2
enzyme provided by Novozymes. In the seconds step, the system was cooled down to 37°C and
Ethanol red® dry yeast was inoculated directly into the reactor. The second step was carriedout for 72 h.
An enzyme dosage level of 20% w/w (g enzyme/g cellulose) and a suggested dosage (1.41 g) of
dry yeast were employed for all trials.
Glucose and ethanol concentrations from SSF were determined by HPLC (Ultimate 3000 –Thermo Scientific).
Results345

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

The raw material composition was found to be:- 38.13% cellulose- 20.51% hemicellulose- 3.92% acetyl- 6.90% extractives- 4.25% ashes- 23.02% lignin- 3.28% others.
Three LogR0 values (3.6, 4.0 and 4.4) were used to pre-treat Arundo Phragmites L. The cellulose
content in the pre-treated WIS increased between LogR0 3.6 (48.96%) and 4.0 (54.45%) andslightly decreased for LogR0 4.4 (52.03%). The trend was different for the lignin fraction which
increased with the severity of the pre-treatment (28,87% - 33,99% - 38,63%). Hemicellulose iseasily hydrolyzed by the pre-treatment hence its quantity decreased for high severity factors,
Cotana et al. (2014).
According to literature, increasing the severity factor made cellulose more accessible by the
enzyme, Ramos et al. (1992). This is clear from the converted cellulose after 24 h (C24 in table1). However high values of LogR0 also determine a cellulose mass loss, so it is important to findthe right compromise between a good deconstruction of the biomass and a reasonable loss incellulose. Besides, the structural carbohydrates lost in the process are hydrolyzed into theliquid fraction to simple sugars which, for vigorous pre-treatment, can be further transformed
into SSF inhibitors such as 5-hydroxy methyl furfural and furfural, Söderström et al.(2003).
WIS

Log R0

DM(%)

CR(%)

G24(g/L) E96(g/L)

AP3,6
AP4,0*
AP4,4
AP10
AP15*
AP20

3,6
4
4,4
4
4
4

15
15
15
10
15
20

100,00% 39,25
97,71% 53,68
92,25% 66,97
97,71% 42,73
97,71% 53,68
97,71% 67,41

19,70
34,21
41,49
26,71
34,21
42,44

C24(%) C96(%)

OYr(%)

43,70
49,29
62,43
60,44
49,29
42,38

43,00
60,18
69,95
72,38
60,18
51,11

43,00
61,59
75,83
74,08
61,59
52,31

Table 1. Cellulose balance for SE pre-treatment; concentrations of glucose and ethanol; cellulose converted andoverall relative yield. *AP4.0 and AP15 are the same sample

DM contribute
According to the considerations above, a LogR0 value of 4.0 was chosen and fixed while
different dry matter loadings were investigated in terms of ethanol production. This LogR 0
value allowed a good cellulose accessibility and modest mass loss (Table 1).
High solid loadings are convenient because a larger quantity of substrate is processed at thesame time. On the other hand the system is subjected to a higher stress due to reduced masstransport, Spindler et al. (1988) and high content of lignin which inhibits the SSF process,Nakagame et al. (2010).
The dry matter values investigated were 10%, 15% and 20%. The inferior DM point was
selected because below this value ethanol production would be lower than 4% v/v. This is346

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

considered a threshold beneath which distillation is considered energetically-economicallyinconvenient, Vane (2008). The trials’ results are shown in table 1.
LogR0 contribute
In order to investigated the LogR0 effect on cellulose conversion at high solid loadings, a DM of
15% was chosen. At this value the final ethanol production found in the above mentioned
experiments was 4.3% and the overall relative yield (OY r) was 60.18%. A DM of 10% shown anhigh OYr (72.38%) but the final ethanol concentration was 3.3% v/v. Conversely, a DM of 20%
shown an opposite trend, respectively 51.11% OYr and 5.3% v/v final ethanol concentration.
Despite 5.3% v/v was the highest value, an OY r of 51.11% is to consider low in an industrial
scenario, Hamelinck et al. (2005). The results are shown in table 1.
Discussion
Figure 1 shows the ethanol concentrations increase during the trials for three samples AP3.6,
AP4.0 and AP4.4.
Increasing the LogR0 the amount of ethanol produced at the end of the SSF was larger, as
expected (table 1).
Figure 2 displays the trend of all samples in terms of: Cr, C24, C96 and OYr.
The values of C24, C96 and OYr increased for increasing LogR0 values and decreased forincreasing DM values, as expected.

Fig. 1. Ethanol production (g/L) during the trials347Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Cr

C24

C96

Log R0 Contribute

OYr
DM Contribute

Fig. 2. SSF results for all the trials performed in terms of C r, C24, C96 and OYr

The highest OYr was obtained for sample AP4.4 (69.95%) and AP10 (72.38%) corresponding to15.80 and 16.35 g ethanol/100 g RMdry basis, respectively. Despite the sample AP10 reached thehighest OYr, the final ethanol concentration (3.4% v/v) was below the 4% threshold limit. On
the other hand AP4.4 showed an OYr slightly lower but a good final ethanol concentration(5.3% v/v).
An interesting result was that the values of C96 and OYr for AP4.4 were similar to those of AP10,
this was probably due to enhanced cellulose accessibility which balanced cellulose mass lost.
In conclusion, the experimentation proved the suitability of Arundo Phragmites L. as afeedstock for the production of lignocellulosic ethanol, showing conversion yields similar to
those found in literature, Öhgren et al. (2007), for both high and low solid loadings. Therefore
it would be interesting to carry out further experiments using a 20% DM and pre-treating thebiomass above LogR0 4.4.

348

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

ABBREVIATIONS AND SYMBOLS LIST
SE = Steam Explosion
R0 = Severity factor
SSF = Simultaneous saccharification and fermentation
WIS = Water insoluble substrate
DM = Dry matter
RM = Raw material
G24 = Glucose concentration after 24 h of SSF
E96 = Ethanol concentration after 96 h of SSF
Cr = Cellulose recovered after steam explosion pre-treatment
C24 = Cellulose converted into glucose after 24 h of SSF in respect to the theoretical yield
C96 = Cellulose converted into ethanol after 96 h of SSF in respect to the theoretical yield
OYr = Overall relative yield expressed as g produced ethanol/100 g RM dry basis * theoretical yield

References
Cotana, F., G. Cavalaglio, M. Gelosia, A. Nicolini, V. Coccia, & A. Petrozzi, (2014). Production of
Bioethanol in a Second Generation Prototype from Pine Wood Chips. Energy Procedia, 45(0), 4251.
Hamelinck, C. N., G. v. Hooijdonk, & A. P. C. Faaij, (2005). Ethanol from lignocellulosic biomass: technoeconomic performance in short-, middle- and long-term. Biomass and Bioenergy, 28(4), 384-410.
Nakagame, S., R. P. Chandra, & J. N. Saddler, (2010). The effect of isolated lignins, obtained from a rangeof pretreated lignocellulosic substrates, on enzymatic hydrolysis. Biotechnology andBioengineering, 105(5), 871-879.
Öhgren, K., R. Bura, G. Lesnicki, J. Saddler, & G. Zacchi, (2007). A comparison between simultaneous
saccharification and fermentation and separate hydrolysis and fermentation using steampretreated corn stover. Process Biochemistry, 42(5), 834-839.
Ramos, L. P., C. Breuil, & J. N. Saddler, (1992). Comparison of steam pretreatment of eucalyptus, aspen,and spruce wood chips and their enzymatic hydrolysis. Applied Biochemistry and Biotechnology,
34-35(1), 37-48.
Sathitsuksanoh, N., Z. Zhu, N. Templeton, J. A. Rollin, S. P. Harvey, & Y. H. P. Zhang, (2009).
Saccharification of a Potential Bioenergy Crop, Phragmites australis (Common Reed), by
Lignocellulose Fractionation Followed by Enzymatic Hydrolysis at Decreased Cellulase Loadings.
Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research, 48(13), 6441-6447.
Söderström, J., L. Pilcher, M. Galbe, & G. Zacchi, (2003). Two-step steam pretreatment of softwood bydilute H2SO4 impregnation for ethanol production. Biomass and Bioenergy, 24(6), 475-486.
Spindler, D., C. Wyman, A. Mohagheghi, & K. Grohmann, (1988). Thermotolerant yeast for simultaneous
saccharification and fermentation of cellulose to ethanol. Applied Biochemistry and Biotechnology,17(1-3), 279-293.
Vane, L. M. (2008). Separation technologies for the recovery and dehydration of alcohols fromfermentation broths. Biofuels, Bioproducts and Biorefining, 2(6), 553-588.

349

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

A new model for photovoltaics integration with hydropower: a case study
S. Di Francesco 1, A. Petrozzi2, A.L. Pisello2 & A. Aquino2
1
2

Niccolò Cusano telematic University, Via Don Gnocchi 3, Rome, Italy
CIRIAF- Interuniversity Research Center, Via G. Duranti 63, Perugia, Italy

Keywords: hydropower, photovoltaics, lake, turbine
Introduction
In the summertime, when water is mostly needed and lacking, artificial reservoirs forhydropower production are recharged during the night to be able to provide water for the day
after by using the huge availability of unused nocturnal energy (Biscarini et al., 2013). The
reservoir acts as storage element and water source for energy production. This work presentsa small scaled model for hydropower that can be applied to little lakes as water sources toreplace lacks in photovoltaic production (PV). Imbalances in the electricity grid caused by nonprogrammable renewable energy sources’ variability as wind and solar ones (IEC Commission,2012), can be minimized by integrating the energy production plants with users needs, via
storage systems. A water based storage system, differently from a lithium battery, consists of agravity water tank, connected to a little lake or water basin to produce hydropower with a
pumping system.
The presented system combining photovoltaic systems with hydropower, aims at creating asystem for continuous energy production avoiding the sudden energy lacks typical in solar
plants applications.
Materials and methods
Umbria region, because of its high wood surface and water, is an area with a high vocation forthe construction and maintenance of little lakes at the service of small rural building
complexes (Agostini et al., 1999). The water that feeds the lakes comes mainly from aquifers
emerging from the ground surface and the maintenance of water levels is ensured by thepresence of artificial bank made of clay soils.
The research shown in the present work is framed within the project TIAR, Italian acronym for
Rural Hydraulic Architectural Tower for Energy (Cotana et al., 2012. Cotana et al., 2013). The
activities mentioned above have allowed to create a digital model of a small compound ofrural buildings where energy enhancement refurbishment has been designed and simulated.
The rural tower became, from a chimney tower for drying tobacco, an energy tower for energy
production: an energy-efficient system, with low environmental footprint (Lovins Armory,2011), based on the integration of renewable sources. The building pertinence and its front
view are shown in Figure 1-a, b.
The neighboring lake is characterized by a 800 square meters of water surface; the deepest
point of the lake is at 2.5 m under the free surface; the volume that can be stored inside thetower tank is about 36 cubic meters. The tower has a horizontal section of 4x3 m, and thetower tank height corresponds to 3 m).

350

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Fig. 1 a, b. The building compound, the lake and its front viewFirst of all, it can be noticed that the time course of the power associated to the photovoltaic
panel has a bell curve distribution during the course of the year. The amount of produced
energy, represented by the area under the graph, depends on the physical and geometricalparameters such as the latitude, the inclination of the panel, the orientation with respect tothe cardinal points, the absence of direct and indirect shadows. Being able to combine theenergy supply and the energy demand implies the knowledge, for the whole year, of theelectricity production from renewable energy plants and the electrical needs of the building. In
addition, another phenomenon of interference in power generation is represented by frequent
lacks in solar radiation, caused by weather phenomena such as cloud, fog or rain. In thesecases, the required energy could be produced by the released water flowing through thehydroelectric turbine.
The combined sources for the electricity production are represented by the photovoltaic
systems above the roofs facing South-East, and the hydroelectric turbine placed in the lake,
named PAT (Pump As Turbine). The turbine collects water from a hanged tank positioned
inside the tower and it refills the tank by taking water from the lake.
The experimental applied methodology consisted of the following steps:
1. analysis of the solar radiation by means of a weather station to evaluate throughout theyear the total energy to be converted by the PV panels;
2. annual monitoring of the lake level and estimation of storage volumes;
3. estimation of the electric power consumption for a countryside multifamily house by
simulating different households’ thermal zones, realistic occupancy and building physicaland architectural features.
Results
The monitoring carried out in 2013 showed that the height between the turbine position andthe lowest point of the tower tank is kept around 45 meters. Therefore, this will be a key
design parameter for the implementation of the electric turbine. The ability to adjust the flow
rates (5-10 l/s) is also guaranteed consistently with the emptying of the tank inside the tower
and to cover the lacks produced by the mentioned weather variability.
It seems clear that the battery cover may be helpful in cloudy conditions. The maximum
hydropower is 4.4 kW.
Figure 2 shows the production of the PV panels together with the electric energy consumption
simulated by considering room electricity, lighting, cooling and domestic hot water production351

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

in Energy Plus environment. The modelled architecture consists of a simple flat roof
multifamily house with 3 residential units, 120 m 2 each of floor surface. The exposed roofing
surface area available allows to setup more than 120 square meters of photovoltaic panels,
with an equivalent power of 18 kW peak. As observed in Figure 2, in some winter months the
production of photovoltaic electricity is not sufficient to cover the electric consumption.
Therefore, in such cases, the production can be supplied by the exclusive use of lithium-ion
battery, with a capacity at least 2,000 kWh (Hill et al., 2012). In the other months it is always
possible to cover those needs with the help pf the storage water system, especially in thesummer with high energy consumption for cooling.

Fig. 2. Energy needs and production by PV

Discussion
The calculation areas subtended by the curves of photovoltaic energy (21,600 kWh/year)
compared to the estimated production from hydropower (3,000 kWh/year) showed that, withadequate margin of safety, all the electrical consumption of the building could be covered
during the whole year. A management software, based on historic and prediction data process
about both energy production and consumption, is required to decide which storage systemcomes into operation in a certain time. The choice of the maximum capacity of lithium battery
was designed according to the exceeding energy by PV power and on the required energy torecharge the tank with the PAT turbine in full battery condition.
The hydroelectric turbine investment costs and management were greatly reduced. Adding up
the costs for the construction of the tower tank and PV plant integrated with battery, all theenergy cost savings (7,000 €/year for the residential complex) allowed to payback the entire
investment in 6 years. Furthermore, the sized system avoided the production of carbon dioxideby 11 tons/year .
The system demonstrated to have interesting potentialities if applied to the large number ofrural abandoned sites that can be refurbished by means of hydroelectric potential, determinedby considering the position of the lake with respect to buildings. Such system could be also
suitable for applications in non-grid-connected compounds352Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank the Ministry of Agriculture for supporting the project and theowner of the building for the measurement for availability to perform measurements andcalculations.
References
Agostini, S., 1999. Architettura rurale: la via del recupero. Alternative di intervento sull’esistente.
Edizioni Franco Angeli.
Biscarini, C., S. Di Francesco, F. Nardi & P. Manciola, 2013. Detailed simulation of complex hydraulicproblems with macroscopic and mesoscopic mathematical methods. Mathematical Problems in
Engineering. Art. n.928309.
Cotana, F., P. Belardi, P. Manciola, C. Tamagnini, A.L. Materazzi, M. Fornaciari, A. Petrozzi, A.L. Pisello, G.
Cavalaglio, V. Coccia, G. Pagnotta, V. Menchetelli, S. Di Francesco, D. Salciarini, N. Cavalagli, F.
Ubertini, F. Orlandi & T. Bonofiglio, 2013. TIAR: Renewable energy production, storage anddistribution; a new multidisciplinary approach for the design of rural facility. Energy Procedia 45:
323-332. ISSN 1876-6102.
Cotana, F. & A. Petrozzi, 2013. SMART TEAM: il nodo delle reti energetiche intelligenti per le città delfuturo. EIDOS 3.
Hill, C.A., M. Clayton Such, D. Chen, J. Gonzalez & W. Mack Grady, 2012. Battery energy storage forenabling integration of distributed solar power generation. IEEE Transactions on Smart Grid 2, vol.
3.
IEC-International Electrotechnical Commission, 2012. Grid integration of large-capacity renewableenergy source and use of large-capacity electrical energy storage. IEC White papers.
Lovins Amory, B., 2011. Renewable Energy’s ‘Footprint’ Myth. The Electricity Journal 24.

353

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Energy enhancement of Arundo phragmites reed as biofuel for thermal boiler
A. Petrozzi1, A.L. Pisello1, G. Cavalaglio1, V. Coccia1, M. Gelosia1, M. Pertosa1, & V.L. Castaldo1
1

CIRIAF- Interuniversity Research Center, Via G. Duranti 63, Perugia, Italy

Keywords: Biomass boiler, reed, thermal energy valorization, lake biomass
Introduction
Biomasses represent nowadays one of the most performing renewable energy sources. A
biomass is any organic residual from biological activities derived directly or indirectly from thephotosynthesis process. The first definition of biomass has been dictated by the regulation
n°387 (29/12/2003) followed by the regulations n°28 (3/3/2011). Between 2000 and 2011 thenumber of biomass plants in Italy has increased with an average rate of 19%. In particular, inthe last three years the installation of more than 260 new bio-energy plants has been
detected. Most of these innovative bio-energy plants are fed with biogas (65%), bio-liquids(22%), and biomasses (13%).
In this scenario, a peculiar biomass is represented by the common reed, a very hardy native
species which grows spontaneously along the banks of streams or ponds of water. This reed
can reach 6-7 m, and its use for energy purposes can be carried out through different
strategies:
 extraction of nano-crystalline cellulose to be used as additive for improving themechanical/ optical properties of other materials;
 production of a biofuel through enzymatic hydrolysis; production of solid biofuel in the form of briquettes.
In this paper, the use of a spontaneous reed typical of the area of the Trasimeno lake i.e.
Arundo phragmites as biomass in the form of briquettes is addressed (Fig. 1).

Fig. 1. Picture of the Arundo phragmites, typical of the Trasimeno lake’s area, and of the briquettes made from thereed

The Arundo phragmites is a native species of the Trasimeno area which grows along the shoresof the lake up to a height of 2-3m. The need for maintenance of the lake’s shores offers the354Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

possibility of collecting this biomass in large quantities. Therefore, this work deals with thepossibility of harvesting and processing the residual reed for the production of biofuel with alow moisture content to be stored and transported in the form of briquettes to supply biomass
boiler for thermal-energy production. In particular, a school building situated in the Trasimeno
lake area is selected as case study. An energy, economic and environmental analysis isprovided, with reference to the biomass collection, transportation and post-processing forthermal-energy production in the view of the replacement of the current building’s fossil fuelboiler with a biomass plant.
Materials and methods
The methodology consisted of the following steps:
 laboratory characterization of the Arundo phragmites; energy analysis of the reed as biofuel; economic and environmental analysis.
Laboratory characterization
The in-lab characterization required the collection and sampling of the Arundo phragmites.
Therefore, the components of the reed were determined through hydrolysis and HPLC- High
Performance Liquid Chromatography according to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory(NREL) methods for biomass (Cotana et al., 2013):
 38.13% cellulose
 20.5% hemicellulose
 3.92% acetyl
 6.90% extractives
 4.25% ashes
 23.02% lignin
 3.28% others.
Case study
The case study building is a 1970’s school situated in Castiglione del Lago, a village close to theTrasimeno lake. The current heating energy plant consists of a traditional methane boiler(650W) with hot water radiators. In this scenario, an integrated architectural and energy
retrofit is proposed for improving the building thermal-energy performance. It consists of: (i)the substitution of the methane boiler with a low-impact biomass plant, using the residual
reed, and (ii) the replacement of the existing windows with more performing low-emissivity
double-glass windows. In fact, the area where the school is located is rich of Arundo
phragmites, which is already used as insulating building material given its high thermal/
acoustic potential.
According to the Trasimeno Lake’s Regional Plan, a quantity of 20tons/year of residual reed
can be collected for the biofuel’s production. This amount of residuals used as biofuel
powering a more effective energy plant could provide several benefits:
 Reduction of the methane consumption’s costs;
 Reduction of the greenhouse gases emissions;355

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

 Creation of a pathway for the harvesting and energy enhancement of residual biomass
otherwise dispersed;
 Generation of a local micro-economy related to the collection, transportation, processing
and re-use of the reed with the consequent maintenance of the lake’s shores.
Therefore, after the collection of the reed, the residuals could be transported andprocessed in order to produce biofuel in the form of briquettes.
Results
An energy, economic and environmental analysis of the benefits generated by the installationof a biomass plant using the Trasimeno lake’s reed in the case study building is performed. In
particular, the thermal power demand of the building to be provided by the new biomass plantis estimated to be of about 300kW. Therefore, the existing methane plant results to beoversized. By considering the type of building and the operating schedule of the energy plants(800h/year), an energy request of 240,000kWh/year is determined. Therefore, after the testof residual reed’s energy efficiency through dedicated sampling and the evaluation of the
moisture content through muffle furnace, the briquettes are realized with a 45% density
increase. The final heating power provides about 16-17MJ/Kg, with an humidity content of
about 10-15%, respectively.
In order to fulfill the building energy demand for heating, 60tons/year of briquettes arerequested, and the available residuals are able to meet only 1/3 of the building’s energy
demand. Therefore, 20tons/year will be provided by the residual reed, and the remaining
briquettes needed (40tons/year) will be purchased.
The economic analysis showed that, with equal thermal energy to produce, the use of themethane boiler with a thermal efficiency of 88% would lead to a methane consumption of
27,300m3/year. Therefore, the installation of the biomass plant could lead to a saving of
22,000€/year, corresponding to the cost of the avoided methane. The operative costs should
include the transportation of the residual biomass (4€/tons) and of the remaining briquettes
needed (5€/tons), in addition to the cost of the purchased briquettes (0,20€/kg), and the staff(5,000€/year).
Table 1 summarizes the economic analysis in terms of investment costs and operative costs of
the intervention.

Description
Machine for briquettes [€]Investment
Costs
4,000

Biomass boiler [€]45,000Machine's components [€]TOTAL [€]

Description

3,000

Biomass transportation (20t) [€/year]
Briquettes transportation (40t) [€/year]
Ash removal [€/year]
Briquettes purchase [€/anno]
Electric consumption for briquettes [€/year]
Staff

Operative
Costs
80
200
--8,000
1,500
5,000

52,000TOTAL [€/anno]

14,780

Table 1. Economic analysis of the intervention356

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

The payback time of the intervention is estimated to be around the 7th year (Fig. 2).

Fig. 2. Payback time

The environmental analysis shows that for every m3 of burnt methane, 2kg of CO2 areproduced. Therefore, the total amount of CO2 avoided by replacing methane with reed as
biofuel is 55tons/year.
Discussion
In this paper, the energy potential of the Arundo Phragmites as biofuel was evaluated. To thisaim, a school building in the same lake’s area was selected as case study. An energy/
environmental/economic analysis of the replacement of the existing plant with a biomass
plant powered by the residual reed was performed. Therefore, the collection of the reed could
serve both environmental and economic benefits in terms of (i) preservation of the naturalenvironment of the lake area, (ii) offset of CO2 emitted and (iii) energy saving from the use of
local and clean energy source.
The results of the energy analysis showed that the heating power of the residual reedcorresponds to about 17MJ/Kg. Therefore, in order to fulfill the building energy demand, 60
tons/year of briquettes are needed, where 20tons/years are provided by the residual reed andthe remaining 40tons/year are purchased.
The economic analysis demonstrated that a payback time of 7 years is needed to recover the
initial investment. The environmental analysis showed that the replacement of the methane
plant will produce a CO2 offset of 64tons/year.
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank the director and the teachers of the school of Castiglione delLago for allowing the surveys in order to perform the analysis of the energy plants.
References
Legislative Decree n.387, 12/29/2003. "Attuazione della direttiva 2001/77/CE relativa alla promozionedell'energia elettrica prodotta da fonti energetiche rinnovabili nel mercato interno dell'elettricità.”357

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Legislative Decree n.28, 3/3/2011. “Attuazione della direttiva 2009/28/CE sulla promozione dell'uso
dell'energia da fonti rinnovabili, recante modifica e successiva abrogazione delle direttive
2001/77/CE e 2003/30/CE.”Laboratory Analytical Procedure (LAP) Review and Integration: Pretreated Slurries, Technical Report
NREL/TP-510-48825, July 2011.
Cotana, F., G. Cavalaglio, M. Gelosia, A. Nicolini, V. Coccia, A. Petrozzi, “Production of bioethanol in asecond generation prototype from pine wood chips”, Energy Procedia, 45, (2013) 42 - 51, 18766102.
2nd bulletin GSE Incentive for renewables energies. Inclusive tariffs and green certificates.
“PNBB 2”-Preparatory Document to the drafting of the National Plan for Biomass and Biofuels for energy
use. Biomass Research Centre.
Biomass and Energy, availability of biomass. ENAMA
www.atlantebiomasse.enea.it
Regulation 183/89, approved with Ministerial Decree of 7/19/2002.

358

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

The effect of lake microclimate on thermal-energy behavior of buildings
A.L. Pisello1, G. Pignatta1, V.L. Castaldo1 & F. Cotana1
1

CIRIAF- Interuniversity Research Center, Via G. Duranti 63, Perugia, Italy

Keywords: Lake environment, microclimate monitoring, thermal-energy performance ofbuildings, heating degree-hours method
Introduction
In this preliminary study, the winter microclimatic monitoring of the Lake Trasimeno’s
environment was carried out. In this scenario, the effect of the lake’s presence in thermalenergy performance of buildings, in comparison with urban and suburban areas, wasevaluated.
Materials and methods
The Lake Trasimeno, is the largest lake of the middle Italy with a basin’s area of 128km 2. The
average depth is 4,3 m and the maximum depth reaches up to 6m. It is situated about 23Km
west of Perugia (350 m a.s.l.), the main city of Umbria Region, and about 17 km west withrespect to Colle della Trinità, a hill situated in a suburban area (700m a.s.l.) between the lakeand Perugia. The lake is also located at 258m a.s.l. and about 100 km far from the nearest areaof the Adriatic Sea (on the east side) and the Tyrrhenian Sea (on the west side), respectively.
An in-field monitoring campaign was carried out during winter 2014, from January to April.
Microclimate monitoring sensors, able to measure the two main environmental parameters,
i.e. dry bulb air temperature and relative humidity, were positioned in four locations (points“1”, “2”, “3” and “4” in Fig. 1) close to the lake, according to the cardinal points. These dataloggers can record temperature between -25 °C and +85 °C and relative humidity between 0%
and 100%. Additionally, the meteorological data of two weather stations, situated on the eastside of the lake in a suburban (“Sub” in Fig. 1, Colle della Trinità) and urban (“Urb” in Fig. 1,
Perugia) area, were used in this study for a comparison analysis. In particular, air temperature,
relative humidity, global solar radiation, wind speed and direction were measured andcollected every 10 minutes by dedicated data-logger apparatus. Then, hourly data wereanalyzed for the scope of this work.
The map of Lake Trasimeno’s basin, with the spatial distribution of sensors and stations, isshown in Fig. 1.

359

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Fig. 1. Map of the Lake Trasimeno’s basin. Spatial distribution of the microclimate sensors (“1”, “2”, “3” and “4”)and the meteorological stations (“Sub” and “Urb”)

Results
In the present work, the air temperature and relative humidity were analyzed in order todescribe the Lake Trasimeno’s local microclimate.
The climate of the Lake Trasimeno’s area is Mediterranean, with a mild winter and dry hotsummer. During the monitored period, the average monthly air temperature varies between
6,4 °C in January and 14,6 °C in April.
The environmental parameters of the Lake Trasimeno, used in the following analyses, were
calculated as the average of the recorded values from the four stations positioned around thelake. The profiles of air temperature and global solar radiation in the average monthly day ofJanuary and April for the monitored areas (“Lake”, “Sub” and “Urb”) are shown in Fig. 2.

360

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

Fig. 2. Profiles of air temperature and global solar radiation related to the Lake Trasimeno (“Lake”), suburban(“Sub”) and urban (“Urb”) area in the average monthly day for January and April

The mean daily (7 AM – 9 PM) and nightly (10 PM – 6 AM) air temperatures and their standard
deviations related to all monitored period were calculated (Giannopoulou et al., 2011).
Furthermore, the average monthly air temperatures for January, February, March and April
were investigated and the results are listed in Table 1.
All monitored period (January – April 2014)

Lake
Sub
Urb

Average daily air temperature [°C]
(7:00 – 21:00)

Average nightly air temperature [°C]
(22:00 – 06:00)

Max

Ave

Min

Max

Ave

Min

17,8 ± 5,4
13,1 ± 4,6
14,1 ± 4,4

13,2 ± 4,1
10,1 ± 3,8
11,2 ± 3,6

6,8 ± 3,4
6,5 ± 2,9
6,6 ± 3,0

10,2 ± 2,6
8,5 ± 2,99,9 ± 3,0

7,9 ± 2,8
7,1 ± 2,7
7,8 ± 2,9

6,1 ± 3,0
5,9 ± 2,7
6,1 ± 3,0Average monthly air temperature [°C]

Lake
Sub
Urb

January

February

March

April

6.4 ± 1,5
4.7 ± 0.8
5.6 ± 1.2

9.7 ± 2.7
7.7 ± 1.6
8.7 ± 1.9

11.1 ± 4.2
8.9 ± 2.5
9.8 ± 2.9

14.6 ± 4.1
11.8 ± 2.7
12.8 ± 3.0

Table 1. Main statistical analysis data. Air temperature and standard deviation values for the three areas

Looking at the Fig. 2 and Table 1 the results show how, in the monitored winter months,
the Lake Trasimeno’s air temperature is higher than the urban and suburban temperature. In

361

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

particular, the air temperature differences, between the Lake Trasimeno's environment and,
both, the urban and suburban areas, are higher with higher global solar radiation values. In
addition, the mean daily profiles of air temperature in the suburban area are lower if
compared with the urban area profiles because of the different altitude of the meteorologicalstations, but also because usually, the air temperature in the urban area is significantly higher
than the corresponding suburban air temperature (Urban Heat Island effect). Moreover, thedifferences of air temperature between the lake’s area and the other two monitored zones are
more evident during the daily time than the nightly time.
The mean relative and absolute humidity values are higher in the Lake Trasimeno’s area thanthe urban area. The absolute humidity started from January with 5,5±0,2g/kg to April with
7,6±0,4g/kg in proximity of the lake, while in the urban environment the values are
5,1±0,1g/kg in January and 6,4±0,2g/kg in April. This shows that the differences of absolute
humidity between the lake and urban area are higher in the hot months than in the cold
months.
Wind speed and direction values recorded in the urban ad suburban areas were therefore
investigated to preliminarily assess how the lake’s presence affects the two close
environments. The wind flow registered by the urban station mainly comes from the North
with an average speed of 1,7m/s. The major reason is the presence of the Colle della Trinità
hill, which deflects the wind along the north-south axis. When the wind comes from the lake,from north-west and west directions, the average air temperature value recorded in the urban
area is 10,8 °C, higher than the air temperature found when the wind comes from all otherdirections which is 9,7 °C. In the urban area, similar results were obtained about the absolute
humidity. In fact, when the wind comes from the lake, the average absolute humidity value isequal to 5,7±1,3g/kg, while when the wind comes from all other direction we observed a lower
value of 5,6±1,3g/kg.
Conversely, the main direction of the wind recorded by the suburban station is coming fromthe South and the average speed is around 0,8m/s. In this case, the lake’s effect on the airtemperature related to the suburban area is not relevant due to the high altitude of themonitored site. In fact, the average air temperature values when the wind comes from the lake
and when it comes from all other directions are similar and close to 9,0 °C.
In this study, the degree-hour method (Papakostas et al., 2005) is chosen for the comparative
prediction of buildings’ energy demand for heating in the lake, suburban and urban
environment. The followed equation was used for the calculation of the heating degree-hourindex (HDH) from January to April:

HDH  i HDHi  i max Tr  Ti ,0
The different HDH values are obtained from hourly mean temperatures ( Ti ) of the three areas
and the reference temperature ( Tr ), meaning the external temperature below which theheating system is turned on. It corresponds to 15°C (Giannopoulou et al., 2009).
The HDH indexes found for the lake, urban and suburban zone are 11.486°C, 13.283°C and15.223°C, respectively.

362

Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

The results suggest that, being widely different the external air temperatures in themonitored zones, there are different heating energy requirements. In particular, buildings
situated in the lake environment need less heating than the other because of the lake’s
mitigating contribution.
Discussion
The purpose of the work was to investigate how microclimate boundary conditions are
influenced by the presence of lakes. The local condition around the lake are significantly
different from the local condition that we have in a close urban and suburban zone. This study
shows that Lake Trasimeno’s presence strongly affects buildings’ energy demand in winter.
Therefore, this study highlights how the microclimate in close proximity to water resources,
e.g. lakes, should be taken into account in order to operate reliable energy predictions ofbuildings located in those interested areas.
Acknowledgements
The authors thank G. Legumi, G. Castaldo, M. Brozzetti and G. Volpi for allowing the local
monitoring of the analyzed areas around the Lake Trasimeno.
References
Giannopoulou, K., I. Livada, M. Santamouris, M. Saliari, M. Assimakopoulos, Y.G. Caouris, 2011. On thecharacteristics of the summer urban heat island in Athens, Greece. Sustainable Cities and Society,1,16-28.
Giannakopolos, C., P. Hadjinicolaou, C. Zerefos, G. Demosthenous,2009. Changing Energy Requirementsin the Mediterranean Under Changing Climatic conditions. Energies,2,805−815.
Papakostas, K., N. Kyriakis, 2005. Heating and cooling degree-hours for Athens and Thessaloniki, Greece.
Renewable Energy, 30,1873-1880.

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Lakes: The Mirrors of the EarthBALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

With the contribution of

Chamber of Commerce - Perugia

Umbria Region

Board of Engineers Foundation

Honors Center of Italian Universities

Italian Association of Oceanography and Limnology364Lakes, both natural and artificial are vital and strategic resources for life on our planet. At the sametime, they are also highly vulnerable to human activities, especially if they are not properly preserved
and used in a sustainable manner. These natural resources and their ecosystems have defined borders,
while at the same time also strongly influenced by where they are located. Although there is ageographic limit between a lake ecosystem and neighboring ecosystems, lakes are heavily influenced by
the substances entering them in their incoming waters. Moreover, lakes are very complex systems
influenced by many different factors, major ones being the materials dissolved in their waters, theclimate of the region, energy exchanges with the atmosphere, the soil and the variety of organisms
inhabit them, all of which are influenced by, and also influence, the lake system itself. This complexity
means that when a lake is studied on the basis of a single discipline, it can often lead to misleading
conclusions, or even incorrect results. Multidisciplinary is a keyword in regard to this conference,different approaches and point of views also must be taken into account to address complex lake issues.
Therefore, we are inviting not only scientists, but also resource managers, politicians, and lake basinstakeholders and users to the conference. The interactions among this diverse audience will result in a
wider discussion, with the goal of connect a top-down approach to a bottom-up perspective to solving
complex lake basin issues.

ISBN: 978-88-96504-07-9