Schanz Ferdinand

Chemical and algological survey of five high mountain lakes in the SNP

Project Number: CH-3813

Project Type:	Permanent/Monitoring_Project
Project Duration:	01/01/1979 - ? project completed
Funding Source:	other ,
Project Leader:	Prof. Ferdinand Schanz Institut für Pflanzenbiologie Universität Zürich Villa Rainhof Zollikerstr. 107 8008 Zürich Phone: +41 (0) 44 910 86 44 ; +41 (0) 44 634 83 79 FAX: +41 (0) 44 634 82 04 e-Mail: fschanz(at)limnol.uzh.ch http://www.uzh.ch/botinst/

related to this project.

for which the project has a relevance.

Research Areas:

Biodiversity

Disciplines:

environmental sciences
hydrology, limnology, glaciology

Keywords:
Macun, Lakes, Chemical characteristics, blue-greens, desmids, diatoms, acidification

Abstract:
The Macun lakes show pronounced differences in the chemical composition of the water as they differ in the size of their drainage area and their water renewal time. One lake get little amount of waste water from an alpine cabine. In the other four lakes conductivity values of less than 10 µS cm-1 were measured with lowest values just after the snow melt. The observed lakes are very susceptible to any changes in the nutient input or the load of acidity. Minimum pH-values around 5.5 occurred which increased slightly from July to September. The investigation of the diatom populations in the sediments do not point to an acidicifaction process during the last decades. It seems that the acid deposition in the Macun region stays always in amount that not allow to alterate the pH-valuse of the lakes.
This is in contrast to the Bellwald lakes situated in the upper Rhone valley (Goms).

Leading questions:
How are the differences of the chemical and physical parameters between the five lakes?
How is the buffer capacity of the lake waters?
Are there differencies between the algal populations of the lakes considered? Are there reletionships to the chemical characteristics?
Are there changes of the diatom populations in the sediments of the lakes that could prove an increased acidification within the last 50 to 100 years?

Publications:
Schanz F. (1984): Chemical and algological charakteristics of five high mountain lakes near the Swiss National Park. Verh. Internat. Ver. Limnol., 22:1066-1070
Schanz,F., 1984: Umwelteinflüsse auf Algenbiozönosen im Schweizerischen Nationalpark. -Verh.Ges.Ökologie 12:235-239.
Schanz,F., 1987: Beurteilung des Einflusses von sauren Niederschlägen auf das Macun-Gebiet im Unterengadin (Schweiz). -Verh.Ges.Oekol. 15:249-256.
Niederhauser,P. and F.Schanz, 1993: Effects of nutrient (N,P,C) enrichment upon the littoral diatom community of an oligotrohpic high-mountain lake. -Hydrobiologia 269/270:453-462.
Niederhauser,P. and F.Schanz, 1994: Comparison of diatom communities in remote high-mountain index B and cluster analysis. Hydrobiologia 274: 115-120.


Last update: 12/23/16
Source of data: ProClim- Research InfoSystem (1993-2023)
Update the data of project: CH-3813

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