19 Gen. 2015 - Fabrizio Stefani

Geo-engineering treatments: any impact on lake ecosystems?

Presenta: Fabrizio Stefani

Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche
Istituto di Ricerca sulle Acque (IRSA-CNR), sede di Brugherio

The use of geo-engineering materials to control phosphorus release from bed sediments in lakes is increasing worldwide. The premise is that by controlling internal P loading the ecological effects of eutrophication can be rapidly reversed. The efficacy of these approaches in reducing the nutrients loads has been demonstrated in many cases and environmental conditions, and, similarly, the potential ecotoxicological issues related to the input of relevant quantities of exogenous materials largely explored. Nevertheless, many potential issues are still partially known and predictable, especially on a long term scale.
The present communication aims at providing a survey of possible negative effects exerted by the application of geo-engineering techniques at different levels of biological organization and at different temporal scales. Possible impacts derive from a wide set of factors or synergies and interactions with other preexisting sources of pressure, starting, for instance, from a direct toxicological effect of the introduced elements, to physical alterations of habitats, to negative interaction with exotic species.
The control and identification of all these potential impacts is fundamental in the perspective of an ecological risk assessment procedure, especially when considering that the final endpoint of geo-engineering of applications, the achievement of the "good ecological status", relies simultaneously on the restoration of unimpacted communities for many groups, such as phytoplankton, fish or macrophytes.

 

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