Nitrogen budget of Lago Maggiore: the relative importance of atmospheric deposition and catchment sources

Abstract

Hydrological and chemical data of 1996 and 1997 are used

Trends in the chemistry of atmospheric deposition and surface waters in the Lake Maggiore catchment

“…In both Rivers Pellino and Pescone nitrate concentration in 1999 remained above 120 µeq l -1 for all the year. These results agree with the evidence of N saturation (Mosello et al, 2001) in river catchments (Stoddard and Traaen, 1994).…”

A model approach to assess the long-term trends of indirect photochemistry in lake water. The case of Lake Maggiore (NW Italy)

“…Nitrate levels in Lake Maggiore, as in water bodies in general, are expected to be modified by climate change. In Lake Maggiore, an overall trend of NO 3 − increase is expected as a consequence of the high fluxes of N compounds from atmospheric deposition, which is the main vehicle of N for this lake (Mosello et al, 2001;Rogora et al, 2007). Nitrate levels could also be enhanced by the indirect effects of climate warming, because of the relationships between temperature/precipitation and N dynamics in soil and water (Adrian et al, 2009;Schindler et al, 2009).…”

“…The very low concentration of nitrite in the surface water of Lake Maggiore (Mosello et al, 2001;Vione et al, 2009c) would simply be the sum of their contributions:…”

“…; most of the population (634,000) lives in the subalpine area in the southern part of the catchment, where the main industrial activities are also located. The morphological characteristics of the area do not permit extensive agriculture (Mosello et al, 2001). …”

“…The original model was able to predict with very good accuracy the experimental and field data concerning the photochemical lifetime of organic xenobiotics (Albinet et al, 2010;Maddigapu et al, 2011;Vione et al, 2009a and2010a). Lake Maggiore was chosen as a case study because of the availability of long-term series of water chemical data (Mosello et al, 2001;Salmaso et al, 2007;Bertoni et al, 2010).…”