Description
Three of the areas into which the reserve is divided - Rio S. Valentino Confluence, Borghetto sud and Borghetto nord - are located within the floodplain of the Adige River.
When floods occur, these areas are submerged for rather prolonged periods of time, causing an interruption in the evolution, which must resume, once the event is over, from the starting point, thus limiting the possibilities of flora enrichment.
Nonetheless, at the Confluenza Rio S. Valentino site, the infrequent in Trentino Cucubalus baccifer L. was found, linked to wet riparian woods and, at the Borghetto sud site, the rare Cyperus glomeratus L., with a discontinuous distribution in Trentino.
From a faunistic point of view, the floods limit the presence of strictly terrestrial animals, such as Mammals, Amphibians and many Invertebrates.
But these residual strips of the Adige river's paranatural bank testify to what the river's faunal potential could be, if it were not artificially shaped as a channel with a narrower section than its natural one, with rigid embankments and with recurrent cleaning of the hygrophilous vegetation for reasons of hydraulic safety.
Among the birds, however, there are interesting species such as the cormorant or the grey heron and also valuable ones such as the little piro piro at Borghetto south and north and the great reed warbler at Borghetto north, and at the Rio S. Valentino Confluence.
The Ischia di Isera area (area A in the cartography) deserves some more mention because in recent times, the first half of the 20th century, as can be deduced from the toponym itself, it was an area of natural flooding of the Adige River.
In the 1950s, the wetland underwent major alterations, in particular due to the construction of infrastructures crossing the Adige valley. However, its extension of about 6 hectares and its location along the migratory corridors of water birds remain significant.
In the Ischia di Isera site there are significant presences of flora and, above all, valuable fauna.
As far as flora is concerned, mention may be made of Carex acuta L., not frequent in Trentino; Consolida regalis Gray, linked to cereal cultivation and therefore in progressive decline; Lotus tenuis Waldst. & Kit. ex Willd., a species of humid places, not very frequent in Trentino; Lycopus europaeus L. subsp. mollis (A. Kern.) Skalicý, rather rare in the province.
From a faunistic point of view, the surveys carried out have highlighted, especially after the naturalistic reorganisation work, the presence of some interesting species such as the Little Grebe, Great Crested Grebe, Grey Heron, Little Duck, Pochard, Black Kite, Buzzard, Gull, Green Woodpecker, Red Woodpecker, White Wagtail, Flycatcher, reed warbler and many other more common species.
Projects in which the Reserve has been involved
Némos project
see below the link to the project page