Description
Since the establishment of the biotope, important environmental restoration and improvement work has been carried out, and today Lake Ampola presents its original natural character and has recovered its ecological potential.
The Val d'Ampola is a narrow valley, especially at this point, and the basin is therefore between the mountain slopes of the two valley sides.
The lake, which is connected to a large marshy area, is currently very shallow (average depth m 1.3), also due to relatively recent attempts at reclamation. Its main characteristic is therefore that of being a lake basin that has reached a very advanced stage of evolution, so much so that the amount of free water is now very small.
The main interventions of environmental restoration and improvement have been the removal of a dirt road that cut through the marshy area, the isolation of a landfill site, the remodelling of the southern shore and the transformation of a small building, formerly used for tourism and recreational purposes, into the visitor centre.
The vegetation aspects of the protected area are very interesting. The vegetation consists of a series of vegetation structures and associations arranged more or less concentrically and occupying spaces that become more and more waterlogged as one moves from the outside towards the centre of the lake.
On the outside, one finds the wet meadows of the molinieto (with the Graminacea Moliniacoerulea), followed by the cariceti (with various herbaceous species of the genus Carex) and the cane thicket, which can be distinguished in a drier outer portion and an inner, more typical one in which the marsh reeds (Phragmites australis), which root at the bottom, emerge directly from the water.
This is followed by the scirpeto, a typical vegetation emerging from the water composed of the lacustrine fishbone (Schoenoplectus lacustris), which in turn gives way to the lamineto (a vegetation structure made up of plants with floating leaves that form a green 'lamina' at the water's surface) formed by the nannifarians (Nuphar luteum).
This wealth of vegetation allows the nature reserve to present itself in a varied and diverse manner, and to host a very rich fauna.
Various species of fish live in the waters of the lake, mostly consisting of entities associated with poorly oxygenated waters, such as those of lake ponds.
Hundreds of mountain frogs (Rana temporaria) and common toads (Bufo bufo) congregate at the shores and in the puddles of the wet meadows in spring, mating and laying their eggs before returning to the surrounding woods.
The abundance of fish and amphibians provides a valuable source of food for the grass snake (Natrix natrix), a snake that is very attached to stagnant water environments.
Of the numerous bird species that breed in the Biotope, the most interesting are the aquatic ones: The mallard (Anas platyrhynchos), the water rail (Rallus aquaticus), the coot (Fulica atra) and the moorhen (Gallinula chloropus) nest undisturbed in the reed beds, as well as some small songbirds such as the reed warbler (Acrocephalus scirpaceus) and the great reed warbler (Acrocephalus arundinaceus).
Visiting facilities
- visitor trail
- visitor centre run by the Muse
publications
- brochure
- route guide (2)
Studies
- naturalistic and cadastral definition project
- periodic avifauna monitoring
- studies by the Scientific Commission
