Description
The environment presents vegetational and floristic aspects of considerable interest: rare plant associations can be found here, some of them reported for the first time in Italy and one, even, new to science.
The Reserve is located in the southern part of the alluvial plain of the River Chiese and is what remains of the vast wetland that once occupied the northern part of the lake. This area has been largely reclaimed since 1848, through the lowering of the lake's threshold by the lakeside municipalities at Ponte Idro.
Along the banks there are large white willow trees (Salix alba) whose root systems are partially uncovered, probably due to the erosive action exerted by the wave motion on the substrate. These trees have - at the point where the branches are inserted, where the fallen leaves accumulate - young plants growing there; these peculiarities make the willows a particularly striking landscape element.
In the strip behind the beach, the reed thicket develops, in which the water reed (Phragmites australis) predominates, fading outwards into marsh meadows and wet meadows.
The Biotope area also includes a part of the Rio Fossone, a probable ancient bed of the Chiese River, which currently flows into the lake further west. In the northern portion, the marsh vegetation changes to extensive meadow cultivation.
Along the banks, amidst the reed and sedge vegetation, live various species of invertebrates; these small animals follow the changes in the lake's water level over the course of the year. There are, among other things, numerous species of Coleoptera of the Carabidae family, predatory insects that frequent the muddy areas along the shore; in particular, there is Chlaenius sulcicollis, a very rare species in Italy.
As far as vertebrate fauna is concerned, the Biotope represents an environment of fundamental importance for the reproduction of amphibians (especially the green frog Rana sinklepton esculenta and the common toad Bufo bufo), since in spring, when the lake waters push into the reedbed, they go there to lay their eggs.
But the main reason for the interest in wildlife is connected with the presence of the numerous species of aquatic fauna: The mallard (Anas platyrhynchos), the moorhen (Gallinula choropus), the green reed warbler (Acrocephalus scirpaceus), the reed warbler (Acrocephalus palustris), the great reed warbler (Acrocephalus arundinaceus) and the reed bunting (Emberiza schoeniclus) regularly nest here.
Visiting facilities
- visitor path and watchtowers
