Description
The peculiar morphology of the Dossone di Cembra - whose summit forms a sort of narrow, elongated and undulating shelf, rich in humps and small depressions - is due to the erosive action of the glaciers of the Quaternary period which, acting with their immense weight like a gigantic planer, modelled the mountain, hollowing out basins and rounding off the reliefs. When the glaciers retreated, some 15,000 years ago, the glacier-free depressions were soon occupied by clear post-glacial lakes. Over the centuries, all of these ponds underwent the natural processes of evolution and weathering, and thus, over time, were gradually filled in by the accumulation of hygrophilous vegetation, which gave rise to processes of intolerance.
Not all, however, have been filled to the same extent, and this is essentially due to the different original size of the basins. To this day, some are still 'lakes' in the strict sense of the word, e.g. Lago Santo di Cembra, while in others the water mirror is covered by large overhangs (e.g. Lago Nero and Lago del Vedes), and others are peat bogs with no water mirror at all (e.g. Paluda de La Lot and Lagabrun).
In one of the many summit hollows is Lago di Valda. It presents the typical characteristics of transitional peat bogs, but in various stretches the environment is enriched by the presence of raised bog vegetation, ecosystems of extraordinary botanical interest, which are decidedly rare on the southern slopes of the Alps.
The lake retains a central puddle in memory of the old basin, completely surrounded by a vast agglomeration, a sort of meadow resting on the lake surface, a veritable carpet of intertwined plants floating on the water, isolating a large 'bubble' (a sort of 'fossil lake') beneath it.
It should be noted that even today this peat bog, like several others, is called 'lake', a popular reminder of its origin.
The Valda Lake is home to a large number of plant species that are extremely rare in the Alps and today spread all around the Pole, right in the Arctic. These are plants that, in the immediate post-glacial period, were widespread in our territory: with the rise in temperature due to climate change, however, they have completely disappeared, with the exception of these small islands that have preserved them as 'glacial relicts'.
For the most part, they are small or very small, extremely delicate species, which live on the peat bog sphagnum: among the most valuable are the extremely rare peat bog rushes (Scheuchzeria palustris), Rhynchospora alba, the insectivorous sundew plant (Drosera longifolia), Lepidotis inundata, Carex pauciflora and the lesser bilberry (Vaccinium microcarpum).
The peat bog, being an 'extreme' environment, is not able to provide many resources for the fauna, which is not very abundant here.
Only aquatic insects are well represented, populating the ponds with dozens of different species.
Among the vertebrate fauna, it is worth emphasising the role that the wetland plays as a reproductive environment for Amphibians such as the alpine newt (Triturus alpestris), the mountain frog (Rana temporaria) and the common toad (Bufo bufo). Finally, it should be noted that the area surrounding the peat bog is still home to the rare capercaillie (Tetrao urogallus), the "giant" among woodland birds.
Studies
- naturalistic and cadastral definition project
