The Massaciuccoli Lake floodplain is located in the Natural Park of San Rossore, Migliarino and Massaciuccoli in NW of Tuscany (Italy). Since the 1930s, a large part of the Massaciuccoli floodplain has been drained for agricultural purposes. To ensure a water table depth suitable for cultivation, a complex network of artificial drains and pumping stations has been used to drain the superficial aquifer and rainwater. Land use is characterised by conventional agriculture (covers 80% of the area) and periurban infrastructures, such as a wastewater treatment plant. In the peatland area, cropping systems are based on continuous production of maize (Zea mays L.), sunflower (Heliantus annuus L.), wheat (Triticum spp. L.). As a consequence of land use, several environmental concerns arose in the last 50 years. The most important concerns are those related to: I. eutrophication of the lake due to nutrient enrichment (N, P) in the surface- and groundwater. II. the subsidence rate (2-3 m in 70 years) due to compaction and increased mineralization of peat. The project RestoMedPeatland (https://sites.google.com/site/restomedpeatland/) started in 2011, identified rewetting and setting-up a phyto-treatment system as the solution for improving water quality,slowing down soil organic matter (SOM) mineralization, and, therefore, a method to restore the ecological functions of this site. A 15 ha experimental area was used to compare the efficiency of three different systems (A: constructed wetland, B: paludiculture system and C: natural wetland in treating the eutrophic drainage water coming from a sub-watershed in the reclamation district.In the natural wetland (C), after top soil removal, excavation and rewetting with drainage water, the vegetation has evolved naturally. The surveys carried out during the four years after pilot experimental field, highlighted the development of a spontaneous hydro-hygrophilous vegetation. This was mainly composed of helophytic communities dominated by Phragmites australis (Cav.) Trin. and Typha latifolia L., in addition to monophytic populations of Myriophillum spp., occupying different areas of the system according to the depth of excavation, for about 50% of the whole surface. The flora, currently, consists more than 30 species, as hydro-hygrophilous Alisma plantago-aquatica L., Juncus effusus L., Apium nodiflorum (L.) Lag, Lemna minor L., characteristic of the nearby Massaciuccoli Lake. The data collected so far showed a high and progressive growth of the biomass of the natural area, a dynamic upward trend of floristic-vegetation biodiversity, and, from a technical standpoint, a large phyto-treatment capability .

“A case of ecological renaturation in a drained Mediterranean peatland: the case study of the Massaciuccoli Lake basin (Tuscany, It)”

BERTACCHI, ANDREA;LOMBARDI, TIZIANA;SILVESTRI, NICOLA;
2015-01-01

Abstract

The Massaciuccoli Lake floodplain is located in the Natural Park of San Rossore, Migliarino and Massaciuccoli in NW of Tuscany (Italy). Since the 1930s, a large part of the Massaciuccoli floodplain has been drained for agricultural purposes. To ensure a water table depth suitable for cultivation, a complex network of artificial drains and pumping stations has been used to drain the superficial aquifer and rainwater. Land use is characterised by conventional agriculture (covers 80% of the area) and periurban infrastructures, such as a wastewater treatment plant. In the peatland area, cropping systems are based on continuous production of maize (Zea mays L.), sunflower (Heliantus annuus L.), wheat (Triticum spp. L.). As a consequence of land use, several environmental concerns arose in the last 50 years. The most important concerns are those related to: I. eutrophication of the lake due to nutrient enrichment (N, P) in the surface- and groundwater. II. the subsidence rate (2-3 m in 70 years) due to compaction and increased mineralization of peat. The project RestoMedPeatland (https://sites.google.com/site/restomedpeatland/) started in 2011, identified rewetting and setting-up a phyto-treatment system as the solution for improving water quality,slowing down soil organic matter (SOM) mineralization, and, therefore, a method to restore the ecological functions of this site. A 15 ha experimental area was used to compare the efficiency of three different systems (A: constructed wetland, B: paludiculture system and C: natural wetland in treating the eutrophic drainage water coming from a sub-watershed in the reclamation district.In the natural wetland (C), after top soil removal, excavation and rewetting with drainage water, the vegetation has evolved naturally. The surveys carried out during the four years after pilot experimental field, highlighted the development of a spontaneous hydro-hygrophilous vegetation. This was mainly composed of helophytic communities dominated by Phragmites australis (Cav.) Trin. and Typha latifolia L., in addition to monophytic populations of Myriophillum spp., occupying different areas of the system according to the depth of excavation, for about 50% of the whole surface. The flora, currently, consists more than 30 species, as hydro-hygrophilous Alisma plantago-aquatica L., Juncus effusus L., Apium nodiflorum (L.) Lag, Lemna minor L., characteristic of the nearby Massaciuccoli Lake. The data collected so far showed a high and progressive growth of the biomass of the natural area, a dynamic upward trend of floristic-vegetation biodiversity, and, from a technical standpoint, a large phyto-treatment capability .
2015
978-88-85915-16-9
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11568/753876
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