Homage to Proserpina, or: why did the charophytes of the Pergusa Lake vanish?

• Main Author: Angelo Troia
• Other Authors: La Mantia, T, Badalamenti, E, Carapezza, A, Lo Cascio, P, Troia, A
• Format: Book Part
• Language: English
• Published: Edizioni Danaus 2020
• Subjects: biodiversity; invasive alien specie; limnology; macrophyte; saline lake; Settore BIO/03 - Botanica Ambientale E Applicata; Settore BIO/02 - Botanica Sistematica; Saline Lake; Chara canescens
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10447/481752

An important bisexual population of the charophyte Chara canescens Loisel. (Characeae, Charales, Charophyceae) was reported in the XIX century for the Pergusa Lake (Sicily). A recent field survey to check its presence revealed that it has disappeared. After a bibliographic research to understand when and why this happened, the input of freshwater from outside the basin and the introduction of the carps were identified as the two main causes for its recent extinction. Some possible management measures to try to restore the lake ecosystem are proposed.