Laghi artificiali dell’Italia meridionale e Isole maggiori

In this paper the authors analyze the main factors driving the ecological functioning of man-made lakes located in the southern part of Italy and in its main islands. The annual hydrological cycle of these ecosystems is strongly influenced by human activities which often negatively interfere with the dynamics of physical (stratification/circulation patterns), chemical (nutrients and oxygen availability) and biological (seasonal succession of phytoplankton) factors. Understanding how the climate change influences the hydrological cycle, both in natural and human-altered conditions, is of paramount importance to warrant a sound management of man-made lakes, addressed toward minimizing the negative effects exerted by a reduced water availability and the increased annual temperatures on the quality of the stored waters and on the ecosystem services provided by man-made lakes.