title: A review of hydrological and chemical stressors in the Adige catchment and its ecological status.
abstract: Quantifying the effects of multiple stressors on Alpine freshwater ecosystems is challenging, due to the lack of tailored field campaigns for the contemporaneous measurement of hydrological, chemical and ecological parameters. Conducting exhaustive field campaigns is costly and hence most of the activities so far have been performed addressing specific environmental issues. An accurate analysis of existing information is therefore useful and necessary, to identify stressors that may act in synergy and to design new field campaigns. We present an extended review of available studies and datasets concerning the hydrological, chemical and ecological status of the Adige, which is the second longest river and the third largest river basin in Italy. The most relevant stressors are discussed in the light of the information extracted from a large number of studies. The detailed analysis of these studies identified that hydrological alterations caused by hydropower production are the main source of stress for the freshwater ecosystems in the Adige catchment. However, concurrent effects with other stressors, such as the release of pollutants from waste water treatment plants or from agricultural and industrial activities, have not been explored at depth, so far. A wealth of available studies address a single stressor separately without exploring their concurrent effect. It is concluded that a combination of extended experimental field campaigns, focusing on the coupled effects of multiple stressors, and modeling activities is highly needed in order to quantify the impact of the multifaceted human pressures on freshwater ecosystems in the Adige river.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Civil, Geo and Environmental Engineering, Technical University of Munich, Arcistrasse 21, Munich 80333, Germany. Electronic address: gabriele.chiogna@tum.de.
authors.forename: Gabriele
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Chiogna
authors.affiliation: Department of Civil, Environmental and Mechanical Engineering, University of Trento, Via Mesiano 77, I-38123 Trento, Italy.
authors.forename: Bruno
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Majone
authors.affiliation: Department of Civil, Environmental and Mechanical Engineering, University of Trento, Via Mesiano 77, I-38123 Trento, Italy.
authors.forename: Karina
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Cano Paoli
authors.affiliation: Department of Civil, Environmental and Mechanical Engineering, University of Trento, Via Mesiano 77, I-38123 Trento, Italy.
authors.forename: Elena
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Diamantini
authors.affiliation: Department of Civil, Environmental and Mechanical Engineering, University of Trento, Via Mesiano 77, I-38123 Trento, Italy.
authors.forename: Elisa
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Stella
authors.affiliation: Department of Civil, Environmental and Mechanical Engineering, University of Trento, Via Mesiano 77, I-38123 Trento, Italy.
authors.forename: Stefano
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mallucci
authors.affiliation: Department of Invertebrate Zoology and Hydrobiology, MUSE - Museo delle Scienze, Corso del Lavoro e della Scienza 3, 38123 Trento, Italy.
authors.forename: Valeria
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Lencioni
authors.affiliation: Fondazione Museo Civico di Rovereto, Borgo Santa Caterina 41, 38068 Rovereto, Italy.
authors.forename: Fabiana
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Zandonai
authors.affiliation: Department of Civil, Environmental and Mechanical Engineering, University of Trento, Via Mesiano 77, I-38123 Trento, Italy.
authors.forename: Alberto
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bellin
mesh_terms: D017753:Ecosystem; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D062070:Hydrology; D007558:Italy; D045483:Rivers / Q000737:chemistry*; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical
keywords: Adige; Contaminants; Ecology; Hydrology; Quality; Stressor; Water