The ecology in the alpine area is very diverse and also very special, with species of flora and fauna that can only be found there. The alpine lakes take a very important part in the support of this biodiversity in such a remote and harsh environment. With the water of the lake animals insects and plants eg. Balkan chamois, alpine newts and even microbial plankton in the lakes, have a constant water supply and the more flourishing vegetation around the lake causes additional grazing for animals like the Balkan chamois.
With the cooperation of the Balkan Chamois Society and the University of Ioannina for the biological research of the ecology, key experts and present knowledge are being combined with knew findings. Together with the hydrological, meteorological and pollution data, the study of the ecology around the lakes, completes the holistic understanding of the alpine lake environment and the complex alpine lake environment can be finally understood much better.
What effect has rising water temperatures, fluctuating oxygen levels and changing ice cover periods on the behaviour of alpine newts? What is the condition of the grassland around the lake through dry seasons and over grazing and what effect will it have on the population of Balkan chamois? All these complex questions can only be answered with an holistic perspective on the environment.
The LiMnADs team has already started to collected additional data about the grassland and water probes for micro biological analysis of different water levels within the lake. Soon the team will also take sediment corings as another source of ecological data for past times.
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