Glacier melting and permafrost thawing are the most evident effects of the current climate change that is strongly affecting high mountain areas, including the European Alps. As the thawing rate of subsurface ice is lower than for glacier ice, it is expected that, while glaciers retreat, an increasing number of Alpine headwaters will become more influenced by permafrost degradation during the 21st century. Despite the expected change in the relative importance of glacier and permafrost in determining Alpine hydrology, studies addressing effects of permafrost thawing on chemical and, especially, biological features of adjacent surface waters are still scarce. The present study contributes to characterise the epilithic and epiphytic diatom diversity in a set of permafrost-fed headwaters in three sub-catchments differing in bedrock lithology of the Italian Central Alps (Trentino Alto-Adige) in relation to water chemistry and habitat features. In addition, it explores chemical and biological differences between permafrost-fed streams and headwaters with no direct contact to permafrost, namely glacier-fed (kryal) and precipitation-/groundwater-fed (rhithral) streams. Permafrost-fed waters showed higher electrical conductivity and enhanced ion concentrations than glacier- and precipitation-fed waters, while concentration of trace elements (e.g. Sr, Ni, Zn, As) were more irregularly distributed among waters of different origin, though they showed a tendency to reach higher levels in permafrost-fed waters. Diatom species richness and diversity were lower in permafrost-fed headwaters, and were principally related to water pH and trace metal concentrations. Epiphytic diatom assemblages were more diverse than epilithic ones, independently from the water origin, while differences in species composition were not sufficient to unequivocally identify a typical diatom composition for the different water types considered in this study.

The restoration of eutrophic lakes requires the identification of phosphorus objectives, i.e., the phosphorus reductions needed to achieve desired water quality goals. Due to inherent uncertainty, phosphorus objectives need periodic revision as the restoration progresses. We used monitoring data from a deep southern Alpine lake (Lake Lugano, Switzerland and Italy) to assess restoration progress and revise the current phosphorus objective of 30 mg m–3. Because one basin of the lake is meromictic (North basin) and the other is holomictic (South basin), restoration focussed on the mixolimnion for the North basin and the entire water column for the South basin. Time series analyses indicated that, thanks to restoration, phosphorus concentrations in the lake declined to values compliant with the objective (~20-30 mg m–3). In contrast, little progress was observed towards achieving the main water quality goals (chlorophyll a ≤4 mg m–3, primary production ≤150 g C m–2 year–1 and oxygen concentrations ≥4 mg L–1). Using predictive models, we estimated that achieving these goals requires a phosphorus objective of <10 mg m–3, which would bring the lake back to the original oligotrophic state. The concentration of <10 mg m–3 is lower than the objectives predicted for other (mainly northern) deep Alpine lakes. The apparent sensitivity of Lake Lugano, which we attribute to unfavorable hydrodynamic conditions common in lakes south of the Alps (weak mixing and long stratification), calls for particularly attentive phosphorus management.

The dreissenid quagga mussel, Dreissena rostriformis bugensis, is an invasive species native to the Black Sea region that has recently spread to Western Europe. This organism has recently colonized Swiss northern perialpine lakes, causing major changes to aquatic ecosystems and impacts on human activities. Due to its competitiveness, the quagga mussel takes advantage of human mediated transport to reach new environments. Therefore, the management of quagga mussel should seek to prevent further spread and minimize its negative impact. With this aim, the early detection by environmental DNA (eDNA) methods is increasingly applied in freshwater systems. Here, an approach based on species-specific primer targeting the quagga mussel from eDNA was applied to Lake Lugano and Lake Maggiore, two large perialpine lakes at risk of invasion due international tourism. Our results are the first to show that the quagga mussel has spread south of the Alps and suggest that in both the lakes the colonization is in the early stages. Additionally, they indicate that the eDNA approach is a powerful tool for the early detection of quagga mussel invasions, and may be applied to reduce the resulting ecological and economic impacts.

The quagga mussel Dreissena rostriformis bugensis is an invasive species that has recently spread to Western Europe, causing major impacts on aquatic ecosystems and human activities. We considered lakes Lugano and Maggiore (Ticino River basin, Italy and Switzerland) to be at high risk of colonization due to leisure boat traffic from already-colonized lakes. We performed an environmental DNA based survey to detect any quagga mussel invasions in these lakes as early as possible. The results of the survey confirmed the presence of this species in the lakes and support the use of molecular approaches for the early detection of invasive mussels.