National Research Council - Water Research Institute branch offices of Verbania
The Historical Archives at Water Research Institute of the National Research Council in Verbania, (See document ) first named Istituto Italiano di Idrobiologia Dott. Marco De Marchi, preserves a collection of material of primary importance in reconstructing the history of scientific research on inland waters in Italy and globally. A great deal of the archival material has been reviewed and made available to users. The only exceptions to this are the still unpublished maps of the studies carried out by the researchers of the Institute in the course of their activities. This material represents the central core of the archival sources examined here and document the limnologic campaigns at lake Tovel. The Historical Archive preserves a rich and valuable documentation for the reconstruction of the history of the scientific studies carried out and helps document changes to the lake during the twentieth century. Historical research was concentrated on the redness of the waters of the lake, a phenomenon attributed to the development of a microscopic alga, Glenodinium sanguineum, which regularly occurred in summer seasons periodically from about mid-800 until 1964.
The Historical Archive preserves documents detailing the research campaigns at Lake Tovel from 1938 to 1940 which led in 1941 to the publication by Edgardo Baldi: Ricerche Idrobiologiche sul Lago di Tovel, the first and most complete study carried out on the lake until the SALTO research project See document
Analysing such documents it is possible to reconstruct the history of the first hydrobiological research related to Lake Tovel. The Natural Science Museum of Venezia Tridentina was the main promoter of study campaigns.
The sponsors of this expedition were the Museum of Trento, represented by its director, Lino Bonomi, who, understanding the needs of the research, had made available staff and resources and Alberto Pepere, Chancellor of the University of Milan who contributed financially to the expenses. Professor Edgardo Baldi was in charge of the expedition.
The expedition turned its focus to the biology of Glenodinium, a kind of alga (Peridinium foliaceum) that caused (according to the researchers of the time) the redness of the lake waters. Drawing a complete picture of the life of the lake was the main aim of the research.
During the first year of work, four inspections were carried out, including winter sampling and an extended summer expedition of 60 days: 23 May, 26 and 27 June, from mid-July to the end of August, and from 27 to 30 December.
The first expedition in 1937 was attended by all the staff of the Museum: Prof. Edgardo Baldi, Dr. Giampaolo Moretti of the school of Milan and students, Dr. Sergio Venzo Honorary Curator of the Natural History Museum of Trento and geologist of the Civic Natural History Museum of Milan, the Tridentine Society of Alpinists, section of the Italian mountaineering centre (Centro Alpinistico Italiano), who provided numerous tools, collaborating with the organizers of the expedition.
Reaching the lake was not easy. Obstacles from the mountain to the logistics of the camp-laboratory were challenging. Despite the difficulties, in the first days of the 1937 campaign, a small scientific village was built on the shore of the lake.
Baldi and the researchers used complex instrumentation for their expeditions including an entire microscopy laboratory, equipped with 7 devices each of which was suitable for the performance of a particular task such as a microphotographic laboratory for the immediate photographic recording of the aspects presented by the limnetic biocenosis. In addition the camp included a small chemical-physical and chemical research laboratory and some simple systems to record the daily weather conditions of the area. In addition to this equipment, the researchers had two removable rafts, plankton nets, dredges, a film camera at their disposal and numerous tents of various types (four big tents and two small camping tents). The largest tents were all from Moretti company in Milan, three Malenco type tents, two of them were used for laboratory use, the third was used for storage and for the accommodation of the Museum technician, one was a Masino type tent used as a warehouse. The researchers also had a black fustian tent built as a photographic darkroom) for the accommodation of operators and tools.
The study campaigns continued until November 1940.
The scientific campaigns were documented by a diary, now kept in the archive of the Institute, and provides first hand evidence of aspects of the research campaigns (see document ). Specifically, the expeditions started in May 1938 and ended in 1940. The manuscript diary contains lots of unpublished material as well as that already published in the writings of Edgardo Baldi: in the 1941 volume, Ricerche idrobiologiche sul Lago di Tovel, and in the monograph of 1938: Relazione preliminare sulle ricerche del Lago di Tovel.
The diary, written by several people, accompanies the expeditions of the scientists, narrating the events, the hypotheses and the discoveries.
It offers a snapshot of the time and the researcher’s modus operandi. Through the eyes of the protagonists it is possible to catch moments of the intimate flow of life, of the creatures that animate the lake and enjoy their descriptions of the beauty of the landscape that the Brenta Valley offered and still offers today.
The diary is the evidence of the action of research led in the campaigns in the years after 1937, by Edgardo Baldi, his assistant, Dr Livia Pirocchi, the surveyor Vittorio Conci of the Hydrographic Office of Civil Engineering of Trento and the Museum of Trento represented by Enrico Broilo and Tullio Perini.
References
Baldi E. (1939). “Ulteriori ricerche al lago di Tovel”in Studi Trentini di Scienze naturali, 1-2 (XX), p. 15-30.
Baldi E. (1938). “Relazione preliminare sulle ricerche al lago di Tovel” in Studi Trentini di Scienze naturali, 3 (XIX), p. 247-339.
Baldi E. (1941). “Ricerche idrobiologiche sul lago di Tovel” estratto Memorie del Museo di Storia Naturale della Venezia Tridentina, 6 (XIX).
Bertagnoli A., Majone B. & Bellin A., (2006). “Il bilancio idrologico del lago di Tovel” in Studi Trentini di Scienze Naturali, Acta Biol., 81, Suppl. 2, p. 225-239.
Leonardi E., (1938). La val e il lago di Tovel, Cles (TN), Visintainer.
“L’attività del Museo di Storia Naturale della Venezia Tridentina ‑ cronaca e comunicazioni. 1937” in Studi Trentini di Scienze Naturali, 3 (XVIII), p. 324-344.
Tomasi G. (1989). “lago di Tovel: dall’immaginario al plausibile” in Natura alpina, 40, p. 1-72.
Subsection 1
Documents (unpublished) concerning the studies carried out by researchers on Lake Tovel
Subsection 3
Water Research Institute of the National Research Council
Fond: Istituto Italiano di Idrobiologia "Dottor Marco De Marchi" 1938 - 1977
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