OPENING TALK OF ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES CONGRESS IN ITALY

On 22nd March 2022 Arianna Garofolin introduced an interesting topic for Environmental Sciences in the magnificent location of Lake Calamone, near Mount Ventasso, in Italy.

Arianna Garofolin and the Life Claw Project

The LIFE CLAW project, co-financed by the EU, aims to conserve the native river shrimp Austropotamobius pallipes in the Apennines northwest, between Emilia-Romagna and Liguria.

Who’s that? Why is it endangered? What are the man-made threats against him? What actions are the project partners implementing for its safeguard? The river shrimp is considered an endangered species, it symbolically represents an environmental problem affecting most of the river ecosystems. Particularly stocky and robust carapace, it can reach 11-12 cm of length and 90 g of weight. Males are bigger than females. It lives in streams and streams particularly oxygenated.

It prefers the gravel or sandy beds, but equipped with banks where there are ravines and safe places, often represented by leaves of fallen trees or leaves, to be able to hide and rest. Being a cold-blooded organism, it prefers fresh waters (15 °C) and a range that deviates from a few degrees, with a maximum temperature of 23 °C. It is a typically nocturnal animal. It feeds on everything: from algae to aquatic plants, from worms to molluscs, to insect larvae. It is particularly aggressive in the defence of its territory and in the sexual struggles, as evidenced by the catches of specimens with partially or totally mutilated limbs or claws. The mating takes place mainly in autumn. The female carries on the abdomen for 5-6 months the fecundated eggs (about one hundred), taking care of them, ventilating them and cleaning them continuously.