Lake Skadar ( sh-Cyrl-Latn, Скадарско језеро, Skadarsko jezero, ; sq, Liqeni i Shkodrës, ) also called Lake Scutari, Lake Shkodër and Lake Shkodra lies on the border of

Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and share ...

and

Montenegro ) , image_map = Europe-Montenegro.svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Podgorica , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , official_languages = ...

, and is the largest

lake A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much large ...

Southern Europe Southern Europe is the southern region of Europe. It is also known as Mediterranean Europe, as its geography is essentially marked by the Mediterranean Sea. Definitions of Southern Europe include some or all of these countries and regions: Alb ...

. It is named after the city of

Shkodër Shkodër ( , ; sq-definite, Shkodra) is the fifth-most-populous city of the Republic of Albania and the seat of Shkodër County and Shkodër Municipality. The city sprawls across the Plain of Mbishkodra between the southern part of Lake Shko ...

in northern Albania ( sq, Shkodër or ''Shkodra)''. It is a karst lake. The Montenegrin section of the lake and surrounding land has been designated as a

national park A national park is a natural park in use for conservation purposes, created and protected by national governments. Often it is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or owns. Although individual ...

, while the Albanian section is a

nature reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological o ...

and a

ramsar site A Ramsar site is a wetland site designated to be of international importance under the Ramsar Convention,8 ha (O) *** Permanent 8 ha (P) *** Seasonal Intermittent < 8 ha(Ts) **

Balkan Peninsula The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...

with a surface area that seasonally fluctuates between and . Lake Skadar itself is located on the western Balkan The lake is located in the border area between Albania and Montenegro, the Montenegrin share of the area of the lake is slightly larger than the Albanian. The lake's water level also varies seasonally from above sea level. The lake extends northwest to southeast, and it is approximately long. The Bojana River connects the lake with the Adriatic Sea, and the

Drin River The Drin (; sq, Drin or ; mk, Дрим, Drim ) is a river in Southern and Southeastern Europe with two distributaries one discharging into the Adriatic Sea and the other one into the Buna River. Its catchment area extends across Albania, ...

provides a link with the

Ohrid Lake Lake Ohrid ( mk, Охридско Езеро , al, Liqeni i Ohrit , also referred as ''Liqeni i Pogradecit'';) is a lake which straddles the mountainous border between the southwestern part of North Macedonia and eastern Albania. It is one of E ...

. The lake is a

cryptodepression A cryptodepression is a depression in the Earth's surface that is below mean sea level, and which is filled by a lake. The term is derived from the Ancient Greek word ('hidden') and depression. Description A cryptodepression is often due to ...

, filled by the river

Morača The Morača ( sr-cyrl, Морача, ) is a major river in Montenegro that originates in the northern region in Kolašin Municipality under Mount Rzača. It meanders southwards for before emptying into Lake Skadar. Its drainage basin covers . ...

and drained into the

Adriatic The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Sea) to the ...

by the long Bojana ( sq, Buna), which forms the

international border Borders are usually defined as geographical boundaries, imposed either by features such as oceans and terrain, or by political entities such as governments, sovereign states, federated states, and other subnational entities. Political border ...

on the lower half of its length. The largest inflow is from the Morača, which provides about 62% of the lake's water. Total drainage area is . There are additionally some fresh water sources at the lake bottom. A characteristic feature of Lake Skadar's water balance is the high inflow from a number of temporary and permanent

karstic spring A karst spring or karstic spring is a spring (outflow of groundwater) that is part of a karst hydrological system. Description Because of their often conical or inverted bowl shape, karst springs are also known in German-speaking lands as a ''To ...

s, some of which are sublacustrine in cryptodepressians (so-called ‘oko’). The Southern and southwestern sides of the lake are rocky, barren and steep, having bays in which the sublacustrine springs, are usually to be found. On the northern side there is an enormous inundated area, the boundaries of which change as water levels fluctuate. Some small islands like Beška, with two churches on it and

Grmožur Grmožur ( cnr, Грможур) is a fortified islet in Lake Skadar, located near the village of Godinje, in the Montenegrin municipality of Bar. The island was nicknamed the Island of Snakes by the local population, and the Island of Birds by o ...

, a former fortress and prison can be found on the southwestern side of the lake. The climate type is

hot-summer Mediterranean climate A Mediterranean climate (also called a dry summer temperate climate ''Cs'') is a temperate climate sub-type, generally characterized by warm, dry summers and mild, fairly wet winters; these weather conditions are typically experienced in the ...

with dry summers (''Csa''), under

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, nota ...

. The Montenegrin part of the lake and its surrounding area were declared a

in 1983. The Albanian part has been designated as a Managed Nature Reserve. In 1996, by

Ramsar Convention on Wetlands The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands of International Importance Especially as Waterfowl Habitat is an international treaty for the conservation and sustainable use of Ramsar sites (wetlands). It is also known as the Convention on Wetlands. It i ...

, it was included in the

Ramsar list of wetlands of international importance This is the list of Wetlands of International Importance as defined by the Ramsar Convention for the conservation and sustainable use of wetlands, recognizing the fundamental ecological functions of wetlands and their economic, cultural, scientif ...

. Near the mouth of

Rijeka Crnojevića Rijeka Crnojevića (Montenegrin Cyrillic: Ријека Црнојевића, lit. "River of Crnojević") is a town in Montenegro on the eponymous Rijeka Crnojevića river, near the coast of Skadar lake. History The Ottomans captured Žablja ...

, below the surface of the water there is a well-preserved wreck of the steamboat ''

Skanderbeg , reign = 28 November 1443 – 17 January 1468 , predecessor = Gjon Kastrioti , successor = Gjon Kastrioti II , spouse = Donika Arianiti , issue = Gjon Kastrioti II , royal house = Kastrioti , father ...

'' sunk by partisans in 1942, during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

. File:Lake_Shkodër.jpg, View of the lake, Albania File:Westlicher Teil des Skutarisee.JPG, Western part of the lake near

, Montenegro File:02 - Maja Stosic - Pavlova Strana.jpg, Horseshoe bend in the northwest corner File:Shkodra 2.jpg, Outflow at

in Albania File:Grmozur 2.jpg, Fortress Grmožur in Lake Skadar, Montenegro File:Skadar Lake, Montenegro 37.jpg, Lake Skadar, Montenegro

Geology

Lake Skadar is presumably an

ancient lake An ancient lake is a lake that has consistently carried water for more than one million years. Many have existed for more than 2.6 million years, the full Quaternary period. Ancient lakes continue to persist due to plate tectonics in an active ...

, although it is a relatively young ancient lake. Most authors agree that the Lake Skadar basin is of

tectonic Tectonics (; ) are the processes that control the structure and properties of the Earth's crust and its evolution through time. These include the processes of mountain building, the growth and behavior of the strong, old cores of continents ...

origin which had been formed due to the complex folding and

faulting In geology, a fault is a planar fracture or discontinuity in a volume of rock across which there has been significant displacement as a result of rock-mass movements. Large faults within Earth's crust result from the action of plate tectonic ...

within north eastern wing of Old Montenegro anticlynorium (High Karst Zone). These movements took place during the

Cenozoic The Cenozoic ( ; ) is Earth's current geological era, representing the last 66million years of Earth's history. It is characterised by the dominance of mammals, birds and flowering plants, a cooling and drying climate, and the current configu ...

period. The Lake basin has been formed as the result of sinking of blocks in the

Neogene The Neogene ( ), informally Upper Tertiary or Late Tertiary, is a geologic period and system that spans 20.45 million years from the end of the Paleogene Period million years ago ( Mya) to the beginning of the present Quaternary Period Mya. ...

period or even in

Paleogene The Paleogene ( ; also spelled Palaeogene or Palæogene; informally Lower Tertiary or Early Tertiary) is a geologic period and system that spans 43 million years from the end of the Cretaceous Period million years ago ( Mya) to the beginning o ...

. In the

Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and means "less recen ...

and the

Pliocene The Pliocene ( ; also Pleiocene) is the epoch in the geologic time scale that extends from 5.333 million to 2.58Zeta Plain The Zeta Plain ( cnr, Зетска равница, Zetska ravnica, ) is a fertile lowland in Montenegro. It stretches from Podgorica in the north to the Skadar Lake in the south. It is the biggest plains area in Montenegro, with an average elevati ...

, which was sunk at the beginning of the upper Miocene, and that the sea inundated this plain up to

Podgorica Podgorica (Cyrillic: Подгорица, ; lit. 'under the hill') is the capital and largest city of Montenegro. The city was formerly known as Titograd (Cyrillic: Титоград, ) between 1946 and 1992—in the period that Montenegro form ...

during the Pliocene. Radoman (1985) pointed out that sea must have destroyed all the freshwater populations on this plane and in the Lake Skadar area. The connection of Lake Skadar with the sea was interrupted during the younger Pliocene. The question of the origin of its water is of particular interest for biologists as these waters may have provided its first species and been the basis for its present high degree of endemism.

Fauna

The Lake Skadar system is a well-known hotspot of freshwater biodiversity and harbors a highly diverse mollusc fauna. Lake Skadar is one of the largest bird

reserve Reserve or reserves may refer to: Places * Reserve, Kansas, a US city * Reserve, Louisiana, a census-designated place in St. John the Baptist Parish * Reserve, Montana, a census-designated place in Sheridan County * Reserve, New Mexico, a US ...

s in Europe, having 270 bird species, among which are some of the last

pelican Pelicans (genus ''Pelecanus'') are a genus of large water birds that make up the family Pelecanidae. They are characterized by a long beak and a large throat pouch used for catching prey and draining water from the scooped-up contents before ...

s in Europe, and thus popular with

birder Birdwatching, or birding, is the observing of birds, either as a recreational activity or as a form of citizen science. A birdwatcher may observe by using their naked eye, by using a visual enhancement device like binoculars or a telescope, by ...

s. The lake also contains habitats of

seagulls Gulls, or colloquially seagulls, are seabirds of the family Laridae in the suborder Lari. They are most closely related to the terns and skimmers and only distantly related to auks, and even more distantly to waders. Until the 21st century, ...

and

heron The herons are long-legged, long-necked, freshwater and coastal birds in the family Ardeidae, with 72 recognised species, some of which are referred to as egrets or bitterns rather than herons. Members of the genera ''Botaurus'' and ''Ixobrychu ...

s. It is abundant in fish, especially in

carp Carp are various species of oily freshwater fish from the family Cyprinidae, a very large group of fish native to Europe and Asia. While carp is consumed in many parts of the world, they are generally considered an invasive species in parts of ...

bleak Bleak may refer to: Fish * Species of the genus '' Alburnus'' * ''Alburnoides bipunctatus'', also known as the schneider Music * "Bleak", a song by Opeth from ''Blackwater Park ''Blackwater Park'' is the fifth studio album by Swedish progressi ...

and eel. Of the 34 native fish species, 7 are

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found else ...

to Lake Skadar.Talevski, Milošević, Marić, Petrović, Talevska and Talevska (2009)
''Biodiversity of Ichthyofauna from Lake Prespa, Lake Ohrid and Lake Skadar''.
Biotechnology & Biotechnological Equipment, 23(2). ISSN 1310-2818 At the scale of Lake Skadar, about 31% of

freshwater snail Freshwater snails are gastropod mollusks which live in fresh water. There are many different families. They are found throughout the world in various habitats, ranging from ephemeral pools to the largest lakes, and from small seeps and springs ...

s (12 out of 39 species sampled in the lake) are endemic. At the scale of the Lake Skadar basin, 38% (19 species) of the total freshwater gastropod fauna appear to be endemic. There were reliably recorded 50 species of freshwater snails from the Lake Skadar basin. The index of freshwater gastropod endemism is 0.478. With this relatively high value, Lake Skadar exceeds such famous lakes as

Lake Malawi Lake Malawi, also known as Lake Nyasa in Tanzania and Lago Niassa in Mozambique, is an African Great Lake and the southernmost lake in the East African Rift system, located between Malawi, Mozambique and Tanzania. It is the fifth largest f ...

and

Lake Titicaca Lake Titicaca (; es, Lago Titicaca ; qu, Titiqaqa Qucha) is a large freshwater lake in the Andes mountains on the border of Bolivia and Peru. It is often called the highest navigable lake in the world. By volume of water and by surface area, i ...

. The Lake Skadar is inhabited by five species of ''

Bithynia Bithynia (; Koine Greek: , ''Bithynía'') was an ancient region, kingdom and Roman province in the northwest of Asia Minor (present-day Turkey), adjoining the Sea of Marmara, the Bosporus, and the Black Sea. It bordered Mysia to the southwe ...

'' and it is a hot spot of ''Bithynia'' evolution. There are 17

amphipod Amphipoda is an order of malacostracan crustaceans with no carapace and generally with laterally compressed bodies. Amphipods range in size from and are mostly detritivores or scavengers. There are more than 9,900 amphipod species so far descri ...

species for the Lake Skadar watershed, 10 of them being endemic (mainly from the subterranean habitat). The small range of many endemic species living in the Lake Skadar system together with ever increasing human pressure make its fauna particularly vulnerable. This becomes even more important in light of ongoing

eutrophication Eutrophication is the process by which an entire body of water, or parts of it, becomes progressively enriched with minerals and nutrients, particularly nitrogen and phosphorus. It has also been defined as "nutrient-induced increase in phyt ...

water pollution Water pollution (or aquatic pollution) is the contamination of water bodies, usually as a result of human activities, so that it negatively affects its uses. Water bodies include lakes, rivers, oceans, aquifers, reservoirs and groundwater. ...

and sand and gravel exploration activities in the lake and its basin. Research of the

phytoplankton Phytoplankton () are the autotrophic (self-feeding) components of the plankton community and a key part of ocean and freshwater ecosystems. The name comes from the Greek words (), meaning 'plant', and (), meaning 'wanderer' or 'drifter'. ...

community and chlorophyllbased trophic state indices show that the lake is on a betamesosaprobic level of saprobity, which means moderately polluted with organic compounds. Effects of human-induced environmental changes are especially evident for sublacustrine springs, with eutrophication and using for

water supply Water supply is the provision of water by public utilities, commercial organisations, community endeavors or by individuals, usually via a system of pumps and pipes. Public water supply systems are crucial to properly functioning societies. Th ...

ing (e.g., sublacustrine spring Karuč) being the most serious threats. The 2011

IUCN Red List of Threatened Species The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biologi ...

includes 21 endemic species from the Lake Skadar basin.

Cultural impact

Radio Skadar, a radio station in

Montenegro ) , image_map = Europe-Montenegro.svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Podgorica , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , official_languages = ...

, based in

is named after Lake Skadar.

References

{{authority control Important Bird Areas of Albania National parks of Montenegro Skadar Skadar Protected areas established in 1983 Albania–Montenegro border Skadar Ramsar sites in Albania Ramsar sites in Montenegro Cetinje Municipality Podgorica Municipality LSkadar Karst lakes

Geology

Fauna

Cultural impact

See also

References