The Étang d'Urbino (or Étang d'Urbinu) is a coastal lagoon beside the
Tyrrhenian Sea
The Tyrrhenian Sea (, ; or ) , , , , is part of the Mediterranean Sea off the western coast of Italy. It is named for the Tyrrhenians, Tyrrhenian people identified with the Etruscans of Italy.
Geography
The sea is bounded by the islands of C ...
in the
Haute-Corse
Haute-Corse (; , or ; ) is a department of France, consisting of the northern part of the island of Corsica. The corresponding departmental territorial collectivity merged with that of Corse-du-Sud on 1 January 2018, forming the single ter ...
department on the French island of
Corsica
Corsica ( , , ; ; ) is an island in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the Regions of France, 18 regions of France. It is the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fourth-largest island in the Mediterranean and lies southeast of the Metro ...
.
Location
The Étang d'Urbino is in the commune of
Ghisonaccia
Ghisonaccia (; ) is a commune of the Haute-Corse department of France on the island of Corsica.
Population
See also
* Communes of the Haute-Corse department
The following is a list of the 236 Communes of France, communes of the Haute ...
between the T10 coastal highway and the sea, to the northeast of the village of Ghisonaccia.
The northeast shore is in the commune of
.
It is the second largest lagoon in Corsica with an area of .
Physical
The lagoon was formed by tectonic activity.
It is part of a string of lagoons on the section of the east coast of Corsica between the Fiumorbu and
Travo
Travo ( ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Piacenza in the Italian region Emilia-Romagna, located about northwest of Bologna and about southwest of Piacenza. It is on the left bank of the Trebbia river.
Geography
Travo borders ...
rivers.
It is roughly circular, divided into two parts by the Isola Longa, a large peninsula extending from the west shore.
There is an island in the southwest of the lagoon.
The northeast and east shores are flat and sandy, while the peninsula, island and northwest shores have small cliffs.
The cliffs fall straight into the sea on the north coast of the peninsula, but elsewhere are bordered by narrow sandy beaches.
The bottom of the lagoon consists of mud, sand, terrigenous sediments and shell sediments.
The greatest depth is .
A ''lido'' (sandbar) separates the lagoon from the sea, populated by a coastal forest of
juniper
Junipers are coniferous trees and shrubs in the genus ''Juniperus'' ( ) of the cypress family Cupressaceae. Depending on the taxonomy, between 50 and 67 species of junipers are widely distributed throughout the Northern Hemisphere as far south ...
s and a dune forest with
maritime pine
''Pinus pinaster'', the maritime pine or cluster pine, is a pine native to the south Atlantic Europe region and parts of the western Mediterranean. It is a hard, fast growing pine bearing small seeds with large wings.
Description
''Pinus pinast ...
The lagoon is well preserved, with very little urbanization.
It has long been used for traditional fishing and for
oyster
Oyster is the common name for a number of different families of salt-water bivalve molluscs that live in marine or brackish habitats. In some species, the valves are highly calcified, and many are somewhat irregular in shape. Many, but no ...
farming, although the shellfish farming was suspended in 2016 due to infection with ostreid herpesvirus 1.
It is not used for recreational boating, but visitors fish or swim from the beach, and drive all-terrain vehicles on the dunes despite the extreme damage they cause to the environment.
There is a busy restaurant on the south of the peninsula.
The watershed has some agriculture with cultivation of grapes, citrus and olives, and extensive livestock farming.
Most urbanization is along the National 197 road.
The lagoon is used as a water source for
aerial firefighting
Aerial firefighting, also known as waterbombing, is the use of aircraft and other aerial resources to Wildfire suppression, combat wildfires. The types of aircraft used include fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters. Smokejumpers and rappellers ar ...
when there is a forest fire in the region.
Ecology
In 2004 the Étang d’Urbino became a
Natura 2000
Natura 2000 is a network of nature protection areas in the territory of the European Union. It is made up of Special Areas of Conservation and Special Protection Areas designated under the Habitats Directive and the Birds Directive, respectiv ...
site managed by the Collectivity of Corsica.
It became the property of the ''
Conservatoire du littoral
The ''Conservatoire du littoral'' ("Coastal protection agency") (official name: ''Conservatoire de l'espace littoral et des rivages lacustres'') is a French public organisation created in 1975 to ensure the protection of outstanding natural areas o ...
'' in 2007.
In 2009 it was designated 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)
**
Juniperus macrocarpa
''Juniperus macrocarpa'' (large-fruited juniper, syn. ''J. oxycedrus'' subsp. ''macrocarpa'' (Sibth. & Sm.) Ball) is a species of juniper, native across the northern Mediterranean Region from southwestern Spain east to western Turkey and Cyprus, ...
,
Juniperus phoenicea
''Juniperus phoenicea'', the Phoenicean juniper or Arâr, is a juniper found throughout the Mediterranean region.
Description
''Juniperus phoenicea'' is a large evergreen shrub or small tree reaching tall, with a trunk up to in diameter and ...
and
Pinus pinaster
''Pinus pinaster'', the maritime pine or cluster pine, is a pine native to the south Atlantic Europe region and parts of the western Mediterranean. It is a hard, fast growing pine bearing small seeds with large wings.
Description
''Pinus pinast ...
grow on the coastal dunes.
The Coastal Mallow (''Kosteletzkya pentacarpos''), a protected, vulnerable and rare plant species is present at the site.
The bottom of the lagoon supports dense meadows of aquatic phanerogams, dominated by ''
Cymodocea nodosa
''Cymodocea nodosa'' is a species of seagrass in the family Cymodoceaceae and is sometimes known as little Neptune grass.
''.
At the mouths of the streams there are freshwater reed beds.
Salt marsh
A salt marsh, saltmarsh or salting, also known as a coastal salt marsh or a tidal marsh, is a coastal ecosystem in the upper coastal intertidal zone between land and open saltwater or brackish water that is regularly flooded by the tides. I ...
es and salt-tolerant
cane
Cane or caning may refer to:
*Walking stick, or walking cane, a device used primarily to aid walking
* Assistive cane, a walking stick used as a mobility aid for better balance
* White cane, a mobility or safety device used by blind or visually i ...
s and
tamarix
The genus ''Tamarix'' (tamarisk, salt cedar, taray) is composed of about 50–60 species of flowering plants in the family Tamaricaceae, native to drier areas of Eurasia and Africa. The generic name originated in Latin and may refer to the Ta ...
are valued by the birds.
The lagoon is rich in fish including protected species such as Mediterranean killifish (''Aphanius fasciatus'') and
eel
Eels are ray-finned fish belonging to the order Anguilliformes (), which consists of eight suborders, 20 families, 164 genera, and about 1000 species. Eels undergo considerable development from the early larval stage to the eventual adult stage ...
.
The lagoon is used as a resting point for many birds migrating to the south, and is home to many birds during the resproduction and breeding season.
113 species of bird have been reported.
37 species breed around the lagoon including
red-crested pochard
The red-crested pochard (''Netta rufina'') is a large diving duck. The scientific name is derived from Greek ''Netta'' "duck", and Latin ''rufina'', "golden-red" (from ''rufus'', "ruddy"). Its breeding habitat is lowland marshes and lakes in so ...
(''Netta rufina'') and
common shelduck
The common shelduck (''Tadorna tadorna'') is a waterfowl species of the shelduck genus, ''shelduck, Tadorna''. It is widespread and common in the Euro-Siberian region of the Palearctic realm, Palearctic, mainly breeding in temperate and wintering ...
(''Tadorna tadorna''), which are no longer common elsewhere in Corsica.
The freshwater entering to the north of the peninsula is regularly frequented by birds such as
mallard
The mallard () or wild duck (''Anas platyrhynchos'') is a dabbling duck that breeds throughout the temperate and subtropical Americas, Eurasia, and North Africa. It has been introduced to New Zealand, Australia, Peru, Brazil, Uruguay, Arge ...
,
shoveler
The shovelers or shovellers are four species of dabbling ducks with long, broad spatula-shaped beaks:
* Red shoveler, ''Anas platalea''
* Cape shoveler, ''Anas smithii''
* Australasian shoveler, ''Anas rhynchotis''
* Northern shoveler, ''Ana ...
,
Eurasian teal
The Eurasian teal (''Anas crecca''), common teal, or Eurasian green-winged teal is a common and widespread duck that breeds in temperate Eurosiberia and migrates south in winter. The Eurasian teal is often called simply the teal due to being th ...
and
coot
Coots are medium-sized water birds that are members of the rail family, Rallidae. They constitute the genus ''Fulica'', the name being the Latin term for "coot". Coots have predominantly black plumage, and—unlike many rails—they are usual ...
.
The small marches and mudflats are all colonized by shorebirds and waders.
The most common species are
great cormorant
The great cormorant (''Phalacrocorax carbo''), also known as just cormorant in Britain, as black shag or kawau in New Zealand, formerly also known as the great black cormorant across the Northern Hemisphere, the black cormorant in Australia, and ...
(Phalacrocorax carbo),
Eurasian coot
The Eurasian coot (''Fulica atra''), also known as the common coot, or Australian coot, is a member of the rail and crake bird family, the Rallidae. It is found in Europe, Asia, Australia, New Zealand and parts of North Africa. It has a slaty-bla ...
(''Fulica atra'') and
great crested grebe
The great crested grebe (''Podiceps cristatus'') is a member of the grebe family of water birds. The bird is characterised by its distinctive appearance, featuring striking black, orange-brown, and white plumage, and elaborate courtship displa ...
(''Podiceps cristatus'').
Recently there has been an increase in numbers of
flamingo
Flamingos or flamingoes () are a type of wading bird in the family Phoenicopteridae, which is the only extant family in the order Phoenicopteriformes. There are four flamingo species distributed throughout the Americas (including the Caribbe ...
(''Phoenicopterus roseus'') and
great egret
The great egret (''Ardea alba''), also known as the common egret, large egret, great white egret, or great white heron, is a large, widely distributed egret. The four subspecies are found in Asia, Africa, the Americas, and southern Europe. R ...
(''Ardea alba'').
Colonial shorebirds such as
tern
Terns are seabirds in the family Laridae, subfamily Sterninae, that have a worldwide distribution and are normally found near the sea, rivers, or wetlands. Terns are treated in eleven genera in a subgroup of the family Laridae, which also ...
s and
gull
Gulls, or colloquially seagulls, are seabirds of the subfamily Larinae. They are most closely related to terns and skimmers, distantly related to auks, and even more distantly related to waders. Until the 21st century, most gulls were placed ...
s are finding fewer and fewer places to nest as the Mediterranean shoreline is built up.
In March 2016 a nesting raft, the largest in Europe, was set up on the lagoon as part of the "Mediterranean Community Life + Envoll" program.
It is designed to be suitable for nesting by protected heritage species that have poor reproduction rates.
Common tern
The common tern (''Sterna hirundo'') is a seabird in the family Laridae. This bird has a circumpolar distribution, its four subspecies breeding in Temperateness, temperate and subarctic regions of Europe, Asia and North America. It is stron ...
s and
black-headed gull
The black-headed gull (''Chroicocephalus ridibundus'') is a small gull that breeds in much of the Palearctic in Europe and Asia, and also locally in smaller numbers in coastal eastern Canada. Most of the population is migratory and winters fu ...
s have used the raft and a healthy number of fledgling chicks have been observed.