The Asperelle Lake is not a true lake but is a large temporary shallow water pool. This water body is fed by a temporary spring on its bottom and by seasonal rainfall.
For these reasons the pool has a relatively high variation in water level, and in recent years can be found completely dry in Summer.The maximum sizes of this pool are about 50 x 30 m, and its depth does not exceed 1 m.
This is one of the few sites in Liguria, in which all the three species of newts living in the Northern Apennines are found: The Italian Crested newt, the Alpine newt and the Smooth newt. Asperelle is also well known for the breeding migration of the Common frog, a wood frog that in Mediterranean regions is found only at high elevations.
In the Asperelle site, this species enters the water to spawn at the beginning of Spring, end of March or beginning of April, when the ice on the water surface has just melted but snow is still abundant.
The Asperelle Lake is one of the most relevant breeding sites for Amphibians in Liguria and deserves a high level of conservation priority.