Lake Ecosystem Ecology

A derivative of the Encyclopedia of Inland Waters, Lake Ecosystem Ecology examines the workings of the lake and reservoir ecosystems of our planet. Information and perspectives crucial to the understanding and management of current environmental problems are covered, such as eutrophication, acid rain and climate change. Because the articles are drawn from an encyclopedia, the articles are easily accessible to interested members of the public, such as conservationists and environmental decision makers. Includes an up-to-date summary of global aquatic ecosystems and issues Covers current environmental problems and management solutions Features full-color figures and tables to support the text and aid in understanding

A derivative of the Encyclopedia of Inland Waters, River Ecosystem Ecology reviews the function of rivers and streams as ecosystems as well as the varied activities and interactions that occur among their abiotic and biotic components. Because the articles are drawn from an encyclopedia, the articles are easily accessible to interested members of the public, such as conservationists and environmental decision makers. Includes an up-to-date summary of global aquatic ecosystems and issues Covers current environmental problems and management solutions Features full-color figures and tables to support the text and aid in understanding

The vast majority of the world's lakes are small in size and short lived in geological terms. Only 253 of the thousands of lakes on this planet have surface areas larger than 500 square kilometers. At first sight, this statistic would seem to indicate that large lakes are relatively unimportant on a global scale; in fact, however, large lakes contain the bulk of the liquid surface freshwater of the earth. Just Lake Baikal and the Laurentian Great Lakes alone contain more than 38% of the world's total liquid freshwater. Thus, the large lakes of the world accentuate an important feature of the earth's freshwater reserves-its extremely irregular distribution. The energy crisis of the 1970s and 1980s made us aware of the fact that we live on a spaceship with finite, that is, exhaustible resources. On the other hand, the energy crisis led to an overemphasis on all the issues concerning energy supply and all the problems connected with producing new energy. The energy crisis also led us to ignore strong evidence suggesting that water of appropriate quality to be used as a resouce will be used up more quickly than energy will. Although in principle water is a "renewable resource," the world's water reserves are diminishing in two fashions, the effects of which are multiplicative: enhanced consumption and accelerated degradation of quality.

Why study a small lake in the White Mountains of north-central New Hamp shire? Better yet, why write a book about those studies? We wrestled with such questions for years, and the answers lie in the overall ecosystem focus and approach we have taken. At the same time that we studied Mirror Lake, numerous and comprehensive studies were done of the surrounding terres trial and stream ecosystems of the Hubbard Brook Valley. These associated studies complemented those done in the lake and provided unique informa tion about air-land-water linkages in the Valley. Many of the studies con ducted in Mirror Lake were about organisms or about the processes carried out by these individual organisms or communities. Nevertheless, an abiding objective always was to determine the significance that these individuals and individual processes had to the overall structure, metabolism and biogeo chemistry of the Mirror Lake ecosystem. To wit, what is the significance for the ecosystem? In some cases the ecosystem role was clear, for many it was not. But the hope is that our attempts to unravel and understand the whole will be informative and, more importantly, that it will stimulate others to study the holistic and functional relationships in entire landscapes. The book is more than a case history of a single lake. We have written it not only for the serious student of lakes, but also for those interested in ecosystems and their interactions.

This volume presents recent advances in the research on meromictic lakes and a state-of-the art overview of this area. After an introduction to the terminology and geographic distribution of meromictic lakes, three concise chapters describe their physical, chemical and biological features. The following eight chapters present case studies of more than a dozen meromictic lakes, showing the variety of physical and biochemical processes that promote meromixis. The result is a broad picture of the ecology and biochemistry of meromictic lakes in tropical and cold regions, in man-made pit lakes and euxinic marine lakes, and in freshwater as well as hypersaline lakes. In the final chapter the editors provide a synthesis of the topic and conclude that the study of meromictic lakes also offers new insights into the limnology of inland lakes. The book appeals to researchers in the fields of ecology, limnology, environmental physics and biophysics.

Using a combination of empirical studies, experimental work and mathematical formulations, Scheffer presents a theoretical framework for understanding the dynamics of shallow lake communities.

This book summarizes research from 50 years of intensive study of a pristine subalpine lake ecosystem and its catchment. Coverage spans a range of topics, including studies focusing on changes in ice cover, water temperature, zooplankton, benthos and fish.

“ W. T. Edmondson has spent his career answering questions about the ecological impacts of human experiments on lakes in Washington State. In this volume, he recounts these studies and captures from his experiences a larger view of the nature of our environmental problems. . . . While the commentary is wide ranging, the foundation is a personal account of one ecologist’s lifetime experience on the dual points of research and public application of that research.”—Research and Exploration“W. T. Edmondson, a zoologist, extracts enduring lessons from his more than 50 years of experience in persuading political powers to make use of scientific knowledge when they set about drawing up laws for managing human interventions in the environment. Any scientist who follows in Edmondson’s footsteps should benefit from reading this sensitive recounting of political battles.”—Garrett Hardin, Pacific Northwest Quarterly