Limnology

Limnology is a discipline that concerns the study of inland aquatic ecosystems (whether freshwater or saline, natural or manmade), including the biological, physical, chemical, geological, ecological, and hydrological aspects of lakes, reservoirs, ponds, rivers, wetlands and groundwater. At times, and historically, limnology is more specifically defined as the study of lakes and open reservoirs (International Year of Freshwater 2003, Marcus 1959), or as the study of freshwater systems (European Environment Agency 2006) or as the study of physical and chemical elements versus the biological elements (Strom 1929). However, the broader and generally accepted conception of limnology involves the study of all inland aquatic ecosystems and including the biological aspects (Brezonik 1996, Strom 1929, Wetzel 2003).

In its modern definition, limnology is sometimes considered synonymous with freshwater ecology. However, Wetzel (2003) recognizes a distinction based on the fact that limnology is not limited to freshwater systems:

"Limnology is the study of inland waters ... as ecological systems interacting with their drainage basins and the atmosphere. . . Stated simply, limnology is the study of the structural and functional interrelationships of organisms of inland waters as their dynamic physical, chemical, and biotic environments affect them."

"Freshwater ecology is the study of the structure, function, and change of organisms in fresh waters as affected by their dynamic physical, chemical, and biotic environments. Saline waters (>0.3% or 3 g per liter) are excluded by this definition."

Wetzel (2003) further restricts the definition of freshwater biology to the study of the organisms themselves.

Limnology traditionally is closely related to hydrobiology, which is concerned with the application of the principles and methods of physics, chemistry, geology, and geography to ecological problems.

The term limnology stems from Greek limne (marsh, pond, lake) and Latin limnaea (thing pertaining to a marsh) (Wetzel 2003).

Origins

François-Alphonse Forel (1841-1912), a Swiss scientist, established the field of limnology with his studies of Lake Geneva. Forel is considered the "founder of limnology."

Born in Morges on Lake Geneva, Forel worked as a professor of medicine at the University of Lausanne. But his real love was the lake; his investigations of biology, chemistry, water circulation, and sedimentation, and most importantly their interactions, established the foundation of a new discipline.

In his chief work, Le Léman, published in three volumes between 1892 and 1904, he named his activity limnology in analogy with oceanography. Forel discovered the phenomenon of density currents in lakes, and explained seiches, the rhythmic oscillations observed in enclosed waters.

The development of the science of limnology in North America is considered to be be entwined with the careers of Edward Asahel Birge and Chancey Juday (Beckel 1988). It is their partnership at the University of Wisconsin-Madison that substantially laid the foundations of limnology in North America (Beckel 1988). Arthur Birge, who had studied briefly under Louis Agassiz, first came to the University of Wisconsin in 1875, but it was not until more than two decades later that his work became limnological, when he studied the physical and chemical conditions controlling the seasonal distribution of zooplankton at Lake Mendota. (Beckel notes that previously he studied zooplankton, indicating that the field of limnology is more than just a biological study.) Birge began to partner with Chancey Juday around the turn of the century, and their partnership lasted for four decades. Their first paper together was published in 1980, but their first major paper came in 1911 with a classic publication on dissolved gases, "The inland lakes of Wisconsin: The dissolved gases of the water and their biological significance" (Beckel 1988).

File:GEvelynHutchinson.jpg

G. Evelyn Hutchinson holding a baby potto

Another major figure in limnology is George Evelyn Hutchinson (1903-1991), an Anglo-American zoologist who is known for his studies of freshwater lakes and considered the "father]] of modern limnology." He was born and educated in England, but gained fame at Yale University, where he joined the faculty in 1928. His illustrious career at Yale lasted for forty-three years, and he became a US citizen in 1941.

Organizations

• American Society of Limnology and Oceanography
• Australian Society for Limnology
• European Society of Limnology and Oceanography
• German Society of Limnology (www.dgl-ev.de)
• Italian Association for Oceanology and Limnology (AIOL)
• The Japanese Society of Limnology
• Societas Internationalis Limnologiae (SIL)
• Brazilian Society of Limnology
• New Zealand freshwater Sciences society
• Southern African Society of Aquatic Scientists
• Society of Wetland Scientists

Journals

• Marine Ecology
• River Research and Applications
• Aquatic Conservation
• Advances in Limnology
• Chinese Journal of Oceanology and Limnology
• Journal of Limnology
• Limnologica
• Limnology and Oceanography
• Journal of Coastal Research
• Freshwater Biology

References

ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

• European Environment Agency. 2006. Limnology. European Environment Information and Observation Network. Retrieved February 2, 2007.

• Beckel, A. L. 1988. Breaking new waters: A century of limnology at the University of Wisconsin. Transactions of the Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters: Special Issue. Retrieved February 2, 2007.

References

• Gerald A. Cole, Textbook of Limnology, 4th ed. (Waveland Press, 1994) ISBN 0-88133-800-1
• Stanley Dodson, Introduction to Limnology (2005), ISBN 0-07-287935-1
• A.J.Horne & C.R. Goldman: Limnology (1994), ISBN 0-07-023673-9
• G. E. Hutchinson, A Treatise on Limnology, 3 vols. (1957-1975) - classic but dated
• H.B.N. Hynes, The Ecology of Running Waters (1970)
• Jacob Kalff, Limnology (Prentice Hall, 2001)
• B. Moss, Ecology of Fresh Waters (Blackwell, 1998)
• Robert G. Wetzel, Limnology: Lake and River Ecosystems, 3rd ed. (Academic Press, 2001) ISBN 0-12-744760-1, highly regarded
• Robert G. Wetzel & Gene E. Likens, Limnological Analyses, 3rd ed. (Springer-Verlag, 2000)

Credits

New World Encyclopedia writers and editors rewrote and completed the Wikipedia article in accordance with New World Encyclopedia standards. This article abides by terms of the Creative Commons CC-by-sa 3.0 License (CC-by-sa), which may be used and disseminated with proper attribution. Credit is due under the terms of this license that can reference both the New World Encyclopedia contributors and the selfless volunteer contributors of the Wikimedia Foundation. To cite this article click here for a list of acceptable citing formats.The history of earlier contributions by wikipedians is accessible to researchers here:

• Limnology  ^history
• François-Alphonse_Forel  ^history
• G._Evelyn_Hutchinson  ^history

The history of this article since it was imported to New World Encyclopedia:

• History of "Limnology"

Note: Some restrictions may apply to use of individual images which are separately licensed.