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.
The term limnology stems from Greek limne (marsh, pond, lake) and Latin limnaea (thing pertaining to a marsh) (Wetzel 2003).
Origin
François-Alphonse Forel (1841-1912) established the field with his studies of Lake Geneva. François-Alphonse Forel was a Swiss scientist who pioneered the study of lakes, and is thus considered the founder of limnology.
Born in Morges on Lake Geneva, he 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 ("limnography" could have been confused with the limnograph, which measures water level in lakes).
He discovered the phenomenon of density currents in lakes, and explained seiches, the rhythmic oscillations observed in enclosed waters.
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.
For concepts http://www.earthscape.org/t1/vip01/vip01.html
http://www.madsci.org/posts/archives/apr99/924546425.Es.r.html
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) (www.aiol.info - R.Bertoni)
- The Japanese Society of Limnology
- Societas Internationalis Limnologiae (SIL) (limnology.org)
- Brazilian Society of Limnology ([1])
- New Zealand freshwater Sciences society ([2])
- Southern African Society of Aquatic Scientists ([3])
Journals
- Marine Ecology
- River Research and Applications
- Aquatic Conservation
- Advances in Limnology
- Chinese Journal of Oceanology and Limnology
- Journal of Limnology (- - Journal webpage - R.Bertoni)
- Limnologica
- Limnology and Oceanography
- Journal of Coastal Research
- Freshwater Biology
See also
- Important publications in limnology
- Freshwater biology
- Marine biology
ReferencesISBN links support NWE through referral fees
- European Environment Agency. 2006. Limnology. European Environment Information and Observation Network. Retrieved February 2, 2007.
- The History of Limnology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison: A digital resource documenting three generations of limnological research in Wisconsin. Much of the collection comes from the archives of the UW-Madison Center for Limnology. It focuses on three important pioneers of limnology, Dr. Edward A. Birge, Chancey Juday and Arthur D. Hasler, as well as Wisconsin research laboratories and field equipment. Presented by the University of Wisconsin Digital Collections Center.
- Breaking new waters: a Century of Limnology at the University of Wisconsin: A special publication of the Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters in celebration of a century of limnological research.
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)
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