To fulfill its commitment to clean water, the United States depends on limnology, a multidisciplinary science that seeks to understand the behavior of freshwater bodies by integrating aspects of all basic sciences—from chemistry and fluid mechanics to botany, ichthyology, and microbiology. Now, prominent limnologists are concerned about this important field, citing the lack of adequate educational programs and other issues.


Freshwater Ecosystems responds with recommendations for strengthening the field and ensuring the readiness of the next generation of practitioners. Highlighted with case studies, this book explores limnology's place in the university structure and the need for curriculum reform, with concrete suggestions for curricula and field research at the undergraduate, graduate, and postdoctoral levels. The volume examines the wide-ranging career opportunities for limnologists and recommends strategies for integrating limnology more fully into water resource decision management.


Freshwater Ecosystems tells the story of limnology and its most prominent practitioners and examines the current strengths and weaknesses of the field. The committee discusses how limnology can contribute to appropriate policies for industrial waste, wetlands destruction, the release of greenhouse gases, extensive damming of rivers, the zebra mussel and other "invasions" of species—the broad spectrum of problems that threaten the nation's freshwater supply. Freshwater Ecosystems provides the foundation for improving a field whose importance will continue to increase as human populations grow and place even greater demands on freshwater resources. This volume will be of value to administrators of university and government science programs, faculty and students in aquatic science, aquatic resource managers, and clean-water advocates—and it is readily accessible to the concerned individual.

Table of Contents


Front Matter
Executive Summary
1 Overview: Status of Inland Waters
2 Limnology, the Science of Inland Waters: Evolution and Current Status
3 Contemporary Water Management: Role of Limnology
4 Education in Limnology: Current Status and Recommendations for Improvement
5 Future of Limnology: Linking Education and Water Resource Management
Organizing Paradigms for the Study of Inland Aquatic Ecosystems
Linkages Among Diverse Aquatic Ecosystems: A Neglected Field of Study
Training of Aquatic Ecosystem Scientists
Wetlands: An Essential Component of Curricula in Limnology
Applied Aquatic Ecosystem Science
Fundamental Research Questions in Inland Aquatic Ecosystem Science
The Role of Major Research Centers in the Study of Inland Aquatic Ecosystems
Bringing Biology Back into Water Quality Assessments
APPENDIXES
Appendix A: Limnology Programs in U.S. Institutes of Higher Education: A Survey
Appendix B: Where Are the Limnologists? Surveys of Professional Societies and Journals
Appendix C: Biographical Sketches of Committee Members and Staff
Appendix D: Other Contributors to This Report
Index