Greetings colleagues, I am pleased to inform you about an upcoming session at the joint American Society of Limnology and Oceanography (ASLO)-North American Benthological Society (NABS) meeting in Sante Fe, June 6-11, 2010. We are running a special session on the role of littoral zones in lake ecosystems (see below). We hope you might be interested in presenting in, or attending, this session.
Regards, Scott N. Higgins p.s. the abstract deadline for ASLO is February 12, 2010 S55: From the Center to the Edge: Rediscovering the Littoral Zone in Lake Ecosystems Organizers: Shawn Devlin, Wright State University, [email protected]; Scott Higgins, University of Wisconsin-Madison, [email protected] and Yvonne Vadeboncoeur, Wright State University, [email protected] Research on lake littoral dynamics and littoral-pelagic links has intensified recently, and a true whole-lake perspective is reemerging in lake ecology. Regardless of lake size, littoral zones harbor high diversity, and littoral production is a critical component of lake food webs. Littoral zones are also the interface between lakes and the terrestrial landscape leading to cross-ecosystem fluxes of nutrients and energy. The emerging understanding of the ecological activity in littoral zones is paralleled by the recognition that lake edges are also focal points of human activity: lake edges are highly modified by humans and are critical points for the establishment and spread of invasive species and disease. Despite their ecological importance and sensitivity to anthropogenic impacts, littoral processes remain one of the least studied areas of limnology. This session will present an integrated perspective of our current understanding of the role of littoral zones in lake ecosystems and identify key unexplored questions. In addition to research on basic littoral ecosystem processes, this session will include presentations on littoral-pelagic links, littoral-terrestrial links, and anthropogenic impacts on the terrestrial aquatic ecotone. The exploration of littoral zone dynamics has truly expanded aquatic ecological focus from the center to the edge.
