Freshwater Biology

Classic papers on plankton dynamics from Freshwater Biology

Plankton ecology is a core discipline of limnology and marine biology, encompassing all aspects of the interactions that determine the abundances and distribution of plankton organisms. Since plankton plays a central role in the functioning of open-water systems, and worldwide the environment is changing at an unprecedented rate, an interesting challenge lies ahead in assessing how seasonal plankton dynamics will alter in the light of global change. Accordingly, the latest virtual issue of Freshwater Biology brings together classic papers on plankton ecology published in the Journal since 2001.

Special Issue: Plankton Dynamics in a Fast Changing World

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Plankton ecology contributes significantly to ecological theory building, because plankton organisms are relatively easy to manipulate and have short generation times and a relatively small set of traits making them an ideal experimental model system for addressing both general ecological questions as well more system-specific questions. Since the environment is changing at an unprecedented rate, there is an ongoing demand for predictions from plankton ecology on the consequences of global change. In 2010, a colloquium was held on three subjects: chaos versus predictability in plankton dynamics, global patterns versus regional differences in plankton dynamics and climate-induced changes in plankton dynamics. Papers in this Special Issue propose a new model of plankton dynamics under climate change in different climate zones; offer increased attention to the role of winters in resetting population dynamics; discuss the effects of climate change on ecological stoichiometry and efficiency of trophic transfer; describe the relative and interacting effects of changes in temperature and hydrology on plankton; and analyse the effects of climate change on host–parasite dynamics. Read more...

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Faculty of 1000 Recommended Papers from Freshwater Biology

Moving on up: can results from simple aquatic mesocosm experiments be applied across broad spatial scales?
Amanda C. Spivak, Michael J. Vanni, Elizabeth M. Mette
Volume 56, Issue 2, pages 279–291, February 2011
FFa – 8