Preface
How can the tangled bank. in all its glorious.
muddy complexity. be reduced to a set of
antiseptic differential equations? To be fair.
it isn't certain that it can; but to presume
that we cannot hope to find general rules for
the way nature works is to reduce every ecological interaction to a special case. to be
marvelled at and then added to the vast
rummage box of wonderful anecdotes and
special cases.
John Lawton
Public concern about problems related to the eutrophication of inland
waters reached a peak level in Norway in 1976, following the nuisance
bloom of Oscillatoria in lake Mjesa. Following the massive effort toward
nutrient load abatement in this lake, an increasing need was felt for having
better tools to determine what levels of nutrient input a given lake could
tolerate without showing negative effects of eutrophication. Recent
research at that time had indicated that much of the variability between
lakes receiving similar nutrient loadings could be attributed to properties
of pelagic food webs (Shapiro et al. 1975). Consequently, in order to
increase the understanding of biological mechanisms involved in the
eutrophication process, and to assess the potential for using biological
control to improve water quality and increase the yield of harvestable
production, the Royal Norwegian Council for Scientific and Industrial
Research initiated a research programme on the eutrophication of inland
waters. The Eutrophication Programme lasted for 10 years (from 1978 to
1988), involving more than 30 different researchers, resulting in more than
100 scientific papers, and 9 doctoral dissertations.
I had the good fortune of being engaged in the Eutrophication
Programme for 2 years (from 1986 to 1988), together with some of the most
creative and productive scientists in a new generation of European
limnologists. The principal ideas that were conceived in this period are
probably still among the major research topics of most of the scientists that
were involved. The Eutrophicaton Programme was a scene of active crossfertilization between the population-oriented approach of classical zooplankton ecology and the system-oriented approach of classical limnology.
One of the main concepts resulting from merging these two fields was that
the biomass of herbivores, as well as higher trophic levels, must be recog-
How can the tangled bank. in all its glorious.
muddy complexity. be reduced to a set of
antiseptic differential equations? To be fair.
it isn't certain that it can; but to presume
that we cannot hope to find general rules for
the way nature works is to reduce every ecological interaction to a special case. to be
marvelled at and then added to the vast
rummage box of wonderful anecdotes and
special cases.
John Lawton
Public concern about problems related to the eutrophication of inland
waters reached a peak level in Norway in 1976, following the nuisance
bloom of Oscillatoria in lake Mjesa. Following the massive effort toward
nutrient load abatement in this lake, an increasing need was felt for having
better tools to determine what levels of nutrient input a given lake could
tolerate without showing negative effects of eutrophication. Recent
research at that time had indicated that much of the variability between
lakes receiving similar nutrient loadings could be attributed to properties
of pelagic food webs (Shapiro et al. 1975). Consequently, in order to
increase the understanding of biological mechanisms involved in the
eutrophication process, and to assess the potential for using biological
control to improve water quality and increase the yield of harvestable
production, the Royal Norwegian Council for Scientific and Industrial
Research initiated a research programme on the eutrophication of inland
waters. The Eutrophication Programme lasted for 10 years (from 1978 to
1988), involving more than 30 different researchers, resulting in more than
100 scientific papers, and 9 doctoral dissertations.
I had the good fortune of being engaged in the Eutrophication
Programme for 2 years (from 1986 to 1988), together with some of the most
creative and productive scientists in a new generation of European
limnologists. The principal ideas that were conceived in this period are
probably still among the major research topics of most of the scientists that
were involved. The Eutrophicaton Programme was a scene of active crossfertilization between the population-oriented approach of classical zooplankton ecology and the system-oriented approach of classical limnology.
One of the main concepts resulting from merging these two fields was that
the biomass of herbivores, as well as higher trophic levels, must be recog-