Conservation and Management of Running Water
The fourth meeting of the SIL Working Group on the Conservation and Management of Running Waters was held in conjunction with the SIL meeting in Dublin on the evening of August 13, 1998.
There were some interesting (and contrasting) short presentations from Gisli Gislason (Iceland), Jan Herrman (Sweden), Susanne Muhar (Austria) and Andrew Boulton (Australia), followed by some vigorous debate from the floor. One of my personal aims for the workshop had been to hear a range of perspectives on a subject of topical relevance to Scottish Natural Heritage, as we are in the process of examining the mechanisms available in Scotland for protecting fresh waters important for nature conservation. In the event, whilst these aims were partially achieved, most discussion centred around the tremendous difference in perception, needs and opportunities between protecting fresh waters in developed countries with those in the developing world.
Some of the members of the working group that attended the meeting are assisting me in writing up a short paper to cover the main points discussed, and I hope that it will, in due course, appear in the SIL Proceedings.
Philip Boon, Chairperson
Biomonitoring
Professor Oscar Ravera has expressed his wish to Professor Robert Wetzel, General Secretary of the SIL, to retire from his position as coordinator of the SIL Working Group on Biomonitoring. I have been asked by Professor Robert Wetzel to take this position for the future, because of my recent activities and initiatives in this field. I have agreed and now await the approval of the International Committee of the SIL.
The next activity of the working group will be the organisation of an International Symposium on Biomonitoring at Karlsruhe, Germany from September 28 – October 1, 1999. The symposium is jointly arranged with the meeting of the Committee on Biomonitoring of the International Union of Biological Sciences and the University of Karlsruhe. At the meeting, future tasks and possible activities of the working group will be discussed and initiated. I have sent invitations to the members of the working group and I now invite anyone who is interested in the symposium and the future activities of the working group to contact me.
Wolfgang Schmitz, Chairperson
Aquatic Birds
The Working Group on Aquatic Birds of the Societas Inernationalis Limnologiae (SIL) was formed in 1992. One of the primary objectives of the Working Group is to facilitate communications among limnologists interested in aquatic birds and ornithologists interested in the aquatic habitat.
Two previous conferences have been held, in Sopron, Hungary, in 1994 and MJrida, Mexico, in 1997. These very successful conferences underlined the necessity of further meetings.
The proceedings from the 1994 meeting have been published:
Faragó, S. and J. Kerekes (eds) 1997. Proc. Limnology and Waterfowl, Monitoring, Modelling and Management Symposium, Aquatic Birds Working Group, Societas Internationalis Limnologiae, Sarród/Sopron, Hungary, 21-23 November, 1994. Wetlands Internat. Publ. 43. 362 p.
This is a joint publication of Wetlands International and Hungarian Waterfowl Publications. It is available from:
Wetlands International
PO Box 7002
6700 AC Washington
The Netherlands
The third International Conference of the SIL Working Group on Aquatic Birds is planned for May 1 – 5, 2000 at TÍeboÁ, Czech Republic. The date of the conference is proposed for the Spring, in order to give better possibilities to observe the fish-waterfowl relationship in the field. The first announcement and call for papers for the conference are available on the web page at: www.lf.czu.cz/trebon2000
The main topics proposed for the forthcoming meeting are:
- methods of measurement of habitat quality for water birds
- carrying capacity of wetland habitat
- trophic competition between fish and water birds
- ecology of grebes, mergansers and divers/loons
- effects of waterflow grazing on wetland habitat
- role of water birds in wetland ecosystems
- ecology of water birds in stream habitats
- development of breeding water bird monitoring systems in Europe (aims, methods, preliminary results and prospects)
Joseph J. Kerekes, Chairperson
Aquatic Primary Productivity (GAP)
GAP VII will be held from 9 to 17 September 1999 at the University of Zurich, Switzerland. Peter Bossard and Reinhard Bachofen will co-chair the local organizing committee. The objectives of the workshop are directed towards a better understanding of the dynamics of primary production in spatially and temporally heterogeneous aquatic environments. The following working group topics will be available:
- Dynamics of primary production and biological diversity in different aquatic environments and at different time scales.
- Effect of UV radiation (UV-A, UV-B) on primary productivity in different aquatic environments.
- Role of nutrients (including trace metals) for the primary productivity and phytoplankton community structure.
- Approaches and methods to estimate daily primary productivity.
Prior to the start of the experimental activities of the four working groups, participants will hear keynote presentations:
- Taking phytoplankton and primary production out of their “black box”: The size distribution of the phytoplankton community and its importance for primary production by Katherine Richardson, ADrhus University, Denmark.
- Effect of UV radiation (UV-A, UV-B) on primary productivity in different aquatic environments by Patrick Neale, Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, Edgewater, MD, USA.
- Interactions between nutrient uptake and acquisition of other resources: approaches for determining algal nutrient status by John Beardall, Monash University, Clayton, Australia.
- Photosynthesis and growth in phytoplankton communities and in related systems by Zvy Dubinsky, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan, Israel.
The final circular is available on the web-site at: www.sghl.ch/gap.htm.
Peter Bossard
EAWAG
Hydrobiology/Limnology
Phone: +41 – 41 – 349 21 20
Fax: +41 – 41 – 349 21 68
E-mail: peter.bossard@eawag.ch