Lecture 1

CCC 716-Freshwater ecology

Introduction
 Attendance policy

For biometric attendance

If there is any problem in the system, student should see

me right after the class (within 10 mins). Other wise
he/she will not receive the class attendance
 Office hour

Friday: 3-4 pm

Room-B 018B
Marking scheme

Class quiz: 50

End term: 50
 Course content
Lecture Topic
1: 17th Oct Introduction/Limnology
2: 19th Oct Properties of water: freshwater vs salt water
3: 21st Oct Lakes/origin/classification
4: 28th Oct Light/heat/thermal stratification/oxygen in lake
5: 31st Oct Nutrients-Phosphorus/nitrogen/carbon
6: 2nd Nov Stream/rivers/river continuum
7: 4th Nov Life in lake/river/ponds etc.
8: 7th Nov Primary producers and macrophytes
9: 9th Nov Zooplanktons
10: 11th Nov Fish in lake and interactions
11: 14th Aquatic food web and trophic cascading
12: 16th What is wetland, pond, shallow lake
Quiz : 21st Nov Class quiz
13: 23rd Wetland ecology
14: 25th Human impact on different freshwater systems
15: 28th Multiple stressors: acidification/eutrophication
16: 30th Ecological indicators/health of aquatic systems

2nd Dec End term exam

 Goals of this course

• To provide an idea of the complex nature of

aquatic ecosystem
• To provide you with an appreciation and working
knowledge of Limnology
 Earth- a Unique Planet

Why Earth is unique from other planet?

Earth is an ecosystem

Google image
Our Earth is mostly water

All of Earth’s water,

such as atmosphere,
glacier, ocean, lakes
or rivers

Google image
 Aquatic Ecosystems
Oceans Inland waters
(Oceanography) (Limnology)
Classification – depth
• Shallow – depth – light
- Coastal • Shallow • Photic or Trophogenic
- Tidal - Littoral • Aphotic or Tropholytic
- Intertidal - Wetlands
- Estuaries - Reefs
- Wetlands • Open Lake
- Mangroves - Limnetic
- Reefs - Profundal
• Mid-depth - Benthic
- Continental Shelf
•Open Sea - Pelagic – Thermal stratification
- Euphotic – light • Epilimnion (warm, shallow)
- Bathyl • Metalimnion (transition)
- Abyssal • Hypolimnion (deep cold)
- Benthic
 Limnology

• “study of inland waters”

• “Limnology applies to running (or lotic) as

well as standing (lentic) waters” (SIL, 1922)

• 1892 – F.A. Forel – “Limnology”,

“The Oceanography of Lakes”
 Why study limnology?

• Intense interest in understanding structure and

function of aquatic ecosystems

• A good understanding of inland aquatic systems is

necessary for wise and sustainable management
 Basic Terminology

• Plankton: diverse group of organisms (marine,

freshwater), based on size, nanoplanktons,
pico-planktons etc.

• Phytoplankton = photosynthetic plankton

(plant-like characteristics)

• Zooplankton = animal-like characteristics

Phytoplankton
Zooplankton
 Benthos
Benthos = organisms associated with the lake bottom
 Morphometry

The geography of lake basins and their

catchments
 Morphology of lake basin

• The shape and size of a lake basin affect nearly Epilimnion

all physical, chemical, and biological
Metalimnion
parameters of lakes
Hypolimnion
• The forms of lake basins are extremely varied

• The morphometry of a lake is best described

by a bathymetric map

Depth
Temperature
 A bathymetric map

• Bathymetric maps can be made by:

-Drawing a general outline of the

Piston Core
Contour (2 m)
Depth (m)
lake or finding an aerial photo or
-2 - 0
-4 - -2
-6 - -4
-8 - -6
map
-10 - -8
0 25 50 100 150 200
Meters -12 - -10
-14 - -12
-16 - -14
-16.5 - -16 -Measuring and recording water
depths at a number of locations

-Then connecting the depth “dots”

Legend
Piston Core Location
to develop simple contour lines
Contour (2 m)
Depth
-2 - 0
-4 - -2
-6 - -4
-8 - -6
-10 - -8
-12 - -10
-14 - -12
-15.7 - -14

Metres
0 50 100 200 300 400