From Daphnia to very acidic lakes – Ecological and abiotic processes

摘要

This special issue is dedicated to Professor Dr. Walter Geller on the occasion of his 65th birthday anniversary (11. December 2009). Walter Geller joined the editorial board of Limnologica in 1992. Since his doctoral thesis in 1975 ‘‘Die Nahrungsaufnahme von Daphnia pulex in Abhangigkeit von der Futterkonzentration, der Temperatur, der Korpergroe und dem Hungerzustand der Tiere’’ his main interest research was the interaction of biotic and abiotic factors in lake ecosystems with a special focus on physical in-lake processes. In the beginning of his scientific work investigations on the plankton communities in lakes were in the foreground, especially about Daphnia and its feeding ecology (e.g. 6 publications about Daphnia among 12 papers between 1975 and 1989). With the progress of his careers, the focus of Walter Geller’s scientific interest shifted more and more towards general water quality aspects in context with the formation of pit lakes after the closure of lignite mines in East Germany when he was appointed Head of the Institute for Inland Water Research in Magdeburg in 1992. A substantial point in his life was the DAAD visiting professorship at the Universidad Austral de Chile in Valdivia in 1987, which provided the base for the long-standing cooperation and collaboration with biologists and limnologist from South America, especially from Argentina, Chile, and Brazil.