Perspectives in Southern Hemisphere Limnology

Download or read book Perspectives in Southern Hemisphere Limnology written by Bryan R. Davies and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2012-12-06 with total page 268 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book contains the Proceedings of the Symposium on Perspectives in Southern Hemisphere Limnology which was held from 3-13 July 1984 in Wilderness, South Africa. It can be asked why this Symposium was necessary at a time when conferences, symposia and other gatherings of learned people abound. Limnologists in the Southern Hemisphere have for some time been pointing out that limnological theory and inland water management practices have been developed almost exclusively in Northern Hemisphere temperate latitudes. Most of the land masses of the Southern Hemisphere fall within lower latitudes, 0 from 20-40 S, where the climate tends to be dry, with low cloud cover and with high levels of incident radiation and high water temperatures. Wide extremes are experienced in both rainfall and runoff, which occur mainly in summer. Sedimentary geological structures give rise to dispersive soils and highly turbid waters. Physiological, behavioural or developmental adaptations in the floral and faunal components are necessary to cope with desiccation and low visibility.