Limnology

Outline

As a part of the Japanese contribution to the International Hydrological Program (IHP), a short course for participants from the Asia-Pacific region is going to be conducted on Limnology, from 26 July to 8 August, 1999 at the Institute for Hydrospheric-Atmospheric Sciences, Nagoya University, Nagoya, and at the Suwa Hydrobiological Station, Shinshu University, Nagano, Japan.
The course includs a series of lectures in English and practice sessions both in field and in laboratory. It also include lectures and technical tours to various research institutions and facilities concerned with Limnology located in the Lake Biwa area, Shiga Prefecture, Japan.

Objectives

The general aim of the IHP short-term training course is to help participants develop their basic knowledge of the hydrological system and of their sensitivity to climate change or human impact, as well as to contribute to solving current global environmental problems. Limnology is a basic science for inland water such as lakes, rivers, wetlands and ground waters, all of which have been closely related to and so affected by human life in the world. Limnology began only at the end of the 19th century, but accumulated knowledge for material cycling through inland water ecosystems. The ninth training course focuses on limnology, and covers from basic knowledge of inland water ecosystems to application of limnological knowledge in water and wastewater management.

Course Contents

(convenor: H. Terai)

Lectures

H. Fushimi (School of Environmental Science, The University of Shiga Prefecture)

T. Hanazato (Suwa Hydrobiological Station, Shinshu University)

K. Ichino (Faculty of International Communication, Aichi University)

K. Kato (School of Allied Medical Sciences, Shinshu University)

M. Kumagai (Lake Biwa Research Institute, Shiga Prefecture)

T. Nakajima (Lake Biwa Museum, Shiga Prefecture）

M. Nakamura (Lake Biwa Research Institute, Shiga Prefecture)

T. Okino (Faculty of Science, Shinshu University)

M. Sakamoto (School of Environmental Science, The University of Shiga Prefecture)

H. Terai (Institute for Hydrospheric-Atmospheric Sciences, Nagoya University)

T. Yoshioka (Institute for Hydrospheric-Atmospheric Sciences, Nagoya University)

Lecturers

L 1. Material cycling in deep and shallow water ecosystems

…… H. Terai

Limnology has been developed through comparison between deep and shallow lakes by August Thienemann in the early 20th century. Recently shallow water ecosystems have been seriously affected by human activities. Importance of shallow water ecosystems in the material cycling will be covered in comparison with deep-water ecosystems.

L 2. Low-cost water treatment systems using constructed wetlands

…… K. Ichino

We have much experience of water treatment using natural or constructed wetlands in the world. In order to treat municipal wastewater, reed beds are often used in Europe. We used rice paddies instead of reed beds to improve quality of polluted river waters. On the basis of these experiences, it is supposed that we can construct low-cost water treatment systems by combining reed beds and rice paddies.

L 3. Current technology in limnology (Stable isotope ecology)

…… T. Yoshioka

It has been widely recognized that stable isotope abundance of light elements, such as carbon and nitrogen, are useful indicators for assessing the dynamics of material cycle in natural environments. Recent progress in stable isotope study on freshwater ecosystem will be presented.

L 4. A historical review of limnology in Japan and a case study on Lake Suwa

…… T. Okino

One hundred years ago, Dr. Akamaro Tanaka came back from Europe, and introduced limnological knowledge for the first time to Japan. The development of limnological studies in Japan during a century will be reviewed. Studies on Lake Suwa based upon analysis of the lake ecosystem including the material cycling of the watershed will be also reviewed, as one of the successful application of limnology.

L 5. Current technology in limnology (Microbial ecology)

…… K. Kato

Microbes are key organisms not only as a decomposer of aquatic ecosystems but a major constituent of the microbial loop. Recent advancement in molecular techniques enable us to elucidate their phylogeny and population dynamics directly. However, there is a great gap in the number of culturable and directly counted bacteria under the microscope. The basic concept and technique of microbial ecology today will be shown in the course.

L 6. Global environment and lake ecosystems

…… T. Hanazato

Environmental stress induced by human activity, such as contamination with toxic chemicals, acidification and global warming, may affect in a similar way the structure and functioning of lake ecosystems. That is, it decreases mean body length of organisms in the community and reduces energy transfer efficiency from primary producers to the top predators. The mechanisms will be explained in the lecture.

L 7. Water resources and environmental problems of Lake Biwa

…… H. Fushimi

Snow cover plays an important role in the quantity and quality of water resources, such as supplying the dissolved oxygen as well as acid material to Lake Biwa in relation to climatic changes and anthropogenic activities.

L 8. Eutrophication and management of freshwater environments

…… M. Sakamoto

Lake eutrophication is an overall change of the aquatic ecosystem induced by increasing loading of nitrogen and phosphorus, especially by human activities. What is needed for the sustainable management of lake ecosystem will be covered along with some successful and unsuccessful stories.

L 9. Integrated management of water environment

…… M. Nakamura

This lecture reviews and discusses the past experience and current issues associated with management of Lake Biwa and its watershed, with particular reference to the so-called integrated management approach versus the conventional piecemeal management approach.

L10. Ecological　inhomogeneity due to dynamic variability in Lake Biwa

…… M. Kumagai

The nature of Lake Biwa is not simple, because it has various scales of physical processes in space and time. The variability of such processes has produced inhomogeneity of the lake ecosystem from inshore to offshore, and from surface to bottom. The Lake Biwa Research Institute has devoted itself to understanding the process dynamics and the response of the ecosystem, by the use of highly developed sensing technology. Some examples of ecosystem inhomogeneity related to dynamic variability will be presented at this lecture.

L11. Evolution and distribution of cyprinid fish in East Asia during Neogene

…… T. Nakajima

Cyprinid fish fauna in East Asia originated in rift valley lakes formed along the East margin of the Eurasia Continent in Early Miocene. They expanded into the inland region of China, and the cyprinid fauna of East Asia were established by Pliocene. After that, the Japanese Archipelago underwent the tectonic movements in Middle Pleistocene and the Japanese cyprinid fauna became different from the Chinese one.

Practice Sessions

• Field trip on Lake Suwa, a shallow eutrophic lake, will be conducted. Observation of environmental factors and sampling of water and sediment for chemicals (nutrient, chlorophyll and suspended mater) and biological (phytoplankton, zooplankton, bacteria and benthos) analysis will be done comparing between river estuarine, littoral and profundal zones of the lake.
• Field trip including observation and sampling on Lake Shirakoma, a subalpine humic lake, and on Lake Kizaki, a subalpine mesotrophic lake will also be conducted to recognize the differences in human impact on the lake ecosystems.
• Field trip on Lake Biwa, the largest mesotrophic lake in Japan, will be conducted by the research vessel equipped with fine-scale CTD, ADCP, UV profiler, underwater microscope, and other instrumentation.

Technical Tours

The course also includes technical tours at the Institute for Hydrospheric-Atmospheric Sciences, Nagoya University, Lake Kizaki Limnological Laboratory of Shinshu University, Limnological Laboratory at the University of Shiga Prefecture, Lake Biwa Museum in Kusatsu and Lake Biwa Research Institute in Otsu.

Schedule (26 July - 8 August, 1999)

July 1999 26 (Monday)	Arrival at Nagoya, Japan
27 (Tuesday)	Guidance, Lectures (L1-3) at IHAS (icebreaker reception in the evening)
28 (Wednesday)	Move to Suwa Hydrobiological Laboratory, Guidance and Lecture (L4)
29 (Thursday)	Field trip on Lake Suwa, observation and sampling, Lecture (L5)
30 (Friday)	Chemical and biological analysis of water and sediment samples. (L6)
31 (Saturday)	Field trip to Lake Shirakoma, observation and sampling (reception in the evening)
August 1 (Sunday)	Technical bus tour to Kurobe Reservoir and Nishina subalpine lakes
2 (Monday)	Lake Kizaki Laboratory, Travel to Hikone by train
3 (Tuesday)	Lectures (L7-8) at The University of Shiga Prefecture, Visit Limnological Laboratory, Move to Otsu
4 (Wednesday)	Lectures (L9-10) and Technical tour at Lake Biwa Research Institute
5 (Thursday)	Field trip to Lake Biwa on the research vessel "Hakken"
6 (Friday)	Technical tour to Lake Biwa Museum, Lecture (L11), Back to Nagoya, Closing Ceremony and Reception
7 (Saturday)	Free day
8 (Sunday)	Departure from Nagoya

Climate

The average air temperature is +25 to +35 ℃ and a total precipitation is about 150 mm a month in the July-August period in Nagoya, Nagano and Shiga areas in Japan.

Trainees

The trainees from the Asia-Pacific region are selected and recommended by the Regional Office for Science and Technology, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO). The UNESCO Jakarta Office would be in charge for the selection and the recommendation of the participants. Successful candidates would be supported financially by UNESCO for his/her travel as well as per diem in Japan. Those who wish to participate, are requested to contact the UNESCO Jakarta Office at the following address.

Mr. M. Overmars, Associate Expert for Hydrology, UNESCO Regional Office for Science and Technology, UNESCO Jakarta Office, JI. M.H. Thamlin 14, Tromolpos 1273/JKT Jakarta 10002 Indonesia FAX : +62-21-3150382 E-mail : m.overmars@unesco.org or uhove@unesco.org

Postgraduate students enrolled in the special course in the Graduate School of Nagoya University, and who are at the Institute for Hydrospheric-Atmospheric Sciences, Nagoya University, under the auspices of the Special Program for Sciences of the Atmosphere and Hydrosphere are eligible to participate.
Additional trainees may be allowed to participate, at their own expense. They should contact the Secretary of the IHP Training Course, whose contact address is given at the end of this leaflet.

Forthcoming IHP Training Course

2000 Hydrology related to Management of Head Water

(to be conducted mid-summer, 2000)

2001 Course on Stable Isotopes (to be announced)