[Lo-Feature] June 1999 L&O Featured Articles Now Posted

[Everett Fee]

Three articles comprise this month's L&O feature. The first:

"Impact of dissolved organic carbon, phosphorus, and grazing on
phytoplankton biomass and production in experimental lakes" by 
Carpenter, Stephen R., Jonathan J. Cole, James F. Kitchell, and 
Michael L. Pace appeared in L&O 43(1): 73-80, 1998.

The second:

"Determining trophic state in experimental lakes" by Gertrud Nrnberg, is
a short comment on the first article.

The third:

"Predicting responses of chlorophyll and primary production to changes 
in phosphorus, grazing, and dissolved organic carbon (Reply to 
comment by Nrnberg)" by Carpenter, S. R., J. F. Kitchell, J. J. Cole, 
and M. L. Pace,

is a rejoinder to Nrnberg's comment. The latter two articles will appear
in the May 1999 issue.

These articles are located at the web addresses:

http://aslo.org/lo/toc/vol_43/issue_1/0073.pdf (original article) 
http://aslo.org/lo/toc/vol_44/issue_4/1176.pdf (comment and rejoinder)

Instructions for reading PDF-format files are located on the L&O main 
web page.

http://aslo.org/help/loonline.html

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Introductory comments by Everett J. Fee (L&O Editor in Chief)

L&O's technical quality, breadth of thought, and lack of bias are 
dependent on the active participation of the entire community of aquatic 
scientists. Authors make an obvious contribution to the journal; but 
readers also contribute significantly by critically assessing what is 
published in L&O. L&O actively fosters constructive criticism in the 
"Comments" section of the journal. Comments are reviewed as 
rigorously as other submissions, and almost all have been revised at 
least once. Arguments are consequently finely honed and rarely is there 
a clear "winner" in these exchanges. 

The main points of contention in this month's featured comment and 
rejoinder are:

1. The units that the data are expressed in: areal (per square meter of 
lake surface area) versus volumetric (per cubic meter of the water 
column). This is an old issue (Findenegg 1942; Ryther 1960) that has 
been discussed in the comments section of L&O before (Horne et al. 
1975; Brylinsky and Mann 1975).

2. The potential misinterpretation of lake management principles (viz. 
"trophic state" definitions) by researchers. This is a new twist on the old 
concern that research results might be misinterpreted by lake 
managers, which has also been previously discussed in the comments 
section of L&O (Schindler 1980; Fee 1980).

3. Applicability of results from long-term ecosystem experiments to the 
broad diversity of the world's lakes. This is -- or should be -- a constant 
concern to us all.

It is important that as a community we consider these points carefully. I 
expect that you will find that neither Carpenter et al. nor Nrnberg are 
absolutely right or wrong. As one of the reviewers of both these papers 
said: "...many of the points of difference between Carpenter et al. and 
Nrnberg have to do with definitions, opinions, differences between the 
ways ecologists and lake managers look at lakes, and the intended use 
of the results and conclusions of the original paper."

References:

Brylinsky, M., and K. H. Mann. 1975. The influence of morphometry and 
nutrient dynamics on the productivity of lakes. Limnol. Oceanogr. 20: 
666-667.

Fee, E. J. 1980. Reply to comments by Patalas and Schindler. Limnol. 
Oceanogr. 25: 1152-1153.

Horne, A. J., J. D. Newbold, and M. M. Tilzer. 1975. The productivity, 
mixing modes, and management of the world's lakes. Limnol. 
Oceanogr. 20: 668-666.

Findenegg, I. 1942. Die Bedeutung des Nhrstoffgehaltes der Seen fr die 
Menge und Art ihres Plankton. Der Biologe, 11.

Ryther, J. 1960. Organic production of plankton algae, and its 
environmental control, p. 72-83. In C. A. Tyron, Jr., and R. T. Harman 
[eds.], The ecology of algae. Spec. Publ. 2. Pymatuning Lab. Field Biol. 
Univ. Pittsburg.

Schindler, D. W. 1980. The effect of fertilization with phosphorus and 
nitrogen versus phosphorus alone on eutrophication of experimental 
lakes. Limnol. Oceanogr. 25: 1149-1152.

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Everett Fee 
Editor-in-Chief, Limnology & Oceanography 
343 Lady MacDonald Crescent 
Canmore, Alberta  T1W 1H5  CANADA 
office: 403/609-2456, fax: 403/609-2400 
<lo-editor@aslo.org> 
http://www.ucalgary.ca/~efee
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