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Understanding Lake Ecology

Understanding Lake Ecology Exit is just one part of an online training site called Water on the Web (see below) provided by the University of Minnesota Duluth and Lake Superior College. The lake ecology training includes six lectures (consisting of several PPT slides), a computer lab (Word document) and appendices. The slides that make up the different lectures contain basic concepts necessary to understand how lakes function. Following is a list of the lectures and lab for this module:

  • Lecture 1 – Introduction to Lake Ecology
  • Lecture 2 – Major groups of organisms
  • Lecture 3 – Basins and morphometry
  • Lecture 4 – Spatial and temporal variability: physical and chemical patchiness
  • Lecture 5 – Major ions and nutrients
  • Lecture 6 – Management: eutrophication and water quality
  • Computer lab – Visualizing Lake Data

About Water On the Web (WOW)

Water on the Web  Exit was initially funded by the National Science Foundation. Water on the Web linked University of Minnesota institutions with private industry, community and tribal groups, as well as high schools, community colleges, technical colleges, and natural resource and regulatory agencies across the nation. A large, diverse team of staff, high school and college curriculum writers, collaborators, and a national advisory committee contribute to this award-wining web site.  Understanding Lake Ecology is part of its Water Science Curriculum, which offers a two-semester water resource management curriculum for second year technical students or undergraduates in water resource management, water science, or environmental resource management programs. Water Science is divided into 6 major units. Each unit is divided into modules encompassing approximately a week’s worth of lectures and labs.