The symposium 'Perspectives in Aquatic Ecology' will be held on the occasion of the retirement of Ellen van Donk as Head of the Department of Aquatic Ecology at NIOO-KNAW.

The symposium will take place in Hotel the Wageningsche Berg in Wageningen on 10 October 2019 from 9:30 to 18:00 (including reception) and is organised by The Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO- KNAW) in cooperation with the CWE (Centre for Wetland Ecology).

This symposium brings together insights into the functioning of aquatic ecosystems to which Ellen’s research has contributed. Her research spans 40 years, and has provided the basis for theory development, lake-ecosystem models and restoration practices. Ellen has been especially interested in how ecological mechanisms and abiotic factors govern the dynamics and structure of food webs in aquatic ecosystems. She has initiated several innovative research lines that have been picked up by the international scientific community, e.g. on the impact of chemical information transfer on food web interactions in lakes, host-parasite interactions in plankton, ecological restoration of lakes, and biological control of toxic cyanobacteria. This CWE symposium provides insights on all relevant levels of biological organisation, ranging from changes in phytoplankton populations through trophic and indirect interactions of food web modules, to the biotic and abiotic factors that structure aquatic communities in entire lakes.

Presentations

Jos Verhoeven (Utrecht University): Lakes and wetlands: the marginal zone.

Marcel Klinge (Witteveen & Bos): Biomanipulation and Ellen - still ahead of their time after more than thirty years.

Miquel Lurling (Wageningen University & Research): Smelly waters: the steering role of infochemicals in aquatic food webs.

Maiko Kagami (Yokohama National University): Homage to deep lake Maarsseveen: from Ellen's PhD toward ecological study of chytrids.

Jef Huisman (University of Amsterdam): When quality matters!

Mandy Velthuis (Wageningen Environmental Research): Elements of carbon cycling: aquatic primary producers under global change.

Lisette de Senerpont Domis (Aquatic Knowlegde Centre Wageningen): Bridging over troubled water.

Ellen van Donk (NIOO-KNAW): Forty years of networking in water.