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Limnology - the study of inland waters - had its genesis in Europe about the turn of the century. The studies of Fore1 on Lake Geneva were of seminal value at this time. It prospered under the early guidance of Thienemann, Naumann and Wesenberg-Lund in Europe and, soon transplanted, of Birge and Juday in North America (to name just a few early spirits). Now, liminology is a respectable scientific discipline taught at many universities, and limnologists are recognized as important contributors to our understanding of how this fragile spaceship functions. All this acknowledged, it must also be acknowledged that limnology is not yet a globally comprehensive science. To be sure, much is known about globally applicable processes, and the structural elements of aquatic ecosystems worldwide, but limnological emphases, interests and concerns remain essentially European and North American in balance. Much is known about lakes and rivers in less than one fifth of the world's land area (northern temperature regions); rather little is known about inland waters elsewhere.

InhaltsangabeI. The Subcontinent.- 1. Introduction.- 2. The geomorphology of southern Africa.- 3. The climate.- 4. The regional limnology of southern Africa.- 4.1 Surface waters of the subtropical coastal peneplain - Region 1.- 4.2 Surface waters of the elevated plateau and the southeastern coastal plain - Region 2.- 4.3 The surface waters of the Australo-montane (Alpine) region - Region 3.- 4.4 Temperate acid waters of the Cape Fold montane region - Region 4.- 4.5 The waters of the arid Karroid west inland from Port Elizabeth into Namibia and southern Botswana - Region 5.- II. The Rivers and Their Catchments, Floodplains and Wetlands.- 5. Types of rivers and their characteristics.- 5.1 Introduction.- 5.2 River classification.- 6. Unique rivers.- 6.1 The Zambezi River.- 6.2 The Okavango River.- 6.3 The Orange River.- 7. A review of river research in southern Africa since 1900.- 7.1 River zonation and factors determining faunal changes.- 7.2 The effects of pollution.- 7.3 Major conclusions from hydrobiological studies.- 7.4 Modern concepts of river ecosystem functioning.- 8. Riverine wetlands.- 8.1 The Okavango Delta.- 8.2 The Pongolo River and its floodplain (Kwazulu).- 9. The influence of man.- 9.1 Catchment changes.- 9.2 River regulation.- 9.3 Water abstraction.- 9.4 The conservation of rivers in southern Africa.- III. Natural and Man-Made Lakes.- 10. Suspensoids, hydrodynamics and chemical conditions in natural and man-made lakes.- 10.1 Pigments, suspensoids and light.- 10.2 Hydrodynamics.- 10.3 The chemical properties of natural and man-made lakes.- 11. Primary producers and their production in lakes and reservoirs.- 11.1 Lakes.- 11.2 Inorganically turbid reservoirs.- 11.3 Biogenically turbid reservoirs.- 11.4 Aquatic macrophytes in reservoirs.- 12. Bacteria and their activity in lakes and reservoirs.- 12.1 Lakes.- 12.2 Reservoirs.- 13. Planktonic and benthic invertebrates.- 13.1 Invertebrate community structure.- 13.2 Spatial distribution of invertebrates.- 13.3 Temporal dynamics, standing stocks and production.- 13.4 Trophic interactions and related issues.- 14. Fish and fisheries.- 14.1 Zoogeography and community structure.- 14.2 Fish colonization of man-made lakes.- 14.3 Novel investigations of the biology of southern African fish under lacustrine conditions.- 14.4 Fisheries.- Synthesis and implications.- References.- Authors index.- Index of organisms.- General index.