Introduction

Abstract

The magnitude of temporal variability and the frequency of counterintuitive behavior evidenced by lake communities continue to surprise limnologists and defy prediction. Over the past 2 decades, paradigms based upon nutrient loading, organic energy transfer, or predation have developed, and each has successfully answered important questions. Taken alone, each of these paradigms explains certain aspects of lake community dynamics but seems unable to encompass the full range of community variability. Some of these insufficiencies may be resolved by determining the proper hierarchical relationship of key mechanisms. For example, nutrient loading and organic energy transfer establish potential lake productivity, while food web processes determine the realization of that potential (Carpenter et al. 1985). On the other hand, a new synthesis may come from a completely novel view of lakes rather than a hierarchical fusion of existing paradigms. Regardless of its origins, a more comprehensive theory of lake community dynamics is necessary, and must adopt a broader perspective than any one of the existing paradigms of lake ecology. We suggest that analyses of complex interactions, which involve elements of each of the existing paradigms, could lead to a new and more comprehensive perspective. This book takes a step toward a new synthesis by outlining a program of research on complex interactions.