Lake Physics to Ecosystem Services: Forel and the Origins of Limnology

In 1892, François A. Forel created and defined the new science of Limnology as “the oceanography of lakes.” His aim was to establish an integrative discipline for the aquatic sciences in which diverse types of lake studies, from physics, chemistry and biology, to anthropology and economics, would complement and inform each other to produce a meaningful synthesis. Forel grew up in Morges, Switzerland, on the shores of Lake Geneva (lac Léman), and then left for 11 years to universities in France and Germany to study the natural sciences and medicine. Shortly after his return to Switzerland, he was appointed Professor of Anatomy and Physiology at the Academy of Lausanne. In the first years back at the lake, he made important discoveries about deep-living benthic animals and surface seiches that reinforced his early decision to adopt Lake Geneva as his “laboratory and aquarium” and to devote his career to limnological research. Forel's remarkable breadth of interests and expertise culminated in 288 reports and publications, including the first text book in general limnology (published 1901), and the seminal, three-volume monograph on the Limnology of Lake Geneva (1892, 1895 and 1904). Forel's success was the result of his passion for lakes and lake science, an ability to pose and critically evaluate insightful questions about the natural world, a flair for observation and new technologies, a rigorous, encyclopedic ability to collect and synthesize all available information, and a natural talent for networking and collaboration. His view of lakes as coupled physical-chemical-biotic-human systems is particularly relevant to facing the challenges of global change, and the associated rapid shifts in ecosystem services at a planetary scale.

This e-Lecture is rich in images including previously unpublished photographs of materials held in the Forel Archives at the Lake Geneva Museum, Nyon, Switzerland. The e-Lecture also places Forel's work in the broader historical context of the development of limnology in Europe, North America and beyond. Central in this presentation is a description of Forel's goal to achieve an integrated synthesis in his lake studies, and his view of humans as a powerful biotic component within the lake ecosystem.