As confined water bodies with limited exchanges, lakes and inland seas are particularly vulnerable to climatic and human impacts accumulated over broad catchment areas. Hence, they mirror both the global change effects and anthropogenic pressures, perhaps, stronger than any other aquatic objects. Lakes and inland seas also play an important role in ecosystem services such as fisheries, aquaculture, tourism, and others. These multifunctional roles require careful governance measures to avoid hydrological and environmental deterioration.
Research of lakes and inland seas admits many common approaches and techniques. Oceanographic methodology and instrumentation are often applicable to limnological studies. Reciprocally, insights obtained from lakes can also be instructive with respect to marine systems.
This interdisciplinary session provides a joint forum for oceanographers, limnologists, and hydrologists interested in processes governing physical, chemical, and biological regimes of various lakes and inland seas of the World, as well as their responses to climate change and anthropogenic impacts.