The Center for Limnology's Trout Lake Station provides access to a region with one of the densest concentrations of lakes in the world. Aquatic systems within the Highlands include a broad diversity of trophic, hydrologic, and edaphic conditions ranging from temporary forest ponds to large lakes. Many of these systems lie within protected, uninhabited watersheds. Research at the station has an extensive history, and within the past decade has grown and diversified dramatically. Current programs include several multi-investigator, ecosystem level projects, and smaller-scale projects involving population, community and behavioral ecology, groundwater hydrology and basic limnology. This project will provide funds to improve the station's capacities in basic data management and in three core research areas: 1) real-time sensing and sampling of aquatic habitats, 2) analytical facilities for biological parameters, and 3) controlled environmental systems for experimental work. Improvements will add significantly to the national and international use of the Trout Lake Station as a center for aquatic research and will directly assist several major, ongoing programs.
