Aquatic Ecology - Special issue in Aquatic Ecology - The biology of Lake Mývatn and its surrounding areas

Lake Mývatn, NE. Iceland is a shallow, spring fed, highly productive eutrophic lake. The lake has been extensively studied, with long-term monitoring of important aspects of the lake´s biology dating back decades. An important aspect of the biology of the lake is strong spatio-temporal heterogeneity of the ecosystem, where fluctuations in populations of invertebrates (especially midges) and vertebrates (especially teleost and birds), can range over orders of magnitude. The lake has high density and diversity of aquatic bird species, which has led to it being assigned as a Ramsar site. The lake, its unique ecosystems and its importance for the local communities have made it important for nature conservation in Iceland. This has been especially true in the last decades, as the area is one of the most popular tourism destinations in Iceland receiving over million tourists annually. The Lake, and River Laxá who drains the lake, were protected by special laws in 1974. These laws mark the foundation of the Mývatn Research Station, who has maintained the monitoring of the lake and assisted and housed a number of research groups working on the Lake.

Research on the biology of the lake have been published in a number of publications, but two special issues have been published, in Oikos in 1979 and in Aquatic Ecology in 2004. In addition, a book on the Nature of the Lake and its surrounding areas was published in Icelandic in 1991. The year 2024 marks an important step in the history of research of the Lake and its surrounding systems. The Research station, who is celebrating its 50th year anniversary is being merged in to a larger institution. There are 20 years since the last conference and publication of a special issue, and last, but not least, the long-term director of the research station Dr. Árni Einarsson is celebrating his 70th birthday and retirement. We are thus organizing a conference on research of the lake and surrounding areas in early September 2024, followed by the publication of a special issue in Aquatic Ecology.