The early limnological tradition as an ecological resource: a historical account between Europe and the United States of America on the concept of the organism-environment relationship

Abstract This paper proposes that lake ecosystems have historically provided fertile ground for the advancement of ecological concepts. It argues that foundational ecological ideas, such as ecosystems and the organism-environment relationship, have their roots in limnology, the scientific study of lakes. In other words, these concepts were developed by approaching lake ecosystems as primitive ecological models. To illustrate this point, it examines the scientific endeavors of François Forel (1841-1912) in Geneva, Switzerland, and Stephen Forbes (1844-1930) in Illinois and Wisconsin, United States. Both were pioneering figures for the development of the limnological or, even more broadly, the ecological discipline. Curiously, they contemporaneously developed their respective scientific accounts in two different scientific traditions.