Announcement of the 



OPPORTUNITIES FOR BIOLOGICAL WORK 



The opportunities for biological work in the Douglas Lake re- 

 gion are well stated in the report of Professor O. C. Glaser, director 

 of the Biological Station for the session iqi6, which is based in part 

 on statements from members of the instructional staff associated 

 with him. From this report the following sections are quoted : 



"Among the more vital and promising tendencies in modern biol- 

 ogy is the movement toward ecological analysis. Ecology is the sci- 

 ence which deals broadly with the economy of living things. It in- 

 volves the study of life-histories of races and individuals ; it deals 

 with the sum total of interplay between organisms and the condi- 

 tions under which they live. It deals intensively with questions of 

 behavior and reaction.'' 



That the Douglas Lake region furnishes ample material for this 

 type of study is pointed out by Professor Gi.aser thus : "There are 

 many species of fish and the aquatic fauna is by no means limited to 

 these vertebrates. Quite apart from the amphibians fringing the 

 shore, and forms more or less dependent on the lake for supplies, 

 the invertebrate world is well represented, both in numbers and, to 

 some extent, variety, by the larger crustacea, by clams, snails, and 

 at times by countless examples of the fresh water hydra. Bryozoan* 

 and sponges are frequent but variable in occurrence. 



"In two respects the waters of Douglas Lake are quite astound- 

 ing. Parasitism is rampant. Then too, there are periods when the 

 free floating life, the plankton, composed of scarcely visible as well 

 as quite microscopic vegetable and animal organisms is so dense that 

 it quite transcends belief. It is true that here again the variety of 

 forms is not the greatest, but numerically those present could hardly 

 be found more highly concentrated anywhere. Certainly there is an 

 abundance of this sort of material for teaching and research. 



"Since ecology considers the reciprocal relations between living- 

 things and their conditions of life, it follows that these too are avail- 

 able for study and research. The physiographic, geological, climato- 

 logical, the physical and chemical conditions of the lake are no less 

 varied, interesting, and significant than those of similar lakes else- 

 where. Physiographically and geologically the region is unstable. 

 This alone opens up large possibilities. Important problems also 

 present themselves owing to the great inequalities of depth. From 

 shallow water, with bottom clearly visible, one may pass instantly 

 into regions ranging from forty to eighty feet in depth. The sudden 

 differences in light, temperature, gas content, and other circumstances 

 of life, occasioned by these sudden transitions are naturally great. 

 Added to this, Douglas Lake presents other conditions somewhat 

 unique. Surface intake and outgo are practically limited to evapora- 

 tion and three widely separated but small streams. These, however, 

 do not exhaust the possibilities of aqueous metabolism. Whether or 

 not there are bottom springs may be an open question ; that there are 



