Mývatn Research Anniversary Conference
Skútustöðum, 16. - 19. September 2024
Long-term research that brings together many disciplines and scientists is essential for understanding the complex and changing world. This conference celebrates 50 years of long-term research at Lake Mývatn. Research at Mývatn has touched all aspects of the lake, from paleoecology to ecosystem processes, and from population dynamics to evolution. A central lesson from Mývatn is that, when trying to understand a system that is highly productive and full of strong ecological interactions, it is impossible to segregate different components of the system: for example, the population dynamics of a single species of midge can drive nutrient fluxes in the entire lake, and rapidly changing food resources can lead to evolutionary changes in fish that in turn feed back on their effects on their resources. All of these processes that are revealed by long-term research take place in a lake that plays an important conservation role as a major breeding site of waterfowl in Europe, and as home to rare Marimo (kúluskitur). Finally, to place Mývatn in context of freshwater systems, and freshwater science, in Iceland, the conference vision will encompass other long-term freshwater research programs in Iceland.
Skútustöðum, 16. - 19. September 2024
Long-term research that brings together many disciplines and scientists is essential for understanding the complex and changing world. This conference celebrates 50 years of long-term research at Lake Mývatn. Research at Mývatn has touched all aspects of the lake, from paleoecology to ecosystem processes, and from population dynamics to evolution. A central lesson from Mývatn is that, when trying to understand a system that is highly productive and full of strong ecological interactions, it is impossible to segregate different components of the system: for example, the population dynamics of a single species of midge can drive nutrient fluxes in the entire lake, and rapidly changing food resources can lead to evolutionary changes in fish that in turn feed back on their effects on their resources. All of these processes that are revealed by long-term research take place in a lake that plays an important conservation role as a major breeding site of waterfowl in Europe, and as home to rare Marimo (kúluskitur). Finally, to place Mývatn in context of freshwater systems, and freshwater science, in Iceland, the conference vision will encompass other long-term freshwater research programs in Iceland.
The conference will take place in Skútustaðir, the venue in Skjólbrekka and meals at Sel - Hótel Mývatn. Accommodation will be at Guesthouse Narfastaðir in Reykjadalur. The accomodation is in shared rooms and all booking through the conference. Space is limited to about 80 people. We will provide bus trips daily between the Guesthouse and the Venue. The conference is generously supported by the Mývatn Research Station
Registration
Registration is open, click here to register for the conference and to send in abstract!
Registration will be open until Monday July 15th 2024.
The conference fee will be max 80.000 ISK. Conference fees include accommodation and all meals. We will know the final fees when we know roughly how many will attend, information will be sent out.
Registration will be open until Monday July 15th 2024.
The conference fee will be max 80.000 ISK. Conference fees include accommodation and all meals. We will know the final fees when we know roughly how many will attend, information will be sent out.
Abstract
We invite authors to submit abstracts to present at this year's conference using the guidelines below. We aim for the scientific program to be 15-20 min talk (included few minutes for discussion) and a poster session. Please specify your preference for a talk or a poster when submitting your abstract. Exact time limit for talks will be sent out closer to the conference when we know how many will attend and give talk.
The deadline for the abstract submission is July 15th 2024.
Please submit your abstract on the same time as you register to the conference.
Abstracts must be written in English. Please ensure that contact details of the presenting author are submitted correctly.
Abstract submission guidelines:
In case of issues using the submission form, please format your abstract with all information above as a PDF and email to [email protected]
If you have any queries, please get in touch and we would be happy to help.
The deadline for the abstract submission is July 15th 2024.
Please submit your abstract on the same time as you register to the conference.
Abstracts must be written in English. Please ensure that contact details of the presenting author are submitted correctly.
Abstract submission guidelines:
- Preference for poster or oral presentation
- Title – provide a brief title which clearly describes the nature of the work. Note that is does not necessary have to be the title of the presentation.
- Presenting author – please provide the full name of the presenting author.
- Contact details – email address of presenter
- Institutional affiliation – please provide the presenters institution, department name and country
- Full list of authors – please provide full list of authors, without titles.
- Text of abstract – Please limit text to 300 words
In case of issues using the submission form, please format your abstract with all information above as a PDF and email to [email protected]
If you have any queries, please get in touch and we would be happy to help.
A special issue will be published in Aquatic Ecology
The special issue in Aquatic Ecology will be about the biology of Lake Mývatn, and its surrounding areas.
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. Lastly, there are 20 years since the last conference and publication of a special issue about Lake Mývatn.
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. 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.
Lake Mývatn 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.
Associated editors of the special issue are:
Bjarni K. Kristjánsson, professor, Hólar University, is an evolutionary ecologist and a limnologist whose studies have included fish and invertebrates in the Mývatn area for the last 25 years. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6984-5771
Gísli Már Gíslason, professor emeritus , University of Iceland, is a limnologist whose studies have included studying invertebrates and fishes of Lake Mývatn and the River Laxá. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8507-1796
Joseph Phillips, Assistant Professor, Creichton University, is a population and community ecologist who did his PhD work and post-doctoral research on Lake Mývatn and its surrounding area. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2016-1306
Katja Räsänen, Associate Professor, University of Jyväskylä, is ane evolutionary ecologist and intergrative biologist, whose work has included studying diversity of threespine stickleaback in Lake Mývatn. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6293-2634
Mireia Bartrons, Associate Professor, is an ecosystem ecologist, specializing in food webs and global ecology, whose work included a post-doctoral work on Lake Mývatn. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0617-9577
Zophonías Oddur Jónsson, Professor, is a molecular genetics, whose work has included studies on genomics of ecological adaptations. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5798-9647
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. Lastly, there are 20 years since the last conference and publication of a special issue about Lake Mývatn.
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. 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.
Lake Mývatn 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.
Associated editors of the special issue are:
Bjarni K. Kristjánsson, professor, Hólar University, is an evolutionary ecologist and a limnologist whose studies have included fish and invertebrates in the Mývatn area for the last 25 years. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6984-5771
Gísli Már Gíslason, professor emeritus , University of Iceland, is a limnologist whose studies have included studying invertebrates and fishes of Lake Mývatn and the River Laxá. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8507-1796
Joseph Phillips, Assistant Professor, Creichton University, is a population and community ecologist who did his PhD work and post-doctoral research on Lake Mývatn and its surrounding area. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2016-1306
Katja Räsänen, Associate Professor, University of Jyväskylä, is ane evolutionary ecologist and intergrative biologist, whose work has included studying diversity of threespine stickleaback in Lake Mývatn. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6293-2634
Mireia Bartrons, Associate Professor, is an ecosystem ecologist, specializing in food webs and global ecology, whose work included a post-doctoral work on Lake Mývatn. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0617-9577
Zophonías Oddur Jónsson, Professor, is a molecular genetics, whose work has included studies on genomics of ecological adaptations. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5798-9647