Inland Waters Sciences Section

Head of Section: Prof.Dr. Cem AYGEN

The Department of Inland Waters Biology takes all the water structures of our country apart from the seas as a subject of investigation. Among these, lakes, dam lakes and rivers hold the most important place, while caves, mountain and glacial lakes, wetlands, temporary waters, salty lakes and lagoon areas are among the habitats studied. Researches and projects are carried out on the hydrography, physico-chemical properties, biological diversity, sustainable management and sustainable use of stocks of these environments. The team of the department consists of 3 main groups, these are; plankton, benthos and fishing crews. The team has worked in almost all of our country, not limited to the Aegean Region, and has produced many scientific outputs, especially its new contributions to the world literature. In addition to scientific projects and studies, the textbooks produced by the members of the department operating in the field of education and training are still among the basic textbooks in our faculty and other faculties. The basic course of the department is Limnology, in which the physico-chemical properties of rivers and lakes and communities are examined. In addition, Inland Fishes, Fisheries Biology, Fish Systematics, Planktonology, Bentology, Planktonic Diversity, Aquatic Ecosystem Management, Turkish Waters, Inland Waters Sampling Methods, Inland Fishing, River Ecology, Wetland Tourism, Inland Sport Fishing and Estuary Ecology courses were presented by the crew of the department. In order to provide better education to students, practical trips/studies are made with students in rivers and lakes as much as possible, and it is aimed to reinforce the topics covered in the lessons with field studies. The department has two research laboratories. All kinds of tools and equipment are available to enable a classical limnological study to be carried out in these laboratories, where the biological material obtained through project and field studies is examined. The crew of the department has carried out and successfully concluded more than thirty university-supported research projects and additionally public and private sector-supported projects. In recent years, large-scale projects in our country, especially on watershed management, have been contributed, and in addition to taxonomic studies, ecological studies have also been emphasized. New species (sp. Nov.) recorded for the first time in world literature have been identified by the scientists of the Inland Water Biology Department. Biological materials collected from these species and projects are kept in the Ege University Faculty of Fisheries Museum (ESFM). Approximately 46000 individuals collected from different regions of our country have been classified in the inland fish section of the museum. Approximately 65% of the fish species identified so far in our country are kept in the museum. The Department of Inland Waters Biology aims to reveal the biological diversity of our country's inland waters and to protect and sustain our inland waters, and will continue to support the studies done/to be done on these issues with its scientific knowledge.

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