The Second International Symposium on the East African Lakes was held from 10-15 January 2000 at Club Makokola on the southern shore of Lake Malawi. The symposium was organized by the International Decade for the East African Lakes (IDEAL), a research consortium of African, European and North American scientists interested in promoting the investigations of African Great Lakes as archives of environmental and climatic dynamics. Over one hundred African, European and North American scientists with special expertise in the tropical lakes participated in the symposium which featured compelling presentations on the limnology, climatology, palaeoclimatology and biodiversity of the East African Lakes. It is their papers that comprise this book. The large lakes of East Africa are important natural resources that are heavily utilized by their bordering countries for transportation, water supply, fisheries, waste disposal, recreation and tourism. The lakes are unique in many ways: they are sensitive to climatic change and their circulation dynamics, water-column chemistry and biological complexity differ significantly from large lakes at higher latitudes; they have long, continuous, high resolution records of past climatic change; and they have rich and diverse populations of endemic organisms. These unique properties and the significance of the palaeolimnological records demand and attract research interest from around the world.

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Introduction. Acknowledgements. Geological and Structural Setting of the East African Lakes. A 300 Million Years History of Rift Lakes in Central and East Africa: An Updated Broad Review; J.-J. Tiercelin, K.-E. Lezzar. Climate Dynamics and Climate Variability in the East African Lakes Region. Extreme Rainfall Events and Lake Level Changes in East Africa: Recent Events and Historical Precedents; D. Conway. Mesoscale Patterns of Rainfall, Cloudiness and Evaporation Over the Great Lakes of East Africa; S.E. Nicholson, X. Yin. Observations, Evaporation and Preliminary Modelling of Over-Lake Meteorology on Large African Lakes; P.F. Hamblin, et al. Development of a Coupled Regional Climate Simulation Model for the Lake Victoria Basin; Y. Song, et al. Hydrology and Physical Limnology. A Modelling Approach for Lake Malawi/Nyasa/Niassa: Integrating Hydrological and Limnological Data; D.C.L. Lam, et al. Ventilation of Lake Malawi/Nyasa; M.K. Vollmer, et al. Application of Satellite AVHRR to Water Balance, Mixing Dynamics, and the Chemistry of Lake Edwards, East Africa; J.T. Lehman. Lake-Groundwater Relationships, Oxygen Isotope Balance and Climate Sensitivity of the Bishoftu Crater Lakes, Ethiopia; S. Kebede, et al. A Review of Sediment Gas Cycling in Lakes with reference to Lake Victoria and Sediment Gas Measurements in Lake Tanganyika; D.D. Adams, S.O. Ochola. Biodiversity, Food Webs and Fisheries. Redundancy and Ecosystem Stability in the Fluctuating Environments of Long-Lived Lakes; K. Martens. Invasion of Lake Victoria by the Large Bodied Herbivorous Cladoceran Daphnia Magna; R. Jonna, J.T. Lehman. Effects of Climate and Human Activities on the Ecosystem of Lake Baringo, Kenya; P.A.Aloo. Limnological Profiles and their Variability in Lake Tanganyika; P.-D. Plisnier. Sedimentary Processes, Paleoclimate and Paleoenvironment. Sedimentology and Geochronology of Late Pleistocene and Holocene Sediments from Northern Lake Malawi; S.L. Barry, et al. A 24,000 yr Diatom Record from the Northern Basin of Lake Malawi; F. Gasse, et al. Lake Tanganyika Holocene Record on Variability in Precipitation in the Malagarasi Catchment Basin; A.N. Muzuka, N. Nyandwi Late Quaternary Sedimentation and Climate in the Lakes Edward and George Area, Uganda-Congo; T. Laerdal, et al. Pigment Analysis of Short Cores from the Central Ethiopian Rift Valley Lakes; M.U. Mohammed, et al. Origin and Isotopic Composition of Aragonite Laminae in an Ethiopian Crater Lake; H. Lamb, et al. Vegetation Changes and their Climatic Implications for the Lake Victoria Region during the Late Holocene; I. Ssemmanda, A. Vincens. Organic Content and X-ray Density of Lacustrine Sediments from Hausberg Tarn, Mount Kenya; W. Karlén, et al. Human Dimensions: Impacts and Management. Restoring and Protecting the African Great Lake Basin Ecosystems &endash; Lessons from the North American Great Lakes and the GEF; A.M. Duda. Geological Hazards and Anthropogenic Impacts on the Environment in Malawi: Lesson from a Case Study of Debris Flows in Zomba; J. Mwenelupembe, H.-G. Mylius. The Human Dimensions Studies on the East African Lake Regions: A Review; M.M. Opondo.