Perspectives on the long-term dynamics of lakes in the landscape

Lakes are valued as a part of our "sense of place" at a very local and personal level. Yet protecting a treasured lake from unwanted change increasingly requires that we address long-term drivers acting over broad spatial scales. Global climate change and invasion of exotics, for examples, cannot be dealt with efficiently or even at all at an individual lake scale. Protecting our lake requires regional and global advocacy and action. When we do not act at these longer and broader scales we are often beset with surprises, live with problems not of our choosing, seek solutions for thousands of lakes one lake at a time, and often must live with or manage the consequences of irreversible changes.