The University of Glasgow is represented on the Eurolakes project by members of both the Department of Geography & Topographic Sciences and the Division of Environmental and Evolutionary Biology in the Institute of Biomedical and Life Sciences. Both departments hold " Excellency" awards for teaching and have vibrant research programmes.

North Basin Summer

Facilities
As well as the normal facilities associated with a large university involved in research there is also the University Field Station situated on Loch Lomond which has been the centre for research on the Loch for over 50 years. The station is well equiped with research and teaching laboratories and has a number of work boats available. 
 
 

Loch Lomond
 

Loch Lomond, which is one of the four main Eurolakes sites, is a large lake situated in an area of outstanding natural beauty in the south west corner of the Scottish Highlands and thus is only a few kilometres from the populous central belt (Glasgow, Stirling & Edinburgh) of Scotland. It is the largest area of freshwater on the British mainland (71 sq km) and the second largest in volume (second to Loch Ness). It is the only major lake that is bisected by the Highland Boundary Fault, a geological fault line that transects Scotland from the west to east coasts. To the north of the fault lie the hard metamorphic rocks of the Dalradian group. To the south the geology is primarily composed of much softer sedimentary rocks of the Ordovician age. Thus Loch Lomond is a single lake comprising two very different halves.  The northern half , extending into the southern end of the Scottish Highlands is surrounded by high mountains, used for forestry and sheep farming. The lake basin in the north carved by glaciation from these hard rocks is deep (up to 190 m) narrow and fjord-like. The water entering the loch from its northern tributaries is relatively nutrient poor and biological activity in this basin is therefore low. In contrast, the basin formed by glaciation in the south is wide and shallow as the glacier moving from north to south was able to scour a much broader path through the relatively soft rocks. The waters of this southern basin contain more nutrients than those of the north and thus biological activity is around twice that of the north. The dual nature of Loch Lomond with one half in the Scottish Highlands and the other in the Central Lowlands means that this area is highly diverse in its flora and fauna. For many northerly species Loch Lomond is the southern most point of their range in the U.K. and similarly for many more southerly species it is the most northerly point of their range.  Currently the loch is managed as a Regional Park and its natural heritage value is protected under both national and EU legislation. The Park Authority manages the park on a day to day basis, with 10 full time rangers and an additional 7 part time rangers during the busy summer season.  The Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA) which is responsible for the quality of the water in the loch is currently preparing a catchment management plan for the Loch Lomond watershed in conjunction with SNH. Also routinely sampling drinking water quality is East of Scotland Water Authority (EoSWA), which abstracts water from the loch for public consumption. The care of the loch's biodiversity falls mainly to a government organisation, Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH). SNH assesses, designates and reviews areas for conservation value. Each designation has associated planning and activity restrictions, often tailored to the site of interest. The area within the Regional Park boundary is designated as an 'Environmental Sensitive Area' with large sections of the shore line and islands designated 'Sites of Special Scientific Interest'. The main inflow to the loch, the River Endrick is to be designated a 'Special Area for Conservation' (SAC) under the Habitat and Species Directive for lamprey and salmon, while much of the loch shoreline is to be an SAC for otters. An inventory of the biological diversity of some sections of the loch catchment is being collated under the Local Biodiversity Action Plan initiative, which is conducted by the regional councils and overseen by SNH.  The Scottish Executive (National Government), recognising the importance of the loch, will bring legislation before parliment in summer 2001 to create the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park, Scortland's first national park.  Through the Loch Lomond and Trossachs Research Group Glasgow University maintains close links with all organsiations conducting research in the loch lomond catchment.

Team Members 
The team covers a wide range of skills and has extensive experience working on Loch Lomond - the UK Eurolakes site, in particular.
 

Dr. Colin Adams University Field Station Director - Senior Lecturer Eurolakes role: Principal Investigator Research Interests The response of native freshwater communities to introductions of new fish species: A series of introductions of non-native fish species to Loch Lomond, Scotland the largest inland water on mainland Britain, since the early 1980's have had a significant impact on the aquatic communities living there which have been documented and quantified by myself and colleagues.  The ecological impact of recreational boating on freshwaters.  On Loch Lomond increased leisure time and disposable income have significantly increased recreational activities We have highlighted the nature of the extreme temporal and spatial variability in craft use on this waterway. This information has been used to model the potential for pollution by boat engines in the catchment and derive a water sampling strategy for analysis of hydrocarbon pollutants.

Dr. Gordon Dickinson - Senior Lecturer Eurolakes role: Chief Principal Investigator Research Interests  Environmental Management, Conservation and recreational impacts on the environment and ecosystems

Dr. Jane Drummond - Senior Lecturer Eurolakes role: Principal Investigator Research Interests GIS, Digital Photogrammetry, Data Quality

Dr. Kevin Murphy - Senior Lecturer Eurolakes role: Principal Investigator Research Interests Functional ecology of vegetation. This involves predictive analysis of ways in which vegetation responds to pressures on plant survival caused by stress, disturbance and competition. Such pressures may be produced by the natural environment or by man. In order to study plant communities and populations over a wide range of such pressures, my research tends to concentrate on extreme habitats, e.g. environmentally-stressed ecosystems.

Dr. Matthew O'Hare - Research Fellow Eurolakes role: Postdoctoral Researcher and Project Manager Research Interests To date my research has focused on the community ecology of benthic invertebrates in running waters. The flow preferences of benthic invertebrates were determined and standard metohds for modelling these preferences were assessed. other than fullfilling a coordinating role on Eurolakes research on Loch Lomond I will be studying the ecology and spatial distribution of littoral and profundal benthic invertebrates.

Hazel McLeod - NERC funded PhD. Student Eurolakes role: Associated Researcher Research Interests Supervised by three of the Eurolakes principal investigators and funded by the Natural Environmental Research Council (NERC), a government agency, Hazel is researching multitrophic interactions in Loch Lomond. The product of her work will contribute directly to the databases support the Eurolakes project.