A new Keratella from Patagonia

Hydrobiologia, with which I have had a long association, is celebrating its 50th anniversary in 1998. This year is also the 200th anniversary of Robert Malthus' still hotly debated publication on overpopulation. Readers of Hydrobiologia know well the impacts on the water resource of a growing human population, increased per capita affluence, major industrialization over much of the planet, and the explosion of new technologies that have effects on the water resource. Those concerned with the integrity and condition of water resources should be deeply involved in the debate on the exemption of human society from the biophysical laws of nature and its dependence on the life support services of ecosystems. Arguably, water resources will be the main battleground on which this debate is resolved. This discussion is a preliminary exploration of the primary issues. Even though the word water does not appear frequently in this paper, the connection to our profession and the future of the hydrobiological ecosystem and Hydrobiologia is present in every page.