Autotrophic Picoplankton in Freshwater Ecosystems: The View from the Summit

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Abstract
A brief overview of the state‐of‐the‐art of freshwater autotrophic picoplankton (APP) is given as an introduction to this special issue of Internationale Revue der gesamten Hydrobiologie. Some questions that have arisen from research over the past decade are re‐evaluated in light of new information reported here. These include: 1.) what is the average abundance of autotrophic picoplankters along a nutrient gradient in freshwater?; 2.) how diverse and what are the major components of the APP community in freshwater?; 3.) what is the origin of colonial forms of picoplankton?; 4.) what is the significance of prokaryotic and eukaryotic picoplankton in pelagic systems?; and 5.) how important is grazing in APP population regulation? New questions are proposed and an outlook for possible future research is offered.“Creating a theory … is rather like climbing a mountain, gaining new and wider views, discovering unexpected connections between our starting point and its rich environment. But the point from which we started still exists and can be seen, although it appears smaller and forms a tiny part of our broad view gained by mastery of the obstacles on our adventurous way up”