Tropical systems contain the endpoints of gradients of vital factors and processes.
These extremes complete the full range of conditions required to verify our current ecosystem theories, and they allow a rigorous challenge to the simple transfer of our paradigms and understanding of temperate systems to the tropics. Our proposed work in Lake Victoria offers several unique opportunities for moving to this next level, and for testing and extending the generality of established limnological wisdom. Lake Victoria serves as the basic food and economic resource for millions of people. The last 30 years have produced remarkable and alarming changes in the ecosystem. Water clarity, oxygen content, and silica concentrations have been dramatically reduced.