Limnology global inland waters as part of the Earth System created a sub-discipline called global limnology. This approach considers the role of inland aquatic ecosystems in carbon cycling. Limnology is closely related to aquatic ecology and hydrobiology, which study aquatic organisms and their interactions with the abiotic (non-living) environment. While limnology has substantial overlap with freshwater-focused disciplines (e.g., freshwater biology), it also includes the study of inland salt lakes. The term limnology was coined by François-Alphonse Forel (1841–1912) who established the field with his studies of Lake Geneva. Interest in the discipline rapidly expanded, and in 1922 August Thienemann (a German
Institute of Ecosystem Study 2018, the Institute was dismantled and each of the research units of ISE was included in other institutes of CNR. The "Journal of Limnology" was the official international journal of the ISE headquarters in Verbania, and it is now the official international journal of IRSA. It publishes papers on limnology. It started in 1999 as a continuation of the "Memorie dell’Istituto Italiano di Idrobiologia" (1942–1998). It is currently published by PAGEPress, is completely free to read and to publish, and is listed in the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ). "Tropical Zoology" was the official international journal of the unit