Two examples, blue-green algal blooms and the fish-driven trophic cascade, illustrate important consequences of time scale dependency in lakes. Blue-green algae and fish populations are notably variable components of lake communities. The timing of colonization of the water column by blue-green algae, relative to population oscillations of grazers and other algal groups, determines the magnitude of subsequent blooms. Variability in colonization acts jointly with dynamic variability in herbivory to produce large fluctuations in blue-green algal concentration at time scales of weeks to years. Fishes exhibit high interannuai variance in recruitment. Episodes of high recruitment cascade through lake food webs, inducing fluctuations in lower trophic levels at time scales of years to decades. Fishes, through their effects on herbivores, contribute to variability in blue-green algal blooms. Blue-green algae and fishes are foci of lake management, so analyses of their variable and scale-dependent interactions are important for applied limnology. Theories and models that address nonequilibrial dynamics, analyses of effects of time scale on correlations and experiments, and improved paleolimnological capabilities will yield valuable progress on temporal scale issues in limnology and ecology.