By: Chloe’ Vorseth
 Lakes are usually located
close to the rivers and
streams of the world in low
parts of the landscape.
 There are many lakes
around the world in many
different areas.
 Examples: Caspian Sea, the
Great Lakes, Russian
Lakes, Australian Lakes,
South American Lakes,
and African Lakes.
 The precipitation in lake biomes
vary depending on what area of
the world a certain lake is in
(basically every part of the
world).
 Some lakes in the world have a
lot of precipitation in the
summer, spring, winter and fall
months in the form of snow, ice,
and rain. Lakes can cause lake
effect snow on regions
surrounding the lakes.
 Some lakes around the world are
in drier areas, and provide a
water source and precipitation
for the surrounding area.
 Temperatures around
the lake regions can
remain fairly constant
or may change
drastically according to
season, but usually the
temperatures do not
cause the entire lake to
freeze over in the
winters, or the entire
like to evaporate in the
summers.
Temperatures in lakes themselves vary at
different depths:
-Top (Epilimnion) Layer:
Warmest layer, with most photosynthesis
and life.
-Middle (Metalimnion) Layer: A
mixture of warm and cooler water that
contains less life, but still has life.
-Bottom (Hypolimnion) Layer:
Coldest layer, with the smallest amount of
life and little/no photosynthesis in the
deepest lakes.
 The amount of light in a lake
ecosystem can vary depending on
what region of the world the lake is
in, the climate around the lake, and
what season the area is in.
 At different depths of the lake,
different amounts of lights are
experienced. Near the top, there is
much light available for
photosynthesis and life, but as the
lake gets deeper less light shines
through the water.
 Oligotrophic Lakes are more like the
one to the right, with deeper depths,
less life on the lake floor, and clearer
waters to allow for deep light
penetration.
 Eutrophic Lakes are shallower,
without a bottom layer of
lifelessness. They have more plant
life because underwater plants get
more sun, but less light penetration
because of cloudy algae infested
waters.
 Some lakes can have high salinity
if they are around soil and ground
matter that contains salt in an
inland location. Through erosion,
lakes can take this salt from the
ground or can receive it from the
rivers that run through them.
 Lakes are generally fresh water
basins with little salinity.
For example, Great Salt
Lake in Utah (above) has a
salinity of 200,000
milligrams per liter, while
Lake Superior (right)
contains only about 75.
 There are two kinds of lakes with different levels of nutrient content.
1. Oligotrophic lakes contain a very low amount of nutrient input.
They have pockets of organism populations scattered around that live
with high oxygen levels.
2. Eutrophic lakes contain very high amounts of nutrient input.
They have a wide diversity of life because the variety of nutrients in the
water make plant life very abundant. Organisms that can withstand lower
oxygen levels flourish in these kinds of lakes.
 Most lakes start out as oligotrophic and slowly turn into Eutrophic with
human, plant, and animal interaction.
 Water hyacinth
 Great Salvinia
 Water lilly
 Duckweed
 Coontail
 Bladderworth
 Cattail
 Bulrush
 Algae
 Dwarf Lake Iris
 Fasset’s Locoweed
 Lakeside Daisy
 Ducks, geese, and swan.
 Zoo Plankton
 Fish (Sturgeons, Salmon,
and many more).
 Turtles and frogs.
 Mollusks/Clams/Snails
 Bear Lake Sculpin
 Chinese River Dolphin
 Great Lake Freshwater
Snail
 Lake Salmon
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Damming- we dam rivers and streams in order to create energy
using the water flow, to control lake levels, and to make lakes.
This effects systems downstream and can disrupt migratory
fish patterns.
Channelizing- we manipulate lakes to go the way we want
them to. This can effect where water floods.
Dumping and Littering- we dump and litter things into lakes
that can be very harmful and pollute the water for the entire
lake ecosystem.
Recreation- we use lakes for boating, fishing, swimming, etc.
This can effect the habitats and movement of many species in
lakes.
Invasive Species- humans have accidentally introduced some
species into lakes that disrupt the ecosystem by adding more
competition among the species.
 http://aoc.rain.org/facts/types_of_habitat/lakes1.html
 http://www.thewildclassroom.com/biomes/lake.html
 http://www.ourlake.org/html/temperature.html
 http://www.mlswa.org/lkclassif1.htm
 http://www.epa.gov/bioiweb1/aquatic/classify.html
 http://www.waterontheweb.org/under/lakeecology/09
_nutrients.html
 http://www.earthsendangered.com/search.asp
 http://www.biosurvey.ou.edu/posters/EdGuidePDFs/P
rairieRivers_edguide_riverhealth.pdf