Freshwater Ecosystems

Freshwater Ecosystems
By John W. Kimball
Kimball's Biology Pages

Freshwater Ecosystems
Only 3% of the world's water is fresh. And 99% of this is either frozen in glaciers and pack ice or is buried in aquifers. The remainder is found in lakes, ponds, rivers, and streams.

Lakes and Ponds
Deep lakes contain three distinct zones, each with its characteristic communities of organisms.

Littoral zone
The zone close to shore. Here light reaches all the way to the bottom. The producers are plants rooted to the bottom and algae attached to the plants and to any other solid substrate. The consumers include

* tiny crustaceans
* flatworms
* insect larvae
* snails
* frogs, fish, and turtles.

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