Lake Communities

Christer Brönmark, Lund University, Lund, Sweden
Lars‐Anders Hansson, Lund University, Lund, Sweden

Published online: September 2007

DOI: 10.1002/9780470015902.a0003177

Lakes are commonly classified according to productivity (oligotrophic versus eutrophic), thermal stratification patterns or where the major carbon input comes from. Within lakes we can recognize three different zones, the near-shore littoral zone, the openwater pelagic zone and the lake bottom beneath, the profundal and each of these zones has its own community of organisms. Among lakes, lake community structure is determined by processes at different spatial and temporal scales including historical processes, speciation, environmental conditions and biotic interactions such as competition and predation.

Keywords: lake classifications; oligotrophic; eutrophic; pelagic; littoral

Figure 1. The different zones of a lake, including the near-shore littoral zone, the open-water pelagic zone and the profundal zone where low-light levels prohibit the growth of plants.
Figure 2. A conceptual model showing how ‘filters’ operating at different spatial scales determine the community structure of lakes. Modified with permission from The Biology of Lakes and Ponds, 2nd edn, OUP 2005.
Figure 3. Changes in the relative dominance of different algal species in relation to gradients in pH and productivity. Modified with permission from The Biology of Lakes and Ponds, 2nd edn, OUP 2005.
Figure 4. Changes in the fish community structure along a productivity gradient. Salmonid fish dominate in lakes with low productivity but are replaced by first percid fishes and then cyprinid fishes when productivity increases.
Figure 5. Changes in lake community structure following acidification. Major changes occur including the disappearance of fish that are replaced by invertebrate predators in acidified lakes. Modified with permission from The Biology of Lakes and Ponds, 2nd edn, OUP 2005.
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 Further Reading
    book Brönmark C and Hansson L-A (2006) The Biology of Ponds and Lakes, 2nd edn. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
    Brooks JL and Dodson SI (1965) Predation, body size, and competition of plankton. Science 150: 28–35.
    book Carpenter SR and Kitchell JF (1993) The Tropic Cascade in Lakes. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
    book Lampert W and Sommer U (1997) Limnoecology: The Ecology of Lakes and Streams. New York: Oxford University Press.
    book Scheffer M (1998) Ecology of Freshwater Lakes. London: Chapman and Hall.
    Vadeboncoeur Y, Vander Zanden MJ and Lodge DM (2002) Putting the lake back together: reintegrating benthic pathways into lake food web models. Bioscience 52: 44–54.
    book Wetzel RG (2001) Limnology: Lake and River Ecosystems. New York: Academic Press.

Related Sub-Topics:

Biomes and Ecosystems | Community Structure
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Article Title: Lake Communities
 
How to Cite close
Brönmark, Christer, and Hansson, Lars‐Anders(Sep 2007) Lake Communities. In: eLS. John Wiley & Sons Ltd, Chichester. http://www.els.net [doi: 10.1002/9780470015902.a0003177]