Inland Lake Habitats Critical to Maintaining Healthy Lake Ecosystems
Understanding the five distinct lake zones and the habitats they provide is key to restoring or maintaining lake ecosystem health.
At first glance, an inland lake shoreline might look pretty plain. Plants may be clearly visible in the water; other plants may be growing inside the water, but are not clearly visible below the water. Some fish and wildlife species may be obvious while others may not. However, upon further investigation, inland lakes are very diverse and provide diverse habitats or places where species get what they need to survive including food, water, cover and a place to raise their young. A lake can be divided based on many different criteria. One such criterion is based on temperature. A lake can also be divided into distinct areas based on the extent of sunlight penetration into the lake. The amount of light in turn determines the type of plants in…
