Essentials of Ecology

CONCEPT 8-4 175

Over time, sediment, organic material, and inor-

ganic nutrients wash into most oligotrophic lakes, and

plants grow and decompose to form bottom sediments.
A lake with a large supply of nutrients needed by pro-

ducers is called a eutrophic (well-nourished) lake
(Figure 8-16, right). Such lakes typically are shallow

and have murky brown or green water with high tur-

bidity. Because of their high levels of nutrients, these

lakes have a high net primary productivity.

Human inputs of nutrients from the atmosphere

and from nearby urban and agricultural areas can ac-

celerate the eutrophication of lakes, a process called

cultural eutrophication. This process often puts

excessive nutrients into lakes, which are then described

Sunlight

Painted

turtle

Green

frog

Pond

snail

Diving

beetle

Yellow

perch

Northern

pike

Plankton

Muskrat

Blue-winged

teal

Bloodworms

Limnetic zone

Profundal zone

Benthic zone

Littoral zone

Active Figure 8-15

Distinct zones of life in a fairly deep

temperate zone lake. See an animation

based on this figure at CengageNOW.

Question: How are deep lakes like tropi-

cal rain forests? ( Hint: See Figure 7-17,

p. 156)

Figure 8-16 The effect of nutrient enrichment on a lake. Crater Lake in the U.S. state of Oregon (left) is an exam-
ple of an oligotrophic lake that is low in nutrients. Because of the low density of plankton, its water is quite clear.
The lake on the right, found in western New York State, is a eutrophic lake. Because of an excess of plant nutrients,
its surface is covered with mats of algae and cyanobacteria.

Jack Carey Bill Banazewski/Visuals Unlimited