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A pond is smaller than a lake [1] and there are no official criteria distinguishing the two, although defining a pond to be less than 5 hectares (12 acres) in area, less than 5 metres (16 ft) in depth and with less than 30% of its area covered by emergent vegetation helps in distinguishing the ecology of ponds from those of lakes and wetlands.
Lake ecosystems are a prime example of lentic ecosystems (lentic refers to stationary or relatively still freshwater, from the Latin lentus, which means "sluggish"), which include ponds, lakes and wetlands, and much of this article applies to lentic ecosystems in general.
Lentic systems are diverse, ranging from a small, temporary rainwater pool a few inches deep to Lake Baikal, which has a maximum depth of 1642 m. [10] The general distinction between pools/ponds and lakes is vague, but Brown [9] states that ponds and pools have their entire bottom surfaces exposed to light, while lakes do not. In addition, some ...
There are three basic types of freshwater ecosystems: Lentic (slow moving water, including pools, ponds, and lakes), lotic (faster moving water, for example streams and rivers) and wetlands (areas where the soil is saturated or inundated for at least part of the time). [9] [8] Freshwater ecosystems contain 41% of the world's known fish species ...
Lakes are typically larger and deeper than ponds, which are also water-filled basins on land, although there are no official definitions or scientific criteria distinguishing the two. Lakes are also distinct from lagoons , which are generally shallow tidal pools dammed by sandbars or other material at coastal regions of oceans or large lakes.
The term lake is also used to describe a feature such as Lake Eyre, which is a dry basin most of the time but may become filled under seasonal conditions of heavy rainfall. In common usage, many lakes bear names ending with the word pond, and a lesser number of names ending with lake are, in quasi-technical fact, ponds. One textbook illustrates ...
The study of limnology includes aspects of the biological, chemical, physical, and geological characteristics of fresh and saline, natural and man-made bodies of water. This includes the study of lakes, reservoirs, ponds, rivers, springs, streams, wetlands, and groundwater. [2]
Oxsjön, a lake in Sweden. Freshwater biology focuses on environments like lakes. A pond in the Oconee River Floodplain in Georgia, whose surface is covered in duckweed but still contains fish. Freshwater biology is the scientific biological study of freshwater ecosystems and is a branch of limnology. This field seeks to understand the ...