Lakes and ponds

From the smallest pond (1m square) to the largest lake, this biome provides many opportunities for life to thrive. Because many of these bodies of water are closed environments, they often have self-contained ecologies, enabling some to become evolutionary microcosms. One such example is the African Great Lakes, where over a thousand new species of cichlid fish have evolved during the last 12,400 to 100,000 years.

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About Lakes and ponds

A lake (from Latin laus) is a terrain feature (or physical feature), a body of liquid on the surface of a world that is localized to the bottom of basin (another type of landform or terrain feature; that is, it is not global) and moves slowly if it moves at all. Another definition is, a body of fresh or salt water of considerable size that is surrounded by land. On Earth, a body of water is considered a lake when it is inland, not part of the ocean, is larger and deeper than a pond, and is fed by a river. The only world other than Earth known to harbor lakes is Titan, Saturn's largest moon, which has lakes of ethane, most likely mixed with methane. It is not known if Titan's lakes are fed by rivers, though Titan's surface is carved by numerous river beds.

Natural lakes on Earth are generally found in mountainous areas, rift zones, and areas with ongoing or recent glaciation. Other lakes are found in endorheic basins or along the courses of mature rivers. In some parts of the world, there are many lakes because of chaotic drainage patterns left over from the last Ice Age. All lakes are temporary over geologic time scales, as they will slowly fill in with sediments or spill out of the basin containing them.

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Other Freshwater Habitats

Ecozones where this habitat is found

Where you find Lakes and ponds

Map showing the location of the Lakes and ponds habitat

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