LENTIC ECOSYSTEMS

Lentic Ecosystems
• Lentic comes from the Latin word lenis, meaning "calm“
• These are stagnant water ecosystems that formed as a result of:
– Glacial erosion, when basins carved in the bedrock are filled with water as the
glaciers retreated
– Geologic events such as mountain building or rock displacement create water
filled basins
– Sunken craters (calderas) of extinct volcanoes can form lakes
– Man’s activities
• Stagnant water ecosystems are expected to change over time, at a rate more or less
inversely proportional to their size and depth.
• Common examples include lakes and ponds.
• Generally speaking, species diversity is low in freshwater communities, compared to
marine or tropical ecosystem types.
 Zoning and Stratification
• Zoning and distinctive stratification are characteristic features of large lakes
and ponds.
• Zones based on Light Penetration
1. Littoral Zone (Zone of Emergent Vegetation, Zone of Floating
Vegetation, Zone of Submersed Vegetation)
2. Limnetic Zone
3. Profundal Zone
4. Benthic Zone
• Zones based on Temperature Stratification
1. Epilimnion
2. Metalimnion (Thermocline)
3. Hypolimnion
 Light Penetration Zones

(a) Lake zones based on light penetration and its (b) Wavelength of the visible spectrum that penetrates
inhabitants in the depth of the lake
 Littoral Zone

• The littoral zone is the region near the shore where sufficient light
reaches the bottom to support rooted plants.
• In many shallow lakes and ponds, this zone may extend completely
across the basin.
• There are usually distinct community associations within the littoral zone.
• 3 Regions of the Littoral Zone:
- Zone of Emergent Vegetation
- Zone of Floating Vegetation
- Zone of Submersed Vegetation
Regions of the Littoral Zone
Regions of the Littoral Zone
1. Zone of Emergent Vegetation
• Near the shoreline.
• This region is usually dominated by grasses, rushes, and sedges.
• Cattail and arrowhead are common examples.
• The plants of the emergent zone utilize atmospheric carbon dioxide and oxygen.
• Minerals and water however are derived from the lake substrate.
• Emergent macrophytes are similar to
terrestrial plants except that they are
always rooted in deoxygenated mud
rather than well-aerated soil.
• Roots, leaves, and stems of emergent
macrophytes contain large air-filled
spaces along which oxygen can travel to
relieve the shortage (of oxygen) in the
roots. Typha latifolia (Common Cattail)
Regions of the Littoral Zone
2. Zone of Floating Vegetation
• As depth increases, a transition to plants with
long stems or petioles, and floating leaves
represents a transition from one environment
to another and is known as zone of succession
(hydrosere).
• This community includes water lilies (Nymphaea) Nymphaea sp.
and pond weeds (Potamogeton).
• Plants in this zone possess localized masses of
spongy tissue to aid in buoyancy.
• Stomata are restricted primarily to the upper
surface of the leaves where they have access to
atmospheric gases.
• Absorption of ions takes place on the
underneath side of the leaf.
Potamogeton sp.
Regions of the Littoral Zone
3. Zone of Submersed Vegetation
• The innermost region of the littoral zone.
• These plants may be considered to be truly
aquatic.
• Wholly submerged plants cannot obtain oxygen
from the air and must extract all gases they Hydrilla verticillata
need from water.
• They have very thin leaves and much of the
oxygen released during photosynthesis goes to
alleviate the shortage in the roots.
• Prominent submersed vegetation include
stonewort (Chara), hornwort (Ceratophyllum) ,
milfoil (Myriophyllum) , waterweed (Elodea),
and the introduced plant Hydrilla .
Elodea canadensis
Other Flora within the Littoral Zone:
• There are usually a number of non-rooted free-floating hydrophytes in this zone.
• Free-floating plants derive their nutrients from the water.
• Among the plants that float on the surface in sheltered places, the smallest are
duckweeds (Lemna), and the largest include water hyacinth (Eichhornia) and
floating fern (Salvinia).

Lemna sp. (Duckweed) Eichhornia sp. (Water Hyacinth) Salvinia sp. (Floating Fern)
Fauna in the Littoral Zone

• Animals in the littoral zone mostly live on the surface of leaves or stems or burrow
among the plant roots.
• The only substrate for animals in this zone is rocks and the only food is algae either
present in the water or attached to the rocks, and the detritus that is lodged among the
stones.
• The advantage in this zone is that oxygen is never
likely to be limited as water is constantly dissolving
more oxygen from the air.
• Pond snails are a conspicuous group of littoral zone
animals along with many species of freshwater
crustacea (shrimps and crabs).
• Littoral zone provides habitat for insects like
dragonflies (Odonata), mayflies (Ephemeroptera),
stoneflies (Plecoptera), caddis flies (Trichoptera)
and midges (Diptera). Macrobrachium sp. (Freshwater Shrimp)
 Limnetic Zone
• Is the area of open water bounded by the littoral region.
• Trophogenic Zone - main photosynthetic zone which possesses sufficient sunlight for
photosynthesis to exceed respiration (P > R).
• It is dominated by planktons and nektons which are distinguished based on their
swimming ability.
– Planktons are suspended in water
– Nektons are active swimmers
• Neuston are organisms that attaches to the underside of the surface film of water
through surface tension.
• Most birds feeding in this zone are fish eaters and either dive for their prey or catch it
close to the surface.
• Birds (like geese and duck) are also attracted to these zones for refuge from terrestrial
predators.
 Profundal Zone
• Layer of deep, open water where it is too dark for photosynthesis.
• Tropholytic Zone - region where respiration is greater than photosynthesis (P < R).
• This typically contains the colder, darker, poorer oxygenated deep water of a lake.
• Relatively few organisms are adapted to the deeper profundal regions.

• The border between the limnetic zone and

profundal zone is the light compensation
point (light compensation level), the depth
at which light intensity results in equal rates
of photosynthesis and respiration (P = R).
 Benthic Zone
• Deepest zone where nutrients come from dead organic matter from the upper zones or
from sediments washed into lake.
• Benthic primary producers include cyanobacteria, and all higher taxa of eukaryotic algae.
• The larger inhabitants of this zone are mostly worms, larvae of chironomid flies, and
molluscs. In addition there are numerous smaller animals like nematode and ostracods.

• Worms - mostly have haemoglobin in the blood, which help trap oxygen, an
advantage, as the benthic community suffers from lack of oxygen.
• Chironomids - are very characteristic lakeside inhabitants, typical of many lake
insects, with larvae living and growing in the water. The larvae are essential food for
many fish and ducks.
• Bivalve Molluscs - are important components of the benthic fauna. Mussels are
important filter feeders and are usually the largest members of the lake community
to feed directly on the smallest algae.
 Temperature Stratification
• Lakes and larger ponds experience seasonal shifts in temperature.
• Occurrence of thermal stratification during the summer and again in the
winter, due to differential heating and cooling.
• During this time, increased solar radiation and warmer air temperatures heat
surface waters faster than deep water.
• The surface water becomes lighter as its temperature rises.
• Inevitably a layer of lighter, warm water forms on top of a denser cooler layer.
 Zones based on Temperature Stratification
• Epilimnion
- The uppermost region of warm circulating water.
• Metalimnion
- The zone of rapid temperature change in
between the two regions.
- The region of fluctuating temperature within the
metalimnion is called a thermocline.
- The thermocline acts as a barrier between the
warmer water above and the colder water below.
• Hypolimnion
- The deeper, colder, and relatively undisturbed
bottom waters.
- This region corresponds roughly to the profundal
zone.
 Monomictic Lakes
• Mostly found on subtropical regions.
• Monomictic lakes have only one mixing period
known as the fall overturn.
• As surface waters cool in late fall and winter, the
density barrier between the epilimnion and
hypolimnion disappears.
• As the two begin to mix, oxygen rich water is
carried downward and nutrient rich water is
brought upwards.
• This often results in a photosynthetic explosion in
the trophogenic zone. The rapid increase in algae
is referred to as a bloom.
• The overturn occurs during the cooler months,
and the stratification is present from late spring to
early fall.
 Dimictic Lakes
• Mostly found on temperate regions.
• Dimictic lakes have two mixing periods, one in
spring and the other in fall.
• Stratification happens during the warm
months.
• The onset of cold weather destroys
stratification and fall overturn occurs.
• When surface waters cools to the freezing
point and forms a film of ice, a period of
winter stagnation begins when wind induced
circulation is impossible.
• With the warming of spring, the ice melts and
the lake is exposed to wind action.
• A spring overturn occurs, with circulation
continuing until the summer stratification.
 Productivity and Trophic Status of Lakes
• One system for classifying bodies of water is based on their productivity. This measures
their relative nutrient richness and is the trophic basis of classification.
 Oligotrophic Lakes
- Contain very low concentrations of those nutrients
required for plant growth and thus the overall
productivity of these lakes is low.
- With so little production of organic matter, there is
very little accumulation of organic sediment on the
bottom of oligotrophic lakes.
- With little organic matter, there are only small
populations of bacteria and thus very little
consumption of oxygen from the deeper waters.
- One typical measure of an oligotrophic lake is that it
has lots of oxygen from surface to bottom.
- The lack of nutrients in the water column reduces
the number of algae so water clarity is good.
 Eutrophic Lakes

- Lakes that are rich in plant nutrients and thus

their productivity is high.
- They produce large numbers of suspended algae
which result in reduced water clarity.
- Much of this organic matter drifts to the bottom
and provides food for bacteria that can use up
much or all of the oxygen from the lower depths
of these lakes.
- Thus, one characteristic of eutrophic lakes is
periodic depletion of oxygen from the lower
waters.
 Oligotrophic vs. Eutrophic
Table 1: Differences between Oligotrophic and Eutrophic Lakes
 Nutrient Cycling
• Transfer of energy in ecosystems is always coupled with transfer of nutrients.
• The most important difference is that nutrients can circulate in an ecosystem
whereas energy can only flow through the ecosystem.
• The biochemical cycles occurring in the lake are not closed.
• Lakes receive substances from the watershed and atmosphere; and they export
substances via outflow in the atmosphere or bury substances in the sediments.
• Depending on the balance of these processes, water passing through the lake
can be either enriched or diminished of particular compounds.
 Carbon Cycle

Göltenboth & Lehmusluoto (2006)

Carbon Cycle

Dissolved Inorganic Carbon (DIC), Dissolved Organic Carbon (DOC) and Particulate Organic
Carbon (POC) are the most important pools of carbon in aquatic ecosystems.
• DIC
- consists of carbon dioxide, bicarbonate, and carbonate.
- The most important input of DIC is from atmospheric CO2 and the dominant
abiotic output is release of dissolved carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.
• DOC
- most important sources are secretion and excretion by organisms from all
trophic levels and autolysis of detritus. Excretion products are rapidly utilized by
heterotrophic microorganisms especially bacteria.
• POC
- primary production is the source and is bound in organisms and detritus.
- POC can be transformed into DIC by respiration and into DOC via secretion,
excretion and autolysis.
- POC is lost from the limnetic region and imported into the benthic zone through
sedimentation.
Nitrogen Cycle

Massé, et. al. (2019)

Nitrogen Cycle

• The most abundant nitrogen component in lakes is dissolved elemental nitrogen (N2);
however, only few organisms can utilize this form.
• As nitrogen gas is fixed to ammonium by some microbes, it is most easily consumed by
microorganisms in a process called assimilation.
• Autotrophs could not produce nitrogenase which is required in nitrogen fixation thus the
most important inorganic nitrogen forms that they can use are dissolved nitrite (NO2),
nitrate (NO3), and ammonium (NH4).
• Dissolved organic nitrogen coming from the excretion of organisms and decomposition of
detritus, undergoes remineralization to form ammonium.
• Nitrification, which takes place under aerobic conditions, oxidizes ammonium to nitrite
followed by the oxidation of the nitrite to nitrate.
• These three forms of nitrogen are taken up by phytoplankton, and hence have a
minimum concentration at locations where photosynthetic activities are maximum.
• Some nitrate are converted back to nitrogen gas through a process called denitrification
while some are assimilated by microorganisms.
Phosphorus Cycle

McMahon & Read (2013)

Phosphorus Cycle

• Phosphorus (P) is bound in biomass including fish, macrophytes, macroinvertebrates,

zooplankton, phytoplankton, and bacteria.
• Biomass degradation of all living organisms results in release of P as dissolved organic P
(DOP), particulate organic P (POP), and dissolved inorganic P (DIP).
• Heterotrophic prokaryotes and phytoplankton are the sole organisms capable of uptake
of DIP and DOP; P is transferred to higher organisms through grazing and bacterivory.
• Phytoplankton and heterotrophic prokaryotes mediate transformation of POP to DOP,
and release of DIP back into the system.
• Within the sediment, heterotrophs mediate transformations from particulate inorganic
P (PIP) to DIP, and from POP to DOP to DIP.
• In eutrophic systems, phytoplankton (often cyanobacteria) dominates biomass
abundance and outcompete heterotrophic prokaryotes for DIP.
• Under thermal stratification, P in the oxic epilimnion is bound primarily in biomass, and
DIP (operationally soluble reactive phosphorus) is present at very low concentrations. In
the hypolimnion, P is dominated by DIP, which is highly soluble under anoxic conditions.
LOTIC ECOSYSTEMS
 Lotic Ecosystems
• Lotic comes from the Latin word lotus, meaning “washed”.
• This primarily refers to running water (fluvial or fluviatile) habitats such as rivers and
streams.
• Lotic ecosystems in their upper regions
generally experience erosion; substrates are
removed and the hard bottom predominates.
• As these systems reach their basal level, in
their lower zones, sediments are deposited
and thus build floodplains and deltas, which
are often highly fertile.

Cagayan de Oro River, Philippines

 Lotic Ecosystems
The differences between running and standing water, in general, refer to a triad of
conditions:
1. The current constitutes a much more important dominant and limiting factor in rivers.
- Although slight differences in temperature can exist between the surface and bottom
waters of deep lotic systems, the greatest changes take place as water moves
downstream.
2. The exchange between land and water is relatively more extensive in rivers, giving
rise to a more "open" type of ecosystem and a heterotrophic community metabolism
when the river size is small.
- Flowing water systems frequently possess greater habitat heterogeneity than lentic
systems. They also are more permanent ecosystems on a geological or evolutionary
scale which tend to increase species diversity.
3. Oxygen tension is generally higher and more uniform in rivers, with little or no
thermal or chemical stratification except in large, slow-moving rivers.
- Lotic ecosystems rarely display the vertical stratification patterns found in standing
bodies of water because of their turbulent flow.
 The River Continuum Concept
(Cummins, 1977; Vannote et al, 1980)

The concept of the river continuum describes how

biotic communities adjust to changing conditions.
It includes longitudinal changes in:
• the metabolism of the community
• the biotic diversity
• the particle size of the site where the river
originates until its mouth

Generalities on the continuum of a river illustrating

the order of the current, the organisms by type of
feeding, and the changes in matter particles.
 River Zones
1. Rapid Zone
- Has strong currents enough to keep the bottom free of alluvium and other loose
material, thus providing a firm substrate.
- Occupied by specialized organisms that firmly bind to or adhere to the substrate
such as blackfly and whiting larvae.
- In the case of fish, species that inhabit this zone can swim against the current or
stick to the bottom.
- Some examples of these species are trout or dart fish.
2. Stagnant Zone
- Also called a backwater zone
- Has deep water where the speed of the current is less so that the sand and the
flood precipitate constitutes a soft bottom favorable for burrow formation.
- Inhabited by animals that swim, plants with roots, and planktons.
- In fact, communities in stagnant areas of large rivers resemble those in ponds.
 Classifications of Rivers in terms of the Chemical
Composition of Water
1. Hard Water
- Chemical composition: carbonate
- Systems that contain 100 or more ppm of dissolved inorganic solids.
- The chemistry of the water in the carbonate rivers is mainly controlled by rock
weathering.
2. Soft Water
- Chemical composition: chloride
- Waters that have less than 25 ppm of dissolved solids.
- Atmospheric precipitation is the dominant factor affecting the chemistry of the
water in chloride rivers.

• Humus or Sewage Rivers, with high concentrations of dissolved organic matter,

represent another additional class of rivers that are often observed in low, warm lands.
 References
Collin County Community College District. (2017). Lentic Ecosystem. Retrieved from:http://faculty.collin.edu/
dmcculloch/2406/Notes/Aquatic%20Ecosystems/Lentic.

Göltenboth, F. & Lehmusluoto P. (2006). The carbon Cycle in Lakes .Ecology of Insular Southeast Asia. Retrieved
from: https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/agricultural-and-biological-sciences/inorganic-carbon.

Indian Institute of Science. (2001). Limnology Essentials. Retrieved from:http://wgbis.ces.iisc.ernet.in/

energy/monograph1/Limpage4.html.

Odum, E. P., & Barrett, G. W. (2005). Fundamentals of ecology (5th ed.). Australia: Cengage Learning.

Massé, S, et. al. (2019). Annual nitrification dynamics in a seasonally ice-covered lake. PLOS ONE. 14. e0213748.
10.1371/journal.pone.0213748.

McMahon, K.D., & Read, E.K. (2013). Microbial contributions to phosphorus cycling in eutrophic lakes and
wastewater. Annual review of microbiology, 67, 199-219 .