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Preservation Restoration Of Degraded Or Low Quality Lakes

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The majority of the world freshwater is shallow and confined to lowland areas (Beklioglu et al., 2011). These shallow polymictic lakes usually with a depth of less than three meters are an important natural resource and facilitate numerous services, as result having a crucial economical and conservation value (Beklioglu et al., 2011). High quality of these lakes has become a political obligation with initiatives such as the European commission’s water frame work directive implemented both locally and internationally. Therefore in order to maintain this value the management restoration of degraded or low quality lakes is a widespread and key process. However understanding the fundamental physical, biological and chemical aspects of the ecosystem is a crucial starting block in these restoration process.
Shallow lakes have become the archetypical example of ecosystems with alternative stable states, a clear state dominated by and submerged flora, and a turbid state with high phytoplankton biomass (Scheffer et al., 1993; Scheffer and Jeppesen, 1998). Unlike turbid lakes, clear shallow lakes are often dominated by submerged macrophytes which facilitate high biodiversity, high water quality and provide higher lake aesthetic qualities, they are thus considered a crucial element of a healthy clear shallow lake ecosystem. As a result from a conservation and economic standpoint the clear state is the ‘ideal’ that is aimed for during restoration and management. Shallow lakes often

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