Question

Give a brief account of a lake ecosystem.

Answer 1

Lake ecosystems are a prime example of lentic ecosystems. Lentic refers to stationary or relatively still water, from the latin lentus, which means sluggish. Lentic waters range from ponds  to lakes ro wetland and much of this article applies to lentic ecosystems in general. Lentic ecosystems can be compared with lotic ecosystem which involve flowing terrestrial waters such as rivers and streams. Together, these two fields form the more general study area of freshwater or aquatic ecology.

Answer 2

Lake ecosystem is an aquatic ecosystem where the primary inputs are energy, by photosynthesis fixed by the primary producer algae and green plants, plus the organic and inorganic materials carried by the lake.

The primary and micro-consumers eat dead organic matter; the intermediate consumers, worms and insect larvae, feed on the primary consumers and algae. The herbivores eat green plants.The carnivores (fish) eat intermediate consumers. The scavengers eat the bottom debris and dead organic matter too so that virtually, nothing is wasted.