Introduction:
Fresh water habitat is a body of water formed mainly from inland waters and contain very low level of salinity. Examples of fresh water habitats are rivers, ponds, streams, springs and lakes
Types of Fresh Waters
Fresh waters are classified on the basis of their mobility. Based on this, two types are identified. These are:
- Lotic fresh waters: These include all running waters which can flow continuously in a specific direction. In other words, these are flowing or running waters, e.g. rivers, springs and streams
- Lentic fresh waters: These include standing or stagnant waters. These waters do not flow nor move. Examples of lentic fresh waters are lakes, ponds, swamps and dams
Characteristics of Fresh Water Habitats
The following characteristics are associated with fresh water habitats:
- Low salinity: Fresh water habitats normally contain very low level of salts. It has about 0.5% of salt compared to about 3.5% for sea water
- Small in size: Fresh water habitat is usually very small compared to the ocean water which is about 75% of the earth surface
- Variation in temperature: The temperature of fresh water habitat usually varies with season and depth. Temperature at the surface of the water varies slightly with that at the bottom of the water
- High concentration of oxygen content: Oxygen is usually available in all parts of the fresh water especially in the surface of the water
- Shallowness of water: Most fresh water habitats are very shallow hence sunlight can easily penetrate through the water to the bottom
- Seasonal variation: Some fresh water habitats like streams and rivers normally dry up during the dry season while others have their volume reduced. The volume of water in rivers also increases during the rainy season. Turbidity and fast flow of rivers are also high during the rainy season than in dry season
- Currents: Currents can affect the distribution of gases, salts and small organisms in fresh water habitats such as rivers and streams
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