A List of Freshwater Biome Plants

Freshwater biomes include lakes, ponds, rivers, streams, and wetlands. The types of plants found in each type of freshwater biome depend on the biome's location and a variety of characteristics.

Freshwater biomes contain a variety of aquatic plants.

Locations

Freshwater biomes are located across the globe. All types of freshwater biomes get their start in watersheds. A watershed is an area of land where rainwater gathers and flows into a body of freshwater, such as a river, stream, lake, or pond.

Characteristics

Characteristics that affect the plant communities found in different freshwater biomes include water depth, water flow rate, water temperature, water quality, and availability of sunlight. Plant communities can change within a single freshwater biome. For example, the Colorado River flows through a variety of ecosystems, including temperate forests and desert habitats.

Rivers and Streams

Communities of plants that live in rivers and streams typically reside along the water's edge, especially where the water is shallow and water flow is slow. Plants found along rivers and streams include coontail, water stargrass, and tapegrass. A variety of trees may be found alongside a river or stream, including willows, cottonwoods, river birch and box elder.

Ponds and Lakes

Ponds and lakes vary in size. Ponds are smaller than lakes, are often shallower than lakes, are likely to be artificially made and may be ephemeral in existence. Given these characteristics, plant communities in ponds tend to be less diverse than plant communities in lakes. Pond and lake plant communities may include cattails, floating plants such as lily pads, and underwater plants such as narrow-leaf pond weed, water celery, and muskgrass.

Wetlands

Wetlands are areas that are saturated by water for a majority of the year. Other names for wetlands include bogs, fens, and marshes. Plants commonly found in wetlands include cattails, sedges, and duckweed. Wetlands also include trees such as black spruce, cypress, tamarack and gum.

References

• Freshwater Biomes
• McDougal Littell Biology; Stephen Nowicki; 2008
• Missouri Botanical Garden: Freshwater Biomes

Resources

• Biomes of the World: Freshwater
• Lakes, Ponds, and Reservoirs