Interesting Facts About the Freshwater Biome

Ducks and ponds are part of freshwater biomes.

Freshwater biomes consist of streams and rivers, wetlands, ponds and lakes, and the plants and animals that live within them. Freshwater biomes exist worldwide, and they are different in every country.

Productive Estuaries

Estuaries are transition zones between fresh and salt water biomes. They are influenced by salt water characteristics like tides and river characteristics like flows of fresh water and sediment. The mixing of seawater and freshwater provide estuaries with a high level of nutrients, making them the most productive natural habitats in the world.

Water Is Essential

Freshwater biomes provide half of the world's drinking water, one third of the world's irrigation water, and almost 90 percent of the world's bath water.

Fish and Frogs

Freshwater biomes support over 700 species of fish and about 1,200 amphibians including frogs, newts and salamanders. A variety of mollusks and crayfish live in freshwater biomes.

Algae and Lily Pads

Almost any plant can live in a freshwater biome, and the most common ones are trees, shrubs and grasses. Cattails, swamp fronds, tamarack trees and algae and lily pads also flourish in freshwater biomes.

Beaver and Muskrat

A large variety of animals live in freshwater biomes, especially mammals like beaver, muskrat and otter. Freshwater biomes also provide homes for many species of waterfowl like ducks, swans and geese.

Salt in Freshwater Biomes

There is salt in freshwater biomes. Since all aquatic biomes are connected in some way and 97 percent of the earth's water contains salt, there is a small amount of salt in freshwater biomes. Much of the salt content in fresh water is carried through groundwater or runoff from the surface, and it poses a serious threat to plants and animals in freshwater biomes.

References

• University of California Museum of Paleontology: The Freshwater Biome
• Animals of the World: Biomes
• Colorado State University: Freshwater Biome

Resources

• Touch Tank: Biomes, the Communities of the World