|
|
|
Aquatic Plants
What is the role of aquatic plants in lakes?
Native aquatic plants are at the root of healthy lakes.
They are essential for good fishing and clean water. Aquatic plants perform
many valuable ecosystem services, including:
- vital habitat
and food sources for fish, birds, frogs, turtles, insects, and many
other kinds of wildlife.
- stabilizing lake-bottom sediments.
- protecting shorelines
from erosion.
- taking up nutrients that would otherwise be available
for algae growth.
- producing life-giving oxygen.
 |
Water lilies |
In many lakes (especially shallow ones) submerged
plants grow in abundance, performing a critical role: they compete with
algae for nutrients and help maintain better water clarity. Emergent and
floating-leafed plants are also valued for their aesthetic qualities and
help provide a more “natural” buffer between a developed shoreline
and the open water. What affects aquatic plant
growth?
Aquatic plant growth can be impacted by a number or combination
of factors:
- Lake characteristics such as bottom type and lake temperature,
- light availability and water level fluctuations
- amount of nutrients
(most often lakes have problems with too many nutrients, such as phosphorus,
rather than not enough).
- wave stress and other impacts caused by motorized
watercraft
- controlled or artificially-raised water levels
- shoreline development
- invasive species
What can be done to help protect native aquatic plant
communities?
Leave aquatic plants along your shoreline and leave
fallen trees and branches in the water to provide habitat for fish
and wildlife. Explore options for re-establishing aquatic plants along
your lakeshore. Many local
governments have passes boating ordinances creating no-wake zones
and restricted motor areas. These areas reduce the impact of boats on
aquatic plants. Limiting boat traffic in areas with sensitive species
or where a large proportion of the plant material is floating or emergent
may be a good way to guide boat activity to more appropriate parts of
a water body. Basing no-wake zones on water depth or the maximum depth
of plant growth may be more useful than those based upon fixed distances
from shore. While no-wake zones do not prevent all impacts, they do serve
to reduce the overall amount of boat activity in a given area.
Our online ordering system
is down; please call our office at 608-661-4313 or 800-542-5253 (WI only)
to place book orders.
|
|
|
|
