LAKE CLASSIFICATION SYSTEMS – PART 1

by Niles R. Kevern, Darrell L. King and Robert Ring

The Michigan Riparian February 1996

"Last updated on 05/10/2004 "

Lake Classification Systems

People have a tendency to classify things. It helps us to visualize relationships and helps us to
communicate. We might use a very simple system based on size and say some things are big and
other things are small. Then someone will always ask, "how big" or "how small." And we
respond that it is "very big" or maybe if it is huge we say it is "really, really big." The point here
is that with some classification systems the basis for the system is a relative continuum. In such
cases there are no well defined boundaries or lines between what is big or what is small, so we
decide that we will draw lines to separate different categories.

Problems arise when someone says the lines are in the wrong place. Often, in scientific circles,
papers are published arguing where the lines should be and eventually we reach a rational
consensus, at least for communication purposes, as to where the lines should be. But,
considerable debate often remains.

Some classification systems are more easily defined; the boundaries are discrete and there is no
continuum. For instance, in the classification of plants and animals, a robin is a robin and never a
blue jay. Yet in other classification systems, we have situations where the things being classified
don't always fit into the same category. So we place it in that category where it fits most of the
time. But, enough hedging and enough excuses as to why classification systems don't always
work ideally. They are useful for many things.
Thinking about classification of lakes, three systems come to mind; there may be others, but
we'll discuss these three. One system is based on the productivity of the lakes or some might say
on the relative nutrient richness of the lake. This is the trophic basis of classification and the one
with which riparian owners are probably most familiar. It is the system that includes oligotrophy
and eutrophy and its basis is a continuous scale. A second system is based on the times during
the year that the water of a lake becomes mixed and the extent to which the water is mixed. This
basis of mixing is a system where a lake may fit a category well most of the time, but not all of
the time. And a third system, to keep anglers happy, is based on the fish community of lakes. We
say, for instance, that a given lake is a cold-water-fish lake. That tells us that the lake probably
has trout in it. There are considerable overlaps in the fish community system, but still enough
generalities to make it useful for fish management.
There are many direct and indirect relationships among these three lake classifications systems,
but we will discuss them separately for the sake of simplicity.

Part One --
The Trophic Concept
Productivity or the nutrient richness of lakes is the basis for the trophic concept of classification.
It runs the gamut from nutrient poor, super clear lakes, to those that are nutrient rich and usually
have very poor water clarity. As we said, this gamut is a continuum which runs from the
oligotrophic lake at one end to the eutrophic lake at the other end. It has become fashionable to
place lines and limits along this continuum to separate out other categories. There are even
categories that are exceptions to the main continuum. But, to initiate this discussion, let's start at
the nutrient poor end.
Oligotrophic lakes contain very low concentrations of those nutrients required for plant growth
and thus the overall productivity of these lakes is low. Only a small quantity of organic matter
grows in an oligotrophic lake; the phytoplankton, the zooplankton, the attached algae, the
macrophytes (aquatic weeds), the bacteria, and the fish are all present as small populations. It's
like planting corn in sandy soil, not much growth. There may be many species of plankton and
many different types of other organisms, but not very many of each species or type. There may
be some big fish but not very many of them. With so little production of organic matter, there is
very little accumulation of organic sediment on the bottom of oligotrophic lakes. And thus, with
little organic food, we find only small populations of bacteria. Moreover, with only small
numbers of plankton and bacteria, we have very little consumption of oxygen, from the deeper
waters. One typical measure of an oligotrophic lake is that it has lots of oxygen from surface to
bottom. Other measures are good water clarity (a deep Secchi disk reading, averaging about 10
meters or 33 feet), few suspended algae, the phytoplankton, which yield low chlorophyll
readings (average about 1.7 mg/m3), and low nutrients, typified by phosphorus (average about
8.0 mg/m3). There are other chemical characteristics, but these are the ones most often
mentioned. The bottom of oligotrophic lakes are most often sandy and rocky and usually their
watersheds are the same, resulting in few nutrients entering the lake. Oligotrophic lakes have
nice clean water, no weed problems and poor fishing. They are often deep with cold water. They
are seldom in populated areas -- too many people and heavy use tends to eventually shift them
out of the oligotrophic category. They are seldom in good agricultural areas; rich soils needed for
agriculture do not allow nutrient poor drainage water needed for the oligotrophic lake. We find
most of our oligotrophic lakes in Michigan in the upper peninsula and in the upper third of our
lower peninsula.
Eutrophic lakes are the general contrast to the oligotrophic lakes and lie at the other end of the
continuum. They are rich in plant nutrients and thus their productivity is high. They produce high
numbers of phytoplankton (suspended algae) which often cloud the water so that we have poor
Secchi disk readings (average about 2.5 meters or 8.0 feet). These lakes also produce high
numbers of zooplankton and minnows and other small fish that feed on the zooplankton. These
small fish in turn provide food for the growth of larger fish. All in all, there is a high production
of organic matter, like corn planted in rich soil. Much of this organic matter drifts to the bottom
and forms a considerable depth of organic sediment. This sediment in turn provides the food for
high numbers of bacteria. The descending plankton and the bacteria, through their respiration,
can use up much or all of the oxygen from the lower depths of these lakes. Thus, one
characteristic of eutrophic lakes is the summertime depletion of oxygen from the lower waters
(below the thermocline – usually below about 5.5 meters or 18 feet during the summer months).
Because of all of the phytoplankton produced, the eutrophic lake often has chlorophyll
concentrations averaging about 14 mg/m3 or higher. The phosphorus concentration averages
something over 80 mg/m3. Eutrophic lakes are often relatively shallow and often have weed
beds. The weed beds are common because of the availability of nutrients and light to the shallow
portions of these lakes, but also because the accumulated organic sediments provide the "soil" for
their roots. Fishing is often quite good in eutrophic lakes; the high productivity of plankton and
benthic (bottom) organisms in the shallows provide for relatively high numbers of fish with
relatively good growth rates. Most of Michigan's eutrophic lakes are in the lower two-thirds of
the Lower Peninsula.

So the oligotrophic and eutrophic lakes are contrast ends of the eutrophic continuum. But human
nature has stepped in, and we find that often we say a lake is really a little beyond oligotrophic or
it isn't quite eutrophic. In other words we rationalize (recognize or create) a transition stage
between the oligotrophic and the eutrophic classes. After all, as the oligotrophic lake ages, it
gradually accumulates nutrients and sediments, and moves toward and eventually into the
eutrophic stage. This natural eutrophication process commonly takes thousands of years and
involves both the physical filling of the lake and chemical enrichment of the lake water. Cultural
eutrophication, which can occur in a human generation or two, involves chemical enrichment of
the lake water by human activity in the lake drainage basin. The transition stage between the
oligotrophic and eutrophic conditions has been called a mesotrophic lake.

As you probably suspect, the mesotrophic lake is intermediate in most characteristics between
the oligotrophic and eutrophic stages. Production of the plankton is intermediate so we have
some organic sediment accumulating and some loss of oxygen in the lower waters. The oxygen
may not be entirely depleted except near the bottom (the relative depth of the lake has a bearing
on this).

The water is moderately clear with Secchi disk depths and phosphorus and chlorophyll
concentrations between those characteristic of oligotrophic and eutrophic lakes. Mesotrophic
lakes usually have some scattered weed beds and within these beds the weeds are usually sparse.
The fishing is often reasonably good, but mesotrophic lakes cannot handle as much fishing
pressure as can eutrophic lakes.
The average values and the range of values for phosphorus and chlorophyll concentrations and
Secchi disk depth characteristic of oligotrophic, mesotrophic and eutrophic lakes given in Table
1 were taken from Wetzel (1983). It is apparent from Table 1 that there are no fixed values of
phosphorus or chlorophyll concentration or of Secchi disk depth which can be used to
differentiate mesotrophic lakes from oligotrophic lakes from eutrophic lakes.

PHOSPHORUS AND CHLOROPHYLL CONCENTRATIONS AND SECCHI DISK DEPTHS

CHARACTERISTIC OF THE TROPHIC CLASSIFICATION OF LAKES
MEASURED PARAMETER Oligotrophic Mesotrophic Eutrophic
Total Phosphorus (mg/m3) Average 8 26.7 84.4

Range 3.0 - 17.7 10.9 - 95.6 16 – 386

Chlorophyll a (mg/m3) Average 1.7 4.7 14.3

Range 0.3 - 4.5 3 – 11 3 – 78

Secchi Disk Depth (m) Average 9.9 4.2 2.45

Range 5.4 - 28.3 1.5 – 8.1 0.8 – 7.0

Table I – Data from Wetzel, 1983

 Moreover, the range of values for phosphorus and chlorophyll concentration and Secchi disk
depth overlap for oligotrophic and eutrophic lakes. For example, according to Table 1, a lake
with a phosphorus concentration of 17 mg/m3, a chlorophyll concentration of four mg/m3 and a
Secchi disk depth of six meters falls within the range typical of oligotrophic, mesotrophic and
eutrophic lakes. Given this degree of variability, the best we can say of a mesotrophic lake is that
it lies somewhere between an oligotrophic lake and a eutrophic lake.
Oligotrophic and eutrophic represent the ends and mesotrophic is somewhere in the middle of
the trophic continuum of productivity; however, we are never content to leave well enough
alone. For instance, as the eutrophic lakes continue to age and accumulate nutrients and
sediments, some characteristics reach extremes and the lakes become really bad (as we humans
perceive them). So we reach into our bag of modifiers, extend our continuum and say that these
lakes are hypereutrophic. Such lakes are often relatively shallow lakes with much accumulated
organic sediment. They have extensive, dense weed beds and often accumulations of filamentous
algae. Their water clarity is poor with Secchi disk depths usually less than 0.5 meter (about 1.6
feet). The phosphorus concentration is high, often above 100 mg/m3 and the chlorophyll may be
over 50 mg/m3. Thus, the hypereutrophic lake represents the extreme ranges for the eutrophic
lake shown in Table 1. The fish and other aquatic animals in these lakes are subject to extreme
shifts in oxygen concentrations; sometimes very high and at other times very low, even depleted.
These lakes are often subject to "winter kill" and even "summer kill" where the depletion of
oxygen results in an extensive kill of fish and sometimes other organisms. Needless to say, these
are not very desirable lakes for human enjoyment. Hypereutrophic lakes are that way because
they have often been impacted by human activities. Such activities are those that add nutrients to
the water entering the lake from the watershed. These activities include poorly located and
poorly functioning septic systems, industrial effluents, urban runoff and some agricultural
practices that fail to control nutrient runoff. Considering these causes, we find most of
Michigan's hypereutrophic lakes in the southern one fourth of the state where most of the
humans and their activities are located.

Now let's mention additional situations that fail to fit into our continuum of the trophic
classification. These are lakes where certain characteristics tend to fit into more than one
category. Of particular note is the lake that is morphometrically oligotrophic. Morphometric
refers to the shape of the lake basin and these lakes have conflicting characteristics. They are
very deep lakes, having a large volume relative to their surface area. They have nutrient
concentrations and plankton production in their surface waters that may be much like the
eutrophic lake, yet they don't have the depletion of oxygen in their lower waters, and they
usually don't have much in the way of weed beds. Their surface waters are often quite clear. So
what is going on here? When these lakes mix in the spring and fall their waters become
oxygenated (like the others); however, because they have such a relatively large volume of deep
water, they have more oxygen available, more than the surface productivity can consume when it
settles out during the growing season. Because the plankton does have this great depth for
settling, the upper waters are often clear. Little silt accumulates in the shallow areas because
wave action causes most of the organic debris to wash down the basin slope into this extensive
depth. A good example of the morphometrically oligotrophic lake in Michigan is Higgins Lake.
Higgins Lake is located very near Houghton Lake. They have adjoining and very similar water
sheds and receive much the same nutrient runoff. Higgins Lake is very deep and Houghton Lake
is relatively shallow. Houghton Lake exhibits many of the characteristics of a eutrophic lake
while Higgins Lake, because of its depth, appears more like an oligotrophic lake.

Another type of lake found in

Michigan which does not fit the
trophic continuum is the marl lake.
Marl lakes are different in that they
generally are very unproductive; yet
they may have summer-time
depletion of dissolved oxygen in the
bottom waters and very shallow
Secchi disk depths, particularly in the
late spring and early summer. These
lakes gain significant amounts of
water from springs which enter at the
bottom of the lake. When rainwater
percolates through the surface soils
of the drainage basin, the leaves,
grass and other organic materials
incorporated in these soils are attacked by bacteria. These bacteria extract the oxygen dissolved
in the percolating rainwater and add carbon dioxide. The resulting concentrations of carbon
dioxide can get quite high and when they interact with the water, carbonic acid is formed.

As this acid rich water percolates through the soils, it dissolves limestone. When such
groundwater enters a lake through a spring, it contains very low concentra tions of dissolved
oxygen and is super saturated with carbon dioxide. The lime stone that was dissolved in the
water re forms very small particles of solid lime stone in the lake as the excess carbon di oxide is
given off from the lake to the at mosphere. These small particles of lime stone are marl and,
when formed in abun dance, cause the water to appear turbid yielding a shallow Secchi disk
depth. The low dissolved oxygen in the water enter ing from the springs produces low dis solved
oxygen concentrations at the lake bottom.

This process of marl formation is illustrated in Figure 1. Marl lakes are not very productive and
are not very good fishing lakes, but they may give evidence of the shallow Secchi disk depths
and low dissolved oxygen concentrations charac teristic of a eutrophic lake.

Now for the last type we will mention in this article on the trophic concept of lake
classification. This is the dystrophic lake. In our general scheme of the trophic concept we see
the change from oligotrophic through eutrophic largely as a result of the production and
accumulation of organic matter and in this scheme the organic matter is generated within the lake
as a result of inorganic nutrients supplied largely from the watershed. The dystrophic lake
develops from the accu mulation of organic matter from outside of the lake. In this case the
watershed is often forested and there is an input of organic acids (e.g. humic acids) from the
breakdown of leaves and evergreen needles. There follows a rather complex series of events and
processes resulting finally in a lake that is usually low in pH (acid) and often has moderately
clear, but colored (yellow/brown) water. This acid and colored water results from the organic
acids. These lakes are mostly calcium poor, either being in calcium poor areas or the organic
acids depleting the available calcium or both. These lakes are usually small and often develop a
thick surrounding of vegetation often containing Sphagnum moss. These lakes are poor in
plankton production and have sparse fish populations largely because of the acid conditions and
have low nutrient concentrations. They are typified by the bog lakes of northern Michigan.

It is apparent that the characteristics of the trophic continuum are somewhat elastic, that there
are exceptions to these classifications and that varying interpretations may be employed. In truth,
the category along the eutrophic continuum accepted by any individual is based largely on the
use that person plans to make of the lake. The mesotrophic lake of someone who fishes may
appear to be a eutrophic lake to a SCUBA diver who prizes clear water. The trophic continuum is
a useful generality, but it does not allow for explicit and exact subdivision of intermediate
categories.

In Part Two we will discuss two additional classifications, one based on the mixing of lake
waters and the other on the fish communities of lakes.

"Click here to see Lake Classifications - Part 2)"

Literature Cited

Wetzel, R.G. 1983. Limnology. Philadelphia, W.B. Saunders Co., 767 pp.

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