Why study lakes? An overview of USGS lake studies in Wisconsin

Wisconsin’s 15,000 lakes are prominent features in its landscape and an important public resource. In the northern part of the State, the recent glaciation (ending about 10,000 years ago) created one of the densest clusters of lakes found anywhere in the world, containing lakes that occupy depressions in the glacial moraines and outwash deposits (fig. 1). This Northern Lakes and Forests Ecoregion contains more than 80 percent of the State’s lakes (Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, 2001). South of this ecoregion, there are fewer lakes, but they still are common. Usually situated in agricultural or urban land- scapes, lakes in southern Wisconsin generally have higher levels of nutrients and alkalinity, and higher biological productivity than their northern counterparts. For most lakes in Wisconsin, phosphorus is the nutrient that limits algal growth (Lillie and Mason, 1983).