The World's Great Lakes

Most of the large lakes lie in glacial scour basins in the northern hemisphere. These lakes are closely similar in physicochemical characteristics and in their biota. Most of the other large lakes are tectonic in origin and they differ greatly among themselves and from other lakes since they occur in a diversity of terrestrial environments under a broad range of climatic conditions. Large lakes have a great diversity of habitats resulting in great species diversity and endemism in ancient lakes. The pronounced horizontal gradients in physicochemical conditions in large lakes contribute to the diversity of habitats. Conditions found in Lakes Michigan and Skadar are examples.