The size-distribution of Earth’s lakes
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The size.pdf
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911.74 KB
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Author(s)
Cael, B. B.
Seekell, D. A.
Date Issued
July 2016
Journal
Scientific Reports
Publisher
Nature Publishing Group
Citation
Cael, B. B., and D. A. Seekell. “The Size-Distribution of Earth’s Lakes.” Scientific Reports 6 (July 8, 2016): 29633. © 2017 Macmillan Publishers Limited
Version
Final published version
Abstract
Globally, there are millions of small lakes, but a small number of large lakes. Most key ecosystem patterns and processes scale with lake size, thus this asymmetry between area and abundance is a fundamental constraint on broad-scale patterns in lake ecology. Nonetheless, descriptions of lake size-distributions are scarce and empirical distributions are rarely evaluated relative to theoretical predictions. Here we develop expectations for Earth’s lake area-distribution based on percolation theory and evaluate these expectations with data from a global lake census. Lake surface areas ≥0.46 km[superscript 2] are power-law distributed with a tail exponent (τ = 2.14) and fractal dimension (d = 1.4), similar to theoretical expectations (τ = 2.05; d = 4/3). Lakes <0.46 km[superscript 2] are not power-law distributed. An independently developed regional lake census exhibits a similar transition and consistency with theoretical predictions. Small lakes deviate from the power-law distribution because smaller lakes are more susceptible to dynamical change and topographic behavior at sub-kilometer scales is not self-similar. Our results provide a robust characterization and theoretical explanation for the lake size-abundance relationship, and form a fundamental basis for understanding and predicting patterns in lake ecology at broad scales.
MIT Department
Joint Program in Oceanography/Applied Ocean Science and Engineering
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
Terms of Use
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
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DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.1038/srep29633
