Question

What is the main difference between oligotrophic and eutrophic lakes?

Answer 1

Hint: Oligotrophic can be divided into syllables namely “oligo” meaning few or little and “trophic” meaning nutrition. Eutrophic can be divided into two syllables namely “eu” meaning ample or large amount and “trophic” meaning nutrition.

Complete answer:
We know that a lake is a water body in a smaller space with almost constant and still flowing water. They help the human life in getting clean water for drinking, bathing and so on. In this solution, we are going to discuss the two different types of lakes i.e oligotrophic and eutrophic. The meaning of the words is already discussed in the above section.

Oligotrophic lakes	Eutrophic lakes
Oligotrophic lakes carry low levels of nutrients; have lower productivity and clear water.	Eutrophic lakes which carry large amounts of nutrients, have high productivity and carry dark water.
Oligotrophic lakes have more depth	Eutrophic lakes are relatively shallow in depth.
Oligotrophic lakes have fewer phosphates and nitrates present as nutrients leading to high levels of oxygen present and thereby these lakes are relatively suitable for aquatic organisms.	Eutrophic lakes have nutrients like phosphates and nitrates in large quantities. As nutrients in larger proportions, aquatic life finds it difficult to survive in these lakes as these nutrients lead to very low levels of oxygen.
Oligotrophic lakes have larger growth of green algae but lower growth of blue green algae	eutrophic lakes see more growth of blue green algae and lower growth of green algae.

Note: Oligotrophic lakes carry a very large amount of oxygen while eutrophic lakes carry very low amounts of oxygen. Oligotrophic lakes are commonly found in cold regions while eutrophic lakes are common in warmer regions. Eutrophic lakes can arise due to the agricultural activities.