Nutrients

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In general, coastal dune lakes are considered to be fairly unproductive biologically in that they naturally have low concentrations of essential plant nutrients and therefore support relatively low amounts of aquatic plants (including algae) and animals.

Factors that contribute to the nutrient status of a lake include:

• climate — this includes temperature, amount of sunlight, rainfall and hydrology of the lake;
• lake morphometry — this is based on the depth, volume and surface area of the lake, and
• the lake surface area to catchment size ratio; and nutrient supply — dependent on soil type, geology of the landscape, vegetation, and land use and management.