Types of Freshwater Reef

Fallen Trees

These are the most temporary type of freshwater reef. Trunks, branches, and twigs can help create vital spawning and hiding places for fish and other aquatic life. Some fish can't reproduce or find hiding places without adequate plant matter. Having a healthy ripparean area along side water ways and larger bodies of water can help keep water temperatures cooler and more stable. When trees die and become snags they help a wide range of species, then when they fall into the water, the provide a wide range of ecological services to animals above and below the water surface.

In modern times people have removed riparean buffer zones, which has increased water temperatures. The practice has also robbed water ways of vital habitat, but some 

Microbialites

"Microbialites resemble coral reefs but can also be found in freshwater systems. Composed of sediments built up over many hundreds of years and multiple interactions between microorganisms such as diatoms and cyanobacteria and minerals, they can sequester carbon through a process called biologically-mediated carbonate precipitation, though just how this is done is still poorly understood. Some researchers think microbialites resemble structures that may have existed on Earth 450 million years ago, which could help them recognize signs of life on other planets.

By sequencing a handful of samples taken from several surface layers of an active, river-based microbialite in the Cuatro Cienegas Basin of Northern Mexico, researchers hope to learn more about the microbial communities that are associated with these structures and find out what roles they play in sequestering carbon. Learning more about the genomes of the microbial communities in the microbialite would not only provide more information about the role microbialites play in the global carbon cycle, which could prove crucial as carbon dioxide levels continue to rise, but could also be useful to researchers who work with stromatolites and other, similar structures which can also sequester carbon." - https://jgi.doe.gov/why-sequence-modern-freshwater-microbialites/ 

Rock Piles

Major Threats

The following are not listed in any particular order.

• Acid Rain from livestock farming and industrial practices.

• Fishing & Aquaculture

  • Ghost Nets can smother these natural resources and pose danger to the species who rely on lake reefs

  • Aquaculture waste: fish feces, antibiotics and other medications or poisons harm all aquatic life, but in particular fecal waste has been found to smother reefs which (unlike mobile lifeforms) can't swim, crawl, or float out of harms way.

  • Slaughterhouse/Meat Processor Waste pipes of blood and other disease-contaminated waste is dumped into waterways.

• Sewage 

  • Livestock Manure

  • Human & Pet Sewage

• Invasive Species these can displace species, over eat and cause trophic cascade, bring disease, etc.

• Rising Temperatures and Droughts

• Sedimentation

• Damage from Diving & Tourism

• Oil & Chemical Spills

• Coral Disease

• Algae Blooms

• Plastic & Other Aquatic Debris

Locations

Asia

Turkey

• Salda Lake

• Lake Van, East Anatolia

North America

Canada

• Pavilion Lake, British Columbia 

Mexico

• Bacalar Lagoon

• Lake Alchichica

USA

• The Great Lakes including Lake Michigan 

• Great Salt Lake, Utah

Species Who Need Freshwater Reefs

• Lake Herring

• Lake Trout

Programs & Projects

North America

USA

Louisiana

• Louisiana Artificial Reef Program "includes planning documents and reef locations"

Resources & Guides

Further Reading