Oxbow lakes
The ecosystems and formation of oxbows
What is an oxbow? According to the Wikipedia definition, an oxbow lake is a U-shaped Lake or pool that forms when a wide meander of a river is cut off, creating a free-standing body of water. However, they can also be called a horseshoe. According to nature itself however, it's a diverse ecosystem essential to many different forms of wildlife.
The Oxbow is habitat for many migratory and resident bird species
There are many different oxbows and they are in fact very common as a landform being naturally forming and all. For example The Oxbow (Northampton, Massachusetts): A four-kilometer bend in the Connecticut River or Lake Chicot (Arkansas, USA): the largest oxbow lake in North America, formed by the meandering of the Mississippi River.
Both of these examples hold diverse ecosystems because of Oxbow lakes in their region. Lake Chicot with its aquatic life and The Oxbow with its verity of bird species that reside there. Speaking of birds some of the safest places for birds are islands making oxbow lakes a perfect spot for birds to rest away from mammalian predators. Most of the popular oxbow lakes are protected by the National Wildlife Refuge System for the to help protect the ecosystems surrounding oxbows.
Lake Chicot in Arkansas is the largest oxbow lake in North America, known for its excellent fishing and natural beauty.
Now back to the Aquatic life of Lake Chicot. Oxbows in general are vital to the reproductive cycle of many fish species. The stagnate water and abondance of vegetation gives the perfect habitat for them to lay eggs when the time is right. The lakes become a nursery for fish. This leads to It being necessary for some oxbow lakes to be protected for these fish too ensure their survival.
Oxbow lakes on New Zealand's Taieri River have been converted into water meadows.
Oxbows also even serve as wetlands which in the Americas makes them the primary home for water tupelo and the iconic bald cypress. This makes them even more important to wildlife as a whole. Along the amazon river its oxbows are also home to giant river otters. As such oxbow lakes are wildly important to our earth seeing as they provide such essential habitats for animals. If something were to happen to them as a whole there would be no recovery. Thats the reason why so many are protected by wildlife conservations.
