Freshwater ecosystems are inland aquatic systems dominated by low-salinity water, encompassing rivers, streams, lakes, ponds, wetlands, and groundwater-dependent habitats. They are structured by hydrological regime, nutrient availability, light penetration, thermal stratification, and substrate characteristics, and support diverse communities of microorganisms, algae, macrophytes, invertebrates, fish, and amphibians. Biogeochemical processes in these systems, including primary production, decomposition, and nutrient cycling of carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus, regulate water quality and contribute to regional and global elemental fluxes. Research on freshwater ecosystems examines food web dynamics, ecological resilience, responses to eutrophication, pollution, flow alteration, climate change, and their role in providing ecosystem services such as drinking water supply and biodiversity maintenance.
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