Lake Mendota
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Lake Mendota is a
freshwater Fresh water or freshwater is any naturally occurring liquid or frozen water containing low concentrations of dissolved salts and other total dissolved solids. Although the term specifically excludes seawater and brackish water, it does include ...
eutrophic lake The Trophic State Index (TSI) is a classification system designed to rate water bodies based on the amount of biological productivity they sustain. Although the term "trophic index" is commonly applied to lakes, any surface water body may be ind ...
that is the northernmost and largest of the four lakes in
Madison Madison may refer to: People * Madison (name), a given name and a surname * James Madison (1751–1836), fourth president of the United States Place names * Madison, Wisconsin, the state capital of Wisconsin and the largest city known by this ...
, Wisconsin. The lake borders Madison on the north, east, and south, Middleton on the west, Shorewood Hills on the southwest,
Maple Bluff Maple Bluff is a village in Dane County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 1,313 at the 2010 census. A suburb of Madison, it is part of the Madison Metropolitan Statistical Area. Maple Bluff is the site of the Wisconsin Governor's Man ...
on the northeast, and Westport on the northwest. Lake Mendota acquired its present name in 1849 following a proposal by a
surveyor Surveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, art, and science of determining the terrestrial two-dimensional or three-dimensional positions of points and the distances and angles between them. A land surveying professional is ca ...
named Frank Hudson, who claimed to be familiar with local
Native American languages Over a thousand indigenous languages are spoken by the Indigenous peoples of the Americas. These languages cannot all be demonstrated to be related to each other and are classified into a hundred or so language families (including a large numbe ...
; Lyman C. Draper, the first corresponding secretary of the
Wisconsin Historical Society The Wisconsin Historical Society (officially the State Historical Society of Wisconsin) is simultaneously a state agency and a private membership organization whose purpose is to maintain, promote and spread knowledge relating to the history of N ...
, proposed that 'Mendota' could have been a Chippewa word meaning 'large' or 'great.'


Early history

Lake Mendota originated after the
Wisconsin glaciation The Wisconsin Glacial Episode, also called the Wisconsin glaciation, was the most recent glacial period of the North American ice sheet complex. This advance included the Cordilleran Ice Sheet, which nucleated in the northern North American Cor ...
, which occurred approximately 15,000 years ago. Glacial ice, which had covered the Madison lakes (Lakes Mendota, Monona, Kegonsa, and Waubesa) at a thickness of over 300 meters, began to retreat northwest about 14,000 years ago, damming a
glacial lake A glacial lake is a body of water with origins from glacier activity. They are formed when a glacier erodes the land and then melts, filling the depression created by the glacier. Formation Near the end of the last glacial period, roughly 10,0 ...
near the City of Middleton that now serves as the source of water for Pheasant Branch, a creek that drains from the east into Lake Mendota. Water left behind by the retreating glaciers eventually filled the current lake bed of Lake Mendota. Although a large lake that stretched from the northern part of Lake Mendota down to Stoughton did exist for about 1,000 years, falling water levels caused this large lake to separate into the four current Madison lakes about 10,000 years ago, leaving numerous shallow-water
marsh A marsh is a wetland that is dominated by herbaceous rather than woody plant species.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p Marshes can often be found at ...
es between those lakes. According to reports from European settlers in the early nineteenth century, Lake Mendota once had white sand beaches and clear water, with the sand being calcium carbonate, which continually entered the lake from its gypsum-rich watershed. However, after American settlers began to populate Madison, the physical characteristics of the once-
mesotrophic lake The Trophic State Index (TSI) is a classification system designed to rate water bodies based on the amount of biological productivity they sustain. Although the term "trophic index" is commonly applied to lakes, any surface water body may be inde ...
began to rapidly change. This was largely due to the Tenney Locks, which were constructed in 1849 to regulate shipping through the Madison Isthmus and led to a four-foot increase in the water level in Lake Mendota, submerging the beaches. Additionally, due to the growth of the
Wisconsin dairy industry Dairy is a major industry in the state of Wisconsin. Being known for its dairy production, the state is often called "America's Dairyland." The industry is prominent in official state symbols—being displayed on the state's license plates, st ...
in the late nineteenth century, Lake Mendota was repeatedly inundated with
runoff Runoff, run-off or RUNOFF may refer to: * RUNOFF, the first computer text-formatting program * Runoff or run-off, another name for bleed, printing that lies beyond the edges to which a printed sheet is trimmed * Runoff or run-off, a stock market ...
from nearby farms that caused the lake bed to become dark black, the color of prairie soil. The resulting spikes in the concentrations of
nitrogen Nitrogen is the chemical element with the symbol N and atomic number 7. Nitrogen is a nonmetal and the lightest member of group 15 of the periodic table, often called the pnictogens. It is a common element in the universe, estimated at se ...
and
phosphorus Phosphorus is a chemical element with the symbol P and atomic number 15. Elemental phosphorus exists in two major forms, white phosphorus and red phosphorus, but because it is highly reactive, phosphorus is never found as a free element on Ear ...
turned Lake Mendota into a
eutrophic lake The Trophic State Index (TSI) is a classification system designed to rate water bodies based on the amount of biological productivity they sustain. Although the term "trophic index" is commonly applied to lakes, any surface water body may be ind ...
. The degree of eutrophication was so high that in 1882,
Edward Asahel Birge Edward Asahel Birge (September 7, 1851 – June 9, 1950) was an American professor and administrator at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. He was one of the pioneers of the study of limnology, and served as acting president of the university f ...
, a young zoologist and future president of the
University of Wisconsin-Madison A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, the ...
, documented Lake Mendota's first known toxic cyanobacterial blooms in conjunction with his collaborator Chancey Juday, marking the first step toward long-term studies of Lake Mendota.


Geography

Lake Mendota and Lake Monona are separated by an
isthmus An isthmus (; ; ) is a narrow piece of land connecting two larger areas across an expanse of water by which they are otherwise separated. A tombolo is an isthmus that consists of a spit or bar, and a strait is the sea counterpart of an isthmu ...
known as the Madison Isthmus, on which the majority of Madison, WI, is located. While the lakes are separated by dry ground, they are connected by the
Yahara River The Yahara River is a tributary of the Rock River in southern Wisconsin. It is about longU.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed May 13, 2011 (including the distance across inte ...
. Navigation along this portion of the Yahara River is controlled by the Tenney Park Lock and Dam, which was constructed to allow shallow drafting boats to cross this dredged section of river through what was once wetlands. Today, the Tenney Park Locks also help to maintain water levels in the Madison lakes, as under normal conditions, the water level in Lake Mendota is kept five feet above that in Lake Monona. By contrast, when water levels are too high, the Tenney Park Dam is closed to minimize flow from Lake Mendota into Lake Monona and Lake Waubesa, while when water levels are too low, all the dams along the Yahara River are opened to maximize water flow. In early 2021,
Dane County Dane County is a county in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 census, the population was 561,504, making it the second-most populous county in Wisconsin. The county seat is Madison, which is also the state capital. Dane County is the ...
obtained an Ellicott 'Dragon Dredge' as a means of reducing the consequences of flooding from the Yahara River and the Madison lakes by removing
silt Silt is granular material of a size between sand and clay and composed mostly of broken grains of quartz. Silt may occur as a soil (often mixed with sand or clay) or as sediment mixed in suspension with water. Silt usually has a floury feel when ...
and
muck Muck most often refers to: *Muck (soil), a soil made up primarily of humus from drained swampland Muck may also refer to: Places Europe * Muck, Scotland, an island * Isle of Muck, County Antrim, a small island connected by sand spit to Portmu ...
deposits that have accumulated for decades at
choke points In military strategy, a choke point (or chokepoint) is a geographical feature on land such as a valley, defile or bridge, or maritime passage through a critical waterway such as a strait, which an armed force is forced to pass through in ord ...
between the lakes. This acquisition was part of a multi-million dollar flood mitigation effort led by Dane County Executive Joe Parisi dating back to 2019, when historic rains inundated creeks and caused the waters of Lake Monona to rise to their highest levels in over a century, that would allow Dane County to more efficiently move large volumes of water between the Madison lakes to avoid similar catastrophic impacts from flooding. The banks of the lake largely contain expensive luxury homes and condominiums, but they also contain protected natural areas and parks, including
James Madison Park James Madison Park is a waterfront park located on Lake Mendota in Madison, Wisconsin. It is owned by the city of Madison. Gates of Heaven Synagogue The park is the home of the Gates of Heaven Synagogue (Shaarei Shamayim). The 1863 building, a ...
, as well as UW-Madison housing, the Memorial Union, and a handful of hotels and restaurants. There are at least 25 boat launching sites and several major
marina A marina (from Spanish , Portuguese and Italian : ''marina'', "coast" or "shore") is a dock or basin with moorings and supplies for yachts and small boats. A marina differs from a port in that a marina does not handle large passenger ships o ...
s serving the Yahara chain of lakes. The city of Madison maintains five beaches on Lake Mendota, three of which are staffed with lifeguards. On a typical summer day, the lake is filled with those engaging in water sports, including
boating Boating is the leisurely activity of travelling by boat, or the recreational use of a boat whether Motorboat, powerboats, Sailing, sailboats, or man-powered vessels (such as rowing and paddle boats), focused on the travel itself, as well as sp ...
, fishing,
water skiing Water skiing (also waterskiing or water-skiing) is a surface water sport in which an individual is pulled behind a boat or a cable ski installation over a body of water, skimming the surface on two skis or one ski. The sport requires suffic ...
,
wakeboarding Wakeboarding is a water sport in which the rider, standing on a wakeboard (a board with foot bindings), is towed behind a motorboat across its wake and especially up off the crest in order to perform aerial maneuvers. A hallmark of wakeboardin ...
, tubing,
canoeing Canoeing is an activity which involves paddling a canoe with a single-bladed paddle. Common meanings of the term are limited to when the canoeing is the central purpose of the activity. Broader meanings include when it is combined with other acti ...
,
windsurfing Windsurfing is a wind propelled water sport that is a combination of sailing and surfing. It is also referred to as "sailboarding" and "boardsailing", and emerged in the late 1960s from the aerospace and surf culture of California. Windsurfing ga ...
,
kayaking Kayaking is the use of a kayak for moving over water. It is distinguished from canoeing by the sitting position of the paddler and the number of blades on the paddle. A kayak is a low-to-the-water, canoe-like boat in which the paddler sits fac ...
, and
sailing Sailing employs the wind—acting on sails, wingsails or kites—to propel a craft on the surface of the ''water'' (sailing ship, sailboat, raft, windsurfer, or kitesurfer), on ''ice'' (iceboat) or on ''land'' (land yacht) over a chosen cour ...
. With an average freeze date of December 20, Lake Mendota is used in the winter by sports enthusiasts for ice boating,
ice skating Ice skating is the self-propulsion and gliding of a person across an ice surface, using metal-bladed ice skates. People skate for various reasons, including recreation (fun), exercise, competitive sports, and commuting. Ice skating may be per ...
,
ice fishing Ice fishing is the practice of catching fish with lines and fish hooks or spears through an opening in the ice on a frozen body of water. Ice fishers may fish in the open or in heated enclosures, some with bunks and amenities. Shelters Longer ...
,
cross-country skiing Cross-country skiing is a form of skiing where skiers rely on their own locomotion to move across snow-covered terrain, rather than using ski lifts or other forms of assistance. Cross-country skiing is widely practiced as a sport and recreation ...
,
ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...
and
snowkiting Snowkiting or kite skiing is an outdoor winter sport where people use kite power to glide on snow or ice. The skier uses a kite to give them power over large jumps. The sport is similar to water-based kiteboarding, but with the footwear used in ...
. The
Wisconsin State Capitol The Wisconsin State Capitol, located in Madison, Wisconsin, houses both chambers of the Wisconsin legislature along with the Wisconsin Supreme Court and the Office of the Governor. Completed in 1917, the building is the fifth to serve as the Wi ...
and much of the state government is located on the narrow Madison Isthmus, and the
University of Wisconsin–Madison A university () is an educational institution, institution of higher education, higher (or Tertiary education, tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. Universities ty ...
campus is situated along the southern shore of Lake Mendota. In the early 20th century, Chancey Juday and
Edward A. Birge Edward Asahel Birge (September 7, 1851 – June 9, 1950) was an American professor and administrator at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. He was one of the pioneers of the study of limnology, and served as acting president of the university f ...
founded an influential school of
limnology Limnology ( ; from Greek λίμνη, ''limne'', "lake" and λόγος, ''logos'', "knowledge") is the study of inland aquatic ecosystems. The study of limnology includes aspects of the biological, chemical, physical, and geological characteristi ...
there as a component of the university, which was reorganized and expanded into the Center for Limnology in July 1982. The university's Hoofer Sailing Club operates at the Memorial Union.


Lake study

Lake Mendota has been called "the most studied lake in the world," with the UW–Madison Center for Limnology resting on its southern bank. The lake has a remote sensor buoy, affectionately known as 'David Buoy,' that is part of the Global Lake Ecological Observatory Network. The buoy was first anchored in Lake Mendota in 2008 and has collected data in each subsequent year from early spring until late fall, when it is removed before the lake freezes in the winter. Several of the lake and atmospheric data collected by the buoy include
wind direction Wind direction is generally reported by the direction from which it originates. For example, a ''north'' or ''northerly'' wind blows from the north to the south. The exceptions are onshore winds (blowing onto the shore from the water) and offsho ...
,
wind speed In meteorology, wind speed, or wind flow speed, is a fundamental atmospheric quantity caused by air moving from high to low pressure, usually due to changes in temperature. Wind speed is now commonly measured with an anemometer. Wind speed ...
,
air temperature Atmospheric temperature is a measure of temperature at different levels of the Earth's atmosphere. It is governed by many factors, including insolation, incoming solar radiation, humidity and altitude. When discussing surface air temperature, the ...
,
dissolved oxygen Oxygen saturation (symbol SO2) is a relative measure of the concentration of oxygen that is dissolved or carried in a given medium as a proportion of the maximal concentration that can be dissolved in that medium at the given temperature. It ca ...
, and
chlorophyll Chlorophyll (also chlorophyl) is any of several related green pigments found in cyanobacteria and in the chloroplasts of algae and plants. Its name is derived from the Greek words , ("pale green") and , ("leaf"). Chlorophyll allow plants to a ...
. In March 2021, researchers from the Center for Limnology concluded that
climate change In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to E ...
and the associated lengthening of summer weather have driven the annual formation of dead zones in Lake Mendota, which are oxygen-deficient layers deep in the
water column A water column is a conceptual column of water from the surface of a sea, river or lake to the bottom sediment.Munson, B.H., Axler, R., Hagley C., Host G., Merrick G., Richards C. (2004).Glossary. ''Water on the Web''. University of Minnesota-D ...
. These dead zones have been shown to remain in the lake for up to two months in the summer and have the potential to devastate the habitats of
benthic fish Demersal fish, also known as groundfish, live and feed on or near the bottom of seas or lakes (the demersal zone).Walrond Carl . "Coastal fish - Fish of the open sea floor"Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand. Updated 2 March 2009 They o ...
. The increasing eutrophication of Lake Mendota has led to an increased frequency of
harmful algal blooms A harmful algal bloom (HAB) (or excessive algae growth) is an algal bloom that causes negative impacts to other organisms by production of natural algae-produced toxins, mechanical damage to other organisms, or by other means. HABs are sometimes ...
, which sink to the bottom of the lake when they die. Once at the bottom, they are broken down by
decomposers Decomposers are organisms that break down dead or decaying organisms; they carry out decomposition, a process possible by only certain kingdoms, such as fungi. Like herbivores and predators, decomposers are heterotrophic, meaning that they use ...
via a process that requires
oxygen Oxygen is the chemical element with the symbol O and atomic number 8. It is a member of the chalcogen group in the periodic table, a highly reactive nonmetal, and an oxidizing agent that readily forms oxides with most elements as wel ...
, thus depleting the benthic supply of oxygen and forming dead zones. In the absence of programs designed to mitigate climate change locally, the researchers indicated that the only way to reduce the frequency and severity of the dead zones is to limit the amount of fertilizer and nutrients that flow into Lake Mendota. On September 11, 2009, the invasive spiny water flea was discovered by the limnology class at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, making it the third known inland lake to harbor this species in Wisconsin. Scientists from the
Long Term Ecological Research Network The Long Term Ecological Research Network (LTER) consists of a group of over 1800 scientists and students studying ecological processes over extended temporal and spatial scales. Twenty-eight LTER sites cover a diverse set of ecosystems. It is par ...
had initially believed that Lake Mendota was an unsuitable habitat for the spiny water flea, which prefers cold lakes, as limnologists from the North Temperate Lakes site of the LTER had conducted over three decades of sampling trips into the lake and had never found a single spiny water flea. However, after extracting sediment cores from Lake Mendota and analyzing them at the UW–Madison Zoological Museum, researchers found evidence that spiny water fleas had been present in low concentrations in the lake for at least a decade before their sudden population increase in 2009. This conforms with recent research proposing that invasive species can spend years or decades as "sleeper populations," remaining at low
population densities Population density (in agriculture: standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical term.Matt RosenberPopu ...
until environmental conditions become favorable for explosive population growth, at which point they are detected by researchers. In 2015, a reproducing population of invasive
zebra mussel The zebra mussel (''Dreissena polymorpha'') is a small freshwater mussel. The species originates from the lakes of southern Russia and Ukraine, but has been accidentally introduced to numerous other areas and has become an invasive species in ma ...
s was found in Lake Mendota, which generated concern among ecologists because the mussels have been linked to increases in the frequency of cyanobacteria blooms and beach closures.


Biodiversity

Lake Mendota, like the other lakes in the Yahara River chain, contains many
native Native may refer to: People * Jus soli, citizenship by right of birth * Indigenous peoples, peoples with a set of specific rights based on their historical ties to a particular territory ** Native Americans (disambiguation) In arts and entert ...
aquatic plant Aquatic plants are plants that have adapted to living in aquatic environments (saltwater or freshwater). They are also referred to as hydrophytes or macrophytes to distinguish them from algae and other microphytes. A macrophyte is a plant that ...
species, which are the
primary producers An autotroph or primary producer is an organism that produces complex organic compounds (such as carbohydrates, fats, and proteins) using carbon from simple substances such as carbon dioxide,Morris, J. et al. (2019). "Biology: How Life Work ...
of the lake and serve as the foundation for aquatic
food webs A food web is the natural interconnection of food chains and a graphical representation of what-eats-what in an ecological community. Another name for food web is consumer-resource system. Ecologists can broadly lump all life forms into one ...
as well as shelter for
northern pike The northern pike (''Esox lucius'') is a species of carnivorous fish of the genus '' Esox'' (the pikes). They are typical of brackish and fresh waters of the Northern Hemisphere (''i.e.'' holarctic in distribution). They are known simply as a ...
and
yellow perch The yellow perch (''Perca flavescens''), commonly referred to as perch, striped perch, American perch, American river perch or preacher is a freshwater perciform fish native to much of North America. The yellow perch was described in 1814 by Samu ...
, both of which are native fish species. A 2017 ecological survey of the Yahara lakes conducted by the Dane County Land & Water Resources Department found 24 aquatic plant species, including the coontail,
muskgrass ''Chara'' is a genus of charophyte green algae in the family Characeae. They are multicellular and superficially resemble land plants because of stem-like and leaf-like structures. They are found in freshwater, particularly in limestone areas thro ...
, common waterweed, small duckweed, American lotus, variable pondweed, wild celery, and common bladderwort. These native plant species play a role in partially mitigating the increasing eutrophication of Lake Mendota, as they absorb phosphorus and produce dissolved oxygen, and they aid in preserving the physical structure of the lake via their
root systems In vascular plants, the roots are the plant organ, organs of a plant that are modified to provide anchorage for the plant and take in water and nutrients into the plant body, which allows plants to grow taller and faster. They are most often b ...
, which stabilize sediment and limit
shoreline erosion Coastal erosion is the loss or displacement of land, or the long-term removal of sediment and rocks along the coastline due to the action of waves, currents, tides, wind-driven water, waterborne ice, or other impacts of storms. The landward ...
. The draining and damming of the wetlands that once surrounded Lake Mendota caused extensive losses of fish spawning areas, though about 34 fish species are still common in the lake, including the northern pike,
white bass The white bass, silver bass, or sand bass (''Morone chrysops'') is a freshwater fish of the temperate bass family Moronidae. commonly around 12-15 inches long. The species' main color is silver-white to pale green. Its back is dark, with white s ...
,
walleye The walleye (''Sander vitreus'', synonym ''Stizostedion vitreum''), also called the yellow pike or yellow pickerel, is a freshwater perciform fish native to most of Canada and to the Northern United States. It is a North American close relat ...
,
largemouth bass The largemouth bass (''Micropterus salmoides'') is a carnivorous freshwater gamefish in the Centrarchidae ( sunfish) family, a species of black bass native to the eastern and central United States, southeastern Canada and northern Mexico, but ...
, smallmouth bass, and musky. Starting in 2006, the University of Wisconsin-Madison Lakeshore Nature Preserve began to catalogue the bird species found in and around Lake Mendota, and, so far, over 255 bird species, most of which regularly occur in southern Wisconsin, have been spotted during their annual migrations. Some of the bird species found in the Nature Preserve include the
blue jay The blue jay (''Cyanocitta cristata'') is a passerine bird in the family Corvidae, native to eastern North America. It lives in most of the eastern and central United States; some eastern populations may be migratory. Resident populations are a ...
,
American goldfinch The American goldfinch (''Spinus tristis'') is a small North American bird in the finch family. It is migratory, ranging from mid-Alberta to North Carolina during the breeding season, and from just south of the Canada–United States border to ...
,
Baltimore oriole The Baltimore oriole (''Icterus galbula'') is a small icterid blackbird common in eastern North America as a migratory breeding bird. It received its name from the resemblance of the male's colors to those on the coat-of-arms of 17th century L ...
,
bald eagle The bald eagle (''Haliaeetus leucocephalus'') is a bird of prey found in North America. A sea eagle, it has two known subspecies and forms a species pair with the white-tailed eagle (''Haliaeetus albicilla''), which occupies the same niche as ...
,
great horned owl The great horned owl (''Bubo virginianus''), also known as the tiger owl (originally derived from early naturalists' description as the "winged tiger" or "tiger of the air"), or the hoot owl, is a large owl native to the Americas. It is an extrem ...
,
marsh wren The marsh wren (''Cistothorus palustris'') is a small North American songbird of the wren family. It is sometimes called the long-billed marsh wren to distinguish it from the sedge wren, also known as the short-billed marsh wren. Taxonomy The ma ...
, and
common loon The common loon or great northern diver (''Gavia immer'') is a large member of the loon, or diver, family of birds. Breeding adults have a plumage that includes a broad black head and neck with a greenish, purplish, or bluish sheen, blackish o ...
. However, in recent decades, Lake Mendota has become increasingly eutrophic, and the
Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WDNR) is a government agency of the U.S. state of Wisconsin charged with conserving and managing Wisconsin's natural resources. The Wisconsin Natural Resources Board has the authority to set policy ...
has documented the presence of numerous
invasive species An invasive species otherwise known as an alien is an introduced organism that becomes overpopulated and harms its new environment. Although most introduced species are neutral or beneficial with respect to other species, invasive species ad ...
of both plants and animals in the lake. Eutrophication has caused a rapid increase in the abundance of aquatic plants and in the frequency of harmful algal blooms, with the latter being attributable to
cyanobacteria Cyanobacteria (), also known as Cyanophyta, are a phylum of gram-negative bacteria that obtain energy via photosynthesis. The name ''cyanobacteria'' refers to their color (), which similarly forms the basis of cyanobacteria's common name, blu ...
. The dominant
genera Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nomenclat ...
of cyanobacteria in Lake Mendota include ''
Aphanizomenon ''Aphanizomenon'' is a genus of cyanobacteria that inhabits freshwater lakes and can cause dense blooms. They are unicellular organisms that consolidate into linear (non-branching) chains called trichomes. Parallel trichomes can then further uni ...
'', ''
Anabaena ''Anabaena'' is a genus of filamentous cyanobacteria that exist as plankton. They are known for nitrogen-fixing abilities, and they form symbiotic relationships with certain plants, such as the mosquito fern. They are one of four genera of cyanob ...
'', and ''
Microcystis ''Microcystis'' is a genus of freshwater cyanobacteria that includes the harmful algal bloom-forming ''Microcystis aeruginosa''. Many members of a ''Microcystis'' community can produce neurotoxins and hepatotoxins, such as microcystin and cyanop ...
'', with yearly cyanobacterial blooms occurring in almost every Madison lake since 2017. There are various invasive species in Lake Mendota, including the
curly-leaf pondweed ''Potamogeton crispus'', the crisp-leaved pondweed, curly pondweed, curly-leaf pondweed or curled pondweed, is a species of aquatic plant (hydrophyte) native to Eurasia but an introduced species and often a noxious weed in North America. De ...
,
Eurasian water-milfoil ''Myriophyllum spicatum'' (Eurasian watermilfoil or spiked water-milfoil) is native to Europe, Asia, and north Africa, but has a wide geographic and climatic distribution among some 57 countries, extending from northern Canada to South Africa. It ...
, freshwater jellyfish, spiny water flea,
water lettuce ''Pistia'' is a genus of aquatic plants in the arum family, Araceae. It is the sole genus in the tribe ''Pistieae'' which reflects its systematic isolation within the family. The single species it comprises, ''Pistia stratiotes'', is often cal ...
, and
zebra mussel The zebra mussel (''Dreissena polymorpha'') is a small freshwater mussel. The species originates from the lakes of southern Russia and Ukraine, but has been accidentally introduced to numerous other areas and has become an invasive species in ma ...
. The spiny water flea in particular has led to devastating ecological consequences in Lake Mendota, as it consumes the native
zooplankton Zooplankton are the animal component of the planktonic community ("zoo" comes from the Greek word for ''animal''). Plankton are aquatic organisms that are unable to swim effectively against currents, and consequently drift or are carried along by ...
''
Daphnia pulicaria ''Daphnia pulicaria'' is a species of freshwater crustaceans found within the genus of ''Daphnia,'' which are often called "water fleas," and they are commonly used as model organisms for scientific research Like other species of ''Daphnia'', the ...
'', which has led to marked decreases in
water clarity Water clarity is a descriptive term for how deeply visible light penetrates through water. In addition to light penetration, the term water clarity is also often used to describe underwater visibility. Water clarity is one way that humans measure ...
due to increases in the population size of
phytoplankton Phytoplankton () are the autotrophic (self-feeding) components of the plankton community and a key part of ocean and freshwater ecosystems. The name comes from the Greek words (), meaning 'plant', and (), meaning 'wanderer' or 'drifter'. Ph ...
, which are the preferred prey of ''D. pulicaria''.


Artifacts

On November 2, 2021, a team from the Wisconsin Historical Society raised a dugout canoe to the surface of Lake Mendota. It was discovered by Tamara Thomsen and Mallory Dragt while joyriding on their scooters in June of 2021. At 1200 years old, it is the oldest known sunken boat/shipwreck in Wisconsin. On September 22, 2022, a team from the Wisconsin Historical Society raised a dugout canoe to the surface of Lake Mendota. At 3000 years old, it is the oldest known sunken boat/shipwreck in Wisconsin


Gallery

Image:Lakemendota.jpg, Lake Mendota viewed from the steps of the Memorial Union Image:Lake Mendota from Porter Boathouse..JPG, Lake Mendota viewed from Porter Boathouse Image:Lake Mendota from Observatory Drive.JPG, Lake Mendota viewed from the top of Observatory Drive Brooklyn Museum - Lake Mendota, Madison, Wisconsin - Joseph Rusling Meeker - overall.jpg, Lake Mendota by
Joseph Rusling Meeker Joseph Rusling Meeker (born in Newark, New Jersey, 21 April 1827; died in St. Louis, Missouri, 27 September 1887) was a United States painter. Biography He studied at the National Academy of Design in 1845–46, and exhibited at the American ...
WindSurfer2.jpg, Windsurfer on the lake Image:Lake Mendota at sunset.jpg, Lake Mendota at sunset


See also

*
Lake Kegonsa Lake Kegonsa State Park is a state park of Wisconsin, United States, on the northeast shore of Lake Kegonsa. It is located in Dane County southeast of Madison, Wisconsin. The park consists of forest, prairie, and wetlands. Known for its camp ...
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Lake Monona Lake Monona is a freshwater drainage lake in Dane County, Wisconsin, surrounded on three sides by the city of Madison, Wisconsin, and on the south east side by the city of Monona, Wisconsin. It is the second-largest of a chain of four lakes along ...
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Lake Waubesa Lake Waubesa is one of the four major lakes in Dane County, Wisconsin, Dane County, Wisconsin that surround the city of Madison, Wisconsin, Madison. The lake has a surface area of and a max depth of . In 2013, the List of Wisconsin fishing record ...
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Lake Wingra Lake Wingra is a small lake located inside the city limits of the U.S. city of Madison, Wisconsin. The smallest of the five major lakes drained by the Yahara River in Dane County, Lake Wingra is bordered by the University of Wisconsin–Madison Ar ...
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Lake Mendota Boathouse The Lake Mendota Boathouse was a recreational building and storage facility owned by the University of Wisconsin located on Lake Mendota in Madison, Wisconsin. It was designed and built by architect Frank Lloyd Wright Frank Lloyd Wright (June ...
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List of lake monsters The list of lake and river monsters attested in worldwide folklore. The list Gallery File:Nyaminyami.jpg, A wooden carving of Nyaminyami File:Storsjöodjuret.jpg, An artist's concept of Storsjöodjuret File:Bunyip 1890.jpg, An artist's ...
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Flag of Madison, Wisconsin The flag of Madison, Wisconsin, includes a sky blue background with a diagonal white stripe that goes from the bottom left corner to the top right which symbolizes Lake Mendota, Lake Monona and the isthmus between them. At the center of the flag ...


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Information about Lake Mendota's physical characteristics
University of Wisconsin - Madison A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...
Limnology Department
City of Madison BeachesGAMIS Monitoring Buoy of Lake Mendota
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mendota Lakes of Dane County, Wisconsin Tourist attractions in Madison, Wisconsin Bodies of water of Madison, Wisconsin