North America Lake Biodiversity Conservation Priorities

NAME MAP ID COUNTRY
Bear 1 USA
Catahoula 2 USA
Reed 3 CANADA
Devil's Lake 4 USA
Dewey Soper 5 CANADA
Erie 6 CANADA, US
Great Salt Lake 7 USA
Huron 8 CANADA, US
Lac Saint Pierre 9 CANADA
Michigan 10 USA
Mono 11 USA
Ontario 12 CANADA, US
Quill Lakes 13 CANADA
Superior 14 CANADA, US
Tule 15 USA
Salton Sea 16 US
Redberry 17 CANADA
Tahoe 18 USA
Rosa 19 BAHAMAS
Great Slave 20 CANADA
Teshekpuk 21 USA
Old Crow Flats 22 CANADA
Based on L. Duker (2003) Biodiversity Conservation of the World's Lakes (revised)

   In 2001, as part of “Report Series 2: Biodiversity Conservation of the World’s Lakes: A Preliminary Framework for Identifying Priorities”,  LakeNet identified 250 lakes in 73 countries as initial priorities for biodiversity conservation based on available data on fish, mollusc, crab, shrimp, and bird biodiversity supported by each lake, and the rarity of certain representative types of lakes.  Identified lakes are both fresh and saline, permanent and seasonal, natural and man-made. 
    LakeNet’s North America Lake Biodiversity Conservation Priorities are based on a 2003 revision of the initial list of 250 priority lakes based on feedback and newly available information from the Ramsar Bureau, LakeNet’s global network of individual and organizations in over 90 countries, and other reliable sources.  The 2003 revision seeks to begin to rectify the bias in the first study toward European lakes (where more key lakes have been added to Ramsar) and the relative dearth of highly biodiverse lakes in developing countries due to insufficient biodiversity data.