Life in a lake lakes and ponds can be structured into horizontal and vertical zones. In the nutrient-rich littoral zone near the shore, aquatic life is diverse and abundant. Plants, such as cattails and reeds, are rooted in the mud underwater, and their upper leaves, such as pond lilies, are rooted here also. Farther out from the shore, in the open water, plants, algae, and some bacteria capture solar energy to make their own food during phytosynthesis. As shown in Figure 3, the types of organisms present in a pond or lake ecosystem depend on the amount of sunlight available.