Lakes of Biological Significance
Go to Section:- Overview
- Data Quality
- Data Organization
- Coordinate System
- Attributes
- Distribution - Get Data
- Metadata Reference
Section 1: Overview
Originator:Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) - Ecological and Water Resources (EWR)
Title:
Lakes of Biological Significance
Abstract:
This layer shows lakes meeting criteria for Lakes of Biological Significance (LBS) in Minnesota. Lakes were identified and classified by DNR subject matter experts on objective criteria for four community types (aquatic plants, fish, herptiles, birds).
Unique plant or animal presence was the primary measure of a lake's biological significance. Lakes were rated and grouped for each of the following communities: aquatic plants, fish, birds, and herptiles. Lakes were assigned one of three biological significance classes (outstanding, high, or moderate), which are defined in Section 5: Attributes (below). Many Minnesota lakes have not been sampled for plants and/or animals, so this list of lakes will be periodically revised as additional biological data become available.
The goal of this list was to identify lakes that exhibit the highest quality features within any of the four assessed biological communities (as opposed to identification of lakes that exhibit diversity across communities). Therefore, a lake needed to meet criteria for only one of the community types (aquatic plants, fish, birds, herptiles) to be identified as a Lake of Biological Significance. Occurrences of high-quality features within the community types determined the biological significance rank.
For a detailed description of criteria and analysis used, see: Lakes of Biological Significance 2025 (pdf, 169k)
Purpose:
To support planning, natural resource management, research and other resource protection-related activities.
Time Period of Content Date:
2025
Currentness Reference:
Polygon re-delineations and edits are frequent and occur as needed. See the attributes DELINEATION_DATE and DELINEATION_SRC for date and source of each polygon. See CONTENT_DATE for last date of attribute updates.
Progress:
Complete
Maintenance and Update Frequency:
Continually
Spatial Extent of Data:
Statewide
Bounding Coordinates:
-97.23
-89.53
49.37
43.5
Place Keywords:
Minnesota, border waters
Theme Keywords:
Hydrography, Water, Lakes, Inland Waters, metrics, fish, aquatic plant, amphibian, bird, biological significance, priority, ranking, outstanding, high, moderate, LBS
Theme Keyword Thesaurus:
Access Constraints:
None
Use Constraints:
None
Contact Person Information:
Paul Radomski,
Project Consultant
Minnesota DNR - Ecological and Water Resources
1601 Minnesota Drive
Brainerd,
MN
56401
Phone: 218-203-4361
Email: paul.radomski@state.mn.us
Section 2: Data Quality
Attribute Accuracy:
Logical Consistency:
Completeness:
Complete
Horizontal Positional Accuracy:
Polygons have been improved by on-screen digitizing over DOQ and FSA imagery.
Vertical Positional Accuracy:
N/A
Lineage:
The lake polygons are derived from the Open Water feature class of the MNDNR Hydrography Dataset. See Associated Data Sets above.
Section 3: Spatial Data Organization (not used in this metadata)
Section 4: Coordinate System
Horizontal Coordinate Scheme:
Universal Transverse Mercator
UTM Zone Number:
15
Horizontal Datum:
NAD83
Horizontal Units:
meters
Vertical Datum:
not applicable
Vertical Units:
Not Applicable
Depth Datum:
not applicable
Depth Units:
Not Applicable
Section 5: Attributes
Overview:
Lakes of Biological Significance (LBS) Criteria: Unique plant or animal presence was the primary measure of a lake's biological significance. Lakes were rated and grouped for each of the following communities: aquatic plants, fish, amphibians, and birds. There are three biological significance classes for this list: Outstanding, High, and Moderate.
Detailed Citation:
Table Detail:
env_lakes_of_biological_significance - feature class table (DNR EWR)| Field Name | Valid Values | Definition | Definition Source |
|---|
| dowlknum | - | Waterbody ID per DNR Ecological and Water Resources (EWR) Division's LAKESDB database; the DOWLKNUM may end in"00" (entire basin) or "01","02", etc. (sub-basin) | DNR EWR LAKESDB |
| pw_basin_name | - | Basin name per DNR Ecological and Water Resources Division's LAKESDB database | DNR EWR LAKESDB |
| pw_parent_name | - | Basin parent name (corresponding to DOWLKNUMs ending in '00') per DNR Ecological and Water Resources Division's LAKESDB database | DNR EWR LAKESDB |
| pw_sub_name | - | Basin sub-basin name (corresponding to DOWLKNUMs not ending in '00') per DNR Ecological and Water Resources Division's LAKESDB database | DNR EWR LAKESDB |
| sub_flag | enumerated | Identifies whether basin is a sub-basin or a border water | DNR EWR |
| Y | Yes, is a sub-basin; DOWLKNUM usually ends in '01', '02, '03, etc. | DNR EWR |
| N | No, is not a sub-basin. | DNR EWR |
| B | Border water | DNR EWR |
| wb_class | enumerated | Hydrologic feature type; based on original USCLASS attribute from USGS 100K DLG dataset; some polygons have been reclassified to better indicate their current hydrologic state | USGS 100K DLG data |
| Artificial Basin | | |
| Fish Hatchery or Pond | | |
| Industrial Waste Pond | | |
| Innundation Area | | |
| Intermittent Water | | |
| Island or land | | |
| Lake | | |
| Mine or gravel pit | | |
| Riverine polygon | | |
| Sewage Pond/Filtration Bed | | |
| Tailings Pond | | |
| Wetland | | |
| lake_class | - | Lake Class per DNR Fisheries Investigational Report #417 - Schupp 1992 http://files.dnr.state.mn.us/publications/fisheries/investigational_reports/417.pdf | DNR Fisheries |
| acres | - | Surface area of waterbody in acres | ESRI auto-calculated |
| shore_mi | - | Perimeter of shoreline in miles (includes island shoreline) | ESRI auto-calculated |
| cty_name | - | County Name | |
| dnr_region | enumerated | DNR Administrative Region | bdry_dnr_admin_regions.gdb\dnr_admin_regions |
| 1 | Northwest Region (Bemidji) | |
| 2 | Northeast Region (Grand Rapids) | |
| 3 | Central Region (St. Paul) | |
| 4 | Southern Region (New Ulm) | |
| fsh_office | - | DNR Fisheries Administrative Areas (Fisheries Office) | bdry_dnr_fisheries_admin.gdb\dnr_fisheries_admin |
| LBS_Class | enumerated | Description of LBS Class | DNR EWR |
| Outstanding | Meets "Outstanding" criteria for at least one community | |
| High | Meets "High' criteria for at least one community | |
| Moderate | Meets "Moderate" criteria for at least one community | |
| Plant_Rank | enumerated | A relative ranking for the aquatic plant community | DNR EWR |
| 1 | Meets "Outstanding" criteria for the fish community | |
| 2 | Meets "High" criteria for the fish community | |
| 3 | Meets "Moderate" criteria for the fish community | |
| Fish_Rank | enumerated | A relative ranking for the fish community | DNR EWR |
| 1 | Meets "Outstanding" criteria for the aquatic plant community | |
| 2 | Meets "High" criteria for the aquatic plant community | |
| 3 | Meets "Moderate" criteria for the aquatic plant community | |
| Herp_Rank | enumerated | A relative ranking for the herptile (reptiles and amphibians) community | DNR EWR |
| 1 | Meets "Outstanding" criteria for the amphibian community | |
| 2 | Meets "High" criteria for the amphibian community | |
| 3 | Meets "Moderate" criteria for the amphibian community | |
| Bird_Rank | enumerated | A relative ranking for the bird community | DNR EWR |
| 1 | Meets "Outstanding" criteria for the bird community | |
| 2 | Meets "High" criteria for the bird community | |
| 3 | Meets "Moderate" criteria for the bird community | |
Section 6: Distribution
Publisher:
Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR)
Publication Date:
04/23/2015
Contact Person Information:
Zeb Thomas,
GIS Data Systems Coordinator
Minnesota Department of Natural Resources
500 Lafayette Rd
Saint Paul,
MN
55155
Phone: 651-259-5637
Email: zeb.thomas@state.mn.us
Distributor's Data Set Identifier:
env_lakes_of_biological_signific
Ordering Instructions:
Please visit the download page for this dataset on the Minnesota Geospatial Commons website using the web link below (Online Linkage). Online Linkage: I AGREE
to the notice in "Distribution Liability" above. Clicking to agree will either begin the download process, link to a service, or provide more instructions. See "Ordering Instructions" above for details.
Section 7: Metadata Reference
Metadata Date:
06/10/2025
Contact Person Information:
Kristin Carlson,
GIS Data Contact
Minnesota DNR - Ecological and Water Resources Division
1601 Minnesota Drive
Brainerd,
MN
56401
Phone: 218-203-4362
Email: kristin.carlson@state.mn.us
Metadata Standard Name:
Minnesota Geographic Metadata Guidelines
Metadata Standard Version:
1.2