Lake Serpentine North is one of three small peat lakes that make up the Rotopiko Lakes complex near Ohaupo in the Waipa District. Originally a single lake that formed at the end of the last ice-age, drainage of the surrounding land over the past century lowered the water level, creating three lakes connected by areas of swamp. Both the North lake and the East Lake have some of the best representations of natural aquatic plant assemblages in the Waikato region. Its relative lack of invasive aquatic plants is extremely unusual – both at regional and national levels, making the Rotopiko complex nationally significant. The lakes and their immediate margins are managed by the Department of Conservation as a 30 hectare Wildlife Management Reserve, while a further 10 hectares of land is Waipa District Council reserve land and are actively managed (www.waikatoregion.govt.nz).
Main image by David G. Schmale III, Virginia Tech, https://www.schmalelab.spes.vt.edu/
