This biome is found all over the world on every continent. In the mountains landslides may fill stream beds with earth and rock causing ponds to form.
Erosion tends to destroy ponds, but sometimes it creates depressions that fill with water.
Natural ponds often form near the deltas of rivers when silt deposits become high enough to dam off parts of the stream. They also form behind barrier dunes on ocean beaches. Some animals in this biome are the water boatman, ramshorn snail, bream, pike, roach, belted kingfisher, mountain chickadee, bass, sunfish, aquatic insects, trout, mussel, blackfly larva, brook trout, caddisfly, mayfly, and rainbow trout. In the freshwater biome there are shallow water zones along the shore, an open water zone where light is insufficient for photosynthesis, a deep water zone which is less dense, and a bottom zone which is made of soft mud and silt. The shallow water zone is the warmest because it gets the most light.