text: Typically, shallow lakes are in one of two contrasting alternative stable states:  a clear state with submerged macrophytes and piscivorous fish, or a turbid state dominated by phytoplankton and benthivorous fish. A switch from one state to the other is largely driven by the input of nutrients (phosphorus and nitrogen) to the ecosystem. If the nutrient loading exceeds a critical value, eutrophication causes a switch from the clear to the turbid state. As a result of urban water pollution and/or intensive agriculture in catchment areas, many of the world’s shallow lakes and ponds are in a eutrophic state with turbid waters and poor ecological quality. In this turbid state, the lake also becomes subject to algal blooms of toxic cyanobacteria (also called blue-green algae). Recovery of the clear state however is difficult as the critical nutrient loading for the switch back is often found to be lower than the critical loading towards the turbid state. Lowering the nutrient input thus does not automatically lead to a switch back to the clear water phase. Hence, the system shows hysteresis.