Oxbow lakes, formed as described in
Jafuser's excellent writeup above, are extremely important
habitat areas for plants and animals which live in
riparian areas. Usually, a river's occasional floods keep it's main channel and adjacent areas clear of debris and plants. The oxbow lakes offer a sheltered area where
plants can grow right up to (and in) the water. Often, the areas surrounding oxbow lakes are filled with lush forests - usually dry areas such as the
Central Valley of
California once had forests in these areas as dense as any
Amazon rain forest. (now, most have been leveled to make way for
agriculture, as the land in these areas is extremely
fertile). Many animals, such as the rare
yellow-billed cuckoo, thrive in these dense forests. During
flood season, the oxbow lakes are often connected to the main river, allowing fish such as juvenile
salmon access to the nutrient-rich lake. Over time, the lake will slowly fill with sediment, going through the stages of ecological succession until it is similar to neigboring areas, and presumably, eventually the river will eat into it again.
In addition to serving as important habitat, oxbow lakes are also very important in dampening flooding along rivers. They offer wide areas of slow-moving water... floodwaters are slowed by these wetlands and allowed to disperse. The excess water is released at a later time - rivers with extensive floodplains will flow longer and fuller during droughts than rivers without them.
Over the last 100 years, organizations such as the Army Corps of Engineers in the US have straigtened out many rivers, bypassing the oxbow lakes completely and denying them water. The Kissimee River in florida is an excellent example. This is done to make boat traffic more efficient, and supposedly to reduce flooding (although it has the opposite effect). People are recently realizing that this is a mistake, and the very organizations which channelized these rivers are charged with repairing the meandering structure of the waterways.