New research from the European Pond Conservation Network's second international workshop has recently been published in a special issue of the journal Hydrobiolgia.
Papers by Pond Conservation staff, presented at the conference highlight the importance of ponds in Europe, ways of making high quality ponds for wildlife and some of the first data yet published on pond catchment sizes.
The Ecology of European Ponds: defining the characteristics of a neglected freshwater habitat.
There is growing awareness in Europe of the importance of ponds, and increasing understanding of the contribution they make to aquatic biodiversity and catchment functions. Collectively, they support considerably more species, and specifically more scarce species, than other freshwater waterbody types. Ponds create links (or stepping stones) between existing aquatic habitats, but also provide ecosystem services such as nutrient interception, hydrological regulation, etc...
To read the full paper go to our publications page.
A comparison of the catchment sizes of rivers, streams, ponds, ditches and lakes: implications for protecting aquatic biodiversity in an agricultural landscape.
In this study we compared the biodiversity of five waterbody types (ditches, lakes, ponds, rivers and streams) within an agricultural study area in lowland England to assess their relative contribution to the plant and macroinvertebrate species richness and rarity of the region.
To read the full paper go to our publications page.
How can we make new ponds biodiverse? A case study monitored over 7 years.
A new pond complex, designed to enhance aquatic biodiversity, was monitored over a 7-year period. The Pinkhill Meadow site, located in grassland adjacent to the R. Thames, proved unusually rich in terms of its macrophyte, aquatic macroinvertebrate and wetland bird assemblages.
To read the full paper go to our publications page.
