Wildlife - Pond Life

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Pond Surveys

  • carry out surveys to check the health of the pond
  • you can conduct a pond dip on an annual basis to monitor pond health and the succession of its ecosystem
  • best time is around May - August
    • when creatures are active and breeding
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What do you need

  • sieves: easier than a dipping net. Don't forget to cut the hooks off the be able to get into the nooks and crannies.
  • white tray - makes it easier to see pond animals
  • 1cm of pond water on the tray for inverts
  • I.D. book
  • most importantly... PATIENCE!
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Where to Look

  • grasses trailing into water
  • roots of marginal plants
  • stems and branches trailing into water
  • under the leaves of floating plants
  • amongst leaves and twigs on the bottom of the pond
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Caddisflies

  • a close relative of moths and butterflies, and winged adults look like thin moths, with hairy wings
  • about 200 kinds in the UK
  • larvae live underwater, where they can make cases by spinning together stones, sand, leaves and twigs with silk they secrete from glands around the mouth
  • most caddisfly larvae have a case, but not all
  • caddisflies are often a sign of good quality ponds
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Dragonfly larvae (nymph)

  • quick colonists of new ponds and will colonise ponds that dry out in some years
  • dragonfly larvae and adults are ferocious predators on small animals
  • may moults up to 15 times before emerging as an adult
  • larval development can range between 2-3 months up to 5 years
    • species predominantly spend their lives underwater
  • dragonflies are indicators of good quality ponds
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Damselfly larvae (nymph)

  • related to dragonflies and ponds are important habitats for them
  • damselflies quickly colonise new ponds
  • adults have long thin bodies and close their wings over their body when resting
  • lay their eggs on the stem of trailing grasses, land plants trailing in the water and on fallen leaves - don't pull these out if you want to encourage damselflies
  • recognisable from 3 pronged gills at the tip of the abdomen
  • good quality ponds will nearly always have damselflies
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Alderflies Larvae

  • alderfly larvae are predators of the pond bottom
    • happy in silty, vegetation-rich environments
  • adult alderflies emerge from ponds, rivers and lakes in spring and early summer
  • easy to see as they fly by day and have distinctive black-veined wings
  • only three different kinds of alderfly in the UK, and the most common, the mud alderfly (Sialis lutaria), is the one that is usually found in ponds
  • larvae live in water up to 3 years
  • alderflies are often a sign of good quality ponds
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Mayflies and Stoneflies

  • about 10 species of mayfly can be found in ponds
    • most common is the pond olive
      • pond olives are fast colonisers of new ponds
  • underwater larvae hatch out into winged adults in the spring, with a second generation in the summer
  • some mayflies and stoneflies are quite tolerant of pollution, so can be found in both high quality ponds and those which are not so good
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Water Beetles

  • one of the most diverse groups of animals in freshwater
  • in the UK there are around 300 species
  • many water beetles are great fliers
  • they quickly colonise new ponds, and also move between ponds and other water bodies during the year
  • in a good wildlife pond there should be lots of different kinds of water beetles
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Water Bugs

  • bugs are insects that have piercing mouthparts that they use to feed
  • many different kinds: water boatmen, water measurers, water crickets, water scorpions, and water stick insects (not stick insects)
  • most predators, but lesser water boatmen also filter fine particles from the mud, which is why they are often found in muddy pools
  • water bugs alone are not indicators of a high quality pond but will be found in all good quality ponds
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Pond Skaters

  • pond skaters are predatory bugs that spear little animals just under the water surface
  • eat insects that fall onto the water surface and are trapped there
  • the common species are all good fliers so can easily move from pond to pond
  • found on both good and poor quality ponds
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Water Snails

  • about 40 different kinds of water snails in the UK
  • vary in size when fully grown from the tiny Nautilus Ram'shorn (just 2 or 3 millimetres across) to the Great Pond Snail which grows up to 4cm
  • common water snails get from place to place as eggs carried by birds or amphibians or when people introduce plants
  • graze on the abundant growth of algae stimulated by excess nutrients
  • thrive in polluted ponds, but will also be found in good quality ponds
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Worm-like Animals

  • includes all worms, fly larvae, leeches, flatworms, and other worm-like creatures
  • more different kinds of these creatures living in freshwater - especially the larvae of flies - than any other kind of animal
  • found in both good and poor quality ponds
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PondNet

  • first habitat-based volunteer survey network of its kind
  • aims to provide much-needed information about the condition of ponds and the species they support
  • results will be used to influence government freshwater policy
  • it's easy to get involved and a site can be randomly selected unless you have a site in mind
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