The widespread loss of wetlands due to agricultural intensification has been highlighted as a major threat to aquatic biodiversity. However, all is not lost as we reveal that the propagules of some aquatic species could survive burial under agricultural fields in the sediments of ‘ghost ponds’ - ponds in-filled during agricultural land consolidation. Our experiments showed at least eight aquatic macrophyte species to germinate from seeds and oospores, following 50–150 years of dormancy in the sediments of ghost ponds. This represents a significant proportion of the expected macrophyte diversity for local farmland ponds, which typically support between 6 and 14 macrophyte species. The rapid (< 6 months) re-colonisation of resurrected ghost ponds by a diverse aquatic vegetation similarly suggests a strong seed-bank influence. Ghost ponds represent abundant, dormant time capsules for aquatic species in agricultural landscapes around the globe, affording opportunities for enhancing landscape-scale aquatic biodiversity and connectivity. While reports of biodiversity loss through agricultural intensification dominate conservation narratives, our study offers a rare positive message, demonstrating that aquatic organisms survive prolonged burial under intensively managed agricultural fields. We urge conservationists and policy makers to consider utilizing and restoring these valuable resources in biodiversity conservation schemes and in agri-environmental approaches and policies
Growing recognition of the importance of ponds for landscape-scale biodiversity has led to considerable interest in their conservation, focusing on new pond creation, or existing pond restoration. However, there is a third approach; the re-excavation of 'ghost ponds' -former ponds deliberately filled-in due to agricultural intensification. Previous work has shown ghost ponds to retain viable sediment propagules of many aquatic plants for over a century, allowing for the rapid re-colonisation of resurrected pond sites. Here we detail the practicalities of the ghost pond resurrection approach, describing how to locate, identify, and excavate ghost ponds in agricultural land. We also report on colonisation by aquatic macrophytes and water beetles (Coleoptera) for three ghost pond resurrections in Norfolk, eastern England and make comparisons with neighbouring extant ponds restored to open-canopy conditions via major scrub and sediment removal at the same time. Ecologically important macrophyte taxa, including charophyte and Potamogeton species, successfully established in the ghost ponds and within one year they supported a comparable species diversity to the adjacent restored ponds. Our findings show that, where appropriate to land management goals, ghost pond resurrection could be a very valuable conservation approach within farmed landscapes.
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