A comparison of the catchment sizes of rivers, streams, ponds, ditches and lakes: implications for protecting aquatic biodiversity in an agricultural landscape

Davies, Bella; Biggs, Jeremy; Williams, Penny; Lee, J. T.; Thompson, Stewart

doi:10.1007/978-90-481-9088-1_2

Cited by 49 publications

(67 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…However, pond biodiversity has been demonstrated to be exceptionally high at a landscape/regional scale in this study and others (as a result of their high physicochemical and biological heterogeneity) and pond conservation needs to be incorporated at this spatial scale (Boothby, 1999;Oertli et al, 2002;Williams et al, 2003;Davies et al, 2008a;Gioria et al, 2010;Sayer, 2014). Landscape-scale based conservation affords protection/consideration of the entire pond network and promotes high regional diversity (the scale which ponds contribute most to biodiversity).…”

Section: Conservation Of Small Lentic Freshwater Habitatsmentioning

confidence: 69%

“…However, the distinction between large lakes and smaller lakes/larger perennial ponds is not always clear as the size of lentic freshwater bodies represents a gradient and 'comprises an environmental continuum without any clear delimitation' (Søndergaard et al, 2005: 144). Notwithstanding, Søndergaard et al (2005) has suggested that there are several factors that can separate larger lakes from smaller lakes/ponds; i) Ponds/smaller lakes often have a much greater littoral zone and closer contact with the surrounding terrestrial habitat which can result in a greater interaction between aquatic and terrestrial biota and matter (Søndergaard et al, 2005); ii) Smaller lakes and ponds typically have much smaller catchments than lakes (Davies et al, 2008a) resulting in more isolated and insular freshwater habitats compared to larger lakes with greater catchment areas and riverine inflows (Søndergaard et al, 2005); iii) Vertebrate predators (fish) are typically less well supported in ponds (Søndergaard et al, 2005); iv) In the absence of fish, macroinvertebrate predation is likely to increase in importance in smaller lakes and ponds, with predatory invertebrates potentially taking over the role of fish (Søndergaard et al, 2005;Cobbaert et al, 2010); v) Smaller lakes and ponds are typically much shallower and are protected from the wind which can enable submerged and floating macrophytes to cover large proportions of the pond surface area (Søndergaard et al, 2005); vi) Ponds/smaller lakes have a more heterogeneous habitat and physicochemical environment (e.g., greater littoral zone compared to lakes -increased structural complexity) which can provide a range of habitat niches for fauna to colonize . In addition, smaller lakes and ponds have relatively stagnant surface water compared to larger lakes which is favoured by certain freshwater taxa (Søndergaard et al, 2005) and; vii) Ponds and smaller lakes are almost always polymictic, with increased benthicpelagic coupling and a significantly greater influence and impact on water column nutrients from the sediment compared to larger lakes (Søndergaard et al, 2005).…”

Section: Pond or (Shallow) Lake: What's The Difference?mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Agri-environment schemes (AES) may enable pond conservation at a pondscape scale as these schemes provide financial compensation to farmers who incur a loss in income associated with measures which promote and benefit biodiversity, including maintaining pond habitats on agricultural land (Kleijn and Sutherland, 2003;Davies et al, 2008a). Despite the financial compensation, farmland pond numbers continue to decline and many agricultural ponds are typically left unmanaged resulting in degraded ponds with poor water quality (accumulate sediment and nutrients from the surrounding agricultural land), which over time can become terrestrialized as a result of sedimentation (Sayer et al, 2012;Sayer, 2014).…”

Section: Conservation Of Small Lentic Freshwater Habitatsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…AES may also afford pond conservation at smaller spatial scales, providing conservation to 'clusters' of ponds on individual farms that have agreed to an AES. Currently, this may be more realistic than landscape-scale conservation in most agricultural landscapes because of difficulties surrounding the co-operation of farmers with different priorities and the costs surrounding co-ordinating conservation on multiple farms (Davies et al, 2008a).…”

Section: Conservation Of Small Lentic Freshwater Habitatsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Ecological Drivers of Cladoceran Diversity in the Central European City (Łódź, Poland): Effects of Urbanisation and Size of the Waterbody

Pawlikiewicz¹,

Jurasz

2017

Annales Zoologici Fennici

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Ponds are common and abundant features in nearly all landscapes typical of European lowland landscapes yet research on freshwater biodiversity has traditionally focussed on larger waterbodies such as lakes and rivers. This has led to an increased need to understand and quantify the biodiversity associated with pond habitats to better inform the active conservation and management of these small waterbodies. This thesis examines the aquatic macroinvertebrate biodiversity (alpha, beta and gamma) and conservation value of 95 ponds in Leicestershire, UK, across a variety of urban and rural landscape types and at a range of spatial scales. In addition, the relative importance of local (physicochemical and biological) and spatial (connectivity) variables in structuring macroinvertebrate communities within ponds is investigated. At a regional scale, the greatest macroinvertebrate biodiversity and conservation value was recorded within meadow ponds compared to urban, agricultural and forest ponds. Spatially, ponds were highly physically and biologically heterogeneous. Temporally (seasonally), invertebrate communities were most dissimilar in meadow and agricultural ponds but assemblages were similar in urban and forest ponds. In urban landscapes, park ponds supported a greater diversity of invertebrates than 'other' urban or garden ponds and typically had a greater conservation value. Garden ponds were the most taxon poor of those investigated. Perennial floodplain meadow ponds supported a greater biodiversity of invertebrates compared to ephemeral meadow ponds although conservation value was similar. Despite regular inundation from the River Soar, ephemeral ponds supported distinct communities compared to perennial meadow ponds. Aquatic macrophytes supported a higher diversity of taxa than other pond mesohabitats across all landscapes studied. Physicochemical factors were identified to be the dominant influence on macroinvertebrate assemblages although, a combination of local and spatial factors best explained the variation in community composition at a regional scale and for meadow ponds. Spatial factors were not identified to significantly influence urban pond communities. This study highlights the ecological importance and conservation value of ponds in rural and anthropogenically disturbed landscapes. Recognition of the significant contribution of ponds to freshwater biodiversity at regional and landscape scales is important for future conservation of pond habitats and will help focus and direct conservation strategies to where they are needed most.iv

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Section: Conservation Of Small Lentic Freshwater Habitatsmentioning

confidence: 69%

Section: Pond or (Shallow) Lake: What's The Difference?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Conservation Of Small Lentic Freshwater Habitatsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Conservation Of Small Lentic Freshwater Habitatsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Ecological Drivers of Cladoceran Diversity in the Central European City (Łódź, Poland): Effects of Urbanisation and Size of the Waterbody

Pawlikiewicz¹,

Jurasz

2017

Annales Zoologici Fennici

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“…Study sites were selected as representatives of the watershed, which is dominated by small ordered streams and ditches holding the characteristics described above ( Table 1). The waterbodies were classified into ditches and streams following Davies et al (2008).…”

Section: Study Sitementioning

confidence: 99%

Seasonality of algal communities in small streams and ditches in temperate regions using delayed fluorescence

Breuer

Janz

Farrelly

et al. 2016

Journal of Freshwater Ecology

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Because of their high ecological relevance, algae are often used in environmental monitoring of freshwater ecosystems. They are used to assess the state of the environment, and can be used to estimate the diversity and productivity of the ecosystem. Chlorophyll a is the most commonly used indicator where no taxonomic information is obtained. In this two-year study, algae were monitored in small lotic waterbodies using a high precision method of evaluating algal pigments: delayed fluorescence (DF). The method allows quantifying algae and differentiating algal groups using pigments unique to each algal group. DF correlated strongly with biovolume (derived from cell count) data (r 2 D 0.94) and could therefore be recommended as a biomonitoring tool. In addition, seasonal dynamics in both the attached and suspended algal communities were studied. Both algal fractions displayed seasonal variations with either a single peak in biomass in summer (type 1), or with two peaks in biomass in spring and fall (type 2). Green algae dominated type 1 patterned communities whereas diatoms dominated type 2 patterned communities. Spatial synchronicity between sampling sites and waterbodies was observed within the studied watershed. Sampling time rather than spatial site selection was found to be a key factor in the study of algal communities in lotic bodies of water.

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Making agricultural landscapes more sustainable for freshwater biodiversity: a case study from southern England

Davies

Biggs

Williams

et al. 2008

Aquatic Conservation

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ABSTRACT1. Agriculture is known to have a range of deleterious impacts on freshwater habitats and biota and many countries have introduced measures to attempt to mitigate these impacts through agri-environment initiatives. Despite the protection they provide, water bodies (any discrete body of surface fresh water) in farmland landscapes commonly remain impaired by agriculture. In some areas of the UK there have been calls to halt farming completely, indicating that the measures offered for the widespread protection of aquatic systems, particularly the use of buffer strips, may not be extensive enough to provide sufficient protection for freshwater biota.2. This study investigated whether existing agri-environment measures for the widespread protection of aquatic habitats could be better deployed to provide a higher level of protection for the aquatic macrophytes and macroinvertebrates of a study area in southern England.3. Reserve selection procedures were used to reallocate the area of land that could be remunerated under the Environmental Stewardship scheme as buffer strips bordering water bodies, so that a higher level of protection was provided for both the richness and rarity of aquatic species in the study area.4. Almost 395 ha were available for reallocation in the reserve selection process, which was found to provide a satisfactory level of protection for up to 90% of the surveyed species.5. The results showed that the agri-environment scheme in England has a great deal of potential to provide more effective protection for the aquatic biodiversity of agricultural landscapes if measures are targeted.

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A comparison of the catchment sizes of rivers, streams, ponds, ditches and lakes: implications for protecting aquatic biodiversity in an agricultural landscape

Cited by 49 publications

References 32 publications

Ecological Drivers of Cladoceran Diversity in the Central European City (Łódź, Poland): Effects of Urbanisation and Size of the Waterbody

Ecological Drivers of Cladoceran Diversity in the Central European City (Łódź, Poland): Effects of Urbanisation and Size of the Waterbody

Seasonality of algal communities in small streams and ditches in temperate regions using delayed fluorescence

Making agricultural landscapes more sustainable for freshwater biodiversity: a case study from southern England

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