Pond conservation: from science to practice

Abstract

In Europe, ponds are an exceptionally numerous and widely distributed landscape feature forming a major part of the continental freshwater resource and contributing significantly to freshwater biodiversity conservation. This has been reflected by a growing scientific concern over the first few years of the twenty-first century and is evidenced by an increasing number of academic publications on pond related topics, particularly those relating to biodiversity. It is essential, however, that this expanding scientific knowledge is widely disseminated to those involved with pond management and is then rapidly translated into action. Inevitably, the task of transferring science to practice remains a significant challenge. As a first step towards meeting this challenge the European Pond Conservation Network (EPCN), at its biennial meeting in 2008 in Valencia (Spain), made this the main theme of the conference together with two special workshops further encouraging exchanges between scientists, practitioners and policy makers. The papers selected for this special issue of Hydrobiologia (from over 120 communications presented) are all from the conference. They represent a diverse collection of themes from across the continent and North Africa and present new and original insights into topics as wide ranging as: pond biodiversity; human disturbance; landscape ecology; ecological assessment and monitoring; practical management measures; ecological restoration; hydrology and climate change; invasive species and threatened species. In all cases, the papers demonstrate an overriding need for the development of a tight link between scientific knowledge and management. Furthermore, scientific advances have to be beneficial for on the ground management and, vitally, have to be disseminated, communicated and implemented into local, national and international policy. As such, national and international networks (such as the EPCN) have a central role to play and have to develop a robust information and communication strategy which will enable the dissemination of best practice materials and advice across the continent and beyond. The work contained in this volume represents a step in the right direction and will help to ensure that ponds remain a characteristic and highly

Environmental influences on fish assemblages in irrigation ponds

“…Thus, it appears that most of the 16 species we collected are unable to persist for longer than 10 years, with the exception of common carp and crucian carp (Miyadi et al 1976). This suggests that the species richness of fish within an irrigation pond is dependent on immigration from surrounding water bodies.…”

“…It is also thought that the effects of immigration vary depending on the size of the population receiving the immigrating individuals (Spielman and Frankham 1992;Heschel and Paige 1995). However, previous studies have tended to focus on large lakes, whereas small water bodies have received little attention to date (Oertli et al 2009). In one of the few studies to focus on smaller systems, Robinson and Tonn (1989) investigated the factors influencing the structure of fish assemblage in relatively small lakes in Canada.…”

The ecology and biodiversity of urban ponds

“…Pond loss, therefore, poses a far greater risk to the coherence of pond networks within urban environments than it does within other land‐use contexts, and must be central to plans for the conservation of species in urban environments . In some regions, such as the UK, new initiatives are seeking to create new ponds to replace those that are lost and those that are damaged, under the assumption that the restoration of degraded ponds is expensive and that those sites will never reach their former quality . However, this hypothesis has received little empirical attention.…”

“…69 In some regions, such as the UK, new initiatives are seeking to create new ponds to replace those that are lost and those that are damaged, under the assumption that the restoration of degraded ponds is expensive and that those sites will never reach their former quality. 133 However, this hypothesis has received little empirical attention.…”

Spatial distributions of small water body types in modified landscapes: lessons from Indiana, USA

“…Despite the lack of the smallest impoundments in datasets, there has been a recent focus on the importance of pond distributions and impacts (Downing et al, 2006;Downing et al, 2008;Oertli et al, 2009;Seekell and Pace, 2011;McDonald et al, 2012;Winslow et al, 2013). Generally, construction of these open water SWB is thought to be increasing in the United States as well as in Europe (Downing et al, 2006;Cereghino et al, 2008;Fairchild et al, 2013).…”