![]() ![]() A sedimentation pool helps the pond in the same way that sediment removal by buffer strips does. This pool should be of such dimensions that it can be easily cleaned with a backhoe from the shore of the pool. Water passing through this pool on its way to the pond will have an opportunity to drop its sediment load in the pool. SedimentationĪnother method of keeping sediment out of ponds is to provide a shallow pool at the inlet of the pond. So again the buffer area contributes to conditions that help slow the aging process of the pond. A general principle of biology is that lower temperatures slow the growth of organisms. A deeper pond, will also be a cooler pond. ![]() This contributes directly to our primary objective keeping the pond from returning to dry land. Keeping sediment out of the pond also prevents the pond from being made shallow by filling it with sediment. Much phosphorus is attached to soil particles so sedimentation is effective in keeping phosphorus out of the pond. Slow moving water allows sediment to drop out of the water. Such buffers both slow water down and filter it. Maintaining vegetation in all areas through which water must flow to reach the pond is very beneficial to the pond. There are three practices that are particularly helpful in slowing the aging process.Īnimal access to ponds or streams that feed ponds should be restricted to limit inputs of nitrogen and phosphorus from their wastes. To prevent the rapid aging of a pond (eutrophication) aim to exclude the rapid introduction of these, especially nitrogen and phosphorus. Of course, it takes more than these to make even the simplest organism, but these are the materials required in abundance. They are carbon, oxygen, nitrogen, and phosphorus. Exclude Nutrientsįour basic elements are required to make aquatic organisms. Some of the principles you can employ are described below. As a pond owner, your job is to slow the process down as much as possible. The process of return to dry land can happen in a decade or may take centuries. It will become a bog and someday will resemble dry land. Eventually, though, there will be an accumulation of material that resists decay and the pond will fill up. Their remains decay in the pond and the nutrients it took to grow them are released back into the water of the pond to keep the cycle going. The addition of nutrients stimulates the growth of aquatic life. This enrichment process is called eutrophication. Over time the pond accumulates nutrients. ![]() A pond begins with mostly water, few nutrients, and little aquatic life. In contrast, a newly created, deep, spring fed pond may have little life of any kind in it because of low temperatures and lack of food supply.Īll ponds age. It may have very little animal life present because of low oxygen levels. A shallow, nutrient-rich pond, exposed to sunlight with little water flowing through it will be teeming with algae and aquatic plants. Pond ecology is best described as the interaction of the life in your pond with the environment that exists there. ![]()
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