Pond Ecosystem: Types, Food Chain, Animals and Plants

What Is Pond Ecosystem?

Freshwater habitat: A pond ecosystem is a freshwater ecosystem on which different living organisms depend for their survival and nutritional needs. Ponds, due to their light penetration, are capable of supporting a diverse range of water plants.

An ecosystem is a biological community of living organisms that live and interact with each other in a specific environment.

Lentic Ecosystem: The pond ecosystem is classified under the Lentic ecosystem. A lentic or lacustrine ecosystem implies a body of still water ranging from seeps, seasonal pools, ponds, basin marshes, ditches, swamps, and lakes.

Simply, we can define a pond ecosystem as – “Pond ecosystem is a freshwater ecosystem on which living organisms rely for their survival and food. Ponds are shallow water bodies going about 12–15 feet deep. Due to enough light penetration, ponds can facilitate plant growth.”

Types of Pond Ecosystem

There are many types of pond ecosystems, i.e. garden ponds, salt ponds, fish ponds, ephemeral ponds, freshwater ponds, kettle ponds, and mountain ponds.

Garden ponds

Garden ponds are human-made or artificial ponds. They accommodate ornamental plant and animal species (backswimmers, water beetles, pond snails, and so on) from all over the world. Most garden ponds are usually closed ecosystems. They receive materials from outside such as rainfall, leaves and export different creatures at larvae stages.

Salt Ponds

Salt ponds carry salty or brackish water. It can appear near the seaside where due to waterlogging, natural pools form. Salt ponds can also materialize in rocky areas of the beach, also known as rock pools.

Fish Ponds

It is another type of pond ecosystem. Fish ponds are human-made or artificial ponds. They can maintain and host all species of fish. Fish ponds require high maintenance, including continuous ph. level and temperature check, monitor absorbed oxygen content, water hardness, and nutrient levels.

Vernal or Ephemeral Ponds

Vernal pools are cyclical, seasonal ponds. They are formed in depressions in the ground but only when the rainfall is at its heaviest. Although they stay only for few months, they are largely depended on by species like salamanders, water crowfoot, frogs, and many more. Birds use them for drinking water and hunting food.

Freshwater Ponds

Freshwater pools can be formed anywhere, either due to rainfall or by the presence of water saturating the soil. They can be formed by rivers flowing into a depression in the ground.

Kettle Ponds

Kettle ponds are formed when retreating glaciers create depressions in the ground. A part of the glacier, when it detaches and gets inserted into the ground, slowly melts away and forms a pool or a pond that constitutes glacial sediment. They are usually found near mountains like prairies and savanna.

Mountain Ponds

Mountain ponds are located in mountainous regions. They are formed by shifting rock, water runoff, and melting snow. They are a unique pond ecosystem, for they are home to rare or endangered species.

Characteristics of Pond Ecosystem

Many things separate pond ecosystems from other types of ecosystems. Here is a list of some main characteristics of pond ecosystems: —

• Pond habitats at different levels—At the pond bottom, there is very little oxygen; hence only decomposers and scavengers live there. Fish dominates and preys in pond mid-water. On the pond surface, there is plenty of light and oxygen. Ducks, tadpoles, midge larvae survive here. At the pond margin, plants provide shelter to small animals and insects.
• Still water—Still water pond ecosystem is a body of motionless or standing water. It is categorized under the lentic ecosystem, which includes lakes and wetlands as well. In comparison, a lotic ecosystem is a body of moving water such as rivers and streams.
• Biological system—Ponds have both biotic and abiotic components. Biotic components include environmental factors such as temperature, water, and light, inorganic components such as nitrogen, carbon dioxide, and oxygen, organic components such as fats, proteins, carbohydrates, and amino acids. Abiotic components comprise producers, primary, secondary and tertiary consumers, and decomposers.
• Surrounded by banks—Pond ecosystems are almost always surrounded by either natural or artificial banks.
• Pond stratification—There are three zones. The littoral zone is near the shore and has shallow water, which allows easy light penetration. Limnetic zone is open pond water with high light penetration dominated by plankton. The deepest pond region is a profundal zone dominated by heterotrophs and has no light penetration.
• Size variation—Pond ecosystems vary in size; it ranges from very small such as rock pools to very large such as lakes.

Pond Ecosystem Food Chain

The flow of energy: For an ecosystem to work, there must be a flow of energy within it. Living organisms require energy in the form of food. However, the supreme source of energy is the sun.

Food chain: A food chain is a series in which each organism feeds on the one below it.

Habitat: All ponds support a wide diversity of plant and animal life that unitedly forms a food web, which is also called a food chain or an ecosystem. The food web explains how life’s energy moves through the Pond. An untidy pond generally supports most species.

Below is the explanation of the food chain of pond ecosystem:

Producer Level

The producer level includes species of rooted and floating (algae) aquatic plant life that intakes sunlight, air, water, and minerals of the soil. The aquatic life converts these absorbed units into living or sentient plant tissue that further supports every level of the Pond’s food web. There are two types of green aquatic plants- microphytes (Volvox and Spirogyra) and macrophytes.

Primary Consumers

The primary consumers consist of small herbivorous animals that feed on food converted by producers such as algae and also feed on other water plants to sustain themselves. These animals are snails, insects, tadpoles, and small fish. They also include various microscopic animals that are called zooplankton.

Secondary Consumers

The second level in the pond food web makes up secondary consumers who feed on the primary consumers. The animals in the second level are frogs, fish, crayfish, other amphibians, and reptiles like water snakes and turtles.

Tertiary Consumers

Tertiary consumers eat primary and secondary level animals. The third level consumer includes water birds, hawks, small mammals, and human beings. However, human beings are classified as top consumers.

Decomposers

Bacteria, scavengers, and fungi are the last consumers of the Pond’s food web. They break down decaying and dead aquatic plants and animals. The recycling of elemental nutrients by decomposers makes available the nutrients to new generations of plants.

Pond Ecosystem Animals

Large pond species: More than a thousand genera of animals live in ponds, although you won’t be able to find all of them in any one single pond. In a very large pond, you might find mammals like water shrews and water voles and birds such as herons, ducks, and kingfishers.

Small pond species: Even the smallest Pond will have a populace of amphibians such as newts, toads, frogs and, small fish like sticklebacks, and invertebrates like minibeasts.

Other Species: Some species are herbivores like water fleas and snails, while others are violent carnivores who hunt the unfortunate herbivores. One of the mighty invertebrate predators in a pond is the diving beetle. No tadpole is safe when this hunter is around.

Temperature: The water temperature, water cleanliness, oxygen content, and the material at the bottom of the pond influence the kind of life present in a pond.

Pond ecosystem animals with examples are mentioned below:

1. Pond Snail— A soft-bodied animal with a hard, protective shell. They eat rotten organic matter, algae, and aquatic plants.
2. Ramshorn Snail—Freshwater snails with planispiral shells. They keep the water clean.
3. Water Beetle—Water beetles provide air supply due to the elytra cavity underneath their abdomens. Water beetle can be scavengers, predators, or herbivores.
4. Pond skater—Are also called water scooters, water striders, water skippers. A bug that walks on water.
5. Bloodworm—Bloodworms are carnivorous and can grow up to 35 cm. They are usually found at the bottom of shallow waters.
6. Water Scorpion— It is another type of animal in pond ecosystem. A venomous arachnid with a large stinger on its tail. They are poor swimmers, and that is why they are never found in open water. They live in muddy ponds and ditches.
7. Leech—Leech has muscular, soft, and segmented bodies that can lengthen and contract. Leeches are found in freshwater as well as on land. They are bloodsuckers but also eat organic debris.
8. Perch— A perch is long and rounded. True perch has rough scales. Red drum is a saltwater dweller and is called red perch.
9. Mallard— The mallard is a common wild duck that is the ancestor of most domestic ducks. Mallard feeds on plants as well as small animals in pond shallows.
10. Frog—Tadpoles grow up to be frogs. Frogs have moist, smooth skin. Frogs eat worms, insects, rodents, anthropods.
11. Tadpole—Tadpoles are the aquatic larva of amphibians. They breathe through gills. Tadpoles are generally vegetarians, but some species of frogs are carnivorous.
12. Northern crested newt— It is a large newt. Females grow up to 6.3 inches long. Also known as warty newt or great crested newt. Northern crested newt generally lives on land but move to fish-free ponds to breed in spring.
13. Newt- Newts are small, brightly-colored salamanders and have rough skin. They lay eggs in water.
14. Mosquito— A small flying insect that is a carrier of the disease. Female insects lay eggs on the pond surface that hatch into larvae. These larvae eat organic debris and algae.
15. Larva of Mosquito—Mosquito larvae are called wrigglers because of their wriggling movement. Mosquito larvae eat algae, other mosquitos, and organic debris.
16. Dragonfly— The dragonfly is an insect that flies and has a long abdomen. Dragonfly is also called devil’s arrow. They eat small insects. Young dragonflies are called nymphs or larvae.
17. Nymph—Nymph is an invertebrate. Nymphs endure multiple development stages called instars. The water nymphs have gills. They float and crawl out of the water when they reach maturity.

Pond Ecosystem Plants

Aquatic plants provide shelter, food, and a healthy environment for fish in ponds. Aquatic plants are vital to maintaining a balanced ecosystem. Forming the food chain base, they produce oxygen in the water and protect invertebrates and small fish. The aquatic plant’s roots prevent soil erosion by holding the soil in place in the Pond.

Categories of Aquatic Plants

• • Algae: Algae is the most common aquatic plant. They are generally found in oceans. They are small and have no leaves, roots, or stems. But they are an important basis of the pond food chain. Musk grass and lyngbya are examples of algae.
  • Submersed plants: Aquatic plants that live underwater and have roots in the soil, such as bog moss, bladderwort, hydrilla, and pondweed. These plants have narrow and thin leaves.
  • Floating leaved plants: Aquatic plants floating near or at the water surface either are rooted in the soil like lily pads and duckweed or have floating roots. They exist in freshwater and saltwater. The floating plant leaves are flat and firm, which helps absorb a lot of sunlight.
  • Shoreline: Aquatic plants prefer to stay on the shore but can tolerate being moist and flooded seasonally like trees, shrubs, and blue flag iris.
  • Emerged plants: Emergent or emerged or emersed aquatic plants have strong roots in the soil, but their larger part stays above the water surface, such as knotweed, cattails, redroot, arrowheads, and rushes. These plants require constant sunlight.

Aquatic Plants Benefits

1. Improvement of water quality: Some water plants soak up pollutants and heavy metals, which help in improving water quality. Aquatic plants also remove excess nutrients that help prevent contaminants enter the Pond. The shoreline plants absorb nitrogen and phosphorus before algae could use them.
2. Habitat for wildlife: Aquatic plants provide a layout for fish to hide to protect them from predators. Some construct a nesting site in vegetation. But some fish use plants to catch their prey. Plants also provide shade which helps reduce the amount of sunlight entering the water, thus helping to slow down algae growth.
3. Algae control: Aquatic plants that absorb nutrients such as fish waste help to reduce nutrient availability, thus slowing down algae growth. Floating plants like water lettuce, water hyacinth are heavy feeders. They help in starving algae and prevent the Pond from going green.
4. Stabilized shorelines: Shoreline or emerging plants have large root structures. This helps to reduce wave flow and stabilize the shore. They hold on to the sediments at the pond bottom effectively.
5. Food for fish and wildlife: Toads, fish, turtles, insects, ducks, and many other animals in the Pond consumes aquatic plants.
6. Improve Aesthetics: Aquatic plants add beauty to the Pond with colorful flowers floating on the surface while maintaining a healthy and balanced pond ecosystem.
7. Native plants including grass, rush, reed, iris, lily pads, arrowhead, pickerel plants, shoreline shrubs, and trees are some of the options to choose from to manage the natural Pond.
8. Plants in pond ecosystem: All ponds support aquatic plants at various depths of water. However, the native plant species differ by location in the world. Evergreen plants that are intolerant of winter frosts typically grow in tropical regions, while in moderate climates, plants that go passive in winter resprout from their roots.

Pond ecosystem is significant in providing a place of dwelling to the endangered species and ensures more biodiversity than freshwater. Ponds also provide vegetation and water to animals during hot weather. Ponds are essential for nature. They should be conserved and preserved.