Pond Restoration
Hawkesbury and Inglestone Common Ponds –
The contract has been let for the biological surveys of 9 ponds across Inglestone and Hawkesbury Commons.
The ponds on the Commons are really excellent for wildlife and are home to the Tassel Stonewort a very rare algae-type plant and Adders Tongue Spearwort a member of the buttercup family found in only 2 spots in the UK. The ponds are good in themselves, but the sensitive management of the surrounding habitat is key to their importance for biodiversity and of course the quality of ground water and run off.
Over the spring and the summer of 2013 these ponds will be visited and revisited noting the plants, invertebrates, amphibians and anything else of note. Great Crested Newts will be of particular interest. They are both flagships of good, healthy ponds and also of the need for careful and licence led management. The ponds will be graded using the Habitat Suitability Index (HSI).
The survey work will include management suggestions and these can then be programmed for autumn/winter 2013 and beyond.
Ponds have been lost across the UK at very high rates. This is sometimes due to in-filling but often due to neglect as a pond reverts to carr and wet woodland. Ponds in urban situations or near intensive agriculture often have polluted water and gold fish are the final straw devouring inveterate and amphibian larvae. A pond that occasionally dries up is actually good for many wildlife as it removes the fish.
The contract has been let for the biological surveys of 9 ponds across Inglestone and Hawkesbury Commons.
The ponds on the Commons are really excellent for wildlife and are home to the Tassel Stonewort a very rare algae-type plant and Adders Tongue Spearwort a member of the buttercup family found in only 2 spots in the UK. The ponds are good in themselves, but the sensitive management of the surrounding habitat is key to their importance for biodiversity and of course the quality of ground water and run off.
Over the spring and the summer of 2013 these ponds will be visited and revisited noting the plants, invertebrates, amphibians and anything else of note. Great Crested Newts will be of particular interest. They are both flagships of good, healthy ponds and also of the need for careful and licence led management. The ponds will be graded using the Habitat Suitability Index (HSI).
The survey work will include management suggestions and these can then be programmed for autumn/winter 2013 and beyond.
Ponds have been lost across the UK at very high rates. This is sometimes due to in-filling but often due to neglect as a pond reverts to carr and wet woodland. Ponds in urban situations or near intensive agriculture often have polluted water and gold fish are the final straw devouring inveterate and amphibian larvae. A pond that occasionally dries up is actually good for many wildlife as it removes the fish.