Ponds
A pond is defined as being a small body of water, between 1 and 2ha that usually holds water for at least 4 months of the year. Ponds provide rich and complex habitats for wildlife supporting a vast array of freshwater plants and animals. Collectively our ponds are home to a third of our native plants and over 1,200 species of invertebrates such as mayflies, pond skaters, bugs and snails. All our amphibian species (frogs, toads, newts) depend on ponds in which to breed.
Some three-quarters (more than a million) of Britain’s ponds have been lost over the last hundred years and due to their size and familiarity they are consistently undervalued. Ponds have been drained due to agricultural improvements or lost to make way for the expansion of our towns and cities. Many species that live in wetland areas have also been affected, to the extent that many, such as the great crested newt and even the common frog are now considered threatened. The creation of garden ponds, if well designed, is now recognized as providing a valuable refuge for pond wildlife, especially the common frog. Ponds are a national UK priority habitat.
Ponds of all sizes occur throughout the Tees Valley. These include ponds in rural areas, ponds created in industrial areas, civic ponds in urban areas and garden ponds.
‘Lakes and reservoirs’ include both natural and man-made water bodies, such as lakes, reservoirs, flooded quarries and gravel pits that are over 2ha in size. Water bodies smaller than this are described as ‘ponds’. The plant and animal communities depend on the nutrient status of the water, which can range from nutrient poor (oligiotrophic) through to nutrient rich (eutrophic).
Many of the standing open waters in the Tees Valley are man-made and eutrophic, resulting from industry, and include flooded quarries, clay pits and reservoirs. Key sites include Scaling Dam, and Lockwood Beck Reservoir.
