Pond life

Ponds are ephemeral in geologic time and are frequently man-made as remnants of clay digging, borrow pits or abandoned quarries.

[citation needed] For many organisms including bacteria, fungi, protozoa, rotifers, bryozoa, cnidaria and small arthropods, the principal colonisation vector is wind-blown spores or eggs, often from drying muddy edges of one pond to another.

[3] Other common vectors include birds carrying pond material and defecating seeds of plants.

This is probably the most common transfer route for molluscs, annelids, planarian and plant vegetative fragments and probably the specialist water spider that lives underwater.

[8] Diatoms, desmids and many species of filamentous green algae such as Spirogyra are commonly found in shallow muddy areas.

The earliest work on the light microscope by Leeuwenhoek used pond organisms to demonstrate the capabilities of the new instrument "he discovered at least three forms of life.

[12] The uniquely beautiful globes of Volvox,[13] the delicate feeding behaviour of Hydra or the transparent exoskeleton of Daphnia which enables all its internal organs , including its beating heart to be easily viewed.