European Pond Conservation Network

Send your pond photos, along with your name and a short description, to european@pond-conservation.net.
• Deadline: February 22nd 🗓️
• Maximum 3 photos per person
• You must own the rights to the image
• By submitting, you agree to publication on EPCN platforms

Pond Restoration Training: 25th & 26th June 2026 — Freshwater Biological Association Ponds are increasingly being recognised as critical to biodiversity conservation in UK landscapes. This new two-day course will introduce participants to pond restoration science and best practice. Gr...

This @freshwaterbio.bsky.social #pond restoration training course 25th, 26th June is well worth attending. Learn how to restore degraded existing ponds & #ghostponds with Norfolk Ponds Project founders Carl Sayer & Helen Greaves:

www.fba.org.uk/shop/p/pond-...

A farm #pond we restored in 2014 showing multiple valuable habitats. Open water with submerged plants, a thick bed of Typha, lightly vegetated shallow shelving edge, bramble patch, woodland fringe, mini ancient woodland meadow (promontary on R) with early purple orchid. All this in a tiny footprint

We're thrilled to announce the 4th edition of our summer school on Blue-Green Biodiversity, a joint effort by @eawag.bsky.social & @wslresearch.bsky.social.
Join us in Davos to learn more about aquatic & terrestrial ecosystems from an interdisciplinary lens.
biodiversitycenter.wsl.ch/en/events/de...

A flooded #palaeochannel #pond on a semi-natural English chalk stream floodplain. A great place for fishes on the move right now & for amphibians in a few months. By summer it will probably be dry. But while it is water-filled all sorts of species will use it

Interested in translating the book into other languages? Get in touch — we’d love to collaborate!

Meet Sal the glasswort! 🌱
A free illustrated children’s book introducing life in salt marshes and why these habitats need protection.
Available in English, Italian & Spanish — read, share, and spread the word!
doi.org/10.5281/zeno...

A small pond completely covered in snow, with winter vegetation surrounding it.

This month’s selected photo was taken in Germany and kindly submitted by @marlene-paetzig.bsky.social.

Even under a blanket of #snow, #ponds remain an essential part of European landscapes. Thank you for sharing! ❄️💧

Submissions are now open for next month’s Photo of the Month! 📸

Creating more diverse ponds: a boost for aquatic biodiversity in pondscapes - Hydrobiologia Following habitat destruction through the intensification of agriculture and urbanisation, about 50–90% of European ponds disappeared over the course of the twentieth century. As their importance for ...

New paper shows that creating diverse #ponds boosts #freshwater #biodiversity.
Adding new ponds increased macroinvertebrate and macrophyte richness and enhanced beta diversity, benefiting species typical of temporary waters.

Read more:
link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Drivers of CO2 emissions during the dry phase in Mediterranean and Temperate ponds Abstract. Pond ecosystems play an important role in the global carbon cycle with the potential to act as both sinks and sources of CO2. However, CO2 emissions during the dry phases of ponds remain und...

What happens to CO2 flux during the dry phase of ponds? New paper from #PONDERFUL project is out! bg.copernicus.org/articles/23/...

Rare plants often turn up in restored Norfolk farm #ponds: Translucent Stonewort (Nitella translucens), Tassel Stonewort (Tolypella intricata), Bladder Sedge (Carex vesicaria) & Marsh Speedwell (Veronica scutellata). Very special species usually confined to nature reserves

Permanent mountain ponds support higher richness and abundances of macroinvertebrates than temporary ones - Hydrobiologia Mountain ponds are vulnerable to climate change, particularly because of their dependence on precipitation for inundation. Pond functioning, and survival of macroinvertebrate communities, is tied to w...

Good start into the new year - 2nd article of my PhD project just got published:

link.springer.com/article/10.1...

We found permanent mountain ponds to be critical for full macroinvertebrate community support, relevant insights in changing climates .. 💦💙

Happy New Year 🎉 and a successful pond year. People to follow: go.bsky.app/5ZMVBB1

Happy NY!!! Since 2014 we have pioneered the restoration of overgrown ponds & lost infilled #ghostponds in the UK. Our methods, learnt from a wonderful farmer (Richard Waddingham), are mega successful & lead to massive biodiversity gains for aquatic & terrestrial species. Please support us in 2026 🎉

Submission details:
• Maximum 3 photos per person per month
• You must own the rights to the image
• By submitting, you agree to publication on EPCN platforms

We are launching a Photo of the Month initiative to highlight the diversity of #ponds in Europe.
Submit your pond photos and each month one will be featured on the EPCN website and BlueSky.
Send images (≤1 MB or 1200–1600 px) with your name and a short description to european@pond-conservation.net.

Join me at the Wildlife Gardening Virtual Symposium 14th January 2026 – Free Registration Now Open! At a time when the UK’s wildlife is under increasing pressure, the everyday spaces we manage—especially gardens—are becoming ever more important. Although interest in wildlife-friendly gardening ha…

The UK’s #wildlife is under increasing pressure, and #gardens are becoming ever more important.
That’s exactly why the Wildlife Gardening Virtual Symposium has become such a valuable (& free!) annual event.

More details here:
jeffollerton.co.uk/2025/12/10/j...
#pollinators #mammals #fungi #ponds

Duckling body mass increases with abundant aquatic invertebrates: Experimental approach In Fennoscandia, waterbirds have declined over several decade, and this decline could be linked to problems in the breeding success and loss of foragi…

New paper has been published examining how food availability in temporary #ponds affects #duckling growth. They demonstrate how aquatic invertebrate abundance drives body mass gain in ducklings, highlighting the role of temporary ponds as foraging habitats.

Take a look here:
doi.org/10.1016/j.ge...

The German Small Lake and Pond Inventory (GSLPI) represents a significant step forward: for the first time, it offers a complete database of more than 260,000 lakes and ponds ranging from 100 to 500,000 m² in size.

🚨New paper🚨From a survey of 560 garden-pond owners, nearly half keep invasive macrophytes, often bought through online communities that are blind spots for researchers and authorities. #waterhyacinth #waterlettuce #invasiveplants #citizenscience 🌿🌱🌺 onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

For your freshwater Friday delight... we're thrilled to present a deep dive with @carlsayer.bsky.social, Prof of Limnology & Freshwater Ecology at UCL, into the fascinating world of #GhostPonds, and their potent power for ecological and palaeoecological regeneration:

www.fba.org.uk/fba-voice/gh...

Ghost pond resurrection – the most successful ecological restoration ever known? — Freshwater Biological Association Carl Sayer is Professor of Limnology & Freshwater Ecology at UCL. We were delighted that Carl was able to attend the FBA ASM to deliver a keynote talk on ghost ponds. These pond resurrections are ...

Ghost pond resurrection. Is it the most successful form of ecological restoration known? www.fba.org.uk/fba-voice/gh...

Ponds in quarries have a higher plant species richness than those in the surrounding landscape Habitat loss is one of the main drivers of the current global biodiversity crisis, with freshwater ecosystems among those that suffer most. The aim of…

💧🌱 Wir starten mit einer aktuellen Publikation aus NRW (DE), in der kleine #Steinbruchgewässer mit anderen #Kleingewässer / #ponds hinsichtlich #Phytodiversität verglichen wurden. Steinbruchgewässer schnitten erwartungsgemäß besser ab

👉🏼 ScienceDirect share.google/KS4rD0DPhWmt...

@epcn.bsky.social

Urban Ponds and the Emerging Role of Garden Ponds: Ecosystem Services and Disservices, Multifunctionality, and Trade‐Offs Urban ponds and garden ponds—a specific subset of the former, usually located in private gardens—are both typical examples of ponds in the urban landscape. They deliver multiple ecosystem services bu...

In our new review in WIREs WATER, we synthesize knowledge on ecosystem (dis)services, multifunctionality, and trade‐offs in urban ponds and highlight garden ponds as a specific subtype that deserves more attention
🏙️🔵🏡
doi.org/10.1002/wat2...
@epcn.bsky.social

Four-part diagram on how ponds in the eastern U.S. evolve over time, from open water, to emergent marsh, and later to shrub swamps and tree-dominated swamps.

Succession and evolution in a pond environment. From my coming book PONDS: An Illustrated Guide, Yale University Press, ~January 2026.
🧪🌿🌎🐡 #succession #scicomm #sciviz #wildlifeart #illustration #scientificillustration #natureart #visualscicomm #sciviz #scicomm #ponds #freshwater #ecology

Beavers create habitats for bats A study shows that land animals benefit from beaver dam construction – for example, endangered bats.

🦫 #Beavers help bats: Where these industrious builders fell trees and dam streams, there are more #bats. New study by WSL and @eawag.bsky.social: www.wsl.ch/en/news/beav... #NatureConservation #DeadWood #Ponds #EnvironmentalProtection #RedList @vmoser.bsky.social @animalecology.bsky.social

Comparing Ecohydrological Characteristics of European Kettle Holes and Prairie Potholes for Effective Conservation and Management - Wetlands The last glaciation period, known as the Wisconsin glaciation in North America and the Weichselian glaciation in North Central Europe (NCE), sculpted distinctive landscape features across these region...

For the first time, we have compared European #kettleholes with prairie potholes (North America) in terms of their #ecohydrology in a review.

A special thanks go to Majid Taie Semiromi. 🙏🏼

link.springer.com/article/10.1... #ponds

@epcn.bsky.social

The huge biodiversity gains from restoring farm #ponds. Major evidence coming in from studies at our Heydon restored pondscape, Norfolk, eastern England @tonyjuniper.bsky.social @fwageast.bsky.social @farmwildlifeuk.bsky.social @brecksfarmerswn.bsky.social @norfolknats.bsky.social @epcn.bsky.social

The #EPCN is delighted to announce the the renewal and update of our official website (www.europeanponds.org), featuring the newly appointed committee and refreshed content.
We aim to enhance our presence here, sharing news, opportunities, and highlights from our network in the coming months.

@epcn.bsky.social