History, origins and importance of temporary ponds

In Europe, temporary ponds are a naturally common and widespread habitat occurring, often in abundance, in all biogeographical regions from the boreal snow-melt pools of northern Scandinavia to the seasonally inundated coastal dune pools of southern Spain. Ecological studies in Europe and elsewhere also emphasise that temporary ponds are a biologically important habitat type, renowned both for their specialised assemblages and the considerable numbers of rare and endemic species they support. They are, however, a habitat currently under considerable threat. Most temporary ponds are inherently shallow and the majority are destroyed even by limited soil drainage for agriculture or urban development. The paper gives an overview of definitions of temporary ponds and examines their formation and abundance. The authors also summarise a visit to the Bialowieza Forest in Poland to investigate the occurrence of temporary ponds

Pond action: Promoting the conservation of ponds in Britain

Pond Action is an independent freshwater conservation project which was started in 1987. It is based in the School of Biological and Molecular Sciences in Oxford Polytechnic and has five full-time staff with two senior advisors. The main aim of Pond Action's work has been to promote the conservation of ponds by creating a sound, scientific basis for pond conservation. An essential aspect of this work is the need to make the results of scientific work available and understandable to everybody concerned with pond conservation

Pond Action: Promoting the conservation of ponds in Britain

Pond Action is an independent freshwater conservation project whichwas started in 1987 by Anne Powell, Roger Sweeting and Jeremy Biggs.It is based in the School of Biological and Molecular Sciences in OxfordPolytechnic and has five full-time staff with two senior advisors.The main aim of Pond Action's work has been to promote theconservation of ponds by creating a sound, scientific basis for pondconservation. An essential aspect of this work is the need to make theresults of scientific work available and understandable to everybodyconcerned with pond conservation