caa a22 4500 445894717 CHVBK 20180317145628.0 cr unu---uuuuu 170323e20110401xx s 000 0 eng 10.1007/s10750-010-0579-y doi (NATIONALLICENCE)springer-10.1007/s10750-010-0579-y Conservation of pond systems: a case study of intractability, Brown Moss, UK [Elektronische Daten] [Ratcha Chaichana, Rick Leah, Brian Moss] Brown Moss is a Site of Special Scientific Interest in north-west England, of significance because of the occurrence, at least in the past, of the rare plant Luronium natans (Linnaeus) on the one hand, and its public popularity on the other. It is also a part of Ramsar site that comprises several other water bodies, the Meres, collectively valued for their water birds. It includes several fishless pools, in an area of semi-natural vegetation, that differ in character. Such features are favoured in pond conservation. The surrounding terrestrial vegetation reflects nutrient enrichment in the past century and the pools at Brown Moss are now hypereutrophic from intensive agriculture on the margins of the site and guanotrophication of the main, central pool. Feral Canada geese (Branta canadensis (Linnaeus)) and resident waterfowl, encouraged by feeding by the public, have had major effects. Lower total phosphorus concentrations but higher nitrate concentrations were found in marginal pools, too small for bird flighting. Sedimentary studies suggest that nutrients and productivity in the pools have increased. Raised phosphorus in sediments was significantly correlated with numbers of sedimentary diatoms. Ponds are potentially of major importance in freshwater conservation in the UK, as they contain a high proportion of the country's freshwater biodiversity, but many have been filled in or severely polluted by farm wastes. Their situation in intensively used agricultural land means that, as in this case study, solution of their problems may often be intractable. The intractability is amplified at Brown Moss by the difficulty of removing aggressive alien species, a common problem in UK pond systems, and by bird-feeding, again a widespread problem particularly in urban ponds. The difficulties at Brown Moss thus typify the problems of pond conservation in the UK and indeed throughout lowland Europe. Current legislation appears impotent to remedy the situation. Springer Science+Business Media B.V., 2010 Lake history nationallicence Shallow lakes nationallicence Zooplankton nationallicence Birds nationallicence Nature reserve nationallicence Limnology nationallicence Groundwater nationallicence Chaichana Ratcha School of Biological Sciences, University of Liverpool, L69 7ZB, Liverpool, UK aut Leah Rick School of Biological Sciences, University of Liverpool, L69 7ZB, Liverpool, UK aut Moss Brian School of Biological Sciences, University of Liverpool, L69 7ZB, Liverpool, UK aut Hydrobiologia Springer Netherlands 664/1(2011-04-01), 17-33 0018-8158 664:1<17 2011 664 10750 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-010-0579-y text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI 1 research-article jats NATIONALLICENCE 856 40 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-010-0579-y text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Chaichana Ratcha School of Biological Sciences, University of Liverpool, L69 7ZB, Liverpool, UK aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Leah Rick School of Biological Sciences, University of Liverpool, L69 7ZB, Liverpool, UK aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Moss Brian School of Biological Sciences, University of Liverpool, L69 7ZB, Liverpool, UK aut NATIONALLICENCE 773 0- Hydrobiologia Springer Netherlands 664/1(2011-04-01), 17-33 0018-8158 664:1<17 2011 664 10750 Metadata rights reserved Springer special CC-BY-NC licence nationallicence BK010053 XK010053 XK010000 NATIONALLICENCE NATIONALLICENCE NL-springer