SARG NEWS - 13 January 2010
Is it frozen, with a layer of ice on top?
What should you do to protect the life in your pond?...nothing (probably).
The old advice of punching a hole in the ice has been shown to be not terribly effective.
After all, ponds have been freezing in every cold winter since the last ice Age, about 10,000 years ago.
Pond life evolved to cope with severe winters long before we pesky humans came onto the scene.
Oxygen is produced under the ice by pond plants, even in these cold conditions. There is a good chance that you will have hibernating frogs at the bottom of your pond, that have slowed down their metabolism, and are extracting oxygen from the pond water through their skin.
If your pond is covered in snow, then this may block the sunlight which allows the plants to produce oxygen, so carefully clearing the snow away may help.
There are still a few winter habitat and pond tasks scheduled for the winter period, so if you fancy helping the wild reptiles and amphibians, why not check out the next habitat management date on the SARG diary?
Cheers,
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