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The Biology of Six South Island Ponds

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The Biology of Six South Island Ponds Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand ISSN: 0303-6758 (Print) 1175-8899 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/tnzr20 The biology of six South Island ponds W. Joy Crumpton To cite this article: W. Joy Crumpton (1978) The biology of six South Island ponds, Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand, 8:2, 179-206, DOI: 10.1080/03036758.1978.10429390 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03036758.1978.10429390 Published online: 09 Feb 2012. Submit your article to this journal Article views: 77 View related articles Citing articles: 5 View citing articles Full Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at http://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?journalCode=tnzr20 Download by: [125.239.126.83] Date: 05 September 2017, At: 05:37 Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand, 1978, Vol. 8, No.2, pp. 179-206, 6 figs The Biology of Six South Island Ponds W. JOY CRUMPTON Department of Zoology, University of Canterbury [Received by the Editor, 15 November 1977] Abstract General descriptions are given of six ponds, between latitudes 42° and 44° S, from seasonal visits between 1969 and 1971. All the ponds were permanent with rooted macrophytes. They had a wide range of physical and chemical conditions, and associated variations of flora and fauna. Special attention was given to fauna in the areas of aquatic macrophytes. INTRODUCTION Previous studies of New Zealand freshwater ponds include those by Barclay (1966) on some temporary ponds near Auckland; Byars (1960) on the ecology of Saddle Hill Pond near Dunedin; and Stout (1964) on some temporary ponds on Marley's Hill, Christchurch. Stout (1969) published a description of a kettle hole pond near Lake Coleridge, in the Canterbury high country, and summarized and 'compared the information in these four pond studies (Stout 1975). Unpublished student projects from the University of Canterbury include a more detailed study of Marley's ponds by Johnson (1969); two studies on. ponds at Isaac's, near Harewood, Christchurch, by Teirney (1971) and Field-Dodgson (1972); a study of two ponds on the Waimakariri river bed near Christchurch (Brouwer 1972); and comparisons of two farm ponds near Geraldine (Woods 1973), and of two adjacent small lakes near Lake Coleridge (Livingstone 1970). This study was undertaken as part of a research project comparing the ecology of Xanthocnemis zealandica and Austrolesies colensonis (Odonata, Zygoptera). A survey of a variety of zygopteran habitats in Canterbury and Westland was made. Six ponds were selected for study, and are described here. Downloaded by [125.239.126.83] at 05:37 05 September 2017 All are permanent ponds with rooted vegetation which included species in which the Zygoptera oviposit (Crumpton 1975). The six ponds were visited during the period 1969 to 1972. Woodend Pond, Shipley's Large Pond, and Welshman's Mill Pond were visited man' often and studied in more detail than the other ponds. Notes from the initial zygopteran habitat survey will be published elsewhere. GENERAL DESCRIPTIONS OF THE PONDS Woodend Pond (Fig. 1) Woodend Pond is situated at Woodend, about 20 km north of Christchurch, at the end of Gladstone Road, which turns off State Highway 1. It is on government Wildlife Reserve property which is leased for farmland. The pond was dug in 1965 to provide a watering place for cattle. It is approximately circular, with a diameter of 8-10 m. The maximum area is 39 m2• Figure 1 shows the pond and its surrounding vegetation as mapped by compass survey 180 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL SoCIETY OF N EW Z EALAN D =­ »> --- »> --- N .> ---- + v •........-... 1 10 20m 3 Downloaded by [125.239.126.83] at 05:37 05 September 2017 '--'----' o 6 2 FIGs . 1-6. Maps of th e pond s showing surrounding vegetation. All maps ha ve the sam e nor th-south orie ntation. Samples of aqua tic fauna were tak en from all parts of the ponds, except where a sampling area (5 ) is marked. Grid references are fr om Ne w Zea land Map Series I maps, published by the New Zealand D epartment of Lands and Survey. I - Woodend Pond (grid reference 576/065819). 2 - Shipley's Large Pond (5 76/ 931644) . 3 - Welshman's Mill Pon d (550 + 5 1/745 769) . 4 - Kumara Straight Pond (550 + 5 1/688693 ). 5 - Hukarere Pond (838/ 178 134) . 6 - Arthur's Pa ss T am (559/ 052325) . CRUMPTON - Biology of South Island Ponds 181 N -+- o 2m v ···. .....,. ;,,:;... 4 o 2 4 m --- --- --- --- 5 ... ........ <, ro a d or tr ack swamp o r bog Downloaded by [125.239.126.83] at 05:37 05 September 2017 " " " fe nce con tinuous emergent a q uat ic & " se mi -aq ua tic v e p e t a t i o n \" ........ land co nto ur " Q ro c k t re es ( lnc lu d i n j; o v e rh a ng ) v v 0 pu mp scru b ·::~: : ;1: ::~: C a r e x sec t a R r ub b i s h '-¥ If Jun c u s e ff us us s samp l ing area W. IY-Qh am u e l l e r i 182 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL SoCIETY OF NEW ZEALAND on 9 December 1970. There is a central area which has no rooted aquatic vegetation, and a surrounding weedbed of aquatic 'and semi-aquatic plants. On the south side, this weedbed merges into a swampy area dominated by "pussy­ willow" trees (Salix caprea). The pond is thus sheltered from cold southerly winds. At the edge of the :swamp, patches of Carex secta are interspersed with pasture grasses and rushes. Rough pastures with drainage ditches surround the remainder of the pond, leaving it exposed to prevailing easterly and northwesterly winds. Approximately 90 m to the east of the pond are sand dunes flanking Woodend Beach. The bottom of the pond is covered with up to 0.7 m of fine organic mud, consisting mostly of particles with a diameter smaller than 150 {Lm. The maximum depth of mud in the weedbed is 0.1 m. Underneath is fine, grey sand, similar to the beach sand on Woodend Beach. This sand is derived from greywacke alluvium carried by the Ashley River into Pegasus Bay. Thirty visits were made to this pond between November, 1969, and March, 1972. During this period there was a regular annual rise in water level in the pond and surrounding swamp during late aututmn and winter, corresponding with the months of maximum rainfall (Table 1). The maximum depth recorded in the main pond was 1.5 m and in the weedbed, 0.7.1 m, on 6 September 1971. The mean depth of the weedbed was 30 em between 28 April and 27 November 1970. The weedbed and swamp were very shallow, or dry during the wanner months of both years. The minimum depth of the main pond was 0.5 m on 24 February 1971, when the weedbed was dry; it was also dry in February 1970. Minimum rainfall occurred in February of both years (Table 1). The area immediately surrounding the pond was not disturbed by stock during the study period, as there was an electric fence around it. On most visits, ducks (Anas superciliosa and A. platyrhynchos) and pukekos (Porphyrio melanotus) were seen at the pond. In October and November 1970, pukekos nested in funcus effusus beside the pond. The water was fouled by their droppings during this period, and also in February, 1971. Canada geese (Branta canadensis) and the white faced herons (Notophoyx novaehollandiac) were each seen at the pond on two occasions. chosen for detailed studies (Fig. 2). Shipley's Large Pond is a cut-off section of a stream which previously formed part of the south branch of the Waimakariri river system. It is on Island Farm, Harewood, near the outskirts of Christchurch. Nineteen visits were made to this pond from Mav, 1969, to April, 1971. The pond (Fig. 2) has an area of approximately 775 m2 and a maximum depth of 1.0 m. The long axis lies approximately north to south. It is in a Downloaded by [125.239.126.83] at 05:37 05 September 2017 field of rough pasture and surrounding it are willow trees (Salix sp.) and gorse bushes (Ulex europeaus'i . The central section of the pond, 78 m long, was chosen for detailed studies (Fig. 2). The bottom of the pond has a 0.05-0.20 m laver of fine sand and silt covering greywacke riverbed shingle. From March to June, the surface of the water in the areas overhung by trees was thickly covered with fallen willow leaves. Many of these sink to the botttorn, adding to the silt layer. There were no regular seasonal depth changes, but there was a slow depth increase from 0.60-0.85 m in the clear sampling region, and from 0.25-0.35 III in the tree overhung sampling region, between June, 1969, and January, 1971. Water levels in this pond are not directly related to rainfall, but are more affected by fluctuations in the water level of the nearby Waimakariri River (L. J. Brown, pers. comm.). The pond is fed bv continuous seepage from underground water. The rainfall in this area was similar to that for Woodend Pond (Table 1). CRUMPTON - Biology of South Island Ponds 183 The field by the pond was stocked with cattle and sheep during most of the study period; usually ducks and pukekos were present. Welshman's Mill Pond (Fig.
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