Water Quality, Biodiversity and Ecosystem Functioning in Ponds Across an Urban Land-Use Gradient in Birmingham, U.K
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Water quality, biodiversity and ecosystem functioning in ponds across an urban land-use gradient in Birmingham, U.K. Ian Adam George Thornhill A thesis submitted to the University of Birmingham for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences College of Life and Environmental Sciences University of Birmingham December 2012 University of Birmingham Research Archive e-theses repository This unpublished thesis/dissertation is copyright of the author and/or third parties. The intellectual property rights of the author or third parties in respect of this work are as defined by The Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 or as modified by any successor legislation. Any use made of information contained in this thesis/dissertation must be in accordance with that legislation and must be properly acknowledged. Further distribution or reproduction in any format is prohibited without the permission of the copyright holder. Abstract The ecology of ponds is threatened by urbanisation and as cities expand pond habitats are disappearing at an alarming rate. Pond communities are structured by local (water quality, physical) and regional (land-use, connectivity) processes. Since ca1904 >80% of ponds in Birmingham, U.K., have been lost due to land-use intensification, resulting in an increasingly diffuse network. A survey of thirty urban ponds revealed high spatial and temporal variability in water quality, which frequently failed environmental standards. Most were eutrophic, although macrophyte-rich, well connected ponds supported macroinvertebrate assemblages of high conservation value. Statistically, local physical variables (e.g. shading) explained more variation, both in water quality and macroinvertebrate community composition than regional factors. Nonetheless, habitat availability within the wider landscape was important. Ecosystem functioning (leaf-litter breakdown) along a rural-urban gradient was confounded by habitat area, despite a decrease in functional redundancy. Ponds are identified that promote network connectivity and management of land-use within 100m may buffer against diffuse pollution with reductions in riparian shading required to improve growth conditions for oxygenating vegetation and to reduce nutrient levels. The results indicate that many urban ponds are threatened habitats that require active management to protect and restore water quality, biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. ii Acknowledgements I would like to thank the multitude of people who have provided me with support, advice, technical input or have lent a pair of hands for the many hours of labour behind this thesis - I could not have done this without you. First and foremost, thanks go to my family for providing consistent support, despite my changeable mood. Thanks to my supervisors Mark Ledger and Lesley Batty for their advice and editorial capacities, to Mel Bickerton and Richard Johnson of the Wolfson Labs, and to the students and volunteers that have given me invaluable assistance and allowed me to indulge in aspects of the study outside of the thesis scope; Lisa Anderson, Rachel Banks, Ifeyinwa Benyeogor, Danielle Cooper, Alison Fairbrass, Laura Gardner, James Hale, Nick Hale, Matthew Hewitt, Tom Matthews, Gareth Ridge, Vicky Thamia and Katherine Trigg. Finally, a big thank you to all the past and present members of Room 425 and the 4th floor who have invariably chipped in to field work, stats, GIS or simply to remind me that there is more to life than ponds! Many drops make a bucket, many buckets make a pond, many ponds make a lake, and many lakes make an ocean -Percy Ross iii Contents Chapter 1: Introduction ...................................................................................................................... 2 1.1. Key ecological processes ....................................................................................................................... 5 1.1.1. Habitat loss .......................................................................................................................................... 5 1.1.2. Disturbance regimes ........................................................................................................................... 5 1.1.3. Metacommunity concepts .................................................................................................................. 6 1.1.4. Ecosystem functioning ....................................................................................................................... 7 1.1.5. Ecological resilience ............................................................................................................................ 7 1.2. Thesis aim ................................................................................................................................................ 8 1.3. Thesis outline .......................................................................................................................................... 8 1.4. Study area .............................................................................................................................................. 10 Chapter 2: General methods ............................................................................................................ 13 2.1. Site selection.......................................................................................................................................... 13 2.1. Field sampling ...................................................................................................................................... 15 2.2. Physico-chemical variables ................................................................................................................. 15 2.2.1. In situ measurements ........................................................................................................................ 16 2.2.2. Major ion analysis ............................................................................................................................. 16 2.2.3. Suspended solids and chlorophyll ................................................................................................. 17 2.2.4. Heavy metals ..................................................................................................................................... 18 2.2.5. Physical characteristics ..................................................................................................................... 18 2.3. Land use ................................................................................................................................................. 18 2.4. Macroinvertebrate sampling and identification ............................................................................. 23 Chapter 3: A descriptive and historical overview of the Birmingham „pondscape‟ ................ 28 3.1. Introduction ........................................................................................................................................... 28 3.1.1. Objectives and hypotheses ............................................................................................................... 34 3.2. Methods .................................................................................................................................................. 35 3.3. Digitisation of the historical pondscape .......................................................................................... 35 iv 3.3.1. Land-use correlates to pond density .............................................................................................. 36 3.3.2. Connectivity analysis of the historical pondscape and identification of priority ponds ........ 37 3.3.3. Potential habitat quality ................................................................................................................... 40 3.4. Results .................................................................................................................................................... 43 3.4.1. Characterisation of the historical pondscape ................................................................................ 43 3.4.2. Land-use correlates to pond density .............................................................................................. 47 3.4.3. Connectivity analysis of the historical pondscape ....................................................................... 51 3.4.4. Identifying key habitats for connectivity ....................................................................................... 55 3.5. Discussion .............................................................................................................................................. 63 3.6. Conclusion ............................................................................................................................................. 66 Chapter 4: The water quality of ponds across an urban land-use gradient .............................. 69 4.1. Introduction ........................................................................................................................................... 69 4.1.1. Objectives and hypotheses ............................................................................................................... 76 4.2. Methods .................................................................................................................................................