Biodiverse ponds are critical for the planet’s life support
27th October 2026
A new study has found that the more biodiverse a pond is, the better it can deliver vital environmental benefits, such as climate change mitigation and nutrient production.
This study was led by the Aquatic Ecology Research Group at the University of Vic – Central University of Catalonia (UVic-UCC), in collaboration with an international consortium of scientists, including researchers from Freshwater Habitats Trust.
The paper, published in Nature Ecology & Evolution, describes that ponds with higher biodiversity are more efficient at carrying out essential ecosystem functions such as climate regulation, nutrient production and transfer, and the decomposition and recycling of dead matter. These processes are fundamental not only to maintaining healthy pond ecosystems, but also to sustaining life on a broader scale. Without them functioning properly, food chains could collapse, carbon dioxide would build up faster in the atmosphere, and dead matter wouldn’t rot away.
The findings are the result of the most comprehensive assessment of biodiversity and ecosystem health in freshwater ponds. An international collaboration of researchers surveyed 206 ponds across six European countries (Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Spain, Switzerland and the United Kingdom), as well as Turkey. In the UK, the researchers examined ponds in Norfolk, Lancashire and Cheshire.
The teams measured pond biodiversity by surveying a wide number of different species living within them, including aquatic plants, zooplankton, aquatic invertebrates and amphibians. They combined information from these groups into a single measure that quantifies each pond’s overall biodiversity.
They also measured several key ecological processes and indicators of ecosystem health. These included methane emissions resulting from decomposition, which play a critical role in global warming, the concentration of chlorophyll-a to gauge the primary production of nutrients by plants, the biomass of zooplankton and aquatic invertebrates, which together provide insights into how well those primary nutrients work their way through the food chain, and aquatic plant cover, a key indicator of overall habitat availability and ecological conditions within ponds.
- Surveying ponds as part of the PONDERFUL project.
Researchers combined all this information into a single measurement, known as a “multifunctionality index”, which provides a picture of how well the studied pond ecosystems performs multiple important functions simultaneously.
Their analysis revealed a strong positive relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem multifunctionality, meaning the more biodiverse a pond is, the better it can support the ecological processes that life relies on. However, these benefits are weakened when a pond becomes polluted and when biodiversity is reduced as a consequence.
These findings come at an important time, as many European regions have already lost between 50% and 90% of their ponds due to land use change, agricultural intensification, and environmental degradation. In the UK specifically, conservationists are currently calling on the government to give greater protection to ponds.
Our CEO Professor Jeremy Biggs was a co-author on the paper, and said: “This research adds to a growing body of evidence demonstrating the critical importance of ponds. We already know that these small habitats punch well above their weight, supporting around two-thirds of freshwater species, including many rare and threatened animals and plants.
“But this research shows that the value of high-quality, wildlife-rich ponds extends even further, benefiting the wider environment. This study gives us further evidence that bringing clean, unpolluted water back to our landscapes is essential, not just for freshwater wildlife but for the wider natural world.”
Dr Maria Cuenca, researcher at the University of Vic and lead author, said: “The relationship between biodiversity and the functions of ponds is particularly strong in arid regions. In water-limited environments, species interactions and complementarity in resource use becomes increasingly important for maintaining ecosystem functioning. This underscores the need to conserve not only the ponds themselves as habitats, but also the diversity of organisms they contain.”
- The PONDERFUL consortium meeting in Porto, April 2022.
Dr Sandra Brucet, researcher at the University of Vic and last author of the paper, added: “Mediterranean regions are experiencing increasing aridification, so these ponds may be more sensitive to biodiversity loss, as relatively small changes in the composition of biological communities can have significant consequences for the full range of ecological functions.”
Professor Carl Sayer, co-author and leader of the UCL Geography Pond Restoration Research Group, said: “Ponds are critically important ecosystems across the world, but their importance is often overlooked relative to other freshwater habitats such as lakes and rivers.
“Our work confirms that biodiversity is critical to ensuring that ecosystems function in the ways that they should, such that there are benefits to the wider natural world, as well as for people. The greater a pond’s biodiversity, the better it is at supporting the natural processes that ensure life can thrive and this means that conservation work that conserves and restores pond biodiversity is doubly important.
“We really need to take better care of ponds in the UK and our work at UCL is pushing this message to help ensure that conservation projects and environmental legislation celebrate ponds a lot more.”
Co-author Helen Greaves of the Norfolk Ponds Project who co-led the UK fieldwork said: “Our work really underscores how much the world’s ecosystems are reliant on the health and biodiversity of ponds. Protecting their biodiversity goes far beyond just supporting local ecosystems but benefits the broader global environment.”
The study was carried out as part of the EU Horizon 2020 PONDERFUL project. You can read the paper here.