Pond supports life
Lunch and learn Friday on Holland College, City of Charlottetown study of city ponds
Those interested in the ecological health of the 11 ponds in Charlottetown are invited to a lunch and learn on Friday, April 13.
The talk will take place at the MacKinnon Theatre Holland College Charlottetown Centre, beginning at 12:30 p.m.
During the summer, Holland College’s Environmental Applied Science Technology (EAST) student and faculty worked with Ellen’s Creek and Wright’s Creek Watershed Groups to help determine the ecological health of 11 ponds within Charlottetown’s boundary.
This work will set a baseline for future testing to determine what is naturally and unnaturally occurring in our ponds and better assess their protection.
Ponds are very important to our ecosystem and support an amazing and interesting population of amphibian species and plant life.
One of the ponds in the study was Dead Man’s Pond in Victoria Park.
It is one of Charlottetown’s greatest gems.
As the ice melts off the pond and the spring rains come, pond activity comes to life for our viewing pleasure.
Salamanders and frogs breed in the pond during spring with females laying eggs soon after the breeding process.
The eggs can be laid singly or in jelly-like masses.
Spring and early summer one can see frog tadpoles, salamander, and dragon fly larvae feeding on pond life such as mosquito larvae.
Although considered an invasive plant species, water lilies provide pond dwellers with shade and protection from predators.
Around the pond, beautiful damselflies and dragonflies can be seen dancing in the sunlight.
Spring peepers, wood frogs, green frogs and American toads are heard calling in the spring.
Near the pond, yellow-spotted and blue-spotted salamanders make their home under leaf litter, rocks and rotting logs.
In early spring, they can be seen swimming in the pond.
Visitors might even see one of the many kinds of birds that make Victoria Park their home take a bath in Dead Man’s Pond.
This is the territory of Eastern chipmunks and red squirrels, who may toss an acorn down from the treetops to remind visitors this is their turf.
Dead Man’s Pond also has native trees, shrubs, wildflowers and ferns planted around the pond to provide shelter and food for many species of wildlife.
Visitors are reminded not to take away anything such as eggs or tadpoles and not to add anything.
Disease can spread quickly and be very devastating.