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COURSE INFO PROVIDER: SWSPCP Webinar
COURSE TITLE: Resurrecting ghost ponds and other approaches in pond restoration and conservation

INSTRUCTORS Emily Alderton, PhD

COURSE DESCRIPTION Resurrecting ghost ponds and other approaches in pond restoration and conservation
Emily Alderton, PhD
November 19, 2020

ABSTRACT:
Growing recognition of the importance of ponds for landscape-scale biodiversity has led to considerable interest in their conservation, focusing on new pond creation, or existing pond restoration. However, there is a third approach; the re-excavation of ‘ghost ponds’ – former ponds deliberately filled in for agricultural intensification. This presentation will explore how “resurrecting” ghost ponds and restoring overgrown ponds can provide important benefits for farmland biodiversity, with historic pond sediments acting as time capsules for the seeds of native wetland plants. Given the global abundance of wetlands and ponds which have been filled-in during agricultural land intensification, the resurrection and restoration of these habitats from their historic seedbanks provides a valuable tool for conservation practitioners and policy makers aiming to improve biodiversity within farmed landscapes.

Emily Alderton, PhD
BIO:
Emily Alderton has a Masters and PhD in Aquatic Science from University College London (UCL). Emily received her PhD from the Environmental Change Research Centre (ECRC) at UCL in 2017, for her thesis on “Ghost ponds”: Resurrecting lost ponds and species to assist aquatic biodiversity conservation. Emily’s research focused on mapping historic pond loss across the county of Norfolk (U.K), understanding the impacts of pond loss and pond degradation on aquatic biodiversity, and investigating the potential role that resurrecting in-filled “ghost ponds” could play in helping to restore biodiversity in fragmented pond landscapes. During her PhD, Emily was involved with the Norfolk Ponds Project, an award-winning multi-partner project working to conserve and restore Norfolk’s ponds. Emily contributed to pond restorations, educational open-farm events, and training days for farmers and landowners on how best to restore and manage ponds in farmland.

Since 2018 Emily has been working in Massachusetts (U.S) as an Ecological Scientist at BSC Group Inc., where she provides field services including wetland delineations, habitat surveys and invasive species surveys, and federal, state, and local level permitting services.

Credit Points: 0.06

SYLLABUS/TOPICAL OUTLINE 1. The importance of ponds for landscape-scale biodiversity (15 minutes) 2. The process of resurrecting ponds formerly filled in for agricultural intensification (30 minutes) 3. Questions and Answers (15 minutes)

COURSE CONTACT

Louis Mantini
9225 CR49, Live Oak, FL 32025
lfm@srwmd.org
P: 13866974891
F:

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