Role of Macrophytes in a Pond
- Macrophytes work to balance the ecosystem in a pond environment. In fact, scientists are able to determine both the age health of a pond ecosystem based on the number of macrophytes present. Macrophytes remove and release nutrients into the pond creating balance. Macrophytes remove nutrients from the pond by absorbing them through their root systems. Nutrient levels in the pond increase as macrophytes die out and decay in the water. Macrophytes can indicate that the pond ecosystem is out of balance when eutriphication occurs. Eutriphication is the dense and excessive growth of plants, indicating that there are too many nutrients and pollutants in the pond environment.
- Aquatic macrophytes also work as bio-filters in a pond environment. Acting as organic water filters, macrophytes absorb nutrients and inorganic pollutants that can harm the flora and fauna of the pond ecosystem. Macrophytes absorb and remove pollutants like nitrogen, phosphorus, pesticides, phenols and heavy metals, thereby improving the quality of the water. Macrophytes help purify the pond environment, making it possible for fish and other aquatic life to survive. Macrophytes provide a form of waste-water treatment by gathering, absorbing and storing these pollutants and nutrients.
- Macrophytes provide food for herbivorous fish living in the pond environment. Herbivorous fish will typically feed on varieties of soft submerged macrophytes. However, macrophytes also have the ability to harm fish and aquatic life because they compete with phytoplankton for nutrients. Therefore, if the pond is out of balance and overrun with macrophytes, some fish will have trouble finding food. They will also have difficulty moving through the waters of the pond if macrophyte growth is dense.
Macrophytes also serve to balance the environment if the pond is used for breeding fish. Macrophytes will remove excess nutrients that come as a result of fish breeding. They also serve as breeding grounds for flies and mosquitos, which can cause a problem in the pond if they become overrun. Implementing mosquito- or larval-eating fish can assist in controlling populations of flies and mosquitoes. - Different varieties of macrophytes serve different roles in a pond environment. For example, floating-leaf macrophytes use their large root systems to strip and remove many types of nutrients, while submerged macrophytes specifically remove ammonia, phosphorus and raw sewage that may enter the pond through runoff. All four varieties of aquatic macrophytes provide a place for microbial activity that assist the plant in removing nitrogen and heavy metals.
