Urban Pond: a Landscape of Multiple Meanings

Ponds have a range of ecological, social and aesthetic values. However, little work has been done to appraise the values assigned to ponds located in an urban setting. During 2004, 10 ponds were studied in urban areas of Merseyside. Standard ecological techniques were applied to assess diversity of invertebrates, plants and amphibians. A landscape character assessment technique was used to describe the major features of the surrounding landscape and its amenity value and fixed-point photographs collected throughout the year to assess their aesthetic value. Results indicate the complexity of these issues for local communities. Species richness was lower than found in some studies of rural sites but still significant, while the visual features of ponds in the sample-varied considerably. These findings have important implications for urban design and regeneration programmes.