Curious about the plants in your pond or lake? Maine's waterbodies are full of dense aquatic ecosystems. Learn more about how these unassuming, occasionally troublesome species impact the environment.
Common Native Species
Long-leaf Pondweed, Potamogeton nodosus
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Southern Naiad, Najas guadalupensis
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Sago Pondweed, Stuckenia pectinata
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Coontail/Hornwort, Ceratophyllum demersum
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Canadian Waterweed, Elodea canadensis
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The Benefits of Biodiversity
As you're swimming in your favorite lake over the summer, you might consider aquatic plants to be a nuisance. But did you know just how important these plants are for protecting water quality and supporting aquatic ecosystems? Before you attempt to dredge the bottom of your pond or rake the area by your dock consider this:
Habitat - Just like mammals and birds finding homes in trees and shrubs, most leafy aquatic plants provide habitat and spawning ground for fish, frogs, and aquatic insects. The leaves of most pondweeds provide shade that creates cooler waters; ideal conditions for these activities. Additionally, cooler waters and the increased presence of organisms like frogs will manage mosquito populations.
Not only that, but having a biodiverse array of different aquatic plants will invite other crucial wildlife to the area. Waterfowl and aquatic mammals like beavers and muskrats consume these plants as their primary food source. Eradicating these food sources chips away at the food web and negatively impacts large predacious species that are often already at risk because of human intervention.
Water Quality - Aquatic plants need nutrients to grow, like any other respirating organism. It just so happens that the nutrients these plants thrive on are ones that negatively impact water quality if left untouched. Most pondweeds (including invasives!) absorb phosphorus and nitrogen. In the past, these nutrients ended up in the water from decomposition, soil erosion, and animal waste as limiting factors in most ecosystem. Today, there are much higher levels in waterbodies from agricultural runoff since these chemicals are often present in fertilizers.
Without a multitude of aquatic plants to reduce these levels, algae will proliferate causing algal blooms and eventually fish kills from deoxygenating the water and reducing sunlight exposure. Pondweeds prevent this from happening by reducing the amount available to algae. However, the key here is having a wide array of species! With one singular native species (or one invasive), increased absorption of nitrogen and phosphorus can have the same effect as an algal bloom. A species might rapidly spread, causing dense mats that block sunlight, deoxygenate the water, and kill fish.
With a little healthy competition between multiple natives, aquatic plants significantly benefit water quality.
Habitat - Just like mammals and birds finding homes in trees and shrubs, most leafy aquatic plants provide habitat and spawning ground for fish, frogs, and aquatic insects. The leaves of most pondweeds provide shade that creates cooler waters; ideal conditions for these activities. Additionally, cooler waters and the increased presence of organisms like frogs will manage mosquito populations.
Not only that, but having a biodiverse array of different aquatic plants will invite other crucial wildlife to the area. Waterfowl and aquatic mammals like beavers and muskrats consume these plants as their primary food source. Eradicating these food sources chips away at the food web and negatively impacts large predacious species that are often already at risk because of human intervention.
Water Quality - Aquatic plants need nutrients to grow, like any other respirating organism. It just so happens that the nutrients these plants thrive on are ones that negatively impact water quality if left untouched. Most pondweeds (including invasives!) absorb phosphorus and nitrogen. In the past, these nutrients ended up in the water from decomposition, soil erosion, and animal waste as limiting factors in most ecosystem. Today, there are much higher levels in waterbodies from agricultural runoff since these chemicals are often present in fertilizers.
Without a multitude of aquatic plants to reduce these levels, algae will proliferate causing algal blooms and eventually fish kills from deoxygenating the water and reducing sunlight exposure. Pondweeds prevent this from happening by reducing the amount available to algae. However, the key here is having a wide array of species! With one singular native species (or one invasive), increased absorption of nitrogen and phosphorus can have the same effect as an algal bloom. A species might rapidly spread, causing dense mats that block sunlight, deoxygenate the water, and kill fish.
With a little healthy competition between multiple natives, aquatic plants significantly benefit water quality.