What is a sinkhole pond?
- The bottom is covered with an impermeable layer of clay, which prevents water from seeping through.The bottom is covered with an impermeable layer of clay, which
- In the mountainous world, they are formed in snow-covered valleys with favourable subsoil or are man-made for watering grazing animals.
- Farmers covered the bottom and lower slope of a shallow sinkhole with clay and waited for rain.
- All sinkholes, natural and man-made, are only a few metres to a few tens of metres in size and no more than 1.5 m deep.
- The abandonment of grazing has led to some of them being completely filled in with soil and overgrown.
Source: Edmonson County, Kentucky
Because they are located in areas where surface water is scarce, they are home to organisms that are water-dependent.
The loss of such aquatic environments threatens the existence of three species of amphibians: hill urchin, the mountain plover in great crested newt , which is why they are particularly protected in Natura 2000 sites.
In addition to amphibians, a variety of insects are common in the mudflats: dragonflies, water gliders and water beetles.
An example is the duckweeds, which is common in the Pokljuka mudflats. It is a floating aquatic plant that can completely overgrow the water surface.
Other plant species that occur in the mudflats are from the group of Carex rostrata, Juncus and Eriophorum.
Lemna minuta
