Contemplating they’re the world’s most quite a few patches of water, it’s shocking that ponds are poorly understood. There are hundreds of thousands – presumably billions – of them. But for a century or so, scientists have paid them little or no consideration.

This neglect won’t have mattered had been it not for increasing evidence that ponds are extraordinarily vital habitats for wildlife. Throughout many landscapes, they’re being proven to help extra freshwater plant and animal species than rivers or lakes. From microscopic algae to water beetles, aquatic vegetation, amphibians and water birds, ponds have wealthy, various and distinctive communities with a disproportionate…