Pond
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- For other uses, see Pond (disambiguation).
Missing image Pond_in_a_forest_clearing_bgiu.jpg A small pond in a forest |
Missing image Pond.jpg A garden pond. |
A pond is a body of water smaller than a lake. However the difference between a pond and a lake is subjective. Pond usually describes small bodies of water, generally smaller than one would require a boat to cross. Though not generally accepted, some regions define a pond as a body of water with a surface area of less than 10 acres. Also: garden pond (see water garden), engineered treatment features (see treatment pond), and field units in agriculture (for example, "pondfields" for rice or taro culture) and aquaculture.
The term is also used for temporary accumulation of water from runoff (ponded water).
Due to the closed environment of ponds, such small bodies of water normally developed self contained eco-systems. Ponds in heavily vegetated areas also display the formation of "scum", which is a common term for dead and decaying vegetation condensing on the water skin of the pond. A contributor to this is the presence of algae, which multiples quickly in a nutrient-rich pond exposed to strong daylight. Decaying flora provide significant amounts of such nutrients.