COLUMBUS. Ohio The fall season does more than change the color of leaves. It also causes Ohio’s pond owners to make some management decisions as ponds prepare for winter, said Eric Nor land, Ohio State extension spe cialist in natural resources. But lowering water levels to control an overabundance of pond plant life is probably not a good idea, Norland said. As water on the pond surface cools to below 40 degrees Fahren heit, it sinks and pushes other wa ter from the bottom to the top. Autumn winds enhance this water turnover. ‘The mixing of the water is good, because it helps cleanse the pond,” Norland said. “Gases that are trapped in the water from de caying plant and animal life are re Fall Brings Changes To leased into the atmosphere.” The increased exposure of wa ter to the atmosphere also allows more oxygen to dissolve into the pond. Dissolved oxygen is import ant to pond life, because fish and other aquatic animals need oxygen to survive. From September through No vember, many aquatic plants are preparing for the winter. They turn brown and many fall over, but they have ways of surviving the cold, Norland said. Cattails, water lilies, and other perennials have thick underground stems called rhizomes that store food, mainly starches, that will be used in the spring when the plants begin to sprout again. Duckweed, a tiny floating plant, also accumulates starches and sinks to the pond bottom under its own weight where it overwinters. In the spring, the plants rise to the pond’s surface as the starch re serves are used. Waterweed and other pond weed species produce special shoots called winter buds. Each bud contains a plant embryo and food reserves, Norland said. In the fall, the buds detach from the par ent plant and sink to the bottom of the pond. As the food reserves arc used up in the spring, the new plants float to the surface. Aquatic plants begin new spring growth in April or May, depending on the weather. “Aquatic plant growth is bene ficial to a pond, because the plants release oxygen into the water,” Norland said. But too many plants can be a problem. As plants die, they use Ponds, Too oxygen in the water to decay. If too many plants die at once, fish could suffocate from a lack of dis solved oxygen. Control of aquatic plant growth should be done in the spring, Norland said. Some pond owners try to con trol overgrowth of plants by low ering pond water levejp in the fall. They think freezing in the pond bottom will kill plants that are overwintering there. Norland said, But this pond drawdown method of weed control doesn’t work well in Ohio, because the state’s winter ' 5 iW BREAKING MM RECORDS! Lancaster Farming Carries DHIA Reports Each Month! weather is typically not cold or dry enough. Fall also is a good time for pond owners to deal with muskrat prob lems. Muskrats burrow into pond dams and embankments and may cause them to leak or completely fail, Norland said. The legal trap ping season for muskrat in Ohio this year is Nov. 13 through Jan. 31. However, trapping can be done at any time, provided the pond owner acquires a special per mit from the county wildlife offi cer. ft 9% %
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