Pond Boss Forums POND CONSTRUCTION Selecting a site Quarry Contest 2010

Why can't you grow bluegrass in a pine forest? (rhetorical question)

the sum of the parts has tickled this question to death.

By the way I also had an answer if the question was about a squirrel playing bluegrass.

Sooner or later that question will come up. Trust me.

haha. were you having one of those headaches, but with pictures?

Somewhat of a summary.

Low water + low inorganic sediment inflow (drought) = increased sunlight penetration to bottom substrate.

Increased sunlight penetration to substrate means ideal conditions for submergent vegetation.

Significant growth of agressive submergent vegetation means decreased available nutrients available for single celled algae.

Decreased amount of single celled algae means increased clarity.

Increased clarity means perpetuation of the rooted vegetation (the vicious cycle completed)

An entire pond of sago pondweed = mad landowners.

OK, so when the drought ended the next spring, why didn't the sago re-emerge?

I have to be missing something because I thought we had hit on that, but my thoughts are:

* Sago was "killed" off during cold winter
* Water levels increased prior to start of real sago growth
* Depth change impacted light penetration
* Surface runoff - including water, sediment, and lawn care products - "muddied" the water with a sort of nutrient soup
* These things all occurred at a time prior to the growth cycle for sago began
* algae was able to bloom in advance of the sago
* bloom eliminated clear water issue
* alage wasn't robbed of all its nutrients by sago and was able to maintain the bloom, blocking light for sago growth

if todd didnt nail it, i smell landowner intervention.......(i.e. pond dye or something in addition to natural causes due to more water...depth, lack of light penetration, phytoplankton bloom)

Great and simple illustration of this whole line of logic, Bruce. Thanks - makes a lot of this much more clear (kinda like your water!).

if todd didnt nail it, i smell landowner intervention.......(i.e. pond dye or something in addition to natural causes due to more water...depth, lack of light penetration, phytoplankton bloom)

Bingo!

When water is "muddied" during the spring, what part of the water column clarifies first? Top or bottom?

And remember, from a figurative standpoint, either the sago or the single celled algae can be the pine trees. But it doesn't have to be domination of the sunlight specifically. When the algae dominates the light availability, it wins. When the sago dominates the nutrient availability, it wins.

I say the bottom as the heavier particulate will settle while the lighter/smaller stuff remains suspended for longer. closer to the surface is more subject to wave action from wind, currents, etc. and the particulate will remain suspended longer due to being agitated longer while the bottom is less affected by those things. Also, based on lots of scuba diving in mudholes over the years, it always seemed that at some point, often related to a thermocline in deep enough water, I would break through the really nasty stuff into better visibility.

This thread is growing faster than Bruce's sago crop and is hard to catch up with. Lots of good outside the box answers that make me stop and think.

Keep going Bruce !!!!

See, here's another example of some good thinking. I hadn't even considered bringing thermocline into the equation.

OK, let's rephrase. If you had a sealed glass jar of water, then added clay, and shook it up, would the top or the bottom water clarify more quickly?