Originally Posted By: canyoncreek

I was thinking about what you have succeeded in doing and it really is something that should be researched. Think about it, every year for a few thousand years if that lake was there, it froze over in the winter that the majority of typical pond critters died. Then in 2018, for the first time there is a pond life cycle that extends through the winter.

Think of all the species from microscopic food chains to the tiny invertebrates, algae and on up that for the first time will have a life cycle that continues around the calendar! What will this do to the rest of the pond environment? What other plants might grow that couldn't grow before as they were waiting for an ingredient or a biological partner that helped them coexist but without which they could not exist? How do the organisms that survive or thrive change other plants/bugs/animals/fish in the local area around the pond? How does that change affect insects? How far does the effect travel beyond your pond? Think about it, the one pond in the whole area, at that altitude or similar altitudes, that has life year around!

It kind of blows your mind to think about it. It is kind of like dumping off a complex ecosystem (like a pond) on Mars, figuring out a way to keep it going in that environment (even via artificial means) and then seeing if the natural environment around it changes/adapts.


Interesting points! Maybe Bill Cody could weigh in on the short and long term consequences of year-round oxygen on the micro- and macro-organismal levels over time.