This book provides a comprehensive and detailed account of these freshwater habitats.The first chapter discusses what ponds, pools and puddles are, how they differ from rivers and lakes, their origin - natural or man-made, the different types of ponds and their abundance and distribution in Britain.A second chapter looks at ponds as ancient natural habitats that have existed for millennia on the earth's surface. Ancient pond communities, as preserved in inter- and post-glacial sediments, are compared with modern pond communities. This chapter also examines the physical and chemical...