Summary of Literature Study of Freshwater Ponds on Assateague Island, MD

Arney, Laura

The investigation of natural freshwater ponds on Assateague Island between the more dynamic ocean and the languid bay has been sporadic and of limited duration. An assumption has been made that the freshwater ponds are an important source of freshwater for the various land bound animals that are limited to the island. Migratory birds use the ponds as a source of fresh water, and insect larva and small fish as food. Several texts give definitions to these bodies of waters, variously called pannes (or pans), impoundments, shallow lakes, and ponds. In writing of ponds, William J Clark*l goes into detail about the history of the definition of ponds. The term is a general one relating to its small size, its shallow depth, its littoral ecology, lack of wind and wave action, and lack of thermal stratification.