How does fishes and aquatic animals survive when the pond gets covered with thick ice ?
How does fishes and aquatic animals survive when the pond gets covered with thick ice ?
This is due to the anomalous expansion of water. When the at atmospheric temperature reaches 0° ice begins to form in ponds forming a layer on the top with water below it. As we know ice is a bad conductor of heat. After sufficient thickness of ice is formed it prevents further loss of heat from the bottom layers of water. This is why fishes and other aquatic animals and plants can survive in ponds and other water bodies even when the atmospheric temperature reaches or is well below 0°. If water did not have this property then it would be impossible for aquatic life to exist in water bodies in cold seasons.
Fish are cold-blooded; they become nearly dormant but likewise, their food & oxygen requirements are greatly reduced. Turtles & frogs bury into the bottom sediment & become dormant until Spring; they’re cold-blooded, too. Others move to open water; they prefer it anyway. Beavers are glad of the ice layer which gives them protection from predators & helps keep their saved-up store of branches & twigs available no matter how deep the snowpack is.
This is due to the anomalous expansion of water. When the at atmospheric temperature reaches 0° ice begins to form in ponds forming a layer on the top with water below it. As we know ice is a bad conductor of heat. After sufficient thickness of ice is formed it prevents further loss of heat from the bottom layers of water. This is why fishes and other aquatic animals and plants can survive in ponds and other water bodies even when the atmospheric temperature reaches or is well below 0°. If water did not have this property then it would be impossible for aquatic life to exist in water bodies in cold seasons.
Fish are cold-blooded; they become nearly dormant but likewise, their food & oxygen requirements are greatly reduced. Turtles & frogs bury into the bottom sediment & become dormant until Spring; they’re cold-blooded, too. Others move to open water; they prefer it anyway. Beavers are glad of the ice layer which gives them protection from predators & helps keep their saved-up store of branches & twigs available no matter how deep the snowpack is.
