Water soldier is an amazing plant. It grows beneath the water, staying submerged for most of the year, rising during the summer to stand just above the water surface to flower, and sinking again in the autumn. It offers excellent shelter for aquatic insects like dragonfly and damselfly larvae.
UEA Campus Conservation Project volunteers started clearing and maintenance work on the UEA Water Soldier Pond (at the beginning of the Yare Valley Walk) in autumn 2011. The pond is home to a population of native water soldier (Stratiotes aloides), once common, predominantly in East Anglia, but now on the red data list and classified as near threatened in Britain. Restoration work on the pond was needed to reduce nutrient levels and increase sunlight to encourage regrowth of water soldier. This work will continue on a three-year rotation, but we hope to see the distinctive and easily identified pineapple-like leaves of the water soldier in much greater numbers in the summer, and eventually completely covering the surface of the pond.
See how the volunteers got on.
To take part in future conservation work e-mail volunteers@uea.ac.uk.
See how the volunteers got on.
To take part in future conservation work e-mail volunteers@uea.ac.uk.
