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Research Title
Ghost pingo ponds: The role of buried wetland deposits in rare aquatic plant conservation
More about Hayley
Background
- 2022 – present: PhD at University College London, London NERC DTP
- 2019 – 2022: GCSE tutor and examiner
- 2009 – 2019: Secondary School Biology Teacher
- 2006 – 2009: Audience Development Manager, Maidstone Museum.
- 2004 – 2006: Formal Learning Program Developer and Explainer, Natural History Museum
- 2001 – 2004: BSc Hons, Biology with Science Communication, Royal Holloway University of London (1st Class)
Teaching
I have taught on the following modules:
- Aquatic Macrophytes (GEOG0107): Masters course in the Department of Geography, UCL (May 2025)
- Geography in the Field 1 (GEOG0013): Field class PGTA - Undergraduate course in the Department of Geography, UCL (November 2024)
- Sex, Genes and Evolution (BIOL0020): Undergraduate course in the Department of Biology (February 2023)
- Plant Evolution and Ecology (BIOL0042): Undergraduate course in the Department of Biology (February 2023)
Research Interests
“Pingo ponds” are natural landforms that were established due to the collapse of periglacial mounds (called pingos) that formed in the early Holocene (Clay, 2015). In the Norfolk Brecklands, Eastern England, these ponds are numerous and continue to support biodiverse communities (Biggs and Dunn, 2018), such as those found at Thompson Common Nature Reserve. However, many of these ancient natural ponds have gradually been lost through infilling during the 19th century (Sayer et al., 2022). The buried sediments of these lost “ghost pingo ponds” (GPPs) contain seeds and oospores of aquatic plants that have been shown to remain viable on centennial timescales in younger artificial farmland ponds (Alderton et al., 2017). These seed banks allow for wetland plant dispersal through time, giving exciting conservation potential to GPP resurrection. Worldwide, viable seeds have been discovered in radiocarbon-dated sediments of over 1000 years (Shen-Miller et al., 1995; Sallon et al., 2008; Kaplan et al., 2014; Stobbe et al., 2014), but as yet, the GPPs of the UK have not been investigated. This raises the possibility that rare and even nationally “extinct” species could be returned to the landscape (Hawkins, 2019) without laboratory interventions, but simply through suitable habitat management (Sayer et al., 2022).
Previous research on the resurrection of artificially constructed ghost ponds (man-made between 40 and 150 years ago), has revealed a rapid colonisation of aquatic plants within 1-2 years following re-excavation (Alderton et al., 2017; Sayer et al., 2023). Whilst early recolonisation by Characeae (stoneworts) and Potamogetonaceae (pondweeds) has been seen (Sayer et al., 2022), little is known on the plant communities that assemble following excavation. In addition, the seed banks of GPPs are poorly studied and the match between seed banks and resurrected plant communities is yet to be explored. Further, information is lacking on the maximum longevity of the wetland plant propagules found in GPPs. To address these gaps, this PhD will focus on i) analysis of aquatic plant macrofossils (e.g., seeds, oospores and other plant remains) found in sediments (Birks, 2013) of ancient GPPs, ii) will attempt to grow macrophytes from seeds and oospores from different aged sediments, and iii) will monitor macrophyte succession in GPPs resurrected from 2020 onwards. By combining studies of seed bank viability, macrofossil assemblages and sediment origins and conditions, this multidisciplinary PhD drawers on methods from resurrection ecology, palaeoecology and geomorphology. The research will bridge an important gap between three disciplines that are seldom considered together. The research aims to enhance understanding of the potential of lost GPPs for biodiversity conservation, thereby reinforcing the argument for their resurrection at the landscape (aka pondscape) scale.
