Not all the inhabitants of the ecopark can be seen with the naked eye. Daphnia – or the water flea, as it is often called – is a tiny crustacean one to a few millimetres long. It lives in almost every calm, clean body of fresh water and, although minute, its role in the life of a water body is enormous.
Daphnia feed by filtering the water – each one strains algae, bacteria and organic particles through its body. The millions of daphnia in a pond literally purify the water and limit algal blooms. At the same time daphnia are the staple food of young fish, aquatic insect larvae and many other aquatic organisms. Without them the food chain in the water breaks at its very first link.
In 2021 Ecopark Vaya began deliberately maintaining and developing daphnia populations in its shallow ponds. Daphnia are very sensitive to pollution and to chemicals, so caring for them is above all caring for the cleanliness of the water: no chemicals, enough light, and shallow, warm areas in which daphnia multiply quickly.
The daphnia-rich ponds have become natural ‘nurseries’ for young fish, which find abundant and suitable food in them during the first weeks of their lives. In this way daphnia also support the fish populations of the ecopark and, through them, the birds and mammals that feed on fish.
The activity is carried out with our own funds and labour. It is an example of Ecopark Vaya’s approach: to work with nature at its smallest scale, because that is where the health of the whole ecosystem begins.
Visitors will not notice the daphnia, but every clean and clear pond in the ecopark is partly their work.
Project summary
Project: Maintaining daphnia populations
Year: 2021
Location: Ecopark Vaya
Activity: maintaining conditions for daphnia to develop in the shallow ponds, natural water purification and food for young fish
Funding: own funds and volunteer work
Status: completed, ongoing
Photo: MIROV / Unsplash