In this video we take a look at the Woodland Pond Ecosphere I built in January 2020. It has been over a year since I built this ecosphere. I heard that it was natural for ecospheres to lose biodiversity over time, however this ecosphere still contains quite a lot of different organisms.

The main producer in this ecosystem is Starwort. There is also duckweed. The duckweed seems to be struggling and is likely being outcompeted by the starwort. The top layer of the jar has a lot of dead and dying duckweed. Algae species are also present, however they're kept under control by herbivores.

The Green Hydras (Hydra viridissima) have completely taken over as the dominant predator within this ecosystem. Due to the numbers of hydras present copepod numbers have dropped considerably. I suspect that the rising green hydra population caused both the ostracod and copepod populations to plummet. The Copepod population seemed to struggle on, whilst the Ostracod population is nowhere to be seen. The Green hydras are capable of photosynthesizing for food therefore were unaffected by the decline in prey species.

Bladder snails are also present. I managed to film one being stung by a hydra. I imagine it must happen a lot because the green hydras are EVERYWHERE. The bladder snail population seems to have reached it's carry capacity for now.

I was very happy to find that the Globular Springtail (Sminthurides aquaticus) are thriving in the air pocket at the top of the ecosphere. They can make full use of the surface area provided due to being adapted to walk on water. They can also climb the glass and plants which helps them maximize on the limited space even more. I managed to film a pair mating! The female picked up the male and carried him. It was funny to witness for the first time.

Watch the full journey of this ecosystem here:
   • Creating a Woodland Pond Ecosphere