Drought and deluge: Influence of environmental factors on water quality of kettle holes in two subsequent years with different precipitation

Thirty kettle hole ponds located in agricultural landscape of western Poland were studied with respect to physico-chemical (temperature and pH) and chemical (SC, dissolved oxygen, concentration of nutrients) variables of surface water quality during two subsequent years. Most of the ponds selected for the study host populations of endangered large branchiopod crustaceans, thus the aim of the study was to find out the rules governing these ecosystems and infer the best ways to protect them. Precipitation during the first year of the study was close to the average for the region, whereas severe drought was recorded during the second year. The influence of water regime, morphological parameters, catchment characteristics and vegetation on the parameters of water (pH, conductivity, contents of O₂, N-NH₄, N-NO₂, N-NO₃, SRP and TP) separately for both years was tested using redundancy analyses (RDA). The results showed that the factors significantly explaining the variance in water chemistry differed between years of the study. In the year of average precipitation, the most important factors were related to the morphology of the pond and its catchment. In contrast, under drought conditions the factors connected with pond vegetation and water depth were significant. However, in general, hydroperiod length of the pond was the most important factor, significant in all the models created.