Mono Pond, Columbia
Mono Pond is a 102-acre lake located in Columbia, CT. The lake is man-made, with a dam at the northern end. A state-owned public boat ramp is located on the northern end of the lake. Most of the eastern shoreline is undeveloped. The western shoreline is moderately developed, with most homes have a buffer zone of plants before the edge of the lake. The southern half of the lake is beginning to fill in with sediment, making that portion very shallow. The area has begun to take on wetland characteristics. Due to the shallowing of the southern half, a survey could not be performed over that area. Only the northern half of the lake was able to be surveyed.
The 2012 CAES IAPP survey of Mono Pond found the presence of 15 species. Three species were invasive: fanwort (Cabomba caroliniana), Brazilian waterweed (Egeria densa), and variable-leaf watermilfoil (Myriophyllum heterophyllum). Variable-Leaf watermilfoil was the most dominant plant in the lake. Although it did not occupy as much of the littoral zone north of the island as fanwort did, it grew in very high abundance and covered the surface around the island and south. Very little fanwort grew south of the island. Brazilian waterweed was found only in two small patches north of the island along the western shore.
Six transect points were taken around the survey area of Mono Pond. Each transect consisted of 10 points, with a total of 60 points taken. Four species were found on over half of the transect points. Variable-Leaf watermilfoil was most commonly found with 78% of the points having an occurrence. Purple bladderwort (Utricularia purpurea), a native species was second most common, occupying 75% of the points. Fanwort(65%) and humped bladderwort (Utricularia gibba, native, 53%) were the other species that occurred on more than 50% of the points. Several native, floating-leaf species were found covering much of the surface south of the island. Plants included watershield (Brasenia schreberi, 30%), yellow water lily (Nuphar variegata, 7%), and white water lily (Nymphaea odorata, 43%). Overall, Mono Pond was found to have high, abundant, vegetation growth.
| Species recorded in our 2012 survey of Mono Pond. Scientific Names *Invasive Species |
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| Brazilian waterweed* | Purple bladderwort | Variable-Leaf watermilfoil* |
| Common bladderwort | Ribbon-Leaf pondweed | Watershield |
| Fanwort* | Snailseed pondweed | Western waterweed |
| Floating bladderwort | Spikerush | White water lily |
| Humped bladderwort | Spotted pondweed | Yellow water lily |