While doing pond surveys on my work experience, Matt and I arrived at a pond only to find that it was no longer there, leaving only a scattering of leaf litter and various aquatic mosses, surrounded by sedge and other plants. After the hot spring, the shallow woodland pond had dried out, and all of the invertebrates and other organisms had moved to other ponds or died out. Many ponds are temporary and will appear and disappear with the changes in the seasons, and the invertebrates in them, such as Mayflies and Caddisflies will move out to different ponds that are still around at the time, before returning when the pond refills, if it ever does. Such temporary ponds are essential to allow invertebrates and amphibians to thrive, since fish are unable to live there. This means that many species are preserved in such ponds, and the protection of these areas is essential too preserve the diverse ecology in British ponds. Unfortunately, it was not possible to survey this pond while dry, so we took a few photos of the area, and marked it down as dry when visited.