Periodic water – puddles

Some human activities, such as agriculture, tourism and building industry, devastate the landscape. On the other hand, for example the timber harvesting often leaves depressions, thus giving a chance for new water areas to create.

The formation of periodic water is heavily dependent on the total of rainfalls and their re-evaporation. They form mainly during the wet season, with minimum weather conditions. Another factor for the formation of such water is the shape of the place where the rain falls.

Empty reservoirs, cracks in the rocks and depressions can often serve for formation of periodic water. Phytotelmata formed in in axils and leaf rosettes are dependent on vegetation age. It will also depend on the shape of the leaf, its thickness and the distance from the axil.

The season affects the formation of periodic water, which is most often formed in the spring after the thaw, or in the summer and autumn during more frequent rainfalls. Latitude or altitude then plays its role mainly with regard to the amount of rainfall and melt of snow and glaciers. The surrounding and local vegetation is also involved in the ability to take and retain the water.

The advantage of puddles (small water areas) is the possibility to be formed easily. Almost anybody is capable of digging out a small shallow puddle using a spade in quite short time. In addition, the puddle can be created almost everywhere in the landscape, since it almost never harms any habitat due to its size.