I walk my dog around oversized "ponds", clay pits, which have been untouched for decades and they are fine, with clear water and all manner of wildlife enjoying life in them. Despite the occasional tree trunk etc. falling into them, millions of leaves must also fall into them each year. There is a thriving fish population as well.
Scale changes everything. A big pond can cope with leaves, a small pond can be overwhelmed. Anaerobic conditions can exist for years at the bottom of a big pond, but would cause problems in a small one. Not than anareobic conditions are bad, peat bogs would be nothing without it.
location: Surrey Hills, England, ex-woodland acidic sand. "Have nothing in your garden that you don't know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."
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"Have nothing in your garden that you don't know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."