Common duckweed

Ducks and other waterfowl eat this very common species. It is also popular with fish, tadpoles, beavers, racoons and muskrats. By forming an opaque screen on the surface, common duckweed has a significant impact on the flora and fauna in these habitats, in that it limits the amount of light that filters through. Dense colonies inhibit the growth of mosquitoes, for instance, by preventing the larvae from breathing at the surface. A few specimens of great duckweed are often found amongst colonies of common duckweed.