NHESP Guidelines for Certification

Documentation Evidence
for Certification by Facultative Species

Facultative vernal pool species are those organisms which require at least two months for development but which use a variety of wetlands, not just vernal pools. If you can show that a potential vernal pool has at least two facultative species and both holds water and is free of fish, you can document it as a vernal pool. Proving that a pool is fish-free is best done with a photograph of a dry pool.

Facultative species for documentation of a vernal pool in Massachusetts would include the following:

Evidence of breeding of these amphibians: spring peeper, gray treefrog, American toad, Fowler's toad, green frog, pickerel frog, leopard frog, four-toed salamander and (either adult or breeding) red-spotted newt.
Presence in standing water of these reptiles: spotted turtle, Blanding's turtle, wood turtle, painted turtle, or snapping turtle.
Presence in the pool of these invertebrates: predaceous diving beetle larvae, water scorpion, dragonfly nymphs, damselfly nymphs, dobsonfly larvae, whirligig beetle larvae, caddisfly larvae, leeches, fingernail clams, air-breathing snails.

Provide the following evidence:
wet pool

Photographs of the pool holding water and the pool dry. If you cannot get a photograph of the pool absolutely dry, then you should provide a photograph of the "almost dry" pool and an affidavit stating that you demonstrated by systematic netting that there were no fish present.

Photographs of two or more of the facultative species.
Any two of the photographs below would be sufficient evidence to show the presence of vernal pool facultative species. Since you might have to remove the animals from the pool for photography, when you annotate the photographs with subject, date, location and sign them, you should also indicate that the subject animal was captured in the pool. These photographs are just samples of some of the facultative animals and life stages you could document.