Slides
1a - 6
7 - 14
15 - 22
23 - 30
31 - 38
39 - 46
47 - 54
55 - 62
63 - 70
71 - 78
These pages have 80 slides accompanied by a description. This is not a slide program but rather a collection of slides and information. If you would like to view a slide program assembled from these slides, go to the slide program index.
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7. Undisturbed vernal pool. This uncertified vernal pool has an interesting variety of plants including buttonbush, highbush blueberry and various submergent and emergent species. |
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8. Severely damaged vernal pool. Had the pool been certified, the utility project which disturbed the site could have been better regulated. Today the pool is a shallow cattail marsh with little variation in plant species or water depth. |
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9. Kids certifying. This large vernal pool in a hardwood forest is over 6 feet deep in some areas in spring but completely dry in summer when a woodland road passes through the pool where the students are standing. They are collecting evidence for certification. One person holds a sign for identification. One searches for amphibian egg masses. The third person is recording information about the pool and the surroundings and sketching a map. |
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10. Netting for specimens. After frog or salamander eggs have hatched, the best way to gather evidence of these species is to sweep a 1/4" mesh net through the pool to catch the larvae. Netting will also catch fairy shrimp and the other invertebrates which use vernal pools. |
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11. Forest vernal pool. The vernal pool is the "hatchery of the forest". The leaves from the forest plants provide the energy base of the pool ecosystem. Leaves are the food source for many pool organisms. A person is in the picture for scale and the yellow tag to the left is for identification of the pool. |
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12. Observing eggs in a pool. To find masses of amphibian eggs, one must enter the pool and search for them. The water in early spring is quite cold and may be 3-4 feet deep. Hip boots or chestwaders and a walking stick for balance and safety are essential equipment for exploring vernal pools. |
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13. Collecting evidence in early summer. By late spring and early summer, the water of the vernal pool has warmed and is shallow. Sneakers, water socks, or other foot protection are all that is needed for pool exploration. A 1/4" mesh net will is useful equipment for finding amphibian larvae and various invertebrates. |
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14. Filling a small vernal pool. Small vernal pools outside of a "wetland resource area" are not protected by the Wetlands Protection act even though they may be certified. Local by-laws are needed to protect these pools. Even if pools are not filled by construction projects, the upland habitat around the pool is destroyed as wildlife habitat. |
