Vernal pool research is fascinating

We are participating in a research project through UMaine and the Maine Audubon to map vernal pools in the state and it's been a great experience for the kids as well as for me. We've never done anything like this previously and although there's a learning curve, we're really enjoying it.

The Vernal Pool Project received a TogetherGreen Innovation Grant for 11 communities around the state to map locations of vernal pools utilizing citizen research volunteers.

Vernal pools are basically depressions in the ground that fill will water in the early spring. They do not stay wet all year; they usually dry up by mid-summer. Because the pool is not full year-round, it can not support fish and that makes it conducive to certain species that do not require year-round water and would not survive if there was a fish population.

The interesting thing about vernal pools is that they are identified, not by geological indicators (although there are some clear signs to identify the possibility of one), but by the species living in the pool of water.

At the training class I attended, I was given a primer about vernal pools. Here's an excerpt:

Vernal pools are the only wetland in Maine defined primarily by what breeds are in them rather than by vegetation type (e.g., marshes, swamps, etc.). Pools must be free of permanent fish populations, so this excludes permanent ponds, streams, and beaver flowages. Naturally occurring, temporary to semi-permanent pools occurring in shallow depressions in forested landscapes. Vernal pools provide the primary breeding habitat for wood frogs, blue-spotted, spotted salamanders and fairy shrimp and provide habitat for other wildlife including several endangered and threatened species. This is the general vernal pool definition used by regulatory agencies in Maine. Pools were defined as "naturally occurring" so that ruts, farm ponds, recent gravel pits and roadside ditches would not be considered vernal pools. Amphibians will lay their eggs in some of these human-made wetlands, but they are not the primary breeding habitat.

So with a lot of information thrown at the room full of citizen researchers (i.e., the many volunteers of all ages who signed up to help with the project) during the lecture part of the training, we went out to an actual vernal pool to get the hands-on part of our lesson.

At this time of year, particularly this week and next in southern Maine, vernal pools will have egg masses for both wood frogs (an indicator species) as well as spotted-salamander (another indicator species).

During the class we found both "cloudy" and "clear" salamander eggs masses as well as wood frog masses.

Wood frog egg mass

Getting out in to the pool to see these egg masses was fascinating but had me questioning whether or not my family could actually do this sort of identification and research on our own.

But we were up to giving this a whirl and took two possible vernal pool (pvp) maps (researchers used high res mapping information to identify possible locations then the volunteers go out to those locations to confirm whether it is vernal pool or something else) to see if we could identify a vernal pool.

It turned out that the first pvp we went to was not actually a vernal pool but rather a wetlands area (which has it's own unique habitat for other important species). But being newbies at this sort of thing the girls and I made multiple circuits around the body of water and made a list of all the characteristics of the area so we could follow up with one of the UMaine researchers who taught the class to confirm/deny our findings.

The researcher confirmed that we were in fact correct in our identification that this was not a vernal pool. Our list of indicators from that location included:

* no sign of egg masses around the edges and after wading in to knee deep, no indication of branches and/or egg masses closer to center of pool 

* grassy bottom and around edges, very few trees surrounding water (only about 1/4 of pool had trees close to edge) * the water was quite deep 

* tons of cattails around the water and in it 

* the girls thought the water "smelled like a fart" 

* land owners said there was water in this pool year-round

The kids were bummed our first location was not a vernal pool so we set out with our other map for the next pvp. That too prompted a list of indicators to confirm it was not a vernal pool.

* no sign of any egg masses after a complete circuit of the pool 

* bottom of water is very sink-able and unstable to walk on 

* a large amount of green algae that we confirmed were not egg masses 

* area appeared to be wetlands 

* pvp was connected to a slow moving stream of water through a large opening in the pvp 

* landowner confirmed that there is water in location year-round

After the second bust I decided to take the girls to the vernal pool I had been to with the training class.

L. spotted the egg masses floating just below the surface of the water which confirmed this as a vernal Pool. Other indicators for this pool included a heavily forested area and the bottom of the pool was stable (i.e., we could walk in the water without our boots sinking in to muck).

If this were one of our pvp map locations, the next part of the research would have been to count how many egg masses we found in the pool and record them on our official Project Data Forms. Since we were not technically assigned to this place, we just did a bit of counting so the girls could get the hang of it.

L. was a little nervous sticking her hand in the water to touch all the slime (the jelly-like substance helps protect the growing eggs but it takes some getting used to handling it) but she got over that pretty quickly thanks to my white MaineToday frisbee, which we used it to gently scoop up egg masses as the UMaine researcher suggested and it worked great.

G. was our research photographer (i.e., she wasn't so keen on sticking her hands in the water) and took some nice shots at the vernal pool, including this one of the wood frog egg masses at the surface of the water.

We're hoping to get a couple more pvp maps this week in hopes we find another vernal pool to identify. The kids are really enjoying this real-life scientific research and they are thinking that environmental science is both interesting and not as intimidating as they once believed (and I concur). I'm not sure either of the girls will pursue a degree in an environmental science but this sure has got them thinking that science "in the field" is a whole lot of fun, with the added bonus of knowing that volunteering in your community can truly be helpful in protecting habitats.

Our field work at the identified vernal pool



If you want to learn more about this project and learn how Maine Audubon and UMaine are working to protect vernal pools in Maine, visit the Vernal Pool Project website.

Oh, and happy Earth Day.