Today was “Vernal Pool Training Day”
This morning I went to the Blue Hills for training in how to certify a vernal pool. It included information on the certification process, as well as information about the species that are Obligate or Facultative. {What is it about people that they feel a great need to use big words?}
Bottom line, Facultative species use vernal pools, but can get by without them, but an Obligate species is one that requires a vernal pool in order to survive and reproduce. So, if you find a Facultative species it might be a vernal pool. If you find an Obligate species, bingo, it is a certifiable “vernal pool.”
Which species require a vernal pool? Wood frogs; spotted, blue-spotted, Jefferson, and marbled salamanders; and fairy shrimp.
Wood frogs. These are a tan to brownish frog, with a black mask across their eyes.
The ‘spotted salamander’ has two rows of large yellow spots down it’s back, while the ‘blue-spotted’ salamander has lots of blue spots. The marbled salamander has white or grayish markings which may be like dots, or connect to form bars across it’s back. The Jefferson salamander, which mostly occurs in mid to western Mass, is a chocolate brown to gray color.
Fairy shrimp are small, ½ to 1½” long. They are orange to green crustaceans that live only in vernal pools. The interesting thing about these shrimp is that the eggs must dry, then be re-submerged to hatch. They can sit dormant and dry for up to 30 years, then hatch when immersed in water.
There is a process of observing these species in a pool, documenting their presence, and getting the vernal pool certified. Once certified as a vernal pool, the pool has some protections under Massachusetts law, which helps preserve them from damage. This in turn helps assure that these species can continue to live and breed within Massachusetts.
This certification of vernal pools is important, both in areas subject to development and areas we consider ‘safe’, such as our state parks. Within the Blue Hills documenting the vernal pools helps protect the park from development. While we don’t normally think of our state parks as sights for development, in fact the Blue Hills is currently fighting a battle with a developer who wants to use some of it’s land for a parking lot. Thus, certifying vernal pools, even within our state parks, is an important way to protect these special breeding places.
In March and April I’ll be going out in the Blue Hills and Cutler Park to help certify their vernal pools. More on those ‘field trips’ later.
