General Information
Gain an understanding of how vernal pools are an important part of a large food chainExplanations of species common to vernal pools Created by Maire Cotter-Brown at Antioch New England Graduate School
For more general information about vernal pools: The Vernal PoolRead the full version of a wonderful article by Leo P. Kenney's, "The Wicked Big Pond".
The vernal pool is dynamic, reflecting the competing lives of millions of organisms. At the same time, it seems to be a placid puddle drying in the intensifying sun of spring and summer. Do we treat the vernal pool as an important component of the upland ecosystem or a waste area to be filled for a tennis court or shopping mall? Do we watch salamanders continue their millennia old march to breeding pools or do we build a road around the pool and decimate the population with road traffic? Do we recognize the diversity of life in these ephemeral wetlands or do we poison them all in an attempt to attain a mosquito-free evening in summer?
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