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Vernal pools may hold promise for amphibian survivalOne key to the breeding and survival of frogs, salamanders and other amphibians is the hydrology of vernal pools, the small woodland ponds that become flooded during parts of the year, yet dry out during others. But scientists are uncertain how to predict the timing and average duration of flooding of any given pool without consistently monitoring each site. "The problem is that we have no way of knowing how long a particular pool is flooded just by looking at it," said Frank Golet, a professor of natural resources science at the University of Rhode Island. "When a pool is without surface water, you might not even recognize it as a pool. And people who want to protect vernal pools from human impacts can't afford the time to monitor individual pools for months to find out if they are flooded long enough to provide viable breeding habitat for these species." But a new study hopes to change that. URI graduate student Dennis Skidds and junior Eric Walsh, spent last spring and summer making regular visits to 65 vernal pools in southern Rhode Island to learn what features of the pools - size, depth, vegetation, geology - can be used to predict when and for how long a given pool will be flooded. The objective of this five-year research project is to try to correlate hydroperiod - how long ponds are flooded - with other environmental factors. "Hydroperiod defines whether a pool is going to be a good breeding habitat for certain species," said Skidds. "If land managers have a good idea about how to predict whether a particular pool is a good habitat, they'll know better whether the site should be protected. But past studies have had no predictive value as to how long a pool has standing water." While the student researchers haven't begun to draw conclusions following the first year of field work, Skidds said "it's heartening to see that a good many of the pools we sampled had wood frog populations, because there's been a concern that this population has been going down." Funding for the project was provided in part by a Wald Science Research Grant from The Nature Conservancy. Walsh also received support from the URI Agricultural Experiment Station through the URI Coastal Fellows Program. Now in its sixth year, the Coastal Fellows Program teams students with URI faculty, research staff and graduate students to help undergraduates gain skills in the field. "I learned more this summer than I could ever learn in the classroom," said Walsh, who hopes to become a herpetologist. "It's been a great experience that I'd definitely recommend to other people if they have a chance." Upon graduation, Skidds plans to continue working on habitat conservation, "hopefully for some of the organizations that could use the information we're collecting in this project, like The Nature Conservancy, Audubon Society, or state wildlife agencies." By Todd McLeish |
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