Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Listen and Look for A Vernal Pool Near You

Looking for nature close to home any time of year is restful, not to time-consuming, and a great way to spend time with a friend, your child, or alone. Mid-march is a perfect time to look for a vernal pool. The Connecticut Audubon Society tells us, "You may have a vernal pool in your backyard! In early March, listen for the quacking call of wood frogs arriving at the vernal pool. On the first warm, rainy nights you might find a parade of spotted salamanders risking exposure to predators and traffic as they make their way to their breeding pools. Vernal pools are small, temporary bodies of water that are critical breeding habitat for many amphibian neighbors that need our protection."

Sunday, March 22, 2009

Why Save the Caddisfly?

Maybe it is the ephemeral nature of a vernal pool that makes it seem less important than a permanent habitat. However, without these small bodies of water that appear in mid-March to late April and disappear in the warmer months maintaining over 100 species including the more well-known tree frog, spotted salamander, caddisfly, fairy shrimp, and bog turtle who need an aquatic environment to spawn would disappear permanently and as quickly as these ponds dry up. This list of inhabitants who use the pool is a long one; some use it for every portion of their life cycle; others depend on it for specific times.
Some of these species are cute and attractive such as the tree frog and salamander. Others, like the caddisfly, "the underwater architects", according to Glenn Wiggins; are intimating, night flying nuisances- unless you are a fly fisherman, that is. For this sportsman knows caddisflies are a trout's favorite and essential meal. There is a plethora of information explaining how caddisflies catch trout. However, finding juvenile literature for children about the caddisfly is difficult, if not impossible. Unlike its cousin, the beautiful butterfly, who also spins a silk cocoon, this simple moth which carries his wings over his back like a tent, has a hardiness instead of beauty. It is this endurance that explains why ecologists often study this aquatic invertebrate? It's absence is a harbinger of a deteriorating environment, particularly the vernal pool which supports so much biological diversity. Unlike the mayfly which cannot eat or drink, the hardy caddisfly tolerates more pollution. Therefore, if this insect disappears, there is good reason to suspect toxins in the water.

Do You Know?

Caddisflies are called architects because, ..."some species of caddisflies are even known to incorporate tiny pieces of translucent quartz, believed to serve as a window allowing the resident
larvae to monitor daylight."
Mary Garvin and J.P. Lieser Life In the Water: Aquatic Vertabrates (online)








Saturday, March 21, 2009

Vernal Pool

It seems that not too long ago, we referred to a wet, sloppy area surrounded by forest, as wetlands. In our ever growing environmentally conscious society hard fast laws started to protect this valuable habitat. Recently, new, more precise language describes these temporary breeding grounds. The vernal pool is not only important to our ecosystem but a great place to explore with children. We will be following a vernal pool in Connecticut that is just about to wake up. To see a time lapse of a vernal pool waking up in Massachusetts visit You Tube.Today, it is still covered with a thin layer of ice, but there is much going on below the surface. Watching this awakening with a child can be exciting and meaningful. Teaching respect for the fragility of the pool and its residents and watching new life emerge will be priceless moments for you and the young mind nature is nurturing.
How do you observe without disturbing this cycle is the first lesson. Gathering some facts before visiting is a good way to start.
Playing detective to learn who lives here brings mystery into this expedition.


Read More About It:
Frog Heaven: Ecology of a Vernal Pool
by Doug Wechsler;
ages 9-12.

The Night of the Spadefoot Toad
by Bill Harley; fiction for young adult

There will be much more on vernal pools in the coming blogs. After all, vernalis is the Latin for spring. From mid-March to late April the vernal pool becomes the home of many animals that need its water to keep its species alive.