PPT Slide

Vernal pools

Seasonal fishless ponds

Habitat for obligate invertebrates and larval stage of wood frogs and ambystomatid salamanders

Weaker legal protection than permanent wetlands

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Vernal pools are small, ephemeral ponds that typically dry by mid- to late summer, and are therefore fishless. They provide habitat for a number of obligate invertebrates and vernal-pool breeding amphibians. In Massachusetts, spadefoot toads, wood frogs, and four species of ambystomatid salamanders breed in vernal pools. In this talk, I’ll focus on the salamanders, three of which are state-listed. Vernal pools receive much weaker legal protection than permanent wetlands.