Credits

Created by Kerry Skiff, Explore Natural Communities Intern Summer 2017, NatureServe.

Sounds: Insects and frog recorded by Explore Natural Communities Interns 2017, NatureServe. Licensed under Creative Commons: Attribution 4.0.

Music: Adventure Darling, by Gillicuddy (freemusicarchive.org). Licensed under Creative Commons: Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0.

Photo: Frog in Pool, by Kerry Skiff, courtesy of NatureServe. Licensed under Creative Commons: Attribution 4.0.

References:
Vernal Pool Conservation and Management

Transcript

Podcast time: 2:46 minutes

[music and nature sounds start] While many natural habitats are visible all year, some exist only for a short time. In a way, it’s like the state fair, which only comes around once a year. While it lasts, it's a hive of activity with wonderful things to see, snacks to eat, and games to play. Then, it's gone. Nature has its own seasonal "fairs." These temporary, or ephemeral, habitats include seasonal wetlands, creeks, and pools.

Ephemeral habitats provide an important service to many plant and animal species. They are a place for amphibians and invertebrates to breed and lay eggs, a feeding spot for predators, and a great location for flowers to deposit seeds.

Perhaps the easiest type of ephemeral habitat to recognize is a vernal pool, which means "springtime pool." When snow melts and rain falls, small, shallow bodies of water form within sunken pockets of earth. These pools are fed by groundwater, and they catch water and sediment from spring rains, helping to prevent flooding and erosion. They also host plants that filter pollutants out of the water.

While vernal pools last, they attract frogs, salamanders, turtles, and a host of insects. These critters set up shop, lay their eggs, and enjoy the cool moisture of the water, where hungry fish can't live.

However, predators like snakes, birds, bats, and bears love vernal pools because they provide a good snack. The water is teeming with insects and young amphibians such as tadpoles. It's able to serve as a reliable source of food, at least for a little while. But when the pool dries up, it's time to look elsewhere. 

As spring turns into summer and the sun grows hotter, vernal pools begin to evaporate. Amphibians find another home, predators look for new food sources, and flowers disappear into the drying earth. Things start to look pretty barren when the moisture disappears, but there's a good purpose for this. The dried pool is still a habitat, but now it's resting and dormant. The cracked mud holds the seeds of plants and the hard-shelled winter eggs of invertebrates that need a period of drying before germinating or hatching.

Just like the return of the state fair with its many exhibits and food, vernal pools draw in the animals year after year. Look for them when the snow melts and spring rains return, and everything begins again.

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