Why should I protect vernal pools and their surrounding habitat?

Although vernal pools are typically small and only temporarily filled with water in the spring and fall, they provide important breeding habitat for many amphibians and invertebrates. This is because they are relatively isolated from streams and subject to periodic drying and therefore lack fish and breeding populations of predaceous frogs like Green and Bull Frogs.

Some species, like Wood Frogs, Spotted and Blue-spotted Salamanders, Four-toed Salamanders, and fairy shrimp, are dependent on vernal pools for higher rates of breeding success compared with permanent waters. Amphibians will return to breed in the pool where they hatched, making long-term protection of these pools critical. Other amphibians, like Spring Peepers and American Toads, use vernal pools for breeding and many other species use them for resting and feeding—from Gray Treefrogs, to garter snakes, Great Blue Herons, raccoons, and even moose. Several protected and rare species also rely on vernal pools for feeding, breeding, and hibernating such as Blanding’s Turtle, Spotted Turtle, Ringed Boghaunter dragonfly, and Eastern Ribbon Snake.

The surrounding forest is also critically important for vernal pool species. After breedings, frogs and salamanders travel into the forest where they spend most of their lives and depend on that habitat for food, safety from predators, and places to hibernate. As invertebrates and amphibians hatch from the pools and move into the forest, they also serve as important food sources for a variety of forest wildlife.