Thanks to HCT volunteers and AmeriCorps, 35 vernal pools
have been discovered and certified across Harwich. Before
the volunteer discoveries, only 5 vernal pools were certified
in town. The total number of certified pools is now 40, an
eight-fold increase in three years!
Vernal pools are unique wildlife habitats best known for the
amphibians and invertebrate animals that depend on them to
breed. Also known as ephemeral pools, vernal pools typically
fill with water in the autumn or winter due to rising ground
water as well as rainfall. Water remains through the spring
into early summer but often dries completely by the middle
or end of summer each year, or at least every few years. Occasional
drying prevents fish from establishing permanent populations,
which is critical for several amphibian and invertebrate species
whose eggs would otherwise be eaten by fish.
Other than breeding on a rainy spring night and occasional
nocturnal feeding, spotted salamanders typically spend the
rest of the year burrowed in the surrounding upland, sometimes
as far as a half-mile from a vernal pool. Though the timing
of spotted salamander migration is challenging to predict,
the first rainy spring night above forty degrees typically
encourages egg-laying in vernal pools.
When certified, these fragile habitats are better protected
because of HCT volunteers.
