Isolated wetlands

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Citizen Science
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Volunteer measuring a raft of wood frog egg
masses to estimate egg numbers
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Field Assessments using State data sheets

• Hydrologic Setting
• Inlets or outlets
• Egg Mass Counts
• Presence of Rare, Threatened, or Endangered
  Species
• Condition of land around the pool

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Vernal Pool Setting Categories(listed on the
MDIFW datasheet)

• Isolated upland depression
• Floodplain depression
• Part of a larger wetland complex

(Examples of each follow)
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Isolated Upland Depressions
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Floodplain Depression
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Part of a larger wetland complex
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Vernal pools are NOT

• Beaver flowages
• Roadside ditches
• Artificial farm ponds

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Fairy Shrimp
Blue-spotted Salamander
Spotted Salamander
Wood Frog
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Photo Judy Semroc
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Wood FrogRana sylvatica

• Breeds late March to early May (south to north)
  over a 2-week period
• Majority return to breed in pool they hatched
  from
• Explosive breeders
• Live 3-5 years (breed second year)
• Emerge as young frogs (metamorphs) July and
  August
• Most northern frog species in NA
• Only masked frog in New England

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Eggs
Tadpole
Aquatic
65-130 days
Terrestrial
2-5 years
Juvenile
Adult
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Wood frog egg masses

• Communal breeders egg masses tend to be in
  larger groups or rafts
• Eggs attached to shrubs or other vegetation
• Eggs generally close to surface of water
• Eggs appear lumpy like tapioca
• Each female lays one egg mass (700-1000 eggs)

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Spotted salamander(Ambystoma maculatum)

• Breed April-May over 6 wk period
• Dont breed every year
• Survey for egg masses at least 2 weeks later than
  peak wood frog breeding
• Majority return to pool they hatched in to breed
• Emerge from late July-September
• Live 10-20 years
• Only make a sound if you step on them

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Breeding congress
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Salamander spermatophore or sperm packet
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Female laying eggs on last years grasses
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Spotted Salamander Egg Masses

• Layed over a period of 4-6 weeks
• One animal may lay up to 3 masses (from 20-100
  eggs)
• May be in groups or scattered around a pool
• Tend to be deeper than the wood frog masses
• May have caddisflies eating them

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Clear, cloudy, or green
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Inner jelly coat
Outer jelly coat
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Wood Frog
Spotted Salamander
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Blue-spotted salamander(Ambystoma laterale
hybrids)

• Breeding time and development similar to spotted
  salamanders
• Tend to breed in pools with lower populations of
  wood frogs and spotted salamanders
• Very variable in coloring and size because of
  breeding with Jefferson Salmanders

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Blue spotted egg masses

• Jelly very loose--can poke finger through it
• Can be single egg on leaf litter or up to 10 eggs
• Hard to see in water may have to lift sticks
  gently
• Often have lots of white, infertile eggs if they
  are a blue-spot hybrid

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Often beaded along sticks in small clusters or
singly
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Single egg
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Eggs may be deposited one by one on submerged
leaf litter
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Blue spotted metamorphs
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Acknowledgments(research and photography)

• Robert F. Baldwin
• Sean Blomquist
• Greg Blomquist
• Megan K. Gahl
• Malcolm L. Hunter
• Michael Klemens
• Dawn E. Morgan
• Damon Oscarson
• Tracy Rittenhause
• Judy Semroc
• Amanda Shearin
• Tom Tyning
• Daniel Vasconcelos