PROJECT OBJECTIVES The objective of the vernal pool survey project is to determine vernal habitat presence at 24 NJARNG sites. It is also a part of the project to map these vernal pool locations as well. This survey also helped develop survey plans for the pine barren tree frog survey project.
THEORETICAL BACKGROUND & PROJECT RATIONALE Vernal pools are confined wetland depressions which can be either natural or man-made. They hold water for at least 3 consecutive months out of the year and completely lack breeding fish. Vernal pools become seasonally flooded and annually dry up and are not in contact with stream systems. Vernal pools get their water from rain and are filled with water in late fall and remain wet until mid-summer before drying up. These habitats provide habitat for many species such as amphibians, insects, reptiles, and plants including some endangered species. The interns were tasked with mapping the potential presence of vernal pool habitats on and adjacent to the 24 NJARNG sites. To be considered a vernal pond habitat, the area must satisfy the four criteria that define a vernal pool, must be in a depression, features evidence of breeding, maintains water for at least two months, and is fish free.
The goal of this project was to locate and document vernal ponds at 24 NJDMAVA owned properties. Vernal ponds are unique breeding habitats for a variety of reptile, amphibian, plant, and insect species, many of which have state and/or federal protections. Following NJDEP guidelines, interns designed a formal survey plan (See Vernal Pool Survey Plan). Initial reconnaissance surveys began in April to identify which sites may contain potential vernal ponds (pvps). In total, 73 pvps were identified during this initial survey effort. As stated above, to be considered a vernal pond, the pond must retain water for a minimum of 3 months during the summer months. Therefore, all pvps were revisited periodically throughout the summer to confirm that they retained water.
Intern Alexandria Petrosh successfully completed the 2019 Vernal Pond Report including results summaries from the 2019 vernal pond surveys, survey methods, conservation recommendations, photographs, and maps. As stated in the report, the interns located and monitored a total of 73 potential vernal ponds over a 5-month period resulting in the identification of 9 previously unknown vernal ponds at NJDMAVA properties. Records for these 9 vernal ponds were submitted to the NJDEP. All new vernal ponds were added to the appropriate feature class in the environmental geodatabase. DELIVERABLES