Home About The Proposed Development Negative Impact On Our Community How You Can Help "In The News" Town Officials Vernal Pool Information About Us Contact Information **Online Petition**   ***UPDATE*** DENIED! On February 2, Fairfield's Conservation Commission voted unanimously to deny the BRCC development application... More details coming soon. Thank you to all who have supported PUBRock's efforts in this fight.   Please check back as we add information regularly. Last updated on 1/26/06	VERNAL POOL INFORMATION What Are Vernal Pools? Vernal pools are temporary bodies of fresh water lacking a permanent above ground outlet. "Vernal" means spring, and many vernal pools are indeed filled by spring rains and melted snow, only to dry up during the hot, dry months of summer. However, many vernal pools are filled by the rains of autumn and may persist throughout the winter. Below are views of the same pool at three different times of the year: Why Are Vernal Pools Valuable? Vernal pools constitute a unique and increasingly vulnerable type of wetland in New England. Vernal pools are inhabited by many species of wildlife, some of which are totally dependent upon the pools for their survival. These species (called the "obligate" vernal pool species because they must use a vernal pool for various parts of their life cycle) include: the wood frog, the eastern spade foot toad, fairy shrimp and local species of mole salamander. These animals have evolved breeding strategies intolerant of fish preditation on their eggs and larvae; therefore, the lack of fish population is essential to their breeding success. If the obligate species are using a body of water as their habitat, then that water is a vernal pool. Vernal pools do not support fish because they dry out annually, or at least periodically. Some may contain water year-round, but are free of fish as a result of significant draw-downs that result in extremely low dissolved oxygen levels. Vernal pools are also an important habitat resource for many birds, mammals, reptiles and amphibians, including many state-listed rare species. Sensitivity of Area Surrounding Vernal Pools Vernal pool obligate species rely on both vernal pools as well as surrounding upland habitat for their survival. They spend about 11 out of 12 months each year in the woodland areas around their pools. As a result, conserving not only the pool itself, but the upland area around the pool is necessary for protecting these species. In extreme cases, vernal pool amphibians have disappeared from pools after the surrounding uplands were altered, even though the pool and a forested buffer were protected. In fact, BRCC's own environmental expert, Michael Klemens, PhD, has stated that ".the bulk of habitat that needs to be protected in a vernal pool ecosystem is upland and may be easily 10 to 20 times larger than the pool itself." This upland environment around the pool must, therefore, be considered an integral part of the vernal pool habitat. The Vernal Pool on the BRCC Site of Proposed Development It is important to note that, BRCC's own environmental expert, Michael Klemens, PhD, shows the vernal pool on BRCC's property to be a "Tier One" vernal pool according to his own published document (Calhoun and Klemens 2002) on how to assess such pools. A "Tier One" vernal pool is a pool of the highest conservation value. It deserves therefore the highest level of protection to ensure its viability in the long term with any proposed development. The proposed BRCC development will destroy a very large portion of wooded upland habitat adjacent to this vernal pool, putting the health of the pool and its inhabitants at great risk. References and Links for More Information Calhoun, A.J.K. and M.W. Klemens, 2002. Best development practices: Conserving pool-breeding amphibians in residential and commercial developments in the northeastern United States. MCA Technical Paper No. 5. http://www.vernalpool.org/vpinfo_1.htm http://www.umainetoday.umaine.edu/Issues/v2i5/reflections.html http://www.sover.net/~mpbodin/salamanders.htm
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