May, 29th 2024| Issue 12

Happy (end of) Spring! This issue of the Pool Report, brought to you by the Michigan Vernal Pools Partnership, is a summary and celebration of all the excellent conservation work that occurred over this past season. 

We kicked off vernal pool season on March 1st, with the anniversary of Ephemeral, and as it turns out; the timing was apt. Around the same time, murmurings of the first amphibian emergence began in southern Michigan. As early as February 28th, salamanders were on the move. 

You may have noticed that spring seemed relatively early this year. Due to changes in climate and El Niño, some parts of Michigan experienced record high temperatures in the month of March. What does this mean for the species that rely on vernal pools and for the systems themselves?

Recording and submitting observations of species presence (or absence!) and collecting data from your local vernal pool is an important part of in helping scientists answer this question. The contribution of community scientists in helping researchers to study and better understand the potential impacts of our changing climate cannot be overstated!

This issue is dedicated to our amazing partners, program coordinators, and Pool Patrollers who help improve our understanding of these fascinating and critical ecosystems!

Field Training Effort. In total, over 280 citizen scientists were trained in the field by Michigan Natural Features Inventory and 16 program coordinators across 12 counties in Michigan. 

Outreach Effort.  Partner organizations hosted a total of 34 outreach programs across the season. This includes presentations, vernal pool explorations, and guided vernal pool monitoring visits. Across all these efforts, over 537 folks were engaged in vernal pool ecology and conservation. 

Education Effort. Vernal pools are an excellent opportunity to engage students with hands on ecology and conservation. Partners at Newaygo County Environmental Coalition, Chippewa Watershed Conservancy, and Michigan Nature Association presented to school groups; Stony Creek Metropark worked with Girl Scouts to earn a "Vernal Pool Patch"; and Michigan Sea Grant worked with three teachers & experts to develop data-driven lesson plans for the classroom. In total, approximately 300 students were reached. 

In total, over 1,060 individuals were engaged across the season. A big thank you to all our partners for a successful outreach and training effort! 

Man, those Pool Patrollers were busy! Here is a summary from the Michigan Vernal Pool Database of the  spring monitoring effort so far.

This effort occured across 44 Michigan counties and there were over 150 volunteers surveying so far this year. 

The mission of the Michigan Vernal Pools Partnership is to increase awareness, understanding and protection of vernal pools through conservation, research & mapping, education & outreach and collaboration.                                     

The Vernal Pool Patrol is a community science and place-based vernal pool mapping, monitoring, and education program consisting of classroom instruction and data collection in the field. Members learn how to follow a standard protocol to help identify, map, and monitor locations of vernal pools within their local communities.