Ohio Vernal Pool Partnership - Creature Feature

Vernal Pool Facts .:·

Vernal pool conservation in Ohio

Ohio has lost over 90% of its original wetlands over the past several centuries.

Ninety-five percent of Ohio used to be covered by forests. Forest cover dropped to just 10% in the early 1900's. Currently, 30% of the state is forested, mostly in the hill country.

Over 90% of all trees in Ohio are on private land, and therefore private landowners are a critical component of our effort to save vernal pool habitats.

Some woodlots in agricultural areas were spared because they were too wet to farm. These will be key areas to locate and protect before they are impacted through urban development.

Salamanders and frogs breeding in vernal pools need the surrounding forest to survive. Most of them use an area up to 200 meters from the pond as feeding and overwintering grounds, and for this reason forest and wetland protection need to be integrated.

The distribution of species adapted to vernal pools, such as wood frogs and spotted salamanders, has decreased recently in agricultural and urban areas. It could be only a matter of time before many denizens of vernal pools are on the Ohio endangered species list.

Creature Feature

Spotted Salamander (Ambystoma maculatum)
by Wetlands Education Team

The Spotted Salamander is a member of the mole salamander family. Mole salamanders have well developed lungs. Other members of the family are the Jefferson ’s and tiger salamanders. The Spotted Salamander grows to about 6” long, and is black in color. It has yellow and orange spots on its body. It can live for 20 years. The most interesting part of the Spotted Salamander’s lifecycle is its breeding pattern.

During March and April, Spotted Salamanders return to the vernal pool where they were born and lay up to 100 eggs, on a leaf or underwater stick. Water is absorbed by the eggs, until they reach about the size of a fist. The larvae hatch in 4 to 7 weeks, and spend the next 2 to 4 months in the vernal pools becoming land living adults. As adults, they live in moist woodlands and can be found under rocks and near swamps, ponds and creeks. They eat insects, earthworms and, they love to eat mosquito larvae, and thus help with insect control.

Vernal pools are small wetlands that dry up at least part of the year. Spotted Salamanders can thrive in vernal pools because fish cannot live there.

Spotted Salamanders have been observed everywhere in Ohio except a small bluegrass area in Ohio in Adams County where soil and bedrock conditions do not allow them to survive.

If you see a vernal pool near you, take a few minutes to study the diverse life that lives there. There is a whole world to discover! Never fill a vernal pool in with dirt. Many salamanders return to the same pool where they were born to lay their eggs.

This information has been provided by the Wetlands Education Team (WET), students from West Geauga Local Schools working to preserve wetlands in Ohio. WET is advocating to have the Spotted Salamander designated as Ohio’s state amphibian.

Watch the Spotted Salamander in action.

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http://OVPP.org/education.html