For Vernal Pools? | Rainfall to Groundwater

What does Rainfall to Groundwater offer for vernal pools?

Margaret Mantor; California Department of Fish and Wildlife from Sacramento, CA, USA, California Tiger Salamander (CTS) (21227091306), CC BY 2.0

California tiger salamander (Ambystoma californiense) population segments were federally listed as threatened and endangered early this millennium.

The species is restricted to grasslands and low foothills with pools or ponds that are necessary for breeding.

Natural breeding areas, mostly vernal pools (a seasonal body of standing water), are being destroyed. Ranch stock ponds that are allowed to go dry help take the place of vernal pools for breeding. We are working with ranchers to preserve rangeland. (U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service 2017)

Bill Stagnaro, Ambystoma californiense, CC BY-SA 3.0

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By Clecker John, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Robert Fletcher, Ohlone Preserve Conservation Bank / USFWS Endangered Species, California Tiger Salamander (Ambystoma californiense), CC BY 2.0

What may we glean from the pattern that many remaining California tiger salamander populations rely on artificial stock ponds to complete their reproductive cycle?

Perhaps that these prehistoric landscapes detained seasonal moisture much later into the dry season than do our existing rangelands?

Is this not yet another hint at the cumulative extent of degradation of watershed/ catchment detention functions through historical land uses?

Tadpoles of Spea hammondii in a vernal pool on Carmel Mountain in San Diego, California, 19 February 2010 by Stickpen (Own work) [Public domain], via Wikimedia CommonsH

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Restoring degraded detention storage functions on rangelands for groundwater recharge will simultaneously support restoration of the natural vernal pool habitats California tiger salamander requires, while offering benefits for less demanding amphibians like western spadefoot (Spea hammondii), as well as for floral and general faunal diversity.

Some Groundwater Sustainability Agencies and perhaps other agencies/ organizations may be incentivized to spatially prioritize watershed restoration to enhance existing habitats for California tiger salamander and other vernal pool species while they’re at it.

Vernal pool fairy shrimp swim through the waters of an ephemeral pond Feb. 13 2017 at Travis Air Force Base, Calif. By Heide Couch [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Bright red diaptomus copepods swim in a vernal pool Feb. 13, 2017 at Travis Air Force Base, Calif. By Heide Couch [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Pogogyne douglasii in the vernal pool at the UC Botanical Garden, Berkeley, California, By Stickpen (Own work) [CC0], via Wikimedia Commons

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More Info:

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. (Undated). California Tiger Salamander Ambystoma californiense: FWS Focus. Sacramento Fish and Wildlife Office. https://www.fws.gov/species/california-tiger-salamander-ambystoma-californiense

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 2009. Species Account: California Tiger Salamander Ambystoma californiense. Sacramento Fish and Wildlife Office. https://www.fws.gov/sites/default/files/documents/4-Appendix-A-Species-Accounts-508.pdf

Page created 2018; URLs updated June 29, 2025

Super chris, Santarosapond, CC BY 3.0 A large vernal pool at Santa Rosa Plateau. This pool is near the western-most entrance of the reserve.