Save Sac Valley Vernal Pools from $$prawl

Imagine a circular field of flowers changing colors as different species enter the ring of evaporating water. Small fairy shrimp hurry through the shallow pool trying to mate and lay eggs deep in the clay bottom before the summer sun bakes these seasonal wetlands til next autumn's rain..

These are the vernal pools of California's Sacramento/San Joaquin Valley, hosting several now endangered and threatened species in their cycles of drought and flooding. The threats to vernal pools in the valley are excessive development, suburban sprawl (office parks, McMansions, etc.) and the Wall-martization of the West..

Shasta county has its own complex of vernal pools on the southeastern and southwestern side of Redding. The differences between the two is mostly soil type and structure of the swale/pool complex, though there are many other differences/similarities..

Real estate moguls and developers have already begun taking their toll on the vernal pool ecosystems, pushing the endangered vernal pool fairy shrimp to the brink of extinction. One recent project is already showing signs of future problems worsening conditions for the vp ecosystem. The "Big League Dreams" (corporation supported by former Republican gubernatorial candidate and career criminal Bill Simon) sportspark that just opened in Redding sits atop former vernal pool habitat, but more importantly is perched on a gradually sloping shelf that leads into the greater Stillwater Plains vernal pool complex. Run-off and flodding from the development site would cause non-point source pollution of the pools..

info from http://www.sacriver.org;

"Jan 30, 2004, Redding Record-Searchlight
The City of Redding has been fined $450,000 by the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board for muddy water that escaped from the Big League Dreams sports park during the 2002-2003 rainy season. Some 7.1 million gallons of silty water had leached into Clover Creek and wetlands near the sports park and the muddy plume stretched nine miles down Clover Creek. The silt possibly hurt salmon spawning in the creek. And sunlight-blocking dirt potentially stunted vernal pool plants that depend on photosynthesis, said state Fish and Game officials."

There were always other options, though this one was the most expensive, making for some wealthy developers. Other options could have been local community support of small neighborhood sports fields accessible to everyone all the time 4 free. This would rehab exsisting parks, possible renovate abandoned sites, leaving the wetlands to exist undisturbed. Community involvement in local parks would get neighbors to talk with one another instead of corporate contracters creating isolation. The initial low price of BLD will likely soon rise as operating costs (lighting, security, etc.) come into play.

This is just one development project that already shows severe impact on the vernal pool ecosystems, there are several other lesser known corporations that seek to fill in the wetland habitat so they can make money off whatever enterprise they are selling. People could choose another option to working in some office that sits atop a former ecosystem rich in life and biodiversity..

Total disrespect for wetlands and the plants and animals that reside there is par for the course in development friendly Redding, where City Council members are also developers (Micheal Pohlmeyer). Growth consists of suburban sprawl as retirees from Orange County move north to escape the smog and sprawl of So-Cal, only to bring the same problems with them as they move into houses with fertilized lawns (and hired mowers), SUVs, fast food outlets and the same continuous consumption habits that cause deforestation, air/water pollution so common in So-Cal..

Canyon Hollow riparian note;

Yep, the sedimentation/runoff from Paul Edgren's blue oak/foothill pine clearcut on the steep erosion prone hillside behind the Country Heights subdivision is noticeable in the creek. There is an increase in sandbars now taking up most of the creek width. Though this is naturally dry season, the effects of debris accumulation on the creek are visible. Maybe the spawning salmon will need to evolve wings and lungs to overcome these man made obstacles..

Maybe before many other species become extinct in the quest for money and power we can learn to live with one another and our cousins in the plant, animal, fungi communities.

Can we learn from the Wintu tribe the benefits of co-existence with the foothill pines, blue oaks, vernal pool wildflowers, fairy shrimp, etc before they all disappear under the bulldozers of development?

Redding/Shasta local ecology info & FNB;

http://latona.us/lsag/html/local_ecology.html

Butte County Vernal Pools;

http://www.becnet.org/vernalpool.html

Sac River Watershed Program;

http://www.sacriver.org/news/index.php?action=ShowArchives&newsperiod=200401

info on Shasta vernal pools;

http://www.google.com/search?q=cache:Dyhb5zA4jQ8J:hartford.lti.cs.cmu.edu/callan/Projects/ERulemaking/Data/USEPA-Docket2002-0050/OW-2002-0050-0081.pdf+vernal+pools+Shasta+swale&hl=en


report (linx above) written before the construction of Big League Dreams sports park..


California Central Valley Vernal Pool Soil Chemistry

This paper focuses on the unique biological and geological values of vernal pools, the seasonal wetlands named after the vernal equinox, when winter rains produce spectacular flowering, and their rapid disappearance from California’s Central Valley. The substrate soils of vernal pools are an important feature of their ecology. There are complex reactions and interacting soil chemicals at work in the pools that are just beginning to be understood by scientists. Many of the plants, of which 11 are endangered, are dependent on the soil’s chemical reactions that occur only in the vernal pools. Over 90 percent of California’s vernal pools have been destroyed by development, what remains is fragile habitat. If vernal pools are lost to development, these valuable organisms will also vanish. Understanding the relationships between the geological formations, soil series, hydrology and landforms that interact and contribute to vernal pool uniqueness is an essential factor for vernal pool conservation. The soil chemistry has a great influence on the plant and animal communities that inhabit the pools and nowhere else. The threats from development and pollution runoff can be avoided if the vernal pool’s geological characteristics are better understood. Vernal pools are unique to California’s Mediterranean climate of hot dry summers and cool wet winters. The winter rains begin to collect above the impermeable clay, silica or volcanic hardpan, providing enough soil moisture for animal eggs to hatch, seeds to sprout and plants to transpire water. During the summer dry season, the plants have gone to seed and must survive the hot dry conditions. Some animals dig their eggs deep into the soil, remaining dormant until the winter rains return. Both dry summers and wet winters are needed for vernal pools ecosystems to exist and maintain their biodiversity. Mediterranean climates are usually found near coastal regions with subtropical sunlight. The combination of features found in the Pacific cause California’s unique climate. The distance inland of the Central Valley greatly raises the average summer temperature; there are no cooling off shore breezes that can make it far enough inland over the Coast Range that separates the Valley from the Pacific. During the summer a dry high pressure region remains over most of California, allowing very little rain to fall as the air cannot get saturated enough for the dew point to get close to the air temp. So the vernal pools remain dry and the bioregion’s organisms have adapted to long periods of dormancy. The first few rains of summer are a welcome relief to the parched Earth, the bioorganisms of the region becomes stimulated into a rapid growing and reproductive season. Since they are dealing with a shortened yearly cycle, the growth must be accelerated. Eventually the water percolates down the dense dry clay and loam soil, reaching the tiny calcified cysts of the vernal pool fairy shrimp (Branchinecta lynchi). These cysts have survived surface temperatures of over 100 degrees Fahrenheit by being safely buried a few inches in the soil, where the soil is a bit cooler. Some of the protozoans can make a cyst, a hard coated shell of lime that protects them from drying out. The cysts usually remain dormant until moisture triggers them to open, followed by a rapid growth period of the emerged larva. Some branchiopod shrimp can reach adult stage in 24 hours. The rapid growth is important because the pools can dry up unexpectedly. This climactic variability also effects the timing at which cysts hatch, so
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they don’t all open at once and then die when the first rainfall is followed by a dry period. Certain cysts will not hatch until they have been wetted and dried numerous times. A researcher (Hildrew) tested some cysts in a wet and dry cycle, with some lasting longer than 9 cycles before hatching. There may be other undetermined cues for hatching, such as pH, salinity, temperature, or oxygen solubility. This evolutionary adaptation to precipitation variability is most noticeable in the branchiopod species of Southern California’s unpredictably moist vernal pools. The size of the pool also determines the species of shrimp found there. Branchinecta conservatio seem adaptable to the larger long term pools that maintain temperature stability, while Branchinecta lynchii is adaptable to smaller pools that warm faster and dry out more frequently during the winter rainy season. To adapt to these conditions B. lynchi has a faster life cycle and is more tolerant of high temps. (Graham, USGS) Hydrologists are still asking questions about the methods by which the pools fill. UC Davis hydrologist Thomas Harter has been studying some of the pool’s hydrology. Harter said, “The questions we are asking include: Are these pools primarily fed by surface runoff or by water flowing into the pools from underground? Are there subsurface connections between some pools? And are there connections between the pools to shallow aquifers or even to the regional water table?” (Wright) The hydrogeological system for classifying wetlands can also be applied to vernal pools, grouped in the depressional wetlands category. Within this category there exist many distinctions based on three main criteria; surface water storage, subsurface water exchange, and surface water conveyance among the surrounding vernal pool swales (connected wetlands). These characteristics vary throughout the rainy season, the initial surface water storage is from direct rainfall and surface runoff in the first part of season, some channel movement through the swales during the middle season, and subsurface water exchange takes over during the late rainy season. Primary water loss from the pools is via evapotranspiration, very little is lost from surface outflow or into the groundwater due to the impermeable hardpan. This results in an accumulation of minerals and salinization. (Butterwick) The impermeable layer of clay hardpan is another needed ingredient in the vernal pool recipe. Some clays are expandable, noticed by cracks during the dry summer when the clay material draws inward to itself, followed by an expansion after winter rains into the solid impermeable hardpan that traps rainwater in the depression, forming the vernal pool. When enough rain has fallen the pool is inundated, and must remain so until the pool’s organisms have completed their accelerated life cycles. There are several different types of hardpan that serve as water catchment basins. Some, especially in the Modoc Plateau, are volcanic material; others are lime and silica flats, or holes in limestone. In most vernal pools the substrate is clay hardpan. These near surface layers of dense waterproof soil eventually sink under the weight of the trapped water, forming a shallow depression that dries every summer and is refilled every fall, winter and spring. Type of hardpan substrate plays a large part in the pH and salt concentration of the water. Some pools have a high pH value and are alkaline; those with a high dissolved salt concentration are saline. The flat terrain of California’s Central Valley is a factor in vernal pool formation, a result of geological forces and plate tectonics. Within the soil there are several chemical reactions taking place as the water enters and saturates the soil and eventually evaporates. Some of the clay hardpan contains
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a large amount of iron (Fe) and manganese (Mn) that is reduced (gains electrons) and oxidized (loses electrons) in cyclic harmony with the seasons. This is due to the cycles of rain causing saturated soil with little or no oxygen present (anaerobic), causing bacteria to substitute iron ions Fe3+ as electron acceptors, reducing them to Fe2+. The Fe2+ is more soluble and can dissolve in water, sometimes accumulating on the bottom of the hardpan basin, becoming available for plant absorption. The greater availability of iron cation concentrations are needed by native plants like Limnanthes floccosa, yet discourages other plants from growing in vernal pools. (Hobson and Dahlgren) Some reduction reactions consume H+ ions that results in raising the pH of the water. During the summer the lack of water returns iron ions to their oxidized state by giving off an electron. The soil once again shows the reddish hued Fe3+ ion. The oxidation reaction frees H+ protons, contributing to more acidic water with lower pH values. The cycle is regulated by aerobic microbes that consume the oxygen, and then replaced by anaerobic microbes that donate electrons and reduce the iron or Mn. The difference between Fe and Mn being reduced is termed redox potential, a type of electric energy potential measured in volts. The anaerobes most often reduce Fe, substituting Mn when Fe is less available. The organic matter is oxidized, donating electrons thereby reducing the positively charged metal cations in the soil, causing the soil’s redox potential to lower. This cyclic process of iron reduction and oxidation is called ferrolysis (iron splitting) and results in mineral weathering. The soil chemistry and redox cycle is unique to the vernal pool ecosystem type, there areseveral different geomorphologies and soil series in vernal pools throughout the Central Valley. (Hobson and Dahlgren) A system of classification is needed to better understand the complexities of vernal pool soils and hardpan substrates. The percentage of elements and chemical compounds present in the pools will greatly influence the plant community member species. Throughout California’s Central Valley there are a wide variety of different geological features that form seemingly infinite soil types. Conservationists realize categorizing vernal pools is a major component to their survival. Several scientists have begun systems of classification; we will compare two similar methods of statewide vernal pool categorization. Categorizing the geomorhpic features and soil types of vernal pools throughout California’s Central Valley is a complex process that will take dedicated research and teamwork. This paper will briefly compare two different classification systems to demonstrate the methods that can be used to distinguish characteristics of geological features. The first method focuses on biological species with the Holland Vernal Pool Classification of geology, soil type, and wildflowers of seven categories. Wolf et. al then further categorize them by specific region and plant community. The second method is focused on geomorphology and soil type, examining the actual geological formation of the substrate. Combining both these methods of classification for a broader view of botanical biosystems and their relationship with the soil chemistry will open new fields of study and also protect vernal pool habitat. The map from California Wetlands Information System shows the regions described by Wolf et. al. Within these regions the pools are categorized by the type of hardpan from the Holland Vernal Pool Classification system found in Appendix D of Wolf’s site. Holland describes seven categories throughout California. This paper will discuss most frequently Northern Hardpan, Northern Claypan, as well as Northern
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Volcanic Basalt Flow and Northern Volcanic Mudflow. There are also San Diego Mesa Hardpan and Claypan, also Southern Interior Basalt Flow. The Northern Hardpan Vernal Pools are characterized by iron-silica (FeSi) bonded soils present in the old and acidic substrate. The depressions are more connected and swale-like, with relatively high micro relief mounds in between. They are located on higher elevation alluvial terraces on the easterly side of the Central Valley. The water gradually evaporates in the summer instead of flowing off to lower elevations. Northern Clay pan also has silica soil compounds, though less acidic and more alkaline than the Hardpan. The micro relief is also more gradual, located on lower terraces in the direction of the Central Valley’s lowest point, or trough. (Wolf, et. al., Appndx. D, Holland) Basalt Flow is characterized by very thin soil layer over impermeable basalt substrate from volcanic activity. These are often found in the Modoc Plateau region as well as other regions of the Western Sierra Foothills near former volcanic activity. Volcanic mudflow regions are formed from depressions in Tertiary pyroclastic flows, found in higher elevation blue oak and foothill pine woodlands. (Wolf, et. al) They continue with the Holland hardpan foundation and proceed to further categorize the pool’s as regions based on the plant species most often found in the area. Since many of the native plant species are endangered, sensitive plants and animals were listed to indicate areas of special concern. There are currently seventeen regions listed, we will focus on the Northwestern Sacramento valley region. (Wolf, et. al) Redding’s Stillwater Plain large vernal pool habitat is the northern part of the Northwestern Sacramento Valley Vernal Pools Region. Most of these large interconnected pool complexes are west of the Sacramento River and are found throughout elevated alluvial terraces. As this region stretches further south near Colusa County, the pools become smaller, more scattered and the soil more alkaline. The pool type of this region is almost all Northern Hardpan classification, with soil type from Redding to Corning. The information concerning run-off and contaminant leaching towards the end of this paper focuses on the clay hardpan found in this area. Further east the soil type changes to basalt and volcanic mudflows, creating the Northeastern Sacramento Valley Region. This area begins with the Millville Plains east of Redding’s Stillwater Plains until the terminus at the Sierra Foothills in southern Butte County. The pool types common to this region are Northern Hardpan, Volcanic Basalt Flow and Volcanic Mudflow. In the second method Smith and Verrill also classified the vernal pools of the Central Valley according to landform, geological formation and soil type. They state that better understanding these features of vernal pools and their unique hydrology will be needed for vernal pool conservation. They have found four divisions according to landform; basins, basin rims, low terraces, dunes, high terraces and volcanic mudflows and lava flows. Basins are alluvial flats where sediment soil accumulates; Holocene Basins contain some of the Valley’s newest material. Basin rims are higher elevation than the basins, and contain older geomorphic materials. They have raised mounds and depressions, containing many of the area’s vernal pools. There is less salinity on the east side of the Valley due to steeper slope transition from the low terraces of the Sierra foothills to the basin rims. Terraces are higher topographically and contain late Pliestocene geomorphic features. Low terraces encompass most of the Valley floor and are also referred to as
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alluvial plains. The soils of low terraces have been accumulating for 10,000 years, and have formed claypans and duripans by the process of pedogenesis, the natural process of soil formation, caused by a combination of weathering, leaching, calcification and humification. On top of some low terraces near basin rims are sandy deposits classified as dunes. High terraces occur at the next elevation, the geomorphic surfaces even older, dating back to early Pleistocene and late Pliocene. Stronger soil development has occurred here and there is greatly pronounced micro relief in the form of mounds and depressions. Volcanic mudflows and lava flows occur on the eastern side of the Valley and originate from the volcanoes such as Lassen and Shasta. (Smith and Verrill) Their next classification hierarchy is geologic formations, based on compaction, texture, lithology and other features. They do not consider any formations to exist in the basins, other than Holocene alluvial deposition. Modesto formation contains deposits too young to contain many vernal pools, the soil has not compacted enough to form an adequate hardpan. The Riverbank formation is older than Modesto, and contains many of the vernal pool at low terrace level on the east side of the Central Valley and the west side of the Sacramento Valley. The Turlock Lake, Red Bluff and Laguna formations are found in the high terraces on the eastern Central Valley. The Valley Springs formation consists of rhyolitic lava, Mehrten formation is andesitic lava, and the Lovejoy Basalt formation is basalt, located atop Table Mountain in Oroville. (Smith and Verrill) Soil taxonomy specifies the type of soil and hardpan found in the region. Natrixeralfs are basic soils with pH 9 or greater, consisting of high sodium clay and low permeability, usually found on basin rims. Paxeleralfs are older soils that occur in higher terraces, usually considered claypan with very low permeability. Durixeralfs are also known as duripan; they contain cemented silica rich nearly impermeable hardpan and are usually found in high or low terraces. Haploxeralfs and Xerorthents are found in volcanic hardpans. (Smith and Verrill) Soil series is a more specific method of distinguishing characteristics of the greater taxonomic groups. Soil series are the predominant soil shown on maps, though there are pockets of other series within the greater area. Smith and Verrill noted that these pockets of different soil series often occur where vernal pools are located. The importance of vernal pool wetlands is beyond a monetary price. There are many biological organisms that are unique only to this habitat, with a wealth of genetic information that would be lost forever if they become extinct due to human carelessness. Storing species genetic information synthetically is inadequate as the possibility of the species evolving in the future and creating new characteristics is also eliminated. A wildflower called Butte county meadowfoam, Limnanthes floccosa, may have useful oil that could replace animal oils. The geological uniqueness of vernal pool habitat is needed for these plants to survive. The soil cycling is a complex process that cannot be duplicated by restoration attempts that are often misguided mitigation measures. The accumulation of vernal pool soils is a process over thousands of years that led to the combinations of needed minerals and elements required by vernal pool plant and animal inhabitants. Human beings are unable to recreate the conditions leading to vernal pool habitat. Since vernal pools fall under the category of seasonal wetlands, they are beneficial in terms of general wetland ecosystems. Seasonal flooding events are lessened
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by vernal pools; they also filter out harmful pollutants from urban run off, though these pollutants also damage vernal pool organisms. The negative effects of development on vernal pools are alarming. These unique habitats are being paved over for shopping malls and suburban housing tracts. Fertilizer and pesticides used on lawns and crops enter pools via surface water runoff. These toxic contaminants can remain in the water above the hardpan for indefinite periods of time, eventually being absorbed into the tissues of the vernal pool biosystems. Grazing is another adverse effect on vernal pools. If this process continues there may be no more vernal pools in the next decade, taking with them an entire ecosystem of species found nowhere on Earth. UC Davis plant ecologist Micheal Barbour stated his concern about their rapid disappearance, “There is great concern that we are running out of time to protect the vernal pools that are left,” he said. “To do that, we need to know much more about the nature of the plant and animal communities that make vernal pools what they are.” (Wright) By promoting greater understanding of vernal pool habitat and developing a classification system, these ecosystems can be appreciated and protected by people in California. The two systems of classification mentioned above could be combined to understand the complexities of geomorphic and soil differences. Also needed is a further understanding of the actual soil chemistry, such as seasonal cyclic iron redox that was observed by Hobson and Dahlgren. They were only to obtain specified measurements for one type of substrate, there is still much to be researched in pools with other geomorphic and soil series variations. Soil chemistry is adversely effected by toxin and non-point source pollution run-off of pesticides, vehicle fluids, and other anthropomorphic particulates. The hydrology and hardpan/duripan nature of vernal pools make them susceptible to contaminants in water. Monitoring of chemical contaminants in water by using tracers is often times ineffective. Tracers are chemicals that decect the presence of other chemicals in groundwater. Foster and Lees listed some possible reasons that the chemical contaminants tracers are searching are often times undetected, “adsorption by clay, scavenging by hydrous Fe/Mn oxides, and chemical precipitation.” (Tracers in Geomorphology, pg.8) To demonstrate the rates of pesticide leaching over a longer timescale, Heppel, Burt and Williams tested clay soils with the pesticide isoproturon. They noticed the early event leaching water and solutes flowed rapidly through the macropores in the soil, resulting in a higher concentration of pesticides. The later event slowed penetration as the water molecules traveled downward through the soil matrix towards the lower horizontally angled flowpath. Second season measurements were dependent on the length of the flowpath, the greater the length of the flowpath, the greater the residence time of the contaminant pesticide. (Tracers in Geomorphology, pg. 133) The flowpath of vernal pool wetlands is inward pointing, characteristic of the vernal pool’s circular/ovoid shape, the lowest elevation in the center of the pool. Any contaminants such as pesticide that entered the soil matrix and flowpath of vernal pools would be carried to the center of the pool and remain there indefinitely. Due to the reduction of Fe3+ to Fe2+ during the anaerobic wet season, there will be an increased solubility and greater quantities of contaminants undetectable by tracers. Any
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development that occurs upslope near vernal pool wetlands is likely to contaminate the nearby pools with run-off, causing the decline of the ecosystem. Vegetative buffer strips have often been used to protect wetlands from run-off and sedimentation. A buffer strip can be grass or other thick vegetation, usually a few meters wide and longer lengthwise. Buffer strips have been tested mainly for sediments and sediment bound nutrients, not so much for soluble nutrients, pesticides or pathogens. (AJ Norman, pg.266). Buffer zones can also become overloaded with accumulated sediments and as a result lose their effectiveness. Over time the buffers lose their ability to protect the wetlands, most studies have been short term. “Most research [on beffer strips] has been of a short term nature and did not consider the long term effectiveness of pollution reduction, they will overpredict effectiveness in the long run.” (Norman, pg. 268) We feel this is the case for the Stillwater Plains vernal pool complex in southeast Redding, Shasta County. A planned “Big League Dreams” sports stadium near the Northern section of these vernal pools would be a great risk with regard to run-off. The planned stadium site is located atop former oak woodland habitat, less than 1000 ft. from the beginning of Stillwater Plains vernal pools. The studies in the Tarmac Stadium Environmental Impact Report that assure of the pools safety from pesticide run-off are flawed, they do not take into consideration the long term effect of pesticide leaching and other contaminants that will not be stopped by a buffer strip. “Nature is ephemeral, enduring, ever changing, evolutionarily capricious, delicately balanced, tenaciously persistent, humorously outlandish, complex, interwoven, lavish and harsh. Any attempt to prescribe a management regime for such an entity is immediately suspect for its hubris — the idea that we might be able to control, fine tune or ‘fix’ it, much less understand it.” (Teresaand Pace) According to a cost-benefit plan done by Teresa and Pace, the most desirable option for long term vernal pool conservation is setting aside habitat for further research, and leaving the area otherwise undisturbed. Mitigation measures that attempt to replace existing vernal pool habitat cannot duplicate the soil chemistry and pedogenesis that make vernal pools what they are. The Nature Conservancy has taken measures to prevent this tragedy from occurring by purchasing vernal pool habitat and setting it aside undisturbed. Though they do allow some cattle grazing it occurs away from the pools and is carefully monitored for effect on native plant life. In southern Tehama county the 4,600 acre Vina Plains preserve is an example of a sustainable vernal pool complex ecosystem. Jepson Prairie in Solano County is another habitat that was purchased by the Conservancy in the 1980’s. They have been able to observe the pool’s responses to yearly precip. changes. By saving vernal pool habitat, the ecosystem has a chance at recovering from overdevelopment,“The Vina Plains vernal pools are some of the best remaining in the state. Although once common in the Central Valley and other parts of the state, vernal pools have been reduced to less than five percent of their original range and are now one of California’s most threatened natural communities The preserve is a showcase of plant and animal life, supporting 280 species of plants including the rare Hoover spurge, hairy orcuttia, and Tehama navarritia. (The Nature Conservancy) By setting aside vernal pool habitat from development it will offer us greater understanding of the complexities of this unique wetlands biosystems, complete with fire resistant eggs from Branchinecta, reduced (Fe2+) iron loving Limnanthes flocossa that holds promise for future research of plant oil compounds, and other endangered and threatened species that are mysteries waiting to be discovered. The geomorphology of the
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vernal pools is an intricate part of the biosystems that depend on this habitat. For vernal pools to survive as healthy ecosystems, we need geological classification to coincide with biodiversity and habitat conservation. References Internet

Sources;

CERES CA Wetlands Information System http://ceres.ca.gov/wetlands/geo_info/vernal_pools_map.html “

California Vernal Pool Assessment” (CA Fish and Game) Wolf, Elam, Lewis and Flint

http://maphost.dfg.ca.gov/wetlands/vp_asses_rept/northwestern.htm

http://maphost.dfg.ca.gov/wetlands/vp_prog_rept/vpprogfin3.698.htm

“Climate change and ephemeral pool ecosystems: Potholes and vernal pools as potential indicator systems” Tim B. Graham Wildlife Research Biologist, Biological Resources Division,

USGShttp://geochange.er.usgs.gov/sw/impacts/biology/vernal/

“Splendor in the Grass” By Sylvia Wright
http://vernalpools.org/news/ucdavis.htm

“The Hydrogeomorphic Approach and Its Use in Vernal Pool Functional Assessment”MARY BUTTERWICK

http://www.cnps.org/vernalpools/butterwick.pdf

“Soil Forming Processes in Vernal Pools of Northern California, Chico Area”WILLIAM A. HOBSON Department of Land, Air, and Water Resources, University of California, Davis, CA 95616-8627 (Hobson_William_A [at] msn.com) RANDY A. DAHLGREN Department of Land, Air, and Water Resources, University of California, Davis, CA 95616-8627 (radahlgren [at] ucdavis.edu)

http://www.cnps.org/vernalpools/hobson.pdf

“Vernal Pool-Soil-Landform Relationships in the Central Valley, California” DAVID W. SMITH USDA, Natural Resources Conservation Service, 650 Capitol Mall, Room 7014, Sacramento, CA 95814 (dsmith [at] rcw.nrcs.usda.gov) WAYNE L. VERRILL Jones & Stokes Associates, 2600 V Street, Suite 100, Sacramento, CA 95814
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CURRENT ADDRESS. California Department of Water Resources, 1020 Ninth Street, 3rd Floor, Sacramento, CA 95814 (wverrill [at] water.ca.gov)

http://www.cnps.org/vernalpools/smith.pdf The Nature Conservancy: Vena Plains Preserve

http://www.tnccalifornia.org/our_proj/lassen/vina/vina.asp

“Planning Sustainable Conservation Projects: Large and Small-Scale Vernal Pool Preserves”SHERRY TERESA AND BRENDA C. PACE

http://www.cnps.org/vernalpools/teresa.pdf

“Climate change and ephemeral pool ecosystems: Potholes and vernal pools as potential indicator systems” Tim B. Graham Wildlife Research Biologist, Biological Resources Division,

USGShttp://geochange.er.usgs.gov/sw/impacts/biology/vernal/

Scientific Journal Collections; “Tracers in Geomorphology” edited by Ian DL Foster pub. Wiley 2000

“Wetlands Environmental Gradients, Boundaries and Buffers” edited by Mulamoottil, Warner, McBean, Lewis Publishers, 1996 Books; Facts on File Ecosystem Series; Wetlands by Peter D. Moore 2001