Numbers of most amphibians (frogs and salamanders) have been in decline in recent years due to environmental pollutants and habitat loss. With extremely thin skin, they are highly sensitive to environmental changes. Habitat loss mostly includes the destruction or draining of shallow wetlands and vernal pools necessary for breeding. At the Kirby Nature Preserve, new vernal pools are being created with help from the AmeriCorps crew and Western Wildlife Corridor volunteers. This new habitat should greatly improve the biodiversity of the area.
The following article, written by Joe Kappa, a long-time supporter of Western Wildlife Corridor, says it best. Unfortunately, Joe is no longer with us. He passed away nearly 10 years ago at age 59. Joe was loved by all! A bench for weary hikers overlooking the Ohio River was installed in his memory at a high point along the Ridge Trail at Bender Mountain. It is a great place to rest, meditate, and reflect. This fall, the AmeriCorps crew cleared honeysuckle and helped to repair the trail leading up to the bench.
Spotted Salamanders prefer moist hardwood forest with heavy ground cover near vernal pools, swamps, and streams.
Vernal Ponds by Joe Kappa
Vernal ponds are known by several different names, such as temporary, seasonal, or wetland pools. Typically, vernal ponds fill up with water during the early months of the year, generally February and March. They only hold water for several months and are usually dry by July or August, which is long enough for amphibians to use them to reproduce. Most amphibians require vernal ponds for their eggs because fish, which often feed on young amphibians, aren’t usually found in them since they can’t survive once the pond dries up.
Most salamanders either lay clusters of eggs on the bottom of the pond or “glued” to sticks suspended in the water. Recently, a group of Western Wildlife Corridor (WWC) members gathered at the newly acquired property on Hillside Road near Bender Road and spent the morning developing vernal ponds. It is hoped that populations of salamanders such as the Stream-Side, Jefferson, or even Spotted salamanders may begin breeding in these vernal pools.
Most salamanders spend most of the year underground, where they are protected from the sun and can remain moist. The exception to this subterranean existence is near the end of winter, when the pre-spring rains come. Generally, by the end of February, when the ground is thawed and there has been enough rain to establish vernal pools, the salamanders leave their underground burrows and run to the pools to breed.
Most people go through their entire lives without ever witnessing this marvelous event, since it happens at night when it is raining. It’s a mystery how salamanders know when to leave their burrows. Observers have been known to go to ponds several nights in a row and not see any sign of salamander activity; then, for some unknown reason, they all seem to show up at the same time. Vernal ponds have become scarce in the Delhi area. Hopefully, the new ones WWC just developed will provide a future opportunity for the residents of Delhi to observe first-hand this marvelous phenomenon.
A gelatinous mass of salamander eggs.