Project Manual & Data Sheet
Vermont Vernal Pool Monitoring Project Manual (pdf, 4 MB) – Version 2.3.1
The key document for all Vernal Pool Monitors. The VPMon Manual details when you should visit an adopted vernal pool; the protocols behind equipment setup and data collection & submission; and how to identify vernal pool indicator species.
Vernal Pool Monitoring Data Sheet (pdf, 677 KB) – Version 3.0
Videos
2023 VPMon Intro
The Orianne Society Vernal Pool Workshop
AudioMoth Configuration
HOBOconnect Directions
DATA COLLECTION
Vernal Pool Monitoring Data Sheet Instructions (pdf, 550 KB) – Version 2.0
Explains how to fill out each section of the VPMon data sheet, one of which should be filled out for each of the 4 official visits to an adopted vernal pool.
Leaf Litter Survey Data Sheet (pdf, 37 KB)
Leaf Litter Survey Protocol (pdf, 131 KB)
Explains how to preform a leaf litter survey of a vernal pool.
Egg Mass Survey Timing Guide (pdf, 664 KB)
iNaturalist Instructions (pdf, 692 KB)
AMPHIBIAN IDENTIFICATION AIDS
Vermont Vernal Pool Indicator Species ID Sheet (pdf, 1 MB)
Northern Woodlands Egg Mass Drawings (pdf, 1 MB)
Field ID Cards for Northeast Vernal Pool Indicator Species (pdf, 2.4 MB) and Field ID Cards for Vermont Vernal Pool Indicator Species (pdf, 2.1 MB) — compiled by Dawn Morgan, University of Maine
A Field Guide to the Animals of Vernal Pools (online: free, 10.6 MB, print: $10.00)
Key to Amphibian eggs and larvae (pdf, 1.8 MB) — This key to identification of amphibian eggs and larvae of Minnesota includes most species found in VT.
A Guide to Larval Amphibian Identification in the Field and Laboratory (pdf, 5.5 MB) — This manual for the identification of larval amphibians in Indiana includes numerous VT species, include the 4 VP indicators.
TREE IDENTIFICATION AIDS
Forest Trees of Maine (online/pdf) — A field guide for trees of Maine, and the northeast. Available online for free from the State of Maine. Also available in print.
Common Forest Tree Leaves ID Sheet (pdf, 1.7 MB) — Covers 11 common species whose leaves may be lining a vernal pool’s basin in Vermont. Use as a starting guide for the leaf litter ID protocol.
RELATED READINGS
• Vernal pool amphibian breeding ecology monitoring from 1931 to present: A harmonised historical and ongoing observational ecology dataset (Journal article, 17.1 MB)
• Phenological delay despite warming in wood frog Rana sylvatica reproductive timing: a 20-year study (Journal article)
• Double-observer approach to estimating egg mass abundance of pool-breeding amphibians (Journal article)
• Using Egg Mass Surveys to Monitor Productivity and Estimate Population Sizes of Three Pool-breeding Amphibians at Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park (Technical report, 1.4 MB)
• Wetland, Woodland, Wildland: Vernal Pools and Seeps (Book chapter, 451 KB)
REFERENCE BOOKS
•The Amphibians and Reptiles of Maine (online: free, 11 MB, print: $24.95)
• The Amphibians and Reptiles of New York State (print: $59.00)
• Vernal Pools: Natural History and Conservation (print: $44.95)
• A Field Guide to the Animals of Vernal Pools (print: $12)
OTHER RESOURCES
AmphibiaWeb (website)
Vermont Reptile and Amphibian Atlas (website)
iNaturalist (website)
DATA SUBMISSION
