![]() ![]() For information about EPs and an Ephemeral Pond Citizen Science monitoring project. Wood frogs, blue-spotted salamanders and fairy shrimp are considered obligate EP species in Wisconsin, and finding empty caddis fly cases or encysted fairy shrimp eggs in the leaf litter of a dry depression in fall also identifies it as an EP. Not every puddle that disappears seasonally is an Ephemeral Pond the presence of certain indicator species verifies its status. Do EP animals live there because they’ve developed adaptations that let them survive drought, or do they live there because the EP’s cycles give them something they need-a dry period? Yes. The annual drought makes EPs unsuitable for fish, which wreak havoc if they do find their way into an EP from nearby waterways in flood time. As the water evaporates, its inhabitants squeeze into increasingly smaller spaces water quality declines as waste products, including carbon dioxide, increase and food gets harder to find. The still, shallow water warms quickly and contains little oxygen. The wonder of EPs is that they are populated by animals that take the disappearing water in stride-animals that are prepared to dry up with the pond or to get out of Dodge (timing IS everything), and therein lie many tales.Īn astonishing array of animals use EPs as a place to drink, hunt, and breed, but an EP is a challenging place to call home. These are here-today-and-gone-tomorrow ponds, gather-ye-rosebuds-while-ye-may wetlands. Ephemeral ponds are (most years) just that-ephemeral. She loves the cycles of ephemeral ponds and the critters they contain (they’re also called vernal/spring ponds, but because some hold water in fall instead of spring, “ephemeral” is a more inclusive term). The BugLady has been hanging out at her local ephemeral pond again, looking at small things in the water. ![]()
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