California Vernal Pools
a collection of information and resources

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Videos

• Plant Communities of California -- field study of vernal pools and adjacent grassland communities led by Professor Michael Barbour and Associate Professor Louise Jackson of the University of California, Davis. (University of California Television, 58.39 minutes, Google Video, Real Player)

Books & Journal Articles

• Characterization of Rare Plant Species in the Vernal Pools of California -- K. A. Lazer, Master of Science Thesis, UC Davis. 2006. 
   

• The effects of an unpredictable precipitation regime on vernal pool hydrology -- E. T. Bauder. 2005. Freshwater Biology 50:2129-2135.
   

• The role of perched aquifers in hydrological connectivity and biogeochemical processes in vernal pool landscapes, Central Valley, California -- Mark Cable Rains, Graham E. Fogg, Thomas Harter, Randy A. Dahlgren, and Robert J. Williamson. 2005. Hydrological Processes (in press).
   

• Cattle Grazing Mediates Climate Change Impacts on Ephemeral Wetlands -- Christopher R. Pyke and Jaymee Marty.  2005. Conservation Biology 19(5):1619-1625.
   

• Effects of Cattle Grazing on Diversity in Ephemeral Wetlands -- Jaymee T. Marty.  2005. Conservation Biology 19(5):1626-1632.
   

• Temporal Vegetation Dynamics in Central and Northern California Vernal Pools -- J. J. Buck, Master of Science Thesis, UC Davis. 2004. 
   

• Vernal Pools are at Home on the Range -- Jaymee Marty. 2004. National Wetlands Newsletter 26(4):12-14.
   

• Wildlife and Rare Plant Ecology of Eastern Merced County's Vernal Pool Grasslands -- John E. Vollmar, 2002
   

• Exotics in the Southern California Vernal Pool Ecosystem - Ellen T. Bauder, 1996 Symposium Proceedings, California Exotic Pest Plant Council
   

• A Manual of California Vegetation -- John O. Sawyer and Todd Keeler-Wolf. 1995. California Native Plant Society. Use this link to go directly to the vernal pool Series. 
   

• Ecology, Conservation, and Management of Vernal Pool Ecosystems - Proceedings from a 1996 Conference -- 1998. California Native Plant Society.
   

• Effects of Mosquitofish (Gambusia affinis) on two vernal pool organisms, Ambystoma californiense larvae and Linderiella occidentalis -- K.E. Leyse, S.P. Lawler, and T. Strange. 1999. North American Benthological Society.
   

• Fremontia Vol. 27 No. 4 and Col. 28 No. 1 -- Special Issue: Vernal Pools -- 2000. California Native Plant Society. 
   

• The Effects of Density-dependent Insect Visits, Flowering Phenology, and Plant Size on Seed Set of the Endangered Vernal Pool Plant Pogogyne abramsii (Lamiaceae) in Natural Comparted to Created Vernal Pools -- J.R. Schiller, P.H. Zedler, and C.H. Black. 2000. Wetlands (20)2. 

Reports

• Classification, Ecological Characterization, and Presence of Listed Plant Taxa of Vernal Pool Associations in California -- Barbour, et al. 2007
   
• Hydrology of vernal Pools at Three Sites, Southern Sacramento Valley -- Williams, et al. 2005
   
• Vernal Pools: Their History and Status in California's Central Valley -- California Wetlands Information System
   
• Cows Eat Grass: How Cattle Grazing Maintains Native Species Diversity in California Vernal Pool Grasslands -- Jaymee Marty. 2003. The Nature Conservancy. (PowerPoint Presentation)
   
• Rangeland Oasis -- University of California Cooperative Extension
   
• Biological Resources Assessment of the Proposed Cruzan Mesa Vernal Pools Significant Ecological Area -- Los Angeles County. (PDF)
   
• California Vernal Pool Assessment Preliminary Report -- Todd Keeler-Wolf, Diane Elam, Kari Lewis, and Scott Flint. 1998. California Department of Fish and Game. See also the California Vernal Pool Regions Map.
   
• Changes in Great Valley Vernal Pool Distribution from 1989 to 1997 --  Robert F. Holland. 1998. Prepared for the California Department of Fish and Game. 
   
• Climate change and ephemeral pool ecosystems: Potholes and vernal pools as potential indicator systems -- Tim B. Graham. 1997. United States Geological Service. 
   
• Endangered Ecosystems of the United States: A Preliminary Assessment of Loss and Degradation -- Noss, LaRow and Scott. Undated. United States Geological Service, Biological Resources.
   
• Evaluating the Impact of Habitat Fragmentation on the Unique Invertebrate Communities of California's Vernal Pools -- Robin C. Bolser. 1999. Progress Report to US Environmental Protection Agency. 

Bibliographies

• Bibliography complied from Ecology, Conservation, and Management of Vernal Pool Ecosystems - Proceedings from a 1996 Conference -- compiled by Robert F. Holland. (194k Word Document)
   
• Bibliography: Vernal pools and related wetland ecosystems of California, Southwestern Oregon and Northern Baja California Mexico. -- by Peggy Fiedler, 2001
   
• Vernal Pool bibliography -- 2000. Complied by the Sacramento Field Office of the US Fish and Wildlife Service. (143k WordPerfect Document) 

Popular Press Items

• Vernal Pools: Liquid Sapphires of the Chaparral -- The California Chaparral Institute
   
• Poolside Beauties: The Flower and the Bee -- Bay Nature
   
• HOTSPOT: Vernal Pools - California Wild, The Magazine of the California Academy of Sciences
   
• Wild and wonderful vernal pools - Cal Alive! newsletter
   
• Vernal Pools - Ephemeral Oasis of the Foothills - Alisa Durgarian, Sierra Nature Notes
   
• California Central Valley grasslands -- World Wildlife Fund Wildworld Ecoregion Profile
   
• Agencies Sign Pact to Protect Vernal Pools -- California Biodiversity News
   
• Conversing Vernal Pools Sparks Debate Over Habitat Value, Land Use -- California Biodiversity News

VernalPools.Org - dedicated to saving California's vernal pool landscapes