š Good news (again!): Our 2nd application for certification of the candidate pool LWV14 has been accepted!
EwA
A few days ago we were asked for more visual records of a candidate vernal pool. We had proof that it dried as well as we had biological evidence (of wood frog tadpoles and spotted salamander egg masses). But the Natural Heritage Program wanted also physical evidence of the pool holding water. We happen to have recorded the hydrology of the pool at different times during the year, anticipating this. So we added it to the proof list and resubmitted the application this past Friday.
3 days later, there we go: Accepted! (I am personally super impressed by the diligence of the reviewer and how quickly it went).
Again, we're super proud of it! If you're curious about which it is: it is known to us and local herpetologists as LWV14 (or PVP #13884 on OLIVER).
Here is an obligate vernal pool species: our observation of wood frog tadpoles earlier this year (and that were part of theĀ submitted evidence).Ā
Concretely, this also means that as of today we exceeded our objectives for this year. We wished to ground truth and baseline all the Fells candidate pools south of South border road. And our overarching goal was to find biological evidence (and apply for the certification) for one candidate pool. Results: we baselined all the targeted pools. Found biological evidence for 2 pools, applied for certification, and had those 2 pools accepted!
Thanks again to Joe and Matt (our lovely herpetologists) and to all our citizen scientists who made that happen. You rock!Ā