It's official: four-toed salamanders are here

MILLBROOK — On Dec. 2, Michael Klemens, research conservationist with the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies (CIES) in Millbrook and the director of the Metropolitan Conservation Alliance, presented the results of the town of Washington Vernal Pool Study to a crowded audience of more than 50 county residents at the Dutchess County Farm & Home Center.

Starting last spring, Klemens led a group of citizen scientists assembled by the Cornell Cooperative Extension (CCE) of Dutchess County to survey and rank vernal pools in the town of Washington, most of which are associated with the geological formations of the Wappinger Creek drainage basin. The purposes of the survey were to collect information needed to determine which areas may require protection as open space and to identify sites that are compatible with future development.  

The town of Washington’s Conservation Commission and the Dutchess County Department of Planning and Development endorsed the project with the cooperation and support of Millbrook Matters, the Millbrook Rod and Gun Club and private landowners who allowed volunteers access to their property.

A vernal pool contains water for a few months in the spring and early summer and by late summer usually disappears.  These isolated, seasonal bodies of water are small, usually less than .2 acres, and contain no fish.  Many amphibians have evolved to use this temporary wetland during part of their life cycle because they will not be eaten by predator fish. Despite vernal pools’ importance in preventing floods, recharging aquifers and supporting wildlife, they are often unprotected by state and federal regulations.

From mid-March through April more than 30 volunteers were educated and sent out to visit 83 of 200 identified pools. These citizen scientists were trained to count amphibian species present, assess egg masses and analyze the landscape surrounding the pool, including the critical upland habitat where amphibians hibernate.

It was discovered that wood frogs and spotted salamanders were widely distributed, but the presence of the Jefferson salamander, a state-listed special concern species, was confirmed in only 15 pools.

Survey volunteer Deborah Fargione found and photographed the rare, tiny four-toed salamander on CIES property.  

“At the time, we had no idea what species this was, but we counted ourselves fortunate to observe the tiny amphibian — approximately 1.25 inches in length — along our survey route,� she said. “The health and diversity of the amphibian population signals the overall quality of the ecosystem.�

The volunteers who participated have become scientifically informed advocates for vernal pool stewardship. Additional sampling is planned in 2010 of the more than 100 pools that were not examined this year; however, the level of support provided by the GIS staff of the Cornell Extension to the survey effort is still uncertain.  

The county executive cut 100 percent of its support for the Extension’s environmental program in the first 2010 budget round. The county Legislature then restored 83 percent of the overall funding cut from the cooperative extension. County Executive William Steinhaus vetoed this revised budget, and, at the end of last week, the Legislature overrode the Steinhaus veto, and on a line-item basis once again restored 83 percent of CCE’s funding. It is still unclear what the final funding level for the agency’s environmental program will be and whether there will be funds and manpower to provide full support to the vernal pools survey again this spring.