Field assistant Janell Hillman conducts belly botany among the plants in a vernal pool. Hillman is part of the UC Davis team that will survey pools in 18 regions of California over three years. As California's vernal pools enjoy their springtime flush of activity and color, UC Davis researchers are conducting several new and continuing studies in these unique ecosystems.
Vernal pools are shallow depressions that fill with rainwater.
These pools are home to several hundred species of tiny, uncommon plants and animals, all adapted to survive inundation in winter and desiccation in summer. More than two-thirds of the state's naturally occurring vernal pools have been destroyed by agriculture and urban development. Some animals living in vernal pools are so rare that they are on lists of threatened and endangered species. To do that, we need to know much more about the nature of the plant and animal communities that make vernal pools what they are. A number of UC Davis faculty members and students have vernal-pool research projects in full swing this season.