Vernal Pool Inventory and Classification at Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, Michigan, USA

Abstract

ABSTRACT: Vernal pools occur in the glaciated forests of northeastern North America and provide critical breeding and foraging habitat for amphibian and mammal species. Protection for these ephemeral wetlands is not federally mandated, placing them at risk for habitat fragmentation and making them more vulnerable to impacts of climate change. Unlike the northeastern United States, limited information about vernal pools exists for the Great Lakes region, and there is a lack of information about techniques to identify and classify vernal pools using remote sensing and field surveys. At Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, Michigan, USA, our objectives were to locate vernal pools using true-color, spring leaf-off aerial photography at the 1:12,000 scale, classify vernal pools using modified geomorphological classification systems, and determine landscape associations with soil series and cover type GIS datasets. From the 214 water features identified and categorized via aerial photography, two (water with cano...