In honor of Save the Frogs Day, April 30th, we’re celebrating species of frogs that depend on a very unique habitat – vernal pools.
Across America, frogs are in breeding in small ponds called vernal pools. Your backyard water garden is a good stand-in for these seasonal ponds that are an important “place to raise young” for these amphibians (especially if you don’t have fish, which can eat tadpoles). Meet some of the frog species that might show up to breed in your pond.
Vernal pools are shallow depressional wetlands that appear seasonally in meadows and woodlands and serve as important breeding grounds for amphibians like frogs. The seasonal wetlands and pools of the prairie pothole region are also vernal pools. Memorialized in Robert Frost’s Spring Pools, these unique wetlands usually collect water in the winter and spring, and typically dry up by the end of summer.
A few frogs and toads you will find in a vernal pond:
