| Vernal pools contain a plethora of invertebrate species which play a crucial role in the food chain of the pool. They are important prey items for larval and adult amphibians. Others are voracious predators that feed on developing amphibian eggs. A goal of the Vernal Pool Research Team is to develop a species list and photographic key of vernal pool invertebrates. Students have stuggled with the task of identifying the fascinating invertebrates that inhabit the pools. Even expert taxonomists admit that keying out aquatic invertebrates is very difficult. |
| So far invertebrates have been captured by two methods. One involved pouring eight liters of surface water through a 75 micron plankton netting to capture invertebrates in the water column. The other involved pushing a container into the detritus to capture the bottom dwelling invertebrates. |
| Through weekly sampling from February 7, 1997, through April 29, 1997, we found four species of flatworms from the orders Lecithoepitheliata (1 species), Macrostomida (1), Neorhabdocoela (1), and Tricladida (1); one species of segmented worm Prospora (1); two species of mollusks from the orders Mesogastropoda (1) and Heterodonta (1); nine species of crustaceans from the orders Eucopepoda (3), Podocopa (3), Isopoda (1), Amphipoda (2); and nine species of insects from the orders Collembola (2), Acari (2), Coleoptera (1), Trichoptera (2), and Diptera(2). In contrast to a 1996 study we have identified three more phyla, four more classes, five more orders, and eleven more families. This high rate of discovery of new taxa suggests that many undiscovered species of invertebrates inhabit the Wheaton Woods vernal pool. |
