Pennsylvania Statewide Seasonal Pool Ecosystem Classification Description, mapping, and classification of seasonal pools, their associated plant and animal communities, and the surrounding landscape April 2009 Pennsylvania Natural Heritage Program i Cover photo by: Betsy Leppo, Pennsylvania Natural Heritage Program ii Pennsylvania Natural Heritage Program is a partnership of: Western Pennsylvania Conservancy, Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission, and Pennsylvania Game Commission. The project was funded by: Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, Wild Resource Conservation Program Grant no. WRCP-06187 U.S. EPA State Wetland Protection Development Grant no. CD-973493-01 Suggested report citation: Leppo, B., Zimmerman, E., Ray, S., Podniesinski, G., and Furedi, M. 2009. Pennsylvania Statewide Seasonal Pool Ecosystem Classification: Description, mapping, and classification of seasonal pools, their associated plant and animal communities, and the surrounding landscape. Pennsylvania Natural Heritage Program, Western Pennsylvania Conservancy, Pittsburgh, PA. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS We would like to thank the following organizations, agencies, and people for their time and support of this project: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) Wild Resource Conservation Program (WRCP), who funded this study as part of their effort to encourage protection of wetland resources. Our appreciation to Greg Czarnecki (DCNR-WRCP) and Greg Podniesinski (DCNR-Office of Conservation Science (OCS)), who administered the EPA and WRCP funds for this work. We greatly appreciate the long hours in the field and lab logged by Western Pennsylvania Conservancy (WPC) staff including Kathy Derge Gipe, Ryan Miller, and Amy Myers. To Tim Maret, and Larry Klotz of Shippensburg University, Aura Stauffer of the PA Bureau of Forestry, and Eric Lindquist of Messiah College, we appreciate the advice you provided as we developed this project. Thanks to Al Spoo of the Lancaster County Entomological Society for his identification of fingernail clam specimens and Christopher Rogers of EcoAnalysts, Inc. for identifying fairy shrimp specimens. We appreciate the botanical expertise of John Kunsman and Steve Grund of WPC, Bonnie Isaac of the Section of Botany and the Carnegie Museum of Natural History, and of Larry Klotz of Shippensburg University. Many thanks to John Atwood of the Bryophyte Herbarium at the Missouri Botanical Garden for his excellent review and identification of the moss specimens collected during this study. To all the folks who submitted data to the Pennsylvania Seasonal Pool Registry, we thank you for submitting the data that allowed us to find enough pools to use in this study. Many thanks to the Pennsylvania Game Commission, DCNR Bureau of State Parks, DCNR Bureau of Forestry for their cooperation in allowing data to be collected on land under their jurisdiction and providing access, and to the other landowners, conservancies, and municipalities who granted us access to their property. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS........................................................................................................... iv TABLE OF CONTENTS................................................................................................................ v FIGURES AND TABLES ............................................................................................................ vii List of Figures........................................................................................................................... vii List of Tables ...........................................................................................................................viii I. INTRODUCTION...................................................................................................................... 1 Study Purpose ............................................................................................................................. 1 Study Goals................................................................................................................................. 2 Seasonal Pool Ecosystems .......................................................................................................... 3 Seasonal pool definition.......................................................................................................... 3 Factors shaping seasonal pool animal assemblages................................................................ 3 Physiochemistry...................................................................................................................... 4 Hydroperiod ............................................................................................................................ 4 Pool Size ................................................................................................................................. 5 Temperature ............................................................................................................................ 6 Seasonality .............................................................................................................................. 6 Oxygen.................................................................................................................................... 6 pH............................................................................................................................................ 7 Nutrients.................................................................................................................................. 7 Vegetation............................................................................................................................... 8 Landscape condition ............................................................................................................... 9 II. METHODS.............................................................................................................................. 10 Site Selection ............................................................................................................................ 10 Water Chemistry and Pool Dimension Measurements ............................................................. 11 Invertebrate and Herptile Surveys ............................................................................................ 11 Vegetation and Physical Site Surveys....................................................................................... 14 Landscape Analyses.................................................................................................................. 15 Invertebrate and Herptile Data Analyses .................................................................................. 16 Vegetation Data Analyses......................................................................................................... 18 III. RESULTS .............................................................................................................................. 20 Site Selection ............................................................................................................................ 20 Landscape, Physical, and Chemical Characteristics................................................................. 21 Invertebrate Sampling............................................................................................................... 35 Herptile Sampling ..................................................................................................................... 38 Invertebrate and Amphibian Community Classification .......................................................... 40 Vegetation Sampling................................................................................................................. 63 Vegetation Community Classification...................................................................................... 64 IV. PLANT COMMUNITIES OF SEASONAL POOLS IN PENNSYLVANIA ...................... 72 Dichotomous Key ..................................................................................................................... 72 How to use the key................................................................................................................ 72 Season of use......................................................................................................................... 72 Survey area............................................................................................................................ 72 Terminology.......................................................................................................................... 73 Vegetation structure.............................................................................................................. 73 v Key to the Plant Communities .................................................................................................. 74 Seasonal Pool Plant Community Descriptions ......................................................................... 76 V. DISCUSSION ......................................................................................................................... 85 Vegetation community classification........................................................................................ 85