Quantitative Vernal Pool Characterization at Beale Air Force Base, Marysville, Ca.

Vernal pools are seasonal wetlands and provide habitat for many rare, threatened and endangered species of plants, invertebrates and vertebrates. A quantitative characterization of these systems is important to Beale air force base (AFB) as this data can be used to better evaluate potential impacts to pool functionality and for long term management. Past research has provided little information on the hydrology and soils components as they relate to the functionality of these systems. This study focuses on an accurate, quantitative understanding of these components. Three sites on Beale AFB are being evaluated. Site one contains mitigated vernal pools on the Riverbank geomorphic formation. Site two contains natural vernal pools on the Riverbank geomorphic formation. Site three contains natural vernal pools on the Laguna geomorphic formation. Our methods include measuring surface and subsurface hydrology, water quality, vernal pool species composition, watershed topography, soil moisture, soil temperature, and water restricting soil features. Instrumentation used to collect this data includes Solinst Leveloggers, LaMotte Colorimeter, YSI Sonde, Real Time Kinematic (RTK) global positioning system (GPS), Decagon sensors, and ground penetrating radar (GPR). Data collected thus far indicates a faster dry-down rate of the mitigated pools found in site one as compared to the natural pools of sites two and three.