Backswimmers are our friends

Tamposi Land, July 24, 2007, partly sunny

Today was a day well spent at the vernal pool. The water level and perimeter of each little pool declined significantly. This will be our last day doing observations of the water and aquatic life. We are starting to make too much of an impact on these fragile bodies of water. Very interesting observations today. The front pool, Laverne was loaded with Isopods and Backswimmers. In our tray of scooped water, we saw Backswimmers capture and eat the Isopods. We also saw Water Boatman, Water Scorpions and Phantom Midges. In the back pool, Shirley, it was quite different. There were no Isopods in the water we scooped and observed. We did discover that Backswimmers eat live mosquitoes that land on the water. There are a lot of Backswimmers in each of these little pools and they must eat many emerging mosquitoes in the early spring. Backswimmers are our friends.

Backswimmer:



Mary and Rick Checking out our little ecosystem:
Water Scorpion:






Question of the day?????
Does the composition of the floor of the Vernal Pool i.e.- leaf litter type, soil type, plant life- effect which organisms will inhabit that part of the Vernal Pool?