Bryan,
As much as I would like to believe that all those vectors are responsible for mixing vernal pool populations and species, it ain't necessarily so. Extensive research in the 1980's demonstrated that nearby populations of Daphnia (by nearby I mean a few feet) are often genetically isolated. Other work has shown that the vectors you mention are good for algae, less good for other things. My research has shown inverts move slowly between habitats. I think organisms on either side of the invertebrate part of the size spectrum, algae on the one hand and amphibians on the other, can and do move. The in-between animals can have a tough time of it. The resulting uniqueness of each pond is one of my arguments for conservation as each pond unique and potentially valuable for a species about which we might know little.
Steve
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