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On Sun, Apr 8, 2012 11:19 AM EDT matt burne wrote:
>Good to hear from you, Betsy. Thanks for the thoughts on algae. I am yet
>to see a fairy shrimp this year.
>
>Matt
>
>On Sat, Apr 7, 2012 at 11:21 AM, bcolburn bcolburn <bcolburn@ecoisp.com>wrote:
>
>> **
>>
>>
>> I've been checking some pools in Shirley, Leominster, and Worcester
>> over the past few weeks, and have the following observations:
>>
>> Peepers started early, mid-March and seem still to be going strong.
>> Empty peeper eggs and many small tadpoles in the Leominster pools
>> (presumably peepers) as of yesterday.
>>
>> I have not heard noisy congregations of wood frogs yet, although I was
>> told of a great one in the Fells a week ago; no rafts of wood frog egg
>> masses yet seen. One wood frog male heard and one egg mass observed in
>> Leominster on 3/26, but that egg mass is now high and dry.
>>
>> One newly laid wood frog egg mass observed yesterday in Leominster, as
>> well as two very small spotted salamander masses.
>>
>> The pools are much lower than usual for this time of year and have
>> dropped c. 10 cm in
>> the past week and a half.
>>
>> I, too, have observed algae on leaf surfaces more extensive than
>> usual, but that is not surprising -- less water in pools means less
>> dilution by groundwater and rainfall/snowmelt, so early spring
>> nutrients are probably at higher concentrations than in high-water
>> years, and hence less likelihood of nutrient limitation for algae. I
>> have not tested nutrient concentrations, but this is a likely
>> explanation, I think.
>>
>> Also, low water levels seem to be translating to lower numbers of
>> fairy shrimp. Has anyone else observed this? Their eggs reportedly are
>> left preferentially in shallow littoral areas before pool drying and
>> therefore are not getting flooded this year -- at least not so far.
>>
>> Caddisflies seem to be doing well. Keep hoping for a bit of rain for
>> both pools and the
>> rest of the landscape.
>>
>> Happy ponding, Betsy
>>
>>
>
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