This cache is part of the Kittatinny Valley State Park Interpretive Geo-trail, created to highlight the natural and historic features of the park through the family-friendly sport of geocaching.
In addition to providing a number of important services for people, wetlands are vital habitats for wildlife and plants. They have many names depending on their specific characteristics: marsh, swamp, bog, fen, mire...and vernal pool. Can you discover a vernal pool nearby?
Vernal pools, also called vernal ponds or ephemeral pools, are temporary pools of water that provide habitat for unique plants and animals. They are considered to be a distinctive type of wetland usually devoid of fish, and thus act as "nurseries" for the safe development of amphibian and insect species unable to withstand competition or predation by fish.
Most pools are dry for at least part of the year, and fill with the winter rains or snow melt. They are called vernal pools because they are often, but not necessarily, at their maximum depth in the spring ("vernal" meaning of, relating to, or occurring in the spring). There are many local names for such pools, depending upon the part of the world in which they are found. Vernal pools may form in forests, but they are more typically associated with grasslands. While many pools are only a few meters in width, prairie potholes are usually much larger, but are still otherwise similar in many respects, with high water in wet periods, followed by dry conditions.