Community-based Strategies for Strengthening Science and Influencing Policy: Vernal Pool Initiatives in Maine

Scientific research is not having the impact it could and should have on natural resources conservation. Rather than conceptualize and conduct research in isolation, we need new approaches to identify and investigate problems in coordination with stakeholders, poli­cymakers, and others who would benefit from the research. By supporting partnerships between researchers and the public, citizen science creates new opportunities for stake­holders to interact with scientific experts. This process of public collaboration with scien­tists has far-reaching implications for science, management, and policy. Drawing on two decades of work on vernal pool management strategies in Maine, we illustrate how citi­zen science and engaged research helped bridge the science-policy gap. As scientists, we learned from diverse stakeholders at multiple levels of decision making, and this feedback led to improvements in our citizen science programs, gradual adaptations to our scientific research process, and locally based, innovative vernal pool policy initiatives

Science and Conservation of Vernal Pools in Northeastern North America

Drawing on 15 years of experience, the editors have mined published literature, personal communication from professionals working in the field, unpublished reports and data, and other sources to present the latest information and practical application of this knowledge. They synthesize decades of research on vernal pools and pool-dependent biota as a foundation for presenting the necessary tools for conserving these ecosystems. The book introduces vernal pools as a keystone ecosystem in northeastern forests of North America. This landscape approach is the common current flowing throughout the chapters. Section I reviews the physical parameters that demonstrate how vernal pools function differently from other wetland systems and where they are found in the landscape. Section II provides an overview of the diversity and natural history of their unique biota, focusing on plants, invertebrates, amphibians, and other pool-associated vertebrates. Finally, Section III synthesizes the best-available science from peer-reviewed and unpublished sources relevant to conserving vernal pools in human-dominated landscapes. The book also highlights the significant role that educators and citizens have in effecting local conservation, and in ensuring a permanent place on the landscape for seasonal wetlands. An impressive cadre of scientists contribute knowledge and expertise on how to conserve vernal pools, its species, and its flora and fauna. Acknowledging the physical and biological connections between upland and aquatic systems, the authors provide a landscape-scale approach to conservation that is equally applicable to all isolated wetlands.https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/fac_monographs/1079/thumbnail.jp