Mohammad+Hossain+-+Vernal+Pool+Tadpole+Shrimp

=Verbal Pool Tadpole Shrimp (Lepidurus packardi)=



Location and Natural habitat
Vernal Pool Tadpole Shrimp live in seasonal wetlands called vernal pools. These pools are found in California, and form terraces or depressions. They have annual flooding and drying periods. Vernal Pool Tadpole Shrimp need pools that range from 2 to 15 cm in depth. Most pools annually go through 4 stages. The first stage is called the wetting phase, the second phase is called the an aquatic phase, the third stage is the saturated-terrestrial and the final phase would be the drought phase.

All in all the Vernal Pool Tadpole Shrimp requires a very specific habitat and needs many things such as temperature and size in order to survive in that habitat.

Niche
L. Packardi as well as other vernal pool organisms, are endangered due to urbanization in Great Central Valley, California. The Vernal Pool Tadpole Shrimp (Lepedurus packardi) is a bottom feeder. This means he feeds on things like organic debris. They are omnivores. The Vernal Pool Tadpole Shrimp also consumes other organisms in the vernal pool as well, like the Vernal Pool Fairy Shrimp or the Vernal Pool Seed Shrimp. They are considered cannibalistic as they are known to eat other Tadpole Shrimp as well.

The Tadpole Shrimp itself consists of three sexes which are male, female and hermaphrodites. If reproducing the Vernal Pool Tadpole Shrimp can drop these special drought resistant eggs which can resist even the harshest environments. This is the reason that the Vernal Pool Tadpole Shrimp still survives till this day. The eggs that the Tadpole Shrimp lays are called cysts. The cysts can hatch at any time, it can be as early as an hour or as late as 3 weeks. The Vernal Pool Tadpole Shrimp is prey to many waterfowls and amphibians. Predators that eat the Tadpole Shrimp's cysts actually help the Tadpole Shrimp itself. The predator eats the cysts and then when it excretes it, the cysts now have a new location and can still hatch. However if the new location is not suitable for them it will do the opposite and not hatch.



Population Status
The Vernal Pool Tadpole Shrimp(Lepidurus Packardi) was marked as an endangered species on 9/19/94. The reason for this endangerment was due to the urbanization of the Great Central Valley in California. The Valley was home to many vernal pools and had a wide variety of species. Studies show that only 10-35% of the Tadpole Shrimp's habitat exists. Due to this, the Tadpole Shrimp's population has had a huge downfall.​

Conservation Efforts
The conservation efforts of the Vernal Pool Tadpole Shrimp is the same conservation efforts of that of the vernal pools. It is being protected today however finding a suitable habitat for this species is very tough. They have to make sure that the habitat is the right temperature, has the right measurements and that the pool has gone through the four different stages. Since the Vernal Pool Tadpole Shrimp needs such a complicated habitat the conservation of these species is becoming very hard.

Work Cited
Vernal Pool Tadpole Shrimp - Endangered Invertebrates. Received on October 14, 2009 from the Contra Costa County website: @http://www.co.contra-costa.ca.us/

Stevens, Vanessa.2003.Lepidurus Packardi.SFSU 2009 Retrieved October 12,2009 from the San Francisco State Univerisity Website: http://bss.sfsu.edu