My last physical in person class was a field trip to Sinking pond, which is located on the Arnold Air Force Base. Sinking Pond is a wetland that is monitored and cared for by the scientists that work on the air base. It a very beautiful place to visit!
Sinking pond however is experiencing changes to its hydrology. The water level, for example, is mostly higher than past recordings for longer periods of time during the wet season. With these hydraulic changes there are strange behaviors observed that are not common in middle Tennessee. Such as finding coastal wetland biota in this vernal pool wetland.
Vernal pools are seasonal depressional wetlands and they house various wildlife and vegetation. This field trip, we searched for amphibians or any type of wildlife that thrive in this wetland habitat. Here are some we found!
EXTRA POINTS if you can name them all! 😁
What makes Sinking pond interesting is that this type of wetland has a direct ground water connection to Dry Creek. This pond usually sinks, hence the name sinking pond, the water gain from rainfall into the groundwater table and eventually that connects to Dry Creek. However there is something preventing the water level to lower these past couple of seasons and this has caused some changes to this wetland ecosystem. More research is been done to help identify environmental factors that changing this wetland.
What do you guys think is preventing the water level from sinking?
AGSC 5110 Research Methods 