Vernal pools are ephemeral wetland ecosystems that provide habitat for specialized plants and animals. They form "archipelagos" distributed across the landscape. Microbial communities in vernal pool soil and water show environmental filtering between habitats. Next-generation sequencing of soil samples revealed differences in microbial composition between soil, wet soil, and water. Species diversity and community composition changes with increasing spatial distance between pools, following a distance-decay pattern. Vernal pools may provide insights into the origins and mechanisms of biodiversity as well as how biodiversity responds to environmental changes. As a new frontier for science, further study of vernal pool ecosystems can help us understand the role of symbiosis and adaptation in life.

1. Vernal pools a new
ecosystem for astrobiology

3. Fairy
(shrimps)
Amphibious
plants
Spatio-temporal
islands
Ephemeral
ecosystems
Extreme
ecosystems
Vernal pools

4. Contenido:
1) Vernal pools general characteristics
2) Microbial ecology applied to Vernal
pools
3) Vernal pools as a new frontier in
space science

5. vernal pools?
El Descanso, Baja California México, 2017

6. Vernal pools

7. Temporal wetlands
>>> ephemeral ecosystems
November-February March-June July-October
7
Intro

8. Clay
Hardpan
Subsoil

10. Winter
Vernal Pool Vernal Pool
Saturated clay soil
Anoxic
Precipitation

11. Spring
Clay soil
Evapotranspiration

14. 14
Intro

15. 15
Vernal pools form archipelagos

16. 16
Microorganisms in vernal pools, latitudinal gradient

17. Linanthus sp.
Limnanthes douglasii sub. rosea
Eryngium sp. nov.
Trifolium variegatum Dichelostemma capitatum
Mimulus tricolor
Downingia bicornuta

18. Lupinus bicolor
Ranunculus aquatilis
???
Lasthenia fremontii
Eleocharis macrostachya

19. Lepidurus sp.
Branchinecta sp.
Cyzicus sp.
Ambystoma sp.

20. Eryngium castrense

21. ¿What originates biodiversity?
¿What are the mechanisms maintaining
biodiversity?
¿What is the destiny of biodiversity in a
changing world?
21
Intro

22. Microbial distributions remain
understudied
22
Intro

23. SOIL WET- SOIL WATER
Environmental filtering.
23

24. NextGen-Sequencing
Ribosome
Prokaryotes
16s
MiSEQ

25. 25

26. Environmental selection is evident between soil and
water, but is less strong with wet soil and dry soil.
26

27. 27
Vernal pools located at varied distances

28. ECOLOGY: Species diversity and distributions
>>>community composition
28
evenness
abundance
Number of
species

29. 1
2
3
Distance-decay pattern
R2
=0.5625
P<0.01

30. With increasing spatial distances communities diverge in taxa
composition.
30

31. 31

32. P = 0.036
R2
= 0.411
32
S
N
Correlation evenness with latitude

33. In vernal pools a latitudinal diversity gradient is visible, but is inverted. At northern
latitudes hold higher diversity and evenness.
33

34. vernal pools?
Vernal pools a new frontier
in science
El Descanso, Baja California México, 2017

38. 38
Environmental properties in vernal pools
Temperature
pH
Dissolved solids (TDS)
% Dissolved Oxygen
Dissolved Oxygen ppm

42. Navarretia leucocephala Navarretia mitrocarpa

46. What mechanisms are behind vernal pool
plants amphibious behaviour?

47. We don’t know much about the role of endophytes

48. Symbiont
Non-symbiont
Habitat adapted symbiosis

51. Eryngium castrense

52. Aquatic Terrestrial

53. UC Merced

57. How can vernal pools help us to
understand life?
Thanks!!
Jorge A Mandussi Montiel-Molina PhD
mandussi.jamm@gmail.com
jmontielmolina@ucmerced.edu
University of California, Merced
Nativos de las Californias AC (Mexico)