Vernal Pool Amphibian Breeding Ecology Monitoring from 1931 to Present: A Harmonized Historical and Ongoing Observational Ecology Dataset

The Mohonk Preserve's Daniel Smiley Research Center has been monitoring species occupancy, reproductive success, and water quality of 11 vernal pools (Ski Loop, Bonticou, Terrace, Long Woodland Pool, Long Woodland Swamp, Oakwood, Sleepy Hollow, Hermits, North Mud Pond, Canaan, and Talus) on the Preserve each spring from April 1931 to May 2019 (present). This project aims to document changes in the reproductive behavior and phenology of amphibians and allow research access to historical, longitudinal records.New informationIn this article, we describe the novel publication of a paired dataset of amphibian occurrence with environmental indicators spanning nearly 90 years of data collection. The current dataset includes 2,480 sampling dates across all species and sites and 151,701 unique occurrences recorded. The dataset also includes environmental conditions for the 730 sampling events associated with the species occurrences with complete coverage air temperature and precipitation records and partial coverage for a variety of other weather and water quality measures. Data collection has included species, egg mass, and tadpole counts; weather conditions including precipitation, sky and wind codes; and water quality measurements including water temperature, pH, and depth. Collection of data was sporadic from 1931 - 1991 but has been collected consistently from 1991 to present. We also began monitoring dissolved oxygen, nitrate concentrations, and conductivity of the vernal pools using a YSI Sonde Professional Plus Instrument and turbidity using a turbidity tube in February 2018. The dataset (and periodic updates) are available in the Environmental Data Initiative Repository under package edi398.1