San Diego Natural History Museum

The San Diego Society of Natural History will curate a collection of arthropods that contains vouchers of the ecological history for one of California's most endangered ecosystems: vernal pools. These shallow seasonal wetlands that are dry most of the year contain plants and animals that have evolved highly specialized adaptations to deal with the fluctuating wet/dry cycle. The collection contains more than 25,000 vials of sorted and identified vernal pool crustaceans and insects. The project will greatly improve the condition of and access to this research-based collection, which provides a snapshot of the contemporary transformation of one of California's most endangered habitats.