k) steps should be taken insofar as possible to assure that any pes- :. r i 

 sible drainage and/or other developmental activities in areas sxir- 

 rounding the ponds are minimal, in order to guarantee that the water 

 relations of the ponds are not drastically altered, i_»e_. , to assure 

 that the water table is not lowered enough or drainage patterns 

 redirected so as to cause the ponds to shrink or dry up conpletely — 

 as has been observed to happen in adjacent coastal areas — thereby 

 drastically affecting future survival of the majority of the pond 

 rim species, which characteristically have hydroperiod-related dis- 

 tributions. 



5) It is apparent that fire has played an inportant part in the develop- 

 ment and/or maintenance of the pond rim vegetation, although its 

 specific role is unclear; for this reason the area should be moni- 

 tored v/ith respect to plant communities and natural plant succession, 

 to assure that the threatened and endangered doline pond species, 

 as well as the characteristic sink species assemblages, are not dis- 

 placed in the course of serai succession under conditions of fire 

 exclusion from the pond rin areas. 



73 



