The Kansas Vernal Pool Society is a group of individuals who share a common interest in the plant and animal communities unique to Vernal Pool habitats in Kansas. The purpose of the Society is to promote a better public awareness, understanding, and knowledge of this specialized habitat and to document the identification and distribution of obligate and facultative species.

Vernal Pools, also called Ephemeral Pools or Playa Lakes, can be identified by a wet pool and obligate species, or a pool that dries and evidence of facultative species.

The most obvious and most easily documented indicators are the obligate species which can only be observed during the seasons of breeding and development. Late spring and early summer is generally the best time to document a pool by the obligate species method.

During other times of the year, evidence of a vernal pool can be documented by the use of the pool by various facultative species. These are organisms which use permanent wetlands as well as vernal pools. If they are using a pool that is free of fish, the pool can be considered a vernal pool. If a pool is found in the dry condition, soil can be collected and rehydrated to see if any obligate species exist.