US says climate change threatens national park's insects

More damage to our eco-system?  Certainly if we see rivers dry up as portended here.  Finding the perfect balance between our use of natural resources with protecting all forms of life is our paramount goal going forward.  The prosperity of reaching that symmetry will be historic.

US says climate change threatens national park's insects 

By MATTHEW BROWN

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — U.S. wildlife officials proposed greater protections for two rare insects in Glacier National Park on Monday, saying warmer temperatures caused by climate change are drying up the species' aquatic habitat.

The western glacier stonefly and the meltwater lednian stonefly live primarily in streams fed by cold water from glaciers and snowfields.

In Glacier National Park, those glaciers are predicted to largely disappear by 2030. Researchers say the stoneflies could follow suit.

A final decision on whether to add the insects to the government's list of threatened species is expected within about a year, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said.

New populations of what are believed to be the western glacier stonefly were recently discovered in the Beartooth Mountains of Montana and Wyoming's Grand Teton National Park. Despite that news, wildlife officials said the threat posed by climate change and periodic drought could drive both kinds of stonefly toward extinction.

By 2030, the amount of stream habitat available to the meltwater lednian stonefly is expected to decrease more than 80 percent. Similar declines in habitat are projected by the western glacier stonefly.

It's uncertain what measures could be taken to preserve the insects. There have been preliminary discussions among biologists about raising stoneflies in laboratories and seeding different streams with them.

But those streams also could dry up as climate change drives global temperatures higher.

Monday's announcement came after two advocacy groups, Wildearth Guardians and the Center for Biological Diversity, petitioned the federal wildlife service to consider protections for the insects. The groups reached separate legal settlements with the government several years ago that required wildlife officials to decide on the legal status of the insects.