PARENT SESSION
Oral Session #85: Ecosystem Restoration in the Grand Canyon.
Presiding: S. Gloss and B. Gold
Thursday, August 8. 1:00 PM to 3:45 PM. Mohave Meeting Room, TCC.
The snail that stopped the floods: the story of the endangered Kanab ambersnail in Grand Canyon National Park.
Miller, Mark*,1, Sorensen, Jeff2, Stevens, Lawrence3, Nelson, Clay2, Meretsky, Vicky4, 1 Utah State University, Logan, UT2 Arizona Game and Fish Department, Phoenix, AZ3 Stevens Ecological Consulting, Flagstaff, AZ4 Indiana University, Bloomington, IN
ABSTRACT- The Kanab ambersnail (Oxyloma haydeni kanabensis) is known from only two locations in the United States (Three Lakes, Utah and Vaseys Paradise along the Colorado River in Grand Canyon National Park). Recently, this taxon received considerable attention because its presence at Vaseys Paradise had implications for the ecosystem-wide management of the Colorado River. In 1996, an experimental high-water discharge from Glen Canyon Dam destroyed or degraded approximately 16% of Kanab ambersnail habitat at Vaseys Paradise. This planned flood release was designed to let resource managers evaluate an alternate strategy for Glen Canyon Dam operations that would allow the restoration of more natural flow regimes throughout the Grand Canyon. The ultimate goal was to mimic natural events that occurred in the canyon prior to the completion of dam construction in 1963. As a result of the habitat destruction at Vaseys Paradise during the flood event, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service ruled that no further experimental floods could be conducted until additional Kanab ambersnail populations were discovered or established. Because of this ruling, a situation then existed where the management of a single endangered species was in direct opposition of the management of an entire ecosystem. Our presentation will provide a synthesis of the current knowledge pertaining to Kanab ambersnail ecology and describe recent genetic studies that have raised new questions about the status of this endangered taxon.
KEY WORDS: Kanab ambersnail, endangered species, ecosystem management