Species Status Assessment Report for the New Mexico meadow jumping mouse (Zapus hudsonius luteus) Photo courtesy of J. Frey Prepared by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Albuquerque, New Mexico 1st Revision January 30, 2020 New Mexico Meadow Jumping Mouse SSA, 1st Revision January 30, 2020 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This document was prepared by Jodie Mamuscia, Dave Smith (retired), Alison Michael, Ryan Gordon, and Mark Brennan of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Valuable input was provided by Susan Millsap, Shawn Sartorius, and Stacey Stanford of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. We thank Carol Chambers (Northern Arizona University), Carron Meaney (Meaney Consulting, LLC), Jennifer Frey (New Mexico State University), Jennifer Zahratka (Biological Resources, LLC, and Northern Arizona University), Rob Schorr (Colorado Natural Heritage Program), Tom Ryon (National Renewable Energy Laboratory), and staff from the U.S. Forest Service’s Southwestern Regional Office and Apache-Sitgreaves National Forests for peer reviews of drafts. We thank James Stuart (New Mexico Department of Game and Fish), Tina Jackson (Colorado Parks and Wildlife), and staff from the Arizona Game and Fish Department, New Mexico Department of Transportation, and the U.S. Forest Service’s Southwestern Regional Office and San Juan National Forest for partner reviews of drafts. We greatly appreciate everyone’s input and comments, which resulted in a more robust status assessment and final report. Also, we wish to thank Jennifer Frey and Greg Wright for use of their photographs in this document. Suggested reference: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 2020. Species status assessment report for the New Mexico meadow jumping mouse (Zapus hudsonius luteus), 1st Revision. January 2020. Albuquerque, NM. 160 pp. ii New Mexico Meadow Jumping Mouse SSA, 1st Revision January 30, 2020 Species Status Assessment Report for the New Mexico meadow jumping mouse (Zapus hudsonius luteus) EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) presents this updated Species Status Assessment (SSA) Report to support recovery actions and development of a recovery plan for the New Mexico meadow jumping mouse (Zapus hudsonius luteus) (jumping mouse). The updated SSA Report will also support other functions of the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended, for the jumping mouse, including section 7 consultations and 5-year status reviews. The Service prepared the original SSA Report for the jumping mouse in 2014 (Service 2014a, entire). Since that time, new information has emerged with regard to the subspecies’ distribution, abundance, and life history needs. This updated SSA Report reflects the best available scientific information and provides an updated evaluation of the subspecies’ rangewide distribution and current condition, an updated analysis of the subspecies’ viability, and recommendations for potential recovery actions. The New Mexico meadow jumping mouse is a small rodent that lives in densely-vegetated riparian areas along streams from southern Colorado and central New Mexico to eastern Arizona. Its historical distribution likely included riparian areas and wetlands along streams in the Sangre de Cristo and San Juan Mountains from southern Colorado to central New Mexico, in the Jemez and Sacramento Mountains of New Mexico, in the Rio Grande Valley from Española to Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge, and in parts of the White Mountains in eastern Arizona. Specifically, the jumping mouse requires tall (averaging 61 centimeters (24 inches)), dense riparian herbaceous vegetation primarily composed of sedges (plants in the Cyperaceae Family that superficially resemble grasses, but usually have triangular stems) and forbs (broad-leafed herbaceous plants). This suitable habitat is only found when wetland vegetation achieves full growth potential associated with seasonally available or perennial flowing water. The New Mexico meadow jumping mouse occurs within eight geographic management areas that are defined by current critical habitat units and the distribution of 77 current populations (18 in Colorado, 22 in New Mexico, and 37 in Arizona) (Figure ES-1). We define current populations as jumping mouse detections that: 1) are located along functionally connected streams, 2) are within dispersal distance from one another (1 kilometer (3,281 feet)), 3) do not have barriers between detection sites, and 4) were detected from 2005 to 2018. For this definition, jumping mouse detections can include a single mouse or multiple mice. The New Mexico meadow jumping mouse needs to have multiple resilient populations distributed throughout different drainages within the eight geographic management areas to have high viability. Since the original SSA Report (Service 2014a, entire), jumping mice have been documented at 39 new locations where they had not previously been detected or where surveys had never been conducted. Out of these new locations, 32 were in areas outside of designated critical habitat. iii New Mexico Meadow Jumping Mouse SSA, 1st Revision January 30, 2020 Several of the new locations have expanded, or are connected to, occupied locations in critical habitat. Nearly all of the current populations are isolated and widely separated, and all of these populations are likely within patches of suitable habitat too small to support resilient populations of the jumping mouse. Therefore, the New Mexico meadow jumping mouse likely does not currently have the number and distribution of resilient populations needed to provide the levels of redundancy and representation (genetic and ecological diversity) for the subspecies to demonstrate high viability. We found the main stressors for the jumping mouse to be cumulative habitat loss and fragmentation across the range of the subspecies (Figure ES-2). The past and current habitat loss has resulted in the extirpation of historical populations, reduced the size of existing populations, and isolated existing small populations. The primary sources of current and anticipated future habitat losses include: 1) livestock, elk, and feral horse grazing pressure that is incompatible with needed vegetation structure and diversity (i.e., contributes to riparian herbaceous vegetation loss), 2) incompatible water management and use (e.g., vegetation loss from intensive mowing near irrigation ditches or drying of soils), 3) lack of water due to drought (exacerbated by climate change), and 4) severe wildland fires that cause changes to riparian habitat (also exacerbated by climate change). Additional sources of habitat loss are likely to occur from scouring floods, stream incision, loss of beaver ponds, highway reconstruction, residential and commercial development, coalbed methane development, and unregulated recreation. The main stressor affecting the New Mexico meadow jumping mouse is loss of suitable habitat; therefore, its habitat must be protected and restored, particularly in areas vulnerable to the potential effects of climate change, to ensure the subspecies’ viability. Conservation of the subspecies requires the restoration of habitat within each of the eight geographic management areas to provide areas for local populations to expand and become established. Populations located since 2005 need to expand as rapidly as possible by protecting and restoring connected areas of suitable riparian habitat in the range of at least 27.5 to 73.2 hectares (68 to 181 acres) along 9 to 24 kilometers (5.6 to 15 miles) of flowing streams, ditches, or canals. This can be accomplished primarily through effective grazing and water management. It is important to recognize that although we have resolved many areas of uncertainty associated with the New Mexico meadow jumping mouse since the original 2014 SSA Report was completed (most notably life history and ecological information), substantial areas of uncertainty remain. The main areas of uncertainty still include the amount of suitable habitat needed to support resilient populations and the number of populations needed to provide for adequate redundancy and representation. There is also uncertainty in some of the natural history information, such as the location of hibernation sites relative to riparian areas, the specific habitat characteristics of hibernacula, the timing of hibernation, and population sizes of localities found since 2005. We base our assumptions in these areas on the best available information, including referencing information from other meadow jumping mouse subspecies where applicable. iv New Mexico Meadow Jumping Mouse SSA, 1st Revision January 30, 2020 Figure ES-1. Distribution of populations of the New Mexico meadow jumping mouse detected from 2005 to 2018. v New Mexico Meadow Jumping Mouse SSA, 1st Revision January 30, 2020 Vital Needs of Current Condition of New Mexico Meadow Jumping Mouse New Mexico Meadow Jumping Mouse INDIVIDUALS NEED suitable habitat of: INDIVIDUAL CONDITIONS: • Dense herbaceous vegetation of sedges • Existing habitat conditions are unknown, and forbs (≥ 24 inches tall) along flowing but presumed suitable. perennial streams to support feeding and POPULATION CONDITIONS: sheltering. • All 77 populations found since 2005 • Adjacent uplands to support breeding and hibernation. likely have insufficient habitat with a high potential for extirpation. POPULATIONS NEED: RANGEWIDE CONDITIONS: • Nearly continuous suitable habitat along at least 5.6 miles with ≥ 68 acres of • 7 geographic management areas currently have 2 or more locations riparian habitat along streams,