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Monitoring and Habitat Surveys of the Endangered Kanab Ambersnail in Grand Canyon and Northern Arizona

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Monitoring and Habitat Surveys of the Endangered Kanab Ambersnail in Grand Canyon and Northern Arizona Monitoring and Habitat Surveys of the Endangered Kanab Ambersnail in Grand Canyon and Northern Arizona Jeff A. Sorensen, Wildlife Specialist Dennis M. Kubly, Support Supervisor Nongame Branch, Wildlife Management Division Arizona Game and Fish Department Technical Report 125 Nongame and Endangered Wildlife Program Program ~hief: Terry B. Johnson Arizona Game and Fish Department 2221 West Greenway Road Phoenix, Arizona 85023-4399 April 1998 RECOMMENDED CITATION Sorensen, J.A. and D.M. Kubly. 1998. Monitoring and habitat surveys of the endangered Kanab ambersnail in Grand Canyon and northern Arizona. Nongame and Endangered Wildlife Program Technical Report 125. Arizona Game and Fish Department, Phoenix, Arizona. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS We thank the following individuals for their contributions in the field: Ken Baker, Liz Baldwin, Nikolle Brown, Chris Franke, Jim Hoffman, Jerry Martinez, Vicky Meretsky, Clay Nelson, Larry Roberts, John and Robert Sorensen, and Larry Stevens. Logistical and administrative support was provided by: Cindy Krznarich and Dave Garrett (Grand Canyon Monitoring and Research Center); Christine Karas and Tom Scoville (U.S. Bureau of Reclamation); Ralph Swanson (Central Utah Project Completion Act); Debra Bills, Larry England, and Owen Gorman (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service); Robert Black, George Andrejko, Jody Walters, Dave Weedman, and Richard Winstead (Arizona Game and Fish Department); Johnny Ray, Peter Rowlands, R. V. Ward, and Robert Winfree (Grand Canyon Science Center, National Park Service); Clay Bravo and Kerry Christensen (Hualapai Department of Natural Resources); Mike Demlong (Phoenix Zoo); Mike Herder and Mike Small (Bureau of Land Management); and Norm Henderson (Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, National Park Service). A special thanks goes to Jim Hoffman for di~section and identification of mollusk specimens. Report figure created ty Richard Winstead. AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT COMPLIANCE The Arizona Game and Fish Department complies with all provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act. This document is available in alternative format by contacting Terry Johnson, Nongame Branch, Arizona Game and Fish Department, 2221 West Greenway Road, Phoenix, Arizona 85023-4399 -- (602) 789-3501. PROJECT FUNDING Funding for this project was provided by the Ariz.ona Game and Fish Department's Heritage Fund; Arizona's Nongame Wildlife Checkoff; U.S. Bureau of Reclamation Grant No. 1425-97-FG-40- 21760; Central Utah Project Completion Act Cooperative Agreement No. 7-FC-CU-AZ0lO; and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Project E5, Job 33 (FCN5552), under Section VI of the Endangered Species Act. ABsTRACT The endangered Kanab ambersnail (KAS; Succineidae: Oxy/oma haydeni kanabensis Pilsbry 1948) occurs in only two locations in the American Southwest: a privately-owned wet meadow at Three Lakes, Utah, and a large, perennial spring called Vaseys Paradise (VP) in Grand Canyon National Park. Believed to be relics of the Late Pleistocene glaciation, KASs are restricted to wetland habitats near limestone or sandstone cliffs. These rare landsnails are found residing and feeding on cattails (Typha spp.), watercress (Nastuniwn officinale), and crimson monkeyflower (Mimulus cardinalis). Habitat loss and incidental take by flooding are specific threats to KASs. In March 1996, the VP population experienced habitat loss and incidental take during an experimental 45,000 cfs (1275 m3/s) stage flood from Glen Canyon Dam. The Arizona Game and Fish Department (AGFD) participated with an interagency monitoring team between 1995 and 1997 to study the ecology of KAS and flood impacts to VP and its population. From March 1996 through October 1997, habitat recovery in the flood-impacted low zone ( < 1275 m3/s stage) has been slow; total area of primary and secondary vegetation is 34.8% less than the pre-flood, March 1996 level. Preliminary population estimates, derived from bootstrap statistics, show an increased number of KASs, indicating a return to the 1995 level of abundance. In August 1997, visible sporocysts of the parasitic trematode, Leucochloridiwn cyanocittae, were observed in four KASs. In June 1996, AGFD began surveying and evaluating comparable habitats in Grand Canyon and vicinity for establishing additional KAS populations. Currently, 74 sites have been surveyed, including 57 sites documented in Sorensen and Kubly (1997). Between July and October 1997, we visited 17 new sites in northern Arizona. Three sites were evaluated as "more desirable" KAS habitat: one within Grand Canyon National Park (Dripping Spring) and two on the Hualapai Reservation (Travertine Falls and Bridge Canyon Creek). No additional KAS populations were found, but new occurrences of other mollusk species were recorded. TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract ..................................................... Introduction . 1 Methods ...................................................... 2 Study Area ............................................... 2 Monitoring . 2 Habitat Survey Protocol ....................................... 3 Results ...................................................... 5 Monitoring ............................................... 5 Habitat Surveys ............................................ 6 Discussion . 8 Monitoring . , . 8 Habitat Surveys ............................................ 9 Recommendations . 9 Monitoring . 9 Habitat Surveys . 10 Literature Cited . 12 Personal Communications ......................................... 14 Metric-English Conversions 1275 m3/s = 45,000 cfs 934 m3/s = 33,000 cfs 849 m3/s = 30,000 cfs 3.2 km = 2 miles 11 FIGURES Fig. 1. Locations of Vaseys Paradise and potential establishment sites for Kanab ambersnail in Grand Canyon, Arizona ....................................... 8 TABLES Table 1. Kanab ambersnail suitable habitat correlation model . 4 Table 2. Kanab ambersnail habitat distribution at Vaseys Paradise, 1995-97 ........... 5 Table 3. Habitat suitability for KAS establishment at river corridor sites in Grand Canyon National Park, June 1996 to October 1997 . 7 Table 4. Habitat suitability for KAS establishment at backcountry sites in Grand Canyon National Park and northern Arizona, June 1996 to October 1997 . 7 APPENDIXES Appendix A. Site summaries for KAS habitat evaluations. 15 Site: Dripping Spring . 15 Site: Travertine Canyon Seep . 16 Site: Travertine Falls . 17 Site: Bridge Canyon Creek ......................................... 18 Site: Spencer Canyon confluence ..................................... 19 Site: Columbine Falls . 20 Site: Verde River corridor ......................................... 21 Site: Verde River "Cold Spring" ..................................... 22 Site: Snake Gulch Willow Spring . 23 Site: Snake Gulch Wildband Spring . 24 Site: Snake Gulch Pigeon Spring . 25 Site: Burro Spring . 26 Site: Twomile Seep . 27 Site: Clear Water Spring . 28 Site: Badger Spring . .. 29 Site: Lower Twin Spring . 30 Site: Montezuma Well ............................................ 31 MONITORING AND HABITAT SURVEYS OF THE ENDANGERED KANAB AMBERSNAIL IN GRAND CANYON AND NORTHERN AluzoNA Jeff A. Sorensen and Dennis M. Kubly INTRODUCTION In 1992, the Kanab ambersnail (KAS; Succineidae: Oxyloma haydeni kanabensis Pilsbry, 1948) was federally listed as endangered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS 1992). Arizona Game and Fish Department (AGFD) also recognizes KAS in its draft Wildlife of Special Concern in Ariwna (AGFD in prep.). Specific threats to KAS involve the loss and/or adverse modification to wetland habitat and incidental take by dam releases (USFWS 1995). Only two populations of the KAS are known to exist currently in the American Southwest. An extant population is found in southeastern Utah, on a privately-owned wet meadow dominated by cattails (Typha domingensis) and sedges (Care,x aquatilus). This population (Three Lakes; 3L) is threatened by habitat loss and possible extirpation by planned commercial development (USFWS 1995). The other population of this rare landsnail was discovered in 1991, at Vaseys Paradise (VP) in Grand Canyon National Park (Blinn et al. 1992; Spamer and Bogan 1993). Located 75.3 km downstream of Glen Canyon Dam, this site has a large, perennial spring with abundant poison ivy (Toxicodendron rydbergii), crimson monkeyflower (Mimulus cardinalis), and watercress (Nasturtium officinale). The VP population is threatened by habitat loss and incidental take from controlled and uncontrolled high water releases from the dam. This population experienced habitat loss and incidental take during an experimental 45,000 cfs (1275 m3/s) stage flow in March 1996 (Stevens et al. 1997a). Both populations are geographically isolated (92.9 km distant), and are believed to be relics from the Late Pleistocene glaciation, when wetland habitat was more abundant (Spamer 1993; Spamer and Bogan 1993; Stevens et al. 1997b). KASs are restricted to perennially wet soil surfaces and decaying plant litter of springs and seep­ fed marshes near sandstone or limestone cliffs (USFWS 1995). A limiting factor in their distribution may be the presence of cattails, monkeyflower, and watercress, which are identified as the primary vegetation for KAS habitat. They are most abundant under fallen cattail stalks, decadent monkeyflower litter, and young watercress (USFWS 1995; Stevens et al. 1997b). KASs have an approximately annual lifecycle, and reportedly live 12-15 months (Clarke 1991). They emerge from winter hibernation in spring with the onset of warm weather, and begin reproducing
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