Species Status Assessment Report for Morro Shoulderband Snail
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Species Status Assessment Report Morro Shoulderband Snail (Helminthoglypta walkeriana) and Chorro Shoulderband Snail (Helminthoglypta morroensis) Morro Shoulderband Snail Chorro Shoulderband Snail SWCA Consultants Dan Dugan, EcoVision Partners Ventura Fish and Wildlife Office U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Pacific Southwest Region 8 FEBRUARY 2019 Version 1.1 The Ventura Fish and Wildlife Office prepared this report with guidance and assistance from Bjorn Erickson, Recovery Division, Region 8. Valuable input to our analysis was provided by Lisa Andreano, Kate Ballantyne, Travis Belt, Vince Cicero, Katie Drexhage, Barbie Dugan, Dan Dugan, Barrett Holland, Dwayne Oberhoff, Pete Sarafian, Robert Sloan, Jeff Tupen, and Mike Walgren during a “snail summit’ held on November 16, 2017 in Los Osos, California. Peer review of the draft SSA report was provided by Kate Ballantyne, Travis Belt, Dan Dugan, Robert Sloan, and Jeff Tupen. We appreciate their input as it resulted in a more robust assessment and final report. Version 1.1 The SSA has been updated with a more accurate list of threats identified at the time the species was listed in 1998, as well as a list of threats that have been ameliorated since that time. Suggested reference: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 2018. Species status assessment report for the Morro Shoulderband Snail (Helminthoglypta walkeriana) and the Chorro Shoulderband Snail (Helminthoglypta morroensis), Version 1.0. June 2018. Ventura, California Species Status Assessment Report Morro Shoulderband Snail (Helminthoglypta walkeriana) and Chorro Shoulderband Snail (Helminthoglypta morroensis) Prepared by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This species status assessment report provides the results of comprehensive reviews conducted for the Morro shoulderband snail (Helminthoglypta walkeriana) (Hemphill 1911) and the Chorro shoulderband snail (H. morroensis) (Hemphill 1911). It provides a thorough account of both species’ overall viability. The Morro shoulderband snail (MSS) and Chorro shoulderband snail (CSS) are terrestrial species endemic to San Luis Obispo County in the central coastal region of California. The MSS has the narrower distribution of the two species, being largely restricted to the Baywood Fine Sand soil series in and around the communities of Los Osos and Morro Bay. The distribution for CSS encompasses a wider area as it is found on a much greater diversity of soil substrates (e.g., clays, silty loams) extending from the coastal community of Cayucos through the Los Osos Valley to the community of Edna, east of the City of San Luis Obispo. In 1994, the Service listed both MSS and CSS as the banded dune snail under the species name Helminthoglypta walkeriana, which contained to two subspecific entities: H. walkeriana and H. w. morroensis. Taxonomic revisions subsequent to the listing elevated these subspecific taxa to full species: Helminthoglypta walkeriana and H. morroensis (Roth and Tupen 2004: entire). After 2004, H. walkeriana and H. morroensis were associated with the common names Morro shoulderband snail (MSS) and Chorro shoulderband snail (CSS), respectively. For purposes of this assessment, we use the name banded dune snail for individuals identified prior to the publication of the taxonomic treatment in 2004 that elevated these subspecific taxa to their current separate species status. At the time of listing, we thought Helminthoglypta walkeriana morroensis (currently, Chorro shoulderband snail, CSS) was extinct and speculated that there may have been as few as several hundred individuals of H. walkeriana (currently, Morro shoulderband snail, MSS) extant. Within a few years of listing, CSS was rediscovered near the northern limit of Morro Bay. Since the time of listing, living CSS individuals have been documented at other locations from northern Morro Bay south and inland through the City of San Luis Obispo and we now know MSS numbers far exceed what was thought at that time. Threats influencing the viability of Morro shoulderband snail populations at the time of listing were urban development, off-road vehicle activity, nonnative vegetation (referred to as invasive species in this proposed rule), parasitoids, and competition from brown garden snails, all of which were exacerbated by effects associated with small population size and drought conditions (59 FR 64613). Since the time of listing, we have determined that some of these threats are no 1 longer affecting the species, particularly off-road vehicle activity, brown garden snails, parasitoids, and controlled burns (Service 2006, pp. 11–15). Currently, the most common threats to both species are those associated with land use practices that eliminate, reduce, fragment, and/or modify habitat used by the species. We expect that climate change will likely exacerbate the severity of these threats. Both MSS and CSS need resilient populations distributed across their respective distributions to maintain viability into the future. For both species to maintain viability, populations or some portion thereof must be resilient to the normal range of environmental variation. Factors influencing the ability of MSS and CSS to withstand stochastic events within the normal range of environmental variation include abundance and distribution of individuals, habitat quality and configuration (including presence of a seasonal hydrological microclimate to facilitate feeding and reproduction) and the likelihood that suitable habitat will persist into the future. Maintaining representation of healthy populations across the diversity of MSS and CSS habitats or ecological gradients is expected to conserve the relevant diversity associated with species persistence across these habitat types and maintain their limited distributions to reduce risk associated with catastrophic events. A diversity of groups conduct conservation actions for MSS within the species’ distribution. Although most lands within its distribution are not formally or legally protected via open space or conservation easements, many are under some form of protection as part of a State Park, State of California ecological reserve, or parcels set aside specifically to conserve and enhance natural resource values. For example, the County’s Broderson and Midtown parcels are both protected though deed restrictions that preclude development other than those that would enhance resource values. Both are managed in accordance with a habitat management plan that was approved by the California Coastal Commission in 2012 (Ballantyne pers. comm. 2018). The Service is not aware of specific conservation actions for CSS; however, areas conserved as open space by the City and/or County of San Luis Obispo as well as those acquired and/or managed by the Land Conservancy of San Luis Obispo benefit the species through habitat preservation. For both species, we assessed the level of resiliency, redundancy, and representation currently and into the future by ranking the condition of each population area and assessing these rankings across the geographic distribution and ecological settings of the species. Rankings are an assessment of population abundance and the relative condition of occupied habitat based on published reports and the knowledge and expertise of Service staff. To forecast the likely future state of MSS and CSS, we evaluated a range of plausible scenarios projected over 30 years, each including the likelihood of prolonged or more intensive drought and wildfire frequency and/or intensity associated with continued climate change as a baseline. For MSS, we evaluated three future scenarios: 1) current conditions with no additional conservation measures (status quo), 2) current conditions with limited additional conservation measures, and 3) current conditions with major additional conservation measures. For CSS, we assessed two future scenarios: 1) current conditions with no additional conservation measures (status quo) and 2) current conditions with intensified agricultural use. Overall, the results of our analyses indicate that the viability of MSS has likely improved since time of listing due to the existence of substantially more individuals than thought at time of listing and conservation efforts (predominantly in the form of land acquisition). The species still 2 has the potential to decline in the future depending on the potential for development and level of continued conservation efforts. Our analyses indicate that the viability of CSS is likely similar to that at time of listing (given that it was not extinct) despite not being regulated since 2004. Because of this, its condition is projected to remain the same or decrease slightly, depending largely on future land uses in San Luis Obispo County. 3 Table of Contents EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1 CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION 7 CHAPTER 2 – LIFE HISTORY AND BIOLOGY 9 Taxonomy 9 Genetic Diversity 10 Morphology 10 Reproductive Biology 11 Growth and Longevity 11 Activity Patterns 12 Feeding 13 Habitat Associations 14 CHAPTER 3 – POPULATION AND SPECIES NEEDS 15 Historical Range and Distribution 15 Recovery Plan 16 Species Needs 19 Resiliency 19 Representation 19 Redundancy 20 CHAPTER 4 – CURRENT CONDITION 22 Threats 22 Conservation Actions 24 Current Range and Distribution 25 Current Condition 37 Morro Shoulderband Snail 37 Chorro Shoulderband Snail 42 CHAPTER 5 – FUTURE CONDITION 47 Morro Shoulderband Snail 47 Future Scenario 1: Current conditions for 30 years with no additional conservation efforts (status quo) 47 4 Future Scenario 2: Current