Melting Glaciers Imperil Rare Aquatic Insect

Melting glaciers at Montana's Glacier National Park are imperiling a rare aquatic insect isolated there, threatening to wipe out the entire species, according to a new report released Thursday.

The western glacier stonefly (Zapada glacier), first discovered in 1963, lives only in a few high mountain streams at Glacier National Park. But with our warming world expected to melt these ice masses completely by 2030, scientists are worried that this insect will disappear along with them.

So far, these flies have taken to higher ground by retreating upstream in search of cooler habitats directly downstream of disappearing glaciers, permanent snowfields, and springs in the park, but they can only climb so high.

"Soon there will be nowhere left for the stonefly to go," Joe Giersch, an entomologist with the US Geological Survey (USGS), said in a statement.

During the study, USGS scientists sampled streams in the park from 2011 to 2013. It turns out that the insect now lives in just one of the six streams it once occupied, and inhabits two new locations at higher elevations with cooler water.

According to Giersch, the stonefly represents what could happen to other species in the area, as the unique ecosystem found within the park is expected to undergo drastic changes as a result of climate change.

"There are a handful of other coldwater dependent alpine aquatic species here in Glacier that are at risk of extinction due to the loss of permanent snow and ice," Giersch said. "Under a warming climate, the biodiversity of unique aquatic alpine species - not just in Glacier, but worldwide - is threatened."

The western glacier stonefly is one of two such water bugs endemic to Glacier National Park undergoing review by US Fish and Wildlife Service for Endangered Species Act protections. Results from the study will be published in the upcoming issue of Freshwater Science.

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