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Western Glacier Stonefly - Zapada glacier
State Rank Reason (see State Rank above)
The Western Glacier Stonefly is currently ranked "S1" in Montana because it is thought to be at high risk due to very limited and/or potentially declining population numbers, range and/or habitat, making it extremely vulnerable to extirpation in the state. This species is particularly vulnerable due to it's very restricted habitat and cold water temperature requirements.
General Description
The Western Glacier Stonefly is a small, dark colored stonefly reported only within the habitats of glacial-fed streams in Glacier National Park, south to the Beartooth Mountains, and Teton National Park (Hotaling et al. 2017). This species is one of 7 species of globally-rare insects within Glacier National Park that may be adversely affected when the glaciers have completely melted.
Phenology
In Montana, the adults have been collected in July (Baumann et al. 1977), and the larvae probably require at least 1 year to develop.
Diagnostic Characteristics
Larvae have not been associated with the adults or distinguished from other Z. oregonensis group species, although they share the typical characters of the group: cervical gills simple, unbranched and not constricted past the base (see photo of full view larva). Thus, this species would not be identified to species and left within this species group level by taxonomy labs identifying bioassesment samples. Adults described in Baumann and Gaufin (1971) (see photo of adult).
Species Range
Montana Range
Range Descriptions
Native
Range Comments
Rangewide, Zapada glacier has been found in Glacier National Park, the Beartooth Mountains of southcentral Montana, and Teton National Park in Wyoming (Hotaling et al. 2017). It may also occur in Waterton Park, Alberta, but this has not yet been confirmed. Distribution of this species may be wider than currently known as it difficult to collect as it is found in glacier-fed streams at high elevations.
Observations in Montana Natural Heritage Program Database
Number of Observations: 42
(Click on the following maps and charts to see full sized version)
Map Help and Descriptions
Relative Density
Recency
(Observations spanning multiple months or years are excluded from time charts)
Habitat
This species occurs in steep (precipitous) glacial-influenced streams (Baumann et al. 1977).
Ecological Systems Associated with this Species
- Details on Creation and Suggested Uses and Limitations
How Associations Were Made
We associated the use and habitat quality (common or occasional) of each of the 82 ecological systems mapped in Montana for
vertebrate animal species that regularly breed, overwinter, or migrate through the state by:
- Using personal observations and reviewing literature that summarize the breeding, overwintering, or migratory habitat requirements of each species (Dobkin 1992, Hart et al. 1998, Hutto and Young 1999, Maxell 2000, Foresman 2012, Adams 2003, and Werner et al. 2004);
- Evaluating structural characteristics and distribution of each ecological system relative to the species' range and habitat requirements;
- Examining the observation records for each species in the state-wide point observation database associated with each ecological system;
- Calculating the percentage of observations associated with each ecological system relative to the percent of Montana covered by each ecological system to get a measure of "observations versus availability of habitat".
Species that breed in Montana were only evaluated for breeding habitat use, species that only overwinter in Montana were only evaluated for overwintering habitat use, and species that only migrate through Montana were only evaluated for migratory habitat use.
In general, species were listed as associated with an ecological system if structural characteristics of used habitat documented in the literature were present in the ecological system or large numbers of point observations were associated with the ecological system.
However, species were not listed as associated with an ecological system if there was no support in the literature for use of structural characteristics in an ecological system,
even if point observations were associated with that system.
Common versus occasional association with an ecological system was assigned based on the degree to which the structural characteristics of an ecological system matched the preferred structural habitat characteristics for each species as represented in scientific literature.
The percentage of observations associated with each ecological system relative to the percent of Montana covered by each ecological system was also used to guide assignment of common versus occasional association.
If you have any questions or comments on species associations with ecological systems, please contact the Montana Natural Heritage Program's Senior Zoologist.
Suggested Uses and Limitations
Species associations with ecological systems should be used to generate potential lists of species that may occupy broader landscapes for the purposes of landscape-level planning.
These potential lists of species should not be used in place of documented occurrences of species (this information can be requested at:
mtnhp.org/requests) or systematic surveys for species and evaluations of habitat at a local site level by trained biologists.
Users of this information should be aware that the land cover data used to generate species associations is based on imagery from the late 1990s and early 2000s and was only intended to be used at broader landscape scales.
Land cover mapping accuracy is particularly problematic when the systems occur as small patches or where the land cover types have been altered over the past decade.
Thus, particular caution should be used when using the associations in assessments of smaller areas (e.g., evaluations of public land survey sections).
Finally, although a species may be associated with a particular ecological system within its known geographic range, portions of that ecological system may occur outside of the species' known geographic range.
Literature Cited
- Adams, R.A. 2003. Bats of the Rocky Mountain West; natural history, ecology, and conservation. Boulder, CO: University Press of Colorado. 289 p.
- Dobkin, D. S. 1992. Neotropical migrant land birds in the Northern Rockies and Great Plains. USDA Forest Service, Northern Region. Publication No. R1-93-34. Missoula, MT.
- Foresman, K.R. 2012. Mammals of Montana. Second edition. Mountain Press Publishing, Missoula, Montana. 429 pp.
- Hart, M.M., W.A. Williams, P.C. Thornton, K.P. McLaughlin, C.M. Tobalske, B.A. Maxell, D.P. Hendricks, C.R. Peterson, and R.L. Redmond. 1998. Montana atlas of terrestrial vertebrates. Montana Cooperative Wildlife Research Unit, University of Montana, Missoula, MT. 1302 p.
- Hutto, R.L. and J.S. Young. 1999. Habitat relationships of landbirds in the Northern Region, USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station RMRS-GTR-32. 72 p.
- Maxell, B.A. 2000. Management of Montana's amphibians: a review of factors that may present a risk to population viability and accounts on the identification, distribution, taxonomy, habitat use, natural history, and the status and conservation of individual species. Report to U.S. Forest Service Region 1. Missoula, MT: Wildlife Biology Program, University of Montana. 161 p.
- Werner, J.K., B.A. Maxell, P. Hendricks, and D. Flath. 2004. Amphibians and reptiles of Montana. Missoula, MT: Mountain Press Publishing Company. 262 p.
- Commonly Associated with these Ecological Systems
Alpine Systems
Food Habits
The morphology of the mouthparts suggests that Zapada glacier is well-suited for shredding plant materials, thus trophic relationships would include being shredders and collectors-gatherers (detritus, CPOM) (Merritt and Cummins 1996).
Reproductive Characteristics
In Montana, the adults have been collected in July (Baumann et al. 1977).
Management
On October 4, 2016 the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposed listing the Western Glacier Stonefly under the Endangered Species Act due to primary threats to the habitat and range of this species including climate change, loss of glaciers and permanent snowfields, and changes in stream flow and water temperature. On November 21, 2019 a notice was published in the Federal Register that the species' status was determined to be Threatened. Further information on status can be found on the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's
Species AccountThreats or Limiting Factors
With the increased evidence of global warming and melting glaicers in GNP, this species could be considered a candidate for the USFWS Threatened and Endangered species list.
References
- Literature Cited AboveLegend:
View Online Publication
Baumann R.W. and A.R. Gaufin .1971. New species of Nemoura from Western North America. Pan-Pacific Entomologist 47(4):27.- Baumann, R.W, A.R. Gaufin, and R.F. Surdick. 1977. The stoneflies (Plecoptera) of the Rocky Mountains. American Entomological Society, Philadelphia.
- Merritt, R.W. and K.W. Cummins. 1996. An introduction to the aquatic insects of North America. 3rd Edition. Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company. Dubuque, Iowa. 862 pp.
- Additional ReferencesLegend: View Online Publication
Do you know of a citation we're missing?- Giersch, J.J., S. Jordan, G. Luikart, L.A. Jones, F.R. Hauer and C.C. Muhlfeld. 2015. Climate-induced range contraction of a rare alpine aquatic invertebrate. Freshwater Science. 34 (1):53-65.
- Hotaling, S., J.J. Giersch, D.S. Finn, L.M. Tronstad, S. Jordan, L.E. Serpa, R.G. Call, C.C. Muhlfeld, and D.W. Weisrock. 2019. Congruent population genetic structure but differing depths of divergence for three alpine stoneflies with similar ecology and geographic distributions. Freshwater Biology. 64:335-347
- Muhlfeld, C.C., T.J. Cline, J.J. Giersch, E. Peitzsch, C. Florentine, D. Jacobsen, and S. Hotaling. 2020. Specialized meltwater biodiversity persists despite widespread deglaciation. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences May 2020, 202001697; DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2001697117
- Newell, R.L. and R.W. Baumann. 2013. Studies on distribution and diversity of nearshore Ephemeroptera and Plecoptera in selected lakes of Glacier National Park, Montana. Western North American Naturalist 73(2): 230-236.
- Web Search Engines for Articles on "Western Glacier Stonefly"
- Additional Sources of Information Related to "Insects"
