Conservancy Fairy Shrimp (Branchinecta conservatio)

Fairys are no longer just in fairy tales, and it is time to do more than just read about them. 

By: Cara House

When listed: 9/19/1994

Where listed: Wherever found

Listing status: Endangered

When a person thinks of California, they think of our golden coasts and spectacular mountain ridges. There is so much life, it is hard to keep track of it all. The variation in landscape allows for innumerable forms of life to exist. Most people know of at least a few species that are in peril, one in particular being the California condor. However, often times the animal that needs saving is no bigger than dime. The Conservancy fairy shrimp is a prime example of this. Everything about the shrimp is very small, its body as well as its habitat. This soft shelled shrimp is endemic to vernal pools in California (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service).

 

 What is a vernal pool? Vernal pools are ephemeral bodies of water, meaning they are short lived and only around for part of the year. They are wet during the rainy seasons of winter and spring and dry up during the summer. Below is a picture of the same body of water during different times of the year. Many different types of animals are dependent on these bodies of water, especially for reproduction and continuation of the next generation.

What does this mean for the fairy shrimp? Because vernal pools are ephemeral, fairy shrimp have evolved in such a way that allows them to have an almost completely aquatic lifecycle in an environment that is dry half of the year (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service).  

How do they do it? Even though the mature fairy shrimp is so delicate and soft shelled, the eggs they lay are quite the opposite! They lay eggs in tough structures called cysts that persist in the dry environment until the first rain of the year. After the first rain, they hatch and complete their entire lifecycle before the pool dries up again for the next summer (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service).

 

What is required for vernal pools and the life they support to exist? The soil and sediment that lies underneath is one of the most important aspects of the structure of vernal pools. The hardpan layer, represented in the photo to the left, is a hard layer of earth that has been deposited over millions of years and is impermeable to water (UC Merced). This prevents water from completely soaking into the soil and instead is only removed through evaporation.

 

The biggest threats to these communities are agriculture and urban development. Already, over 90 percent of vernal pools have been depleted. Many of the vernal pools that still exist today are located in agricultural hotspots due to the fertility of the soil (UC Merced). The 10 places that Conservancy fairy shrimp were reported to exist in the last 5-year review by U.S. Fish and Wildlife are: Vina Plains, Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge, Mariner Ranch, Yolo Bypass Wildlife Area, Jepson Prairie, Mapes Ranch, UC Merced, Sandy Mush Road, Highway 165, and Los Padres National Forest.

Currently the recovery priority of the fairy shrimp is an 8 out of a 1-18 ranking scale with 1 being the highest priority. This number means that the species faces a moderate level of threat and has high potential for recovery (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service). The recovery plan they are listed under is the Recovery Plan for Vernal Pool Ecosystems of California and Southern Oregon. It was issued in 2015 and is expected to last at least 60 years. The primary initial action is monitoring of all of the animals supported by the vernal pools and obtaining more data on these organisms as well as animals that may be detrimental to them such as cattle. Conservationists are working hard to keep what is left of California’s landscape as it stands, and hopefully one day getting it to a state that is even better than we see it today.

And here is a laugh for the road:

References:

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service <http://ecos.fws.gov/docs/five_year_review/doc4012.pdf>

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service <http://ecos.fws.gov/docs/recovery_plans/2006/060307_docs/doc536.pdf >

UC Merced <http://vpr.campuscms.ucmerced.edu/education/what-is-a-vernal-pool>

Pictures references in order of appearance:

1) https://www.pinterest.com/bellie04/btr-more/ 
2) https://www.flickr.com/photos/tnc-southwestoregon/5454182600/
3) http://www.wesmitigation.com/blog/post.cfm/approved-dutchman-creek-conservation-bank

4) http://www.fws.gov/oregonfwo/FieldOffices/Roseburg/VernalPools/

5) https://www.pinterest.com/ministockfm/fairy/

6) http://vpr.campuscms.ucmerced.edu/education/what-is-a-vernal-pool 

7) http://ecos.fws.gov/docs/five_year_review/doc4012.pdf

8) http://metalab.unc.edu/Dave/drfun.html