Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
program was widely condemned as regulatory
dysfunction or bureaucratic disharmony. It was
said to be based on the desire to avoid a costly
and protracted lawsuit rather than on any sci-
entii c basis for the relationship between salt-
cedar and the l ycatcher (Wildlife Management
Institute 2010). In fact, restoration of native
habitats, specii cally willow stands on l ood-
plains, is a primary long-term goal of the Salt-
cedar Biological Control Consortium (Dudley
et al. 2010). The moratorium may in fact have
little impact for those arid regions in which the
beetles are released and thriving already. The
fate of the upper Arkansas River valley, however,
is less certain. This area is far from the range of
the endangered l ycatcher, but without addi-
tional releases of beetles better adapted for the
region, saltcedar may recover and continue to
l ourish there.
Figure 16-14.
Largely defoliated saltcedar thicket
beside the Arkansas River at Holly, Colorado near the
border with Kansas. Mid-summer view taken in 2010
by J.S. Aber.
western Colorado. Beetles from western
Colorado at 38° N have adapted for two full
generations per summer; transplanting them
to southeastern Colorado might improve
chances for success there.
16.2.3 Cheyenne Bottoms, Kansas
Another well-known enclosed basin, Cheyenne
Bottoms, is situated in central Kansas adjacent
to the Arkansas River valley (Fig. 16-15). It is
considered to be among the most signii cant
sites for shorebird and waterfowl migration
in the United States (Zimmerman 1990). The
“bottoms” is famous for great l ocks of migrating
waterfowl and shorebirds. More than 330 bird
species have been spotted at Cheyenne Bottoms,
some of which are threatened or endangered
-
whooping crane, peregrine falcon, piping plover
and least tern (Penner 2010). The site is an
important point for rest and nourishment for
hundreds of thousands of birds in their annual
migrations between the northern plains and
Arctic summer breeding grounds and southern
winter ranges along the Gulf Coast, Caribbean
and South America. The birds are attracted by a
feast of bloodworms (midge larvae) that live in
the marsh muck (Zimmerman 1990). Cheyenne
Bottoms is designated as a Ramsar Wetland of
International Importance and also is recognized
as a site of hemispheric importance by the
Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network
(Kostecke, Smith and Hands 2004).
Cheyenne Bottoms has existed as a closed
depression for more than 100,000 years
The long-running, highly successful saltcedar
biocontrol program was brought to an abrupt
halt in July 2010 with a moratorium issued by
the U.S. Department of Agriculture (Dowdy
2010). This moratorium terminated the biologi-
cal control program in 13 western states, pro-
hibited any new permits for i eld-cage or
greenhouse studies, and put an immediate end
to interstate transport and environmental release
of the beetles. The only permitted activity is
continuation of existing containment studies of
Diorhabda
sp. This action came in response to
a lawsuit i led by the Center for Biological
Diversity and Maricopa Audubon Society in
2009 regarding the southwestern willow l y-
catcher (
Empidonax traillii extimus
). This bird
was listed as an endangered species in 1995,
and the cause for its listing was loss of cotton-
wood and willow vegetation across the south-
western United States (Dudley et al. 2010). Its
primary range is Arizona, New Mexico, and
southern California. Ironically, habitat change
brought about by the
Tamarix
invasion was
cited as a major factor in the l ycatcher decline.
Public and scientii c response was swift. The
decision to cancel the saltcedar biocontrol
