glaciers

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) pointed to impacts from climate change in its November 21 listing of two stonefly species. The meltwater lednian and the western glacier stonefly were listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. Both primarily inhabit Glacier National Park, but the western glacier stonefly also has populations in Grand Teton National Park.

Alpine areas are predicted to be one of the areas most affected by climate change and some unique microbes have made their homes in the glacier-fed streams there. The loss of these little critters can have large effects on both the ecosystem around them and on people, says University of Wyoming invertebrate zoologist Lusha Tronstad.

With rising global temperatures, glaciers are shrinking. Garrett Fisher is a pilot and photographer, and he recently set out to capture all of the glaciers in the Rocky Mountains while flying his plane, a two-seater built in 1949. His new book Glaciers of the Rockies is the result of the effort, and he told Wyoming Public Radio’s Caroline Ballard that there is something different about seeing the world from above.

Scientists at the University of Wyoming have discovered an insect thought to be extinct in the region in four streams in the Tetons.

The glacier stonefly was believed to only survive in streams in Glacier National Park and the Beartooth Absorka Range in Montana. UW Invertebrate Zoologist Lusha Tronstad said the discovery has put the decision-making process on hold over whether to list the species.

A study, published in the journal Western North American Naturalist, examines how receding glaciers are affecting stream ecosystems in the Wind River Range.

Report co-author Craig Thompson says they studied bugs and other small organisms living in high alpine streams, and they looked at what happens when floods, caused by melting glaciers, wash the organisms downstream.