Invasive crayfish eradication - a complicated species requires complicated conservation efforts

Authors: Tyler Goodearly

Year: 2019

Abstract

Red Swamp Crayfish, Procrambus clarkii, invaded the Simone Pond of the Thousand Palms Oasis Preserve in the Coachella Valley, California in the 1950s; subsequently, their destructive habits have led to the extirpation of the endangered Desert Pupfish Cyprinodon macularius. Scientific literature has demonstrated that eradicating P. clarkii is extremely difficult (Hyatt 2004). The only successful attempts have come from plans that combine multiple techniques that work synergistically (Girardet et al. 2012). Therefore, a multi-faceted eradication plan was developed and implemented to eradicate P. clarkii from the Simone Pond. This plan included physical (draining the pond, implementing vigorous trapping, and erecting barriers), electrical (utilizing an electrofishing backpack), and chemical (applying pyrethroids, a synthetic version of pyrethrin that degrades swiftly and does not bioaccumulate) to achieve complete eradication of P. clarkii. These combined efforts proved effective in eradicating this invasive species from the Simone Pond—no crayfish have been observed or captured in traps since June 26, 2019. Currently, biotic data (benthic macroinvertebrate sampling, planktonic macroinvertebrate sampling, and submerged aquatic vegetation assessment) and abiotic data (water quality measurements, water level measurements, and pesticide concentration measurements) are being collected to ensure the pond meets environmental standards for the Desert Pupfish. Desert Pupfish are projected to be reintroduced into Simone Pond in June 2020.