Managing an iconic species during a global pandemic

Authors: Jeffrey Goldstein, Ambre Chaudoin, Kevin Wilson, John Wullschleger, Michael Schwemm, Olin Feuerbacher, Jennifer Gumm, Alex Jones, Michael Bower, Javier Linares-Casenave, Brandon Senger

Year: 2021

Abstract

Management and research activities focused on the Devils Hole pupfish, Cyprinodon diabolis, in Devils Hole, Nevada have been reduced and modified during the COVID-19 pandemic to protect the health of agency staff and cooperators. Standardized biannual counts, which have been used to track the population since 1972, were suspended from Spring 2020 through Spring 2021. The first standardized count since Fall 2019 is scheduled for September 2021 and the results will be reported in this presentation. Early life stage (ELS) surveys and egg collection to maintain a refuge population at the Ash Meadows Fish Conservation Facility were paused initially after the onset of the pandemic but resumed under modified protocols. Long-term Ecosystem Monitoring (LTEMP) was suspended for most of 2020 and resumed in June 2021. Phase 2 of the Devils Hole Strategic Plan was completed by the interagency Devils Hole Pupfish Incident Command Team (ICT) in the Spring of 2021. The Plan guides management actions at Devils Hole with emphasis on responses to catastrophic and long-term changes that threaten the viability and persistence of the pupfish population. Devils Hole and the Devils Hole pupfish continue to be affected by natural phenomenon at multiple scales. There is some evidence to indicate that water levels in Devils Hole have not recovered from a decline that occurred following a 2019 earthquake with an epicenter near Ridgecrest, CA. In July 2021, unprecedented back-to-back flash flood and seismic events modified critical habitat on the Devils Hole shallow shelf. The ICT continues to assess the impacts of these events and consider potential mitigation actions.