Sydney Dean
SEA-DISC
Endangered Species Project 2012
Content
1.
What role does your species have in its ecosystem? How has it changed over time?
The Owens Pupfish is an essential role of food for its predators, which includes Largemouth and
Smallmouth Bass, Brown Trout, Crayfish, and Bullfrogs and large birds of prey such as Snow
Geese and ducks. (Wikipedia, 2011) The consumption of the fish provides nutrients for the lake
through the feces and its decomposing body. The nutrients keep the lake healthy so the pupfish
population as well as others can continue to grow. The food web is very delicate, especially in
Owens Valley because is an oasis in the middle of a desert. If the pupfish were to go extinct,
many other populations in the lake would die out as well.
2.
What efforts are being made to preserve your species outside of its natural habitat?
(Reserves, other creeks)
Owens Pupfish live exclusively in Owens Valley, California and in 1942, the Owens pupfish
were believed to be extinct. However miraculously in 1964, a small population of about 200 fish
was rediscovered in Owens Lake, California. It only took two buckets to carry the entire global
population of one species. (Bureau of Land Management Species Profile 2011) Using the
remaining population of 200, The California Department of Fish and Game helped grow six
populations, four of which still remain today in Owens Valley, California.
3.
What else could/should be done in your opinion?
There is not much awareness in the epidemic of the endangered Owens Pupfish species. People
need to become more educated about what is going on, especially Southern Californians. This is
a species on the borderline of extinction and it is dangerously unheard of. Before, Owens Lake
was full of fish, which supported food and water for an abundance of birds and animals. It was
23-50 feet deep and approximately 108 square miles. Farmers had settled in Owens Valley and
used the lake and the springs feeding it as a water source. However in 1913 the Los Angeles
Department of Water and Power (LADWP) diverted the rivers and streams that fed into the lake
into the Los Angeles water aqueducts for drinking water, causing the lake level to drop quickly.
The farmers were tricked into selling their rights to LA County and the lake begin to dry up due
to the lack of water. All the farms closed as a result of the water loss, which caused the land to
become dry and sandy without the natural vegetation. In 1972, Inyo County and Owens County
sued LA County for not completing an Environment Impact Report for damage of pumping
ground water. LA County needs to get their water from somewhere else. Owens Valley needs
the water to rebuild the ecosystem in the valley because water is the basis for all life.
Right now the pupfish are in refuge ponds-leftover bodies of water from the once huge Owens
Lake. And soon even these ponds will be gone. Without water these fish cannot survive. The
habitats and the entire ecosystem that used to be in this valley can only be rebuilt if water is
directed into the valley once again. In order to save a species; you must save its habitat, to save
these helpless little fish we need to first save their Owens Valley’s water supply. LA County
should space their water sources out so they are not destroying a single habitat one by one.
4.
From an environmental perspective, why should your animal be saved? Discuss local,
domestic, and global impact if your animal becomes extinct. (Niches info)
If the pupfish were to go extinct, many other populations in the lake would die out as well; the
pupfish is a main food source for the bigger fish and other animals in its ecosystem. The loss of a
single population has the potential to create a wave of extinction through a domino effect in
nature. Without the pupfish in Owens Lake, the predators would lose a huge food source, which
in turn will affect their population size. Owens Lake and the surrounding wetlands are fed by
springs and artesian wells, keep part of the former Owens Lake ecosystem alive. Snowy Plovers
nest at Owens Lake along with several thousand Snow Geese and ducks. The birds feed off the
fish, and drink from the clean water supply. If this niche was not healthy, it would affect a great
number of different animal and plant species. The pupfish population has a great influence on the
state of the ecosystem of Owens Lake.
Citations for Content:
Owens Pupfish. (28 August 2012) Retrieved December 2012.
Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Owens_pupfish
Owens Pupfish Cyprinodon radiosus. (September 29, 2011) Retrieved December 2012) Bureau
of Land Management Species Profile.
http://www.blm.gov/ca/forms/wildlife/details.php?metode=serial_number&search=2803
http://inyo-monowater.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/Owens_Pupfish_5yrReview_2009.pdf
Owens Valley. (June 2012) Retrieved December 2012. Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Owens_Valley
Owens Lake. (March 2012) Retrieved December 2012. Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Owens_lake
Images:
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/SfQK3CvNSvk/UIik6rP3rwI/AAAAAAAAFrc/gxw8RhmGKOs/s1600/Owens%2BLake%2B02
.jpeg
http://www.wmrs.edu/facilities/ovl/OVLtourphotos/OVL%20from%20NE%202-1004,%20med.jpg
http://science.csumb.edu/~fwatson/class/ESSP303/2006/300pix/sci/DSC01502_CropAuto.jpg
http://tonallandscape.com/adventures/images_owensvalley/owensvalley_map.jpg
http://modemachinedaily.blogspot.com/2012/09/owens-lake.html