Restoring the historic home of the Amargosa vole

WIL staff and partners assessing the recent habitat restoration efforts. Photo credit: Austin Roy (CDFW)

WIL and our partners at USFWS, UC Davis, CDFW-Region 6, BLM, Amargosa Conservancy, and Shoshone Village are continuing to restore historic vole habitat in Shoshone, CA.  The Amargosa vole was first discovered in Shoshone in the late 1800s, but a myriad of habitat changes resulted in its local extinction from the northern part of its range.

A recently installed interpretive sign explains the restoration project to visitors and local community members. Photo credit: Deana Clifford (CDFW)

Over the past year non-native vegetation was cleared, soil was contoured and irrigation installed in select areas to more evenly distribute water throughout the fledgling marsh.   The team’s goal was to have a light touch on the land and let the marsh do much of the work regenerating itself.

The beginnings of a marsh capable of becoming vole habitat are appearing!

This restoration project is made possible due to the dedication of local private landowners, volunteers and a community nonprofit.  The effort is funded by a Traditional Section 6 grant and a Partners for Fish and Wildlife grant through the USFWS, funds from CDFW WIL and private matching funds.  Once the marsh is fully restored, we hope to bring voles back to Shoshone and create a new population of voles which will aid in reducing the chance of this species becoming extinct.

An example of what the marsh looked like during (a) and after (b) initial habitat restoration efforts. Photo credit: Tanya Henderson (Amargosa Conservancy) and Austin Roy (CDFW)

TWS article raises awareness about mange outbreak in Bakersfield’s endangered kit foxes

The Wildlife Society has published an article highlighting our collaborative work to understand and combat the emergence of mange in endangered San Joaquin kit foxes.

Click here to read the full article.

Click here to see our previous post about mange and kit foxes

The signs of sarcoptic mange in wild kit foxes can be missed in the early stages. However, as the disease progresses and the mites proliferate, the devastating toll this disease has on an individual is easily apparent. Pictured is a mangy kit fox in the later stages infestation showing hair loss, thickened crusty skin, and emaciation (A). Kit foxes with severe mange cannot hunt and often succumb to starvation and hypothermia. The CALM zoo in Bakersfield is a licensed wildlife rehabilitator and has been providing the treatment and veterinary care needed to return affected foxes to good health (Photo B).

UPDATE: Restoring Habitat for the Endangered Amargosa Vole – Watching the Bulrush Grow (Pt. 2)

WIL and UC Davis just completed their one-year followup to last year’s emergency efforts to restore and rescue Marsh 1, one of the largest and most important habitat patches for the endangered Amargosa vole. That effort included reflooding the marsh, clearing out debris from dead plants, and relocating resident voles into nearby marshes during the restoration.

Senescent plant stems, called standing litter, show evidence of last season’s growth. Photo credit: Stephanie Castle (CDFW)

In addition to checking in on the voles that were relocated during the restoration work (see our “Update Pt. 1” for more details), the team assessed the progress of Marsh 1 after the restoration. We monitored  water levels in the marsh by measuring the area of the marsh that was still flooded with standing water, as well as measuring how far below the surface the water table is in areas without standing water. Our measurements showed some great news! – water levels were just as high this year as they were last year right after the restoration.  This will help to foster a healthy crop of three-square bulrush (Schoenoplectus americanus), the plant vital to survival of the Amargosa voles.

 

Three-square bulrush is a perennial plant, its leaves die back (aka “senesce”) each winter, kind of like a deciduous tree or a lily. Because it was still so early in the growing season, we expected the bulrush hadn’t started sending up new shoots just yet. When we got out into the marsh, we actually saw a bunch of little green bulrush stems just starting to peek out of the soil. In fact, we saw twice as much bulrush this year as we have seen in previous years.

Image of Marsh 1, 1-year post restoration. It is still early in the season and has just started popping up, but standing litter from last season’s growth shows us the extent of plant restoration. Photo credit: Stephanie Castle (CDFW).

It’s hard to tell from the pictures, but underneath all of the senesced plants from last year’s growth there were lots and lots of 4-5 inch tall stems. CDFW-WIL researchers are excited to see how much bulrush we will have in the marsh this year once the plants are in full swing (July-August). We will keep you updated this summer!

The success of this program has continued to highlight how productive partnerships between agencies, universities, non-profits, and communities can positively benefit the conservation of endangered species.

The translocations and restoration were funded by the BLM (partially through NCLS funds), and Drought Response Implementation Program (DRIP) funds from CDFW.

Prepared by: Stephanie Castle (CDFW/UC Davis)