Explore Iowa’s endangered and threatened wildlife

On the 50th anniversary of the Endangered Species Act, The Gazette is delving into some of Iowa’s own at-risk species.

By Brittney J. Miller, The Gazette This is the first installment of Nature’s Alarm, a series about endangered and threatened species and research in Iowa.

It was a perfect spring day — and, after her workplace shuttered during the height of the pandemic, Kelly Poole was thrilled to be back on the water.

She was sharing a boat with a team of fisheries biologists in southeast Iowa, drifting underneath a sunny sky. They were revisiting a site that was once a stronghold for a now-threatened fish: the orangethroat darter, an Iowa native. No one knew what they may find at the location years later, but Poole crossed her fingers for hopeful results.

Backpack shockers — which pump electrical current into the water to attract fish — summoned scaly, stunning stripes of red and cobalt to the surface. Splotches of orange coated the tiny creature’s gills; shades of blue fanned across its fins. The fish — a breeding male orangethroat darter — was no bigger than 4 inches. But it took Poole’s breath away.

“It’s ridiculous how beautiful they are,” said Poole, the Iowa DNR’s threatened and

endangered species coordinator. “They persist in these streams that are often very altered from their historical condition. When they hang on or, in some cases, are recovering, it just always amazes me.”

Iowa once housed an estimated 23 million acres of prairies, accounting for roughly two-thirds of its land. The rest of the state was shrouded in forests, savannas and wetlands abundant with wildlife.

A stream of settlers entered the state in the 1800s — first in a trickle, then in a flood — and agriculture exploded, claiming natural lands.

In less than a century, Iowa’s landscape had been altered more than any other state’s, according to the Iowa Department of Natural Resources.

Two-thirds of Iowa’s historic forests, less than 1 percent of its historic wetlands, and less than 0.1 percent of its historic prairies emerged unscathed. As native habitats dwindled, so did much of their animal and plant communities.

Today’s biodiversity — or, the variety of life in an area — is a shadow of its former glory in Iowa. Among continued threats, even more species are at risk of disappearing. Their loss could disrupt complex food webs and send rippling consequences to other species.

“We don’t know what their loss will mean” said Stephanie Shepherd, a biologist within the Iowa DNR’s Wildlife Diversity Program. “The system weakens with every loss.”

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Endangered Species Act, a federal law hailed as one of the most powerful and effective mechanisms for conserving atrisk species.

The Gazette is taking this opportunity to explore some of Iowa’s most at-risk species.

Over the next two months, we’ll publish stories about endangered or threatened creatures and plants in the state. We’ll look to the skies, splash in the rivers and stride through the terrestrial habitats that make Iowa unique. And we’ll highlight the armies of researchers and advocates bolstering their populations.

“Sometimes when folks think nature or they think endangered species, they think Colorado or California — you know, these spectacular landscapes where all the nature is,” said Russ Benedict, a professor of biology at Central College.

“Well, you know what? There’s a whole lot of nature right here in Iowa, right here in your backyards. There’s amazing stuff here. And a lot of it’s really hurting,” he continued. “But if members of the public learn more about what’s right around them, that opens the door to ways to conserve species.”

WHAT ARE THE FEDERAL AND STATE PROTECTIONS?

The Endangered Species Act currently protects 1,662 U.S. species and 638 foreign species. If a species is protected at the federal level, it’s automatically protected at the state level across its range. Species also can be listed on a case-bycase basis among states in their range depending on their population stability in each.

Iowa’s endangered and threatened species law was enacted in 1975 within state code. Like the federal Endangered Species Act, it protects listed species from intentional harm, harassment, take, sale, killing and more.

Iowa ranks the vulnerability of its at-risk species with three categories:

• Those with suspected, but not documented, problems within their distribution are classified as special concern — the least vulnerable status. They are not protected under the state’s law.

• Threatened species are those likely to become endangered species within the foreseeable future in its range. They are protected under the state’s law.

• Endangered species — the most vulnerable status — are any species in danger of extinction in its range. They are protected under the state’s law.

The Iowa DNR conducts reviews to initiate species listings, de-listings, status changes or taxonomic updates at the state level. Stakeholders and species specialists also review any available data and make their recommendations. Then, a rule-making process ensues to solidify the changes into law.

Iowa also has a wildlife action plan — a 25year strategy to conserve all wildlife in the state, regardless of their listing, before they become rarer and harder to protect. It identifies wildlife species and habitats of greatest conservation need as well as conservation opportunities. It is updated at least every 10 years with help from experts. “It’s really intended to be a big picture plan that holds a vision for all wildlife,” Poole said.

WHAT SPECIES ARE LISTED IN IOWA?

Seventy-three animal species and 139 plant species were listed as threatened or endangered under Iowa law in 1977.

Almost 50 years later, 82 animal and 154 plant species are currently listed. Seventeen federally listed species currently occur in Iowa, and an 18th is being considered.

Species have jumped on and hopped off the list over time. There was even a small uptick of additions in the 1980s. But overall, it’s not a huge jump, Poole said.

“There’s been a gradual increase in the number of species,” she said. “But it may be because we have more information about that species now versus something catastrophic happening within this 40- or 50-year window.”

When the Iowa Wildlife Action Plan was most recently modified in 2015, 1,104 species were reviewed. Experts ended up designating 405 of those as species of greatest conservation need — nearly 100 more than the number designated in 2012.

Reasons for population decline vary per species and their needs. But in general, Iowa’s at-risk creatures owe much of their decline to habitat loss. Other threats include poor water quality and disease. Poaching is especially damaging to reptiles and amphibians. And, in a changing climate, ecosystem niches grow more vulnerable to risks.

“In the bigger picture, we might be seeing things related to climate change and shifts in that way,” Poole said.

At least eight species have not been detected in recent years in Iowa and may be extirpated, or locally extinct. It’s difficult to determine what species have actually been extirpated, though. It all depends on how, where and when data collection was completed.

“Is it extirpated from Iowa? Or is it just such a niche species that we’ve not sampled in a way that would detect it?”

Poole said.

WHAT ARE THE PENALTIES?

The Iowa DNR’s Law Enforcement Bureau is responsible for enforcing the protections in the state’s endangered and threatened species law. If found in violation of those restrictions, perpetrators would be guilty of a misdemeanor and receive fines of $100 per plant and $1,000 per animal.

The Iowa DNR has written at least 186 citations for violations of endangered and threatened species protections, according to Craig Cutts, chief of the department’s law enforcement bureau. They include:

• Lake sturgeon (endangered in Iowa) — one

citation

• Pallid sturgeon (federally endangered) — two citations

• Blue-spotted salamanders (endangered in

Iowa) — one citation

• Eastern Massasauga rattlesnakes (endangered in Iowa, federally threatened) — two citations

• Bald eagles (special concern in Iowa) — four citations

• Arrow arum (endangered plant in Iowa) — 16 citations

• Cylindrical papershell mussels (threatened in Iowa) — 160 citations The department also has issued more than 150 citations for violations against nongame species protected by Iowa Code, including four for redtail hawks, 11 for trumpeter swans, and more than 25 for three woodpecker species.

Overall, violations are most likely underreported.

“We may not know the numbers of actual violations,” Poole said. “That’s the distinguishing thing there: violations that are known and followed up on or prosecuted, versus collecting that (actually) happens.”

WHAT SUPPORT DO ATRISK SPECIES RECEIVE?

The first step to protecting species is learning more about them and their needs. That’s why research is critical to the survival of at-risk species. It guides conservation and management actions needed to support their populations. In Iowa, a variety of organizations, agencies and individuals rise to the occasion.

Iowa DNR staffers help manage and conserve habitat for wildlife, including listed, non-listed and game species.

The department also collaborates with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to support federally listed species in the state. And for state-listed species, it conducts the Multi-species Inventory and Monitoring Project to survey populations around the state and collect data for listing considerations.

The agencies collaborate and contribute to other research projects, too. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service regularly distributes grants for surveying, monitoring and research. On average, it allocates $49,000 every year to the Iowa DNR for work on federally endangered or threatened species.

The Iowa DNR’s Wildlife Diversity Program provides smaller grants for research opportunities for nongame species. Thanks to the sale of the natural resource license plates, it gives out $25,000 annually to organizations for small nongame related studies, education and habitat restoration projects.

“We couldn’t do it without cooperation with federal partners and the universities because the DNR just doesn’t have the resources to do comprehensive research on a small suite of species like threatened and endangered species,” Poole said. “We focus on what we know we can impact, which is managing healthy habitat for a wide variety — that includes listed species.”

Retaining biodiversity in Iowa isn’t just a scientific mission. It’s also economical.

Iowa ranks around 47th in the country for its public land acreage, depending on the metrics used. Even so, the 2011 National Survey of Fishing, Hunting and Wildlife-Associated Recreation reported that more than 1.3 million Iowa residents and nonresidents participated in wildlife recreation activities that year, including hunting, fishing and wildlife viewing. They contributed $1.5 billion to the state’s economy.

Most researchers aren’t in it for the money — besides, they often don’t make much anyway, Benedict, of Central College, said with a laugh.

“You’re doing this out of love,” he said. “You do this because you love the critters or the prairie or the snakes or whatever it is you’re doing your research on. That’s what drives you.”

Brittney J. Miller is the Energy & Environment Reporter for The Gazette and a corps member with Report for America, a national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on under-covered issues. Comments: (319) 398-8370; brittney.miller@thegazette.com