In July, Rainier Mount Rainier White-Tailed Ptarmigan was officially listed as a threat of US fish and wildlife services (FWS) according to the endangered species terms (ESA). 14 years The Biological Diversity Center petitioned for the first time. This name helps to preserve the birds on the glacier of the Washington and British Columbia Cascade Mountains. Alpine-adapted birds also reflect the complex challenges faced in the warming world.
You can walk to a high mountain terrain with the same foot as a feathered snow shoe, and seasonal feathers that provide camouflage all year round are suitable for high altitude on the tree line. They are often found in areas with mixed cancer, snow and alpine plants. their diet It consists of alpine tundra tree tree branches, leaves, sprouts and seeds, and it grows only in a cold and dry mountain area that melts in the spring, and the summer glacier leaks.
The warming temperature accelerates the glacier retreat and is risking the bird’s habitat. 56 % between 1900 and 2009. Mauri Pelto, Director North Cascade Glacier Climate ProjectPtarmigans in GlacierHub often says they are often found along Shuksan and Ptarmigan Ridges near Baker Mountain. A studyPELTO has found that seven out of 13 glaciers have disappeared along the ridge since the mid -1980s. Rescue glacier risk Soil water availability decrease Tundra vegetation and long -term habitat loss related to warming temperature.
How to protect the species of the ESA list
Depending on ESA, species can be listed as threats or endangered crisis. ESA said it provides “strong protection” Jessica WentzSenior Researcher of Columbia’s Sabin Center for Climate Change Law. As a listed species, Rainier Mount Rainier White-Tailed Ptarmigan is protected by ESA in the face of private and public sector projects. WENTZ explained that the project should be evaluated on the species that have been approved or implemented by the federal government. Therefore, federal agencies must consult with FWS to see if they should negatively modify the important habitats that are not threatened or threatened by the persistent existence of the listed species.
WENTZ says that an important habitat is “habitat for paper continuously and potentially to return to the previous number.” This decision should be based on the best science. When a paper is threatened or is indicated by an endangered species, the process of specifying an important habitat begins.
Fire hope for the future
The long delay of the ESA list is common. no way study Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Biology, Columbia University, found that the lack of funds assigned to ESA listing was the main cause of delay. Eberhard told Glacierhub, “We are very slow to give them the eligible protection to the servants, and in general, they are waiting for them to be extremely rare and extinct. Rainier White-Tailed Ptarmigan Mountain has been listed seven times longer than the mandatory two-year timeline, overcoming the first challenge.
But more challenges are ahead of the bird. First of all, FWS has an important habitat for Rainier San white tail ptarmigan. “Not careful” And remain “I can’t decide.” This decision is In the evaluation. In an interview with Glacierhub, Noah Greenwald, the director of the extinction of the biological diversity center, is considering competition for this decision.
“I think it’s clear [the Mount Rainier white-tailed ptarmigan is] Greenwald speaks, reducing glaciers, reducing snow coverage, and quoting the tree line. In his work, Greenwald thinks of an important habitat as “an opportunity for these species to identify a place where they can find a refuge in a warm world.”
Greenhouse gas problem
Greenwald explains that there is a growing perception of climate change on the mountain ecosystem, but warns that “if we don’t do something about emissions, we will face serious consequences that affect us all.” Greenhouse gas threatens the survival of alpine habitats and acid white tail ptarmigan, but has a complex position according to ESA.
ESA has been established Before climate change Since it was the main topic of the discussion, it does not include the provisions to consider the influence of greenhouse gases on species listed. There was a lawsuit for the interpretation of the ESA language and the extent that greenhouse gases could be considered within the scope of the law.
One task is to prove the causal connection between the greenhouse gas emissions of a particular behavior and the need to list the species or to specify an important habitat. Researchers like WENTZ are looking for a way ClimateResearch on the cause of climatic conditions can support ESA listing and management decisions.
WENTZ explains that projects related to fossil fuel development and a significant amount of emissions can be used to “assess climate change effects that can be caused by a given project.” After all, the agency added that the uncertainty or inaccuracy that suggests that there is a possibility of threat to species due to uncertainty or inaccuracy cannot be ignored.
In fact, in the case of other species depending on the rainier acid white tail ptarmigan and the alpine habitat for survival, insights on the current and predicted changes due to climate change are listed and supporting ESA protection, including listing and important habitats. It can play an important role. . Nevertheless, it is not clear whether the court agrees that the court should consider the impact of the GHG emissions on the species listed. Wentz said, “There is an open question.
