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~_ ..4 <br />on, thoroughness. and time available <br />tay differ greatly from collector to <br />ollector. It may he nearly impossible <br />~ seine fishes that are readil~~ taken by <br />leans of electrofishing methods or gill <br />ets. Data obtained in winter, when a <br />iven species retires to deep pools, may <br />document" its extinction, but in .June <br />he fish may swarm in shallow, more <br />ccessible places. We know three stu- <br />ents who worked more than half a <br />Wile of stream in southern Arizona <br />rith electrofishing equipment in an at- <br />empt to catch the Yaqui chub, Gila <br />?ilaenia; they failed. The area they <br />ampled was Less than a fourth of a <br />Wile upstream from the canyon in <br />vhich the species was abundant, and in <br />vhich it remains abundant today; the <br />tream was flowing in the area of <br />ampling only as a result of persistent <br />ainfall. Such errors are to be expected <br />n any field operation, especially if spe- <br />~ific data are not generally available. <br />A program of study on the more ob- <br />cure "endangered" species is hampered <br />i) by a lack of information (informa- <br />ion concerning [he species in question <br />:nd .information disseminated to the <br />tublic); (ii) by misinformation (or un- <br />Ivailability of unpublished data) largely <br />•esulting from a lack of time on the part <br />]f people in the field; and (iii) by apathy <br />m the part of the public and of profes- <br />ional workers. Lack of communication, <br />• iven among active scientists, may result <br />o grievous errors. Making a collection <br />]f fishes from a desert spring may not <br />,eem a serious matter; however, if <br />mother worker is systematically sam- <br />lli:tg the already small population for a <br />ifc-history study, activities of. a collec- <br />or unaware of this sampling could pro- <br />luce results that are spurious, to say the <br />east. Errors in judgment may also <br />-ause problems. For example, an ich- <br />h)•ologist who may wish to eradicate <br />-xotic fishes from a spring so that the <br />tative form may be reestablished had <br />lest consider the effects of his efforts on <br />]ther organisms; in preserving a fish <br />+pecies, a gepus or higher taxon of in- <br />~ertcbrate animal might be destroyed. <br />iuch a happening is not consistent with <br />I successful, progressive program. Per- <br />~ons studying fishes are perhaps delin- <br />{ucnt in not reviewing the endemicity <br />tnd distributions of other animal <br />;coups. However, scientists working <br />>n other groups appear, with some <br />potable exceptions, relatively unaware <br />>f changes taking place in many habi- <br />ats, and have yet to become active in <br />locumenting depleted populations. <br />What are needed arc broad, ,c~mpre- <br />hensive studies geared to++ard realization <br />of three major objecti+~es. (i) thorouoh <br />documentation of the past and present <br />population status of nati+e animals, with <br />publication of data and wide dissemina- <br />tion of topical reports: (iii accumulation <br />of basic information on ccoloeic re- <br />quirements of depleted animal species <br />and, if possible, preparation of descrip- <br />tive life histories for such animals: and <br />(iii) possible laboratory study and main- <br />tenance of populations of depleted <br />species in seminatural conditions, in <br />case nothing can be done to maintain <br />their habitats in nature. This laboratory <br />maintenance is simple in some in- <br />stances, especially in most fishes of our <br />category 4, but is exceedingly complex <br />and time-consuming in the case of <br />larger species of category 3. After the <br />objective of documentation is realized <br />we will have information o^ depleted <br />species that will speak for itself. We will <br />then be in a position to project trends <br />and consider probabilities on the basis <br />of facts rather than observational inter- <br />pretations. This documentation will lay <br />the groundwork for study to satisfy the <br />second objective. Populations large <br />enough to sustain themselves under <br />pressures of research collecting may be <br />found, and detailed, meaningful infor- <br />mation may be compiled. Laboratory <br />study and maintenance' (the third objec- <br />tive) may or may not be necessary, but <br />the development of facilities and tech- <br />niques for maintaining certain animals <br />will insure their availability for future <br />study and will provide substantial in- <br />formation in itself. A number of fishes <br />are currently being studied under such <br />a program, but much additional effort <br />is needed, on fishes and on other groups <br />as well. <br />The problems we have discussed are <br />not unique to fishes, or to the American <br />Southwest. However, they are acute in <br />the Southwest because of the increasing <br />population pressure on the limited <br />aquatic environment. Most water laws, <br />for instance, permit "beneficial" use of <br />water without regard to the needs of <br />wildlife. Habitat destruction is generally <br />regarded as the vested right of the land- <br />owner, and, if immediate economic gain <br />can be realized, as the duty of govern- <br />mental agencies. The problem of en- <br />dangered species therefore is only one <br />result of attitudes and measures which <br />at present permit, or even demand, ex- <br />ploitation of resources that the environ- <br />ment has not the capacity to restore. <br />Pumpage of water in Pahrump Valley <br />in excess of the annual recharge does <br />not differ, in kind, from farming prac- <br />tices that result in the washing away of <br />topsoil: front the rise of prime farming <br />land for building cities: from lumbering <br />that destro+•s forests; and from a hun- <br />dred other catastrophic practices. These <br />practices attempt to "answer a de- <br />mand." instead of recognizing the more <br />fundamental problem-that of meeting <br />the long-term need of a population that <br />will ultimately be forced to restrict its <br />use of resources so as not to exceed the <br />carn•ing capacity of the environment. <br />Possibly the most compelling reason <br />for preserving species is the value such <br />a program has in demonstrating the <br />importance of restraint. An "endan- <br />gered species" program is imperative, <br />not only for the sake of the species <br />studied but also because of what it can <br />teach us about the possibilities for con- <br />tinued survival of other species, in- <br />cluding man. <br />In the narrower sense, in the program <br />discussed here we .are dealing duectly <br />with the western aquatic fauna, poorly <br />known and viewed by many people as <br />unimportant. These animals are difficult <br />to observe and to exhibit, and are gen- <br />erally considered less worthy of preser- <br />vation than organisms of value to <br />sportsmen or to industry. Native aquatic <br />animals of the American Southwest are <br />unique and endemic-part of an an- <br />cient, relict fauna that provides impor- <br />tant scientific information. Changes that <br />have occurred and are occurring are <br />amplified and accelerated by the scarcity <br />of water. A great natural experiment of <br />evolution, also amplified and perhaps <br />accelerated by isolation in desert aquat- <br />ic habitats, appears about to become an <br />exercise in extinction, if man will have <br />it so. <br />References and Notes <br />1. Nevada Game and Fish Commission, En- <br />demic Endangered Fisb, Protection and Sanc- <br />tuaries Jot (policy statement No. 16) (1%7); <br />Los Angeles Times (29 December 1967). <br />2. U.S. Bureau of Sports Fisheries and Wild- <br />life, Rare and Endangered Flsh and WIldlije <br />o/ the United Stages (Government Prlntlng <br />Office, Washington, A.C., 1966), and papers <br />cited therein. <br />3. D. G. Frey, Ed., Limnology in North Amer- <br />ica (Univ. of Wisconsin Press, Madison, <br />1963), and papers cited therein. <br />4. R. R. Miller, Papers Mlch. Acad. Scl. 46, <br />365 (1961). <br />S. J. C. Greenway, Estlnct and Vanishing Birds <br />a) the World (American Committee on In- <br />ternational Wildlife Protection, New York, <br />(1958); G. C. Monro, Birds of iYawall <br />('Iltttle, Rutland, Vt., 1960); F. Richardson <br />and J. Bowles, B. P. Bishop Museum Bull. <br />227, 1 (1964). <br />6. C. L. Hobbs, Blologlsf 22, 61 (1940); <br />and R. R Miller, Utah Unfv. Bull. 9ti, 17 <br />(1948); R. R. Miller, Unlv. Mich. Museum <br />Zoo1. Misc. Pub. 68, 1 (1948); Amtr. Museum <br />hat, Hlst. Mag. SB, 447 (1949); Evolution 4, <br />lSi (1950). <br />'9 MARCH 1968 1431 <br /> <br />~k. <br />t: . <br />~:. <br />~'; <br />i <br />C„. <br />~~, <br />