The giant Palouse earthworm will not be listed for protection under the Endangered Species Act because recent information indicates the worm might be more widespread than previously thought, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said today.
This is the second time the fabled worm has been rejected for endangered species protections.
“We have a lot of questions yet to answer about this species,” said Robyn Thorson, director of the agency’s Pacific Region. “If we don’t know where these animals live and we can’t determine the level and type of threats, we cannot determine whether the protection of the act is required.”
The worm was first described in 1897 as growing up to 3 feet long and that it spit at predators and smelled like a lilly. But recent finds indicate the whitish worm grows to about a foot long and doesn’t spit or smell like lillies.
Still, only a few specimens have been found, and environmental groups for several years have sought federal protections.
The giant Palouse earthworm was once thought to be abundant only in grasslands of the Palouse area. But there are now recent confirmed locations along the east slope of Washington’s Cascade Range, including one in a forested site near Leavenworth. Researchers have also found unconfirmed specimens near Chelan and in a forested location east of Moscow, Idaho.
“We do not know yet whether the giant Palouse earthworm is simply a difficult-to-find species, a naturally rare species, or a species that is rare and at risk from various threats,” Thorson said.
The latest study was prompted by a 2009 petition by the Friends of the Clearwater, Center for Biological Diversity, Palouse Audubon, Palouse Prairie Foundation, and the Palouse Group of the Sierra Club. The groups’ initial petition in 2007 was rejected on the grounds of lack of information about the worm.
Last year, the University of Idaho announced that scientists there had captured the first two living specimens of the worm in two decades. It was only the fifth time the species had been found in the past 100 years. But that was followed by the findings and potential findings of the worm in the other locations.
The worms were considered extinct until 2005, when an Idaho graduate student found a specimen near Albion.
http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2011/jul/25/giant-worm-does-not-warrant-federal-protection/
Showing posts with label Giant Palouse earthworms. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Giant Palouse earthworms. Show all posts
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Friday, September 3, 2010
Researchers try to identify mysterious Chelan worm (Via Chad Arment)
Researchers try to identify mysterious Chelan worm
September 02, 2010
MOSCOW, Idaho -- Researchers at the University of Idaho are testing a 15-inch worm from the Chelan, Wash., area to determine whether it is a giant Palouse earthworm.
A homeowner found the worm on former farm ground and sent it to the laboratory, said Jodi Johnson-Maynard, an associate professor of soil science at UI.
Johnson-Maynard was awaiting DNA test results to determine whether it is the same species as the giant Palouse earthworm.
If it is, that could bode well for the species' survival, she said.
"It indicates they have more habitat than we thought," she said. "If that is the giant Palouse earthworm, does that mean it can survive in more places than just on the Palouse? Certainly, in my mind, that's a good thing for the earthworm."
But it would also create new questions about the possible distribution of the earthworm beyond the Palouse of Eastern Washington.
Johnson-Maynard would want to compare and contrast the ecosystem of the worm habitat in the Palouse region and the Chelan region.
-- Matthew Weaver
http://www.capitalpress.com/idaho/mw-Wheat-on-worms-sidebar-090310
September 02, 2010
MOSCOW, Idaho -- Researchers at the University of Idaho are testing a 15-inch worm from the Chelan, Wash., area to determine whether it is a giant Palouse earthworm.
A homeowner found the worm on former farm ground and sent it to the laboratory, said Jodi Johnson-Maynard, an associate professor of soil science at UI.
Johnson-Maynard was awaiting DNA test results to determine whether it is the same species as the giant Palouse earthworm.
If it is, that could bode well for the species' survival, she said.
"It indicates they have more habitat than we thought," she said. "If that is the giant Palouse earthworm, does that mean it can survive in more places than just on the Palouse? Certainly, in my mind, that's a good thing for the earthworm."
But it would also create new questions about the possible distribution of the earthworm beyond the Palouse of Eastern Washington.
Johnson-Maynard would want to compare and contrast the ecosystem of the worm habitat in the Palouse region and the Chelan region.
-- Matthew Weaver
http://www.capitalpress.com/idaho/mw-Wheat-on-worms-sidebar-090310
Researchers try to identify mysterious Chelan worm (Via Chad Arment)
Researchers try to identify mysterious Chelan worm
September 02, 2010
MOSCOW, Idaho -- Researchers at the University of Idaho are testing a 15-inch worm from the Chelan, Wash., area to determine whether it is a giant Palouse earthworm.
A homeowner found the worm on former farm ground and sent it to the laboratory, said Jodi Johnson-Maynard, an associate professor of soil science at UI.
Johnson-Maynard was awaiting DNA test results to determine whether it is the same species as the giant Palouse earthworm.
If it is, that could bode well for the species' survival, she said.
"It indicates they have more habitat than we thought," she said. "If that is the giant Palouse earthworm, does that mean it can survive in more places than just on the Palouse? Certainly, in my mind, that's a good thing for the earthworm."
But it would also create new questions about the possible distribution of the earthworm beyond the Palouse of Eastern Washington.
Johnson-Maynard would want to compare and contrast the ecosystem of the worm habitat in the Palouse region and the Chelan region.
-- Matthew Weaver
http://www.capitalpress.com/idaho/mw-Wheat-on-worms-sidebar-090310
September 02, 2010
MOSCOW, Idaho -- Researchers at the University of Idaho are testing a 15-inch worm from the Chelan, Wash., area to determine whether it is a giant Palouse earthworm.
A homeowner found the worm on former farm ground and sent it to the laboratory, said Jodi Johnson-Maynard, an associate professor of soil science at UI.
Johnson-Maynard was awaiting DNA test results to determine whether it is the same species as the giant Palouse earthworm.
If it is, that could bode well for the species' survival, she said.
"It indicates they have more habitat than we thought," she said. "If that is the giant Palouse earthworm, does that mean it can survive in more places than just on the Palouse? Certainly, in my mind, that's a good thing for the earthworm."
But it would also create new questions about the possible distribution of the earthworm beyond the Palouse of Eastern Washington.
Johnson-Maynard would want to compare and contrast the ecosystem of the worm habitat in the Palouse region and the Chelan region.
-- Matthew Weaver
http://www.capitalpress.com/idaho/mw-Wheat-on-worms-sidebar-090310
Friday, May 28, 2010
Giant Palouse earthworms found, but they aren't as 'giant' as expected
(Submiited by Chad Arment via Kevin Stewart)
April 27, 2010
SPOKANE, Wash. — Two living specimens of the fabled giant Palouse earthworm have been captured for the first time in two decades in what represents a significant discovery of a creature that has achieved a mythic status in the area.
The giant Palouse earthworm has fascinated scientists for decades after long being written off as an extinct creature. Reports suggested that the worms had a penchant for spitting and smelled like lilies, further enhancing the myth of the earthworm in the agricultural Palouse region on the Washington-Idaho border.
"It's a good day for the worm," said University of Idaho soil scientist Jodi Johnson-Maynard in Moscow, Idaho, who has been leading the search.
The recent discovery of the worms appeared to dispel the myth about the creature's appearance. They don't spit or smell like lilies and they aren't even that giant.
"One of my colleagues suggested we rename it the 'larger-than average Palouse earthworm,'" Johnson-Maynard said when the find was announced Tuesday.
Although they had been thought to grow to 3 feet long, the adult worm measured about 10 or 12 inches fully extended, while the juvenile was 6 or 7 inches.
The worms were translucent, allowing internal organs to appear. They had pink heads and bulbous tails. The adult had a yellowish band behind the head.
The specimens were found March 27 by Shan Xu, an Idaho student, and Karl Umiker, a research support scientist. They also found three earthworm cocoons, two of which have hatched and appear to also be giant Palouse earthworms.
The Palouse earthworm was first reported to the scientific world in an 1897 article in the American Naturalist by Frank Smith. Smith's work was based on four samples sent to him by R.W. Doane of Washington State University in Pullman.
Massive agricultural development soon consumed nearly all of the unique Palouse Prairie -- a seemingly endless ocean of steep, silty dunes -- and appeared to deal a fatal blow to the worm.
In the late 1980s, University of Idaho scientist James Johnson found two worms in a second-growth forest near Moscow. They were the last living specimens found until now.
The worms were considered extinct until 2005, when Idaho graduate student Yaniria Sanchez-de Leon found a specimen near Albion, Wash. But that worm had been cut nearly in half as she was digging a hole.
After that discovery, conservation groups petitioned the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to protect the worm as an endangered species, citing as proof the lack of sightings. But the agency said there simply was not enough scientific information to merit a listing.
Most earthworms found in the Northwest originated in Europe, arriving on plants or in soil shipped to the New World. The giant Palouse earthworm is one of the few native species.
"The most important thing about this to me is this is the first time we have an intact, live specimen that we can get DNA from and make a taxonomic description to the species level," Johnson-Maynard said.
Last month's discoveries followed the development of a new high-tech worm shocking probe that was stuck in the ground and used electricity to push worms toward the surface. The probe was deployed starting last summer and proved far less lethal to worms than sticking shovels into the ground to dig them up, Johnson-Maynard said.
The adult was killed so that University of Kansas earthworm expert Sam James could dissect it identify and it as a giant Palouse earthworm. James made that determination on April 16.
The juvenile remains alive at the University of Idaho, where its DNA will be used to identify new specimens.
Associated Press
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/unleashed/2010/04/giant-polouse-earthworms-found-but-they-arent-as-giant-as-expected.html
April 27, 2010
SPOKANE, Wash. — Two living specimens of the fabled giant Palouse earthworm have been captured for the first time in two decades in what represents a significant discovery of a creature that has achieved a mythic status in the area.
The giant Palouse earthworm has fascinated scientists for decades after long being written off as an extinct creature. Reports suggested that the worms had a penchant for spitting and smelled like lilies, further enhancing the myth of the earthworm in the agricultural Palouse region on the Washington-Idaho border.
"It's a good day for the worm," said University of Idaho soil scientist Jodi Johnson-Maynard in Moscow, Idaho, who has been leading the search.
The recent discovery of the worms appeared to dispel the myth about the creature's appearance. They don't spit or smell like lilies and they aren't even that giant.
"One of my colleagues suggested we rename it the 'larger-than average Palouse earthworm,'" Johnson-Maynard said when the find was announced Tuesday.
Although they had been thought to grow to 3 feet long, the adult worm measured about 10 or 12 inches fully extended, while the juvenile was 6 or 7 inches.
The worms were translucent, allowing internal organs to appear. They had pink heads and bulbous tails. The adult had a yellowish band behind the head.
The specimens were found March 27 by Shan Xu, an Idaho student, and Karl Umiker, a research support scientist. They also found three earthworm cocoons, two of which have hatched and appear to also be giant Palouse earthworms.
The Palouse earthworm was first reported to the scientific world in an 1897 article in the American Naturalist by Frank Smith. Smith's work was based on four samples sent to him by R.W. Doane of Washington State University in Pullman.
Massive agricultural development soon consumed nearly all of the unique Palouse Prairie -- a seemingly endless ocean of steep, silty dunes -- and appeared to deal a fatal blow to the worm.
In the late 1980s, University of Idaho scientist James Johnson found two worms in a second-growth forest near Moscow. They were the last living specimens found until now.
The worms were considered extinct until 2005, when Idaho graduate student Yaniria Sanchez-de Leon found a specimen near Albion, Wash. But that worm had been cut nearly in half as she was digging a hole.
After that discovery, conservation groups petitioned the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to protect the worm as an endangered species, citing as proof the lack of sightings. But the agency said there simply was not enough scientific information to merit a listing.
Most earthworms found in the Northwest originated in Europe, arriving on plants or in soil shipped to the New World. The giant Palouse earthworm is one of the few native species.
"The most important thing about this to me is this is the first time we have an intact, live specimen that we can get DNA from and make a taxonomic description to the species level," Johnson-Maynard said.
Last month's discoveries followed the development of a new high-tech worm shocking probe that was stuck in the ground and used electricity to push worms toward the surface. The probe was deployed starting last summer and proved far less lethal to worms than sticking shovels into the ground to dig them up, Johnson-Maynard said.
The adult was killed so that University of Kansas earthworm expert Sam James could dissect it identify and it as a giant Palouse earthworm. James made that determination on April 16.
The juvenile remains alive at the University of Idaho, where its DNA will be used to identify new specimens.
Associated Press
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/unleashed/2010/04/giant-polouse-earthworms-found-but-they-arent-as-giant-as-expected.html
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