A UNR entomologist is co-editing a new journal on 'lost' species as federal endangered species listings hit a historic low

What happened

Matthew Forister, an entomologist at the University of Nevada, Reno, is co-editing a new scientific publication called the Journal of Lost Species, The Nevada Independent reported in a story published in its Spanish-language edition. The journal will document plants and animals that have not been seen in a decade or more but that scientists are not yet sure are extinct.

Forister is working with a team of scientists from around the world. He told the outlet that scientists do not really know which Nevada species are stable, extinct or lost.

A Las Vegas wildflower that has not been seen in nearly 100 years

The report pointed to the wildflower Oreocarya insolita, which once came up each spring among creosote bushes long before Fremont Street became a neon gambling hub. According to The Nevada Independent, the flower has not been documented in the Las Vegas area in nearly 100 years, and as far as scientists know it grows nowhere else in the world.

Federal listings at a historic low

The journal's launch comes as the number of species added to the federal endangered species list is at a historic low. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service decides which plants and animals are listed, and under President Donald Trump the agency is on track to list the fewest species since the Endangered Species Act was enacted in 1973, the outlet reported.

Since the law was established under President Richard Nixon, the agency has listed an average of 34 species per year. Two years into Trump's second term, his administration has listed three species, all in the Southeast, according to the report. During his first four-year term, the administration protected 22 species.

Staff cuts and a growing waiting list

The agency is also going through large staff cuts. Noah Greenwald, co-director of endangered species at the Center for Biological Diversity, said that combination makes this a critical moment for endangered plants and animals in Nevada and across the country. Nationally, nearly 400 species are waiting to be listed, including more than two dozen in Nevada.

Jamey McClinton, administrator of the Nevada Division of Natural Heritage, told the outlet that sharply reducing listings creates more ambiguity, which he said is bad for both industry and conservation. He said it leaves petitioned species in limbo and more vulnerable.

Where Nevada stands

According to the Division of Natural Heritage, Nevada ranks 11th in the nation for total species diversity. It also has the third highest number of at-risk species, with more than 1,100 plants and animals considered at high risk of disappearing from the state.

Across Nevada, 20 modern animal species that once lived in the region have been wiped out, the report said. Nearly 600 other plants and animals have half a dozen or fewer population groups in the state.

Why species disappeared

Most of Nevada's extinct species disappeared around the 1940s and 1950s because of groundwater extraction, habitat destruction and the introduction of non-native species, the outlet reported. Others were lost decades ago when dams were built in and near Nevada. McClinton said a small springsnail was wiped out from the state as recently as the early 2000s.

Butterflies in decline

Forister co-directs the largest and longest-running butterfly monitoring study in North America. Research from his UNR lab has shown that Nevada butterfly populations are falling by nearly 25 percent every 20 years, according to the report.

Why a journal for lost species

Forister said scientists have a protocol for documenting new and extinct species, but lost species sit in a middle zone. Historically, species not seen for a long time have been placed in a data-deficient category, the outlet reported.

McClinton said biologists take a long time to classify a species as extinct because the designation has regulatory consequences. Both the state and federal government remove species from their protection lists once they are declared extinct, he said, which is where the journal comes in by giving those species a place to exist, even if only online.

According to Re:wild, the conservation group the scientists are working with, there are more than 4,300 lost species worldwide that have not been documented in a decade or more. Those are the plants and animals the journal will focus on.

What to watch next

• The Journal of Lost Species is set to focus on more than 4,300 species worldwide that have not been documented in a decade or more, according to Re:wild.
• Nearly 400 species nationally, including more than two dozen in Nevada, are still waiting to be added to the federal endangered species list.
• The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is on track to list the fewest species since 1973 while it goes through large staff cuts, The Nevada Independent reported.