Melting glaciers at Montana's Glacier National Park could mean the end for a rare aquatic insect whose population has been quickly declining, scientists say.
Inhabiting mountain streams that are warming as the climate shifts, the western glacier stonefly has disappeared from most of its usual places, leaving five of the six streams it used to live in, Reuters reported.
Researchers from the U.S. Geological Survey, Bucknell University and the University of Montana tapped data from 1960 to 2012 to study the stonefly's movements, finding that the aquatic insect has been shifting to cooler streams.
Their findings will be published in an upcoming issue of Freshwater Science.
"Many aquatic species are considered vulnerable to climate change because they are cold water-dependent and confined to mountaintop streams immediately below melting glaciers and permanent snowfields," lead researcher and USGS scientist Joe Giersch said in a statement.
"Soon there will be nowhere left for the stonefly to go," he said of the park's warming streams and melting glaciers.
The park's glaciers are predicted to disappear by 2030, endangering the stonefly and other species that need the habitat's permanent snow and ice.
"There are a handful of other cold water-dependent alpine aquatic species here in Glacier that are at risk of extinction due to the loss of permanent snow and ice. Under a warming climate, the biodiversity of unique aquatic alpine species--not just in Glacier, but worldwide--is threatened, and warrants further study," said Giersch.
While scientists have conducted plenty of studies related to climate change theories, this survey was the first of its kind to document the movements of a vital aquatic species in response to warming temperatures.
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