Post by L Roebuck on Jun 2, 2006 7:33:36 GMT -5
Village cave home to rare troglobite
Bella Vista is home to many unique things, but none more unique and rare than the cave crayfish.
Cambarus aculabrum is a small, albino crayfish found in only two caves in the known world, one being the village’s Bear Hollow Cave. The rare troglobites were identified at the cave in 1987 by Horton Hobbs, III, the nation’s leading expert on cave crayfish from Wittenberg University in Ohio and Arthur Brown, a biology professor at the University of Arkansas.
Bear Hollow Cave is located off Derwent Road and covers eight acres with around 2,000 feet of passage. The cave is owned by the Nature Conservancy, a national not-for-profit organization dedicated to improving the environment and the organisms that inhabit it. The conservancy’s Ozark Highlands Office is located in Fayetteville, where Tim Snell directs the Ozark Conservation Programs, studying the karst, or cave, systems of the Ozarks.
Snell explained that the cave was donated to the group by the Cooper family in 1998, and John Cooper III currently sits on the conservancy’s board of trustees. The NC has worked with the Property Owners Association to improve the habitat of the rare crayfish, classified as an endangered species by the federal government in 1993. "The Nature Conservancy is partnering with the POA and individual land owners to keep the groundwater clean in Bella Vista for the benefit of the people and the animals," Snell said.
Keeping the water clean is the key to survival for this rare breed, Snell said. The group identified which area of land, called a recharge area, directly affects the water quality in the cave’s stream system. Different colors of dye were applied at different points around the cave and pieces of charcoal absorb the dye in the cave water, allowing them to pinpoint where the water is coming from. "This project has been very successful because it is very people friendly," Snell said. "No one wants dirty water."
The recharge area for Bear Hollow and another cave, Old Pendergrass, reaches more than 800 acres in Bella Vista and 700 more north of the state line in Missouri. After platting the areas most vulnerable for the cave’s environment to groundwater infiltration, the group moved to purchase the land surrounding the cave through the foreclosure process.
Snell has worked with the POA on many clean-up projects in the recharge area, getting rid of 220 tons of garbage. The clean-up efforts are funded through federal grants, but Snell was impressed with the POA’s cooperation, donating dump trucks for the project. Snell even recruited inmates with the Benton County Jail to help pitch in.
Part of the requirements to receive those federal grants is first the classification of the new species, where there is much red tape to clear. "It’s a process," Snell said. "There’s a lot of paperwork."
Samples of the crayfish were collected and its genetic makeup was examined to determine if the organism is indeed a new or rare breed. Seven specimens of the cave crayfish from Bella Vista’s cave now sit in the Smithsonian Museum.
A recovery plan for the propagation of the species was developed through the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, filling another requirement for grant money. The recovery plan for the cave crayfish involves protecting habitat, public education on water quality, monitoring populations and searching for additional populations.
Keeping tabs on the populations is a touchstone for the group’s success, Snell said. As long as populations don’t decrease, then they are getting the job done.
The crayfish has adapted to its dark surroundings with reduced eyes, a lack of pigmentation, a reduced metabolic rate and delayed reproduction. It feeds on organic matter in the cave streams and can reach lengths of four inches. The crayfish is vulnerable to polluted water because of its slowed metabolic rate and limited food. Any disturbance in the water causes the crayfish to use energy that could be utilized on feeding or reproducing.
Since 1951, the Nature Conservancy has protected more than 15 million acres of habitat across the United States. The group’s work in the Ozark karst systems also turned up a new species of shrimp called a cave amphipod at a cave in Cave City, Arkansas, 30 miles north of Batesville in the northeastern Ozarks.
NWAnews
Bella Vista is home to many unique things, but none more unique and rare than the cave crayfish.
Cambarus aculabrum is a small, albino crayfish found in only two caves in the known world, one being the village’s Bear Hollow Cave. The rare troglobites were identified at the cave in 1987 by Horton Hobbs, III, the nation’s leading expert on cave crayfish from Wittenberg University in Ohio and Arthur Brown, a biology professor at the University of Arkansas.
Bear Hollow Cave is located off Derwent Road and covers eight acres with around 2,000 feet of passage. The cave is owned by the Nature Conservancy, a national not-for-profit organization dedicated to improving the environment and the organisms that inhabit it. The conservancy’s Ozark Highlands Office is located in Fayetteville, where Tim Snell directs the Ozark Conservation Programs, studying the karst, or cave, systems of the Ozarks.
Snell explained that the cave was donated to the group by the Cooper family in 1998, and John Cooper III currently sits on the conservancy’s board of trustees. The NC has worked with the Property Owners Association to improve the habitat of the rare crayfish, classified as an endangered species by the federal government in 1993. "The Nature Conservancy is partnering with the POA and individual land owners to keep the groundwater clean in Bella Vista for the benefit of the people and the animals," Snell said.
Keeping the water clean is the key to survival for this rare breed, Snell said. The group identified which area of land, called a recharge area, directly affects the water quality in the cave’s stream system. Different colors of dye were applied at different points around the cave and pieces of charcoal absorb the dye in the cave water, allowing them to pinpoint where the water is coming from. "This project has been very successful because it is very people friendly," Snell said. "No one wants dirty water."
The recharge area for Bear Hollow and another cave, Old Pendergrass, reaches more than 800 acres in Bella Vista and 700 more north of the state line in Missouri. After platting the areas most vulnerable for the cave’s environment to groundwater infiltration, the group moved to purchase the land surrounding the cave through the foreclosure process.
Snell has worked with the POA on many clean-up projects in the recharge area, getting rid of 220 tons of garbage. The clean-up efforts are funded through federal grants, but Snell was impressed with the POA’s cooperation, donating dump trucks for the project. Snell even recruited inmates with the Benton County Jail to help pitch in.
Part of the requirements to receive those federal grants is first the classification of the new species, where there is much red tape to clear. "It’s a process," Snell said. "There’s a lot of paperwork."
Samples of the crayfish were collected and its genetic makeup was examined to determine if the organism is indeed a new or rare breed. Seven specimens of the cave crayfish from Bella Vista’s cave now sit in the Smithsonian Museum.
A recovery plan for the propagation of the species was developed through the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, filling another requirement for grant money. The recovery plan for the cave crayfish involves protecting habitat, public education on water quality, monitoring populations and searching for additional populations.
Keeping tabs on the populations is a touchstone for the group’s success, Snell said. As long as populations don’t decrease, then they are getting the job done.
The crayfish has adapted to its dark surroundings with reduced eyes, a lack of pigmentation, a reduced metabolic rate and delayed reproduction. It feeds on organic matter in the cave streams and can reach lengths of four inches. The crayfish is vulnerable to polluted water because of its slowed metabolic rate and limited food. Any disturbance in the water causes the crayfish to use energy that could be utilized on feeding or reproducing.
Since 1951, the Nature Conservancy has protected more than 15 million acres of habitat across the United States. The group’s work in the Ozark karst systems also turned up a new species of shrimp called a cave amphipod at a cave in Cave City, Arkansas, 30 miles north of Batesville in the northeastern Ozarks.
NWAnews