The humpback chub is a rather homely fish that lives only in the Colorado River. It is federally listed as protected under the Endangered Species Act.
It’s not handsome and charismatic like a polar bear. It doesn’t provide useful services like bug-eating bats or pollinating honeybees. And it’s not a game fish like salmon.
So why should we worry about the humpback chub going extinct?
“In the United States in 1973, we passed the Endangered Species Act. The Endangered Species Act is basically a law that protects species from going extinct.”
Emma Rosi-Marshall is an aquatic ecologist at the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, and she conducts research on the ecology of the humpback chub.
“So if we know a species is on the brink of extinction, whether or not is has some economic value or is aesthetically pleasing, we have decided as a society that we would protect these species, and make it so that whatever actions that we do as a government don’t cause species to go extinct. So the Humpback Chub is listed as an endangered species. It’s populations are very low. It’s a really neat organism – it’s been around since the time of the dinosaurs – but it’s populations are racing towards extinction. And as a society, we have decided that we would not let this happen, and so we have these laws in place to protect species from going extinct.”
We also know that in ecosystems, there are intricate connections between organisms, some of them not well understood. While the loss of a single species may seem trivial, it could cascade into the loss of more and more species, with repercussions for our own existence on earth.
Web Links
Dr. Emma Rosi-Marshall
http://www.caryinstitute.org/science-program/our-scientists/dr-emma-j-rosi-marshall
Upper Colorado River Endangered Fish Recovery Program
http://coloradoriverrecovery.org
Photo, taken on June 21, 2010, courtesy of Grand Canyon NPS via Flickr.