Roly-poly’s California cousins at risk of extinction
Posted by staff / July 18, 2013 beach creaturesCalifornia cousinsJenifer Dugansouthern California
Beach grooming and rising sea levels are putting two types of small beach creatures at risk of localized extinction in southern California.
The tiny Alloniscus, a beach version of the roly-poly, has disappeared from 64 percent of beaches where it was first recorded 100 years ago. “If they lived in coastal wetlands these isopods would be protected by the recognition that wetlands now have as valuable ecosystems. But as species on beaches they’re not protected at all,” says Jenifer Dugan, of University of California, Santa Barbara’s Marine Science Institute.
Full story at Futurity.
Photo credit: David Hubbard/UC Santa Barbara
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