Of the newest additions to the state’s Wildlife Action Plan, two-thirds are invertebrates. Species of caddisfly and snails, or the Kiamichi willowfly – found in Oklahoma’s Ouachita Mountains – could be prioritized for conservation.
Well-known animals such as the Texas horned lizard, alligator gar and the lesser prairie chicken remain on the list.
“Overall, I think the focus is rightly shifting to those invertebrates that, even to some degree, they're kind of the baseline of the food web,” said Kurt Kuklinski, wildlife research and diversity supervisor for the agency.
“And when they go downhill, that's going to impact your turkey and your quail and these other animals further up the food chain as well.”
Kuklinski said another reason for the invertebrate focus is a larger presence of entomology experts in the general conservation community.
The action plan details information from the state’s prairies to its mountains, including potential conservation efforts for declining species. It's used to receive grants through a federal cost-share program that helps fund projects like habitat restoration or multi-year research projects.
For some Oklahoma species, basic information like population estimates and range is mostly unknown, Kuklinski said. The wildlife plan will detail animals in need of study, like certain kinds of pollinating insects, amphibians and isopods.
“ We created a whole tier of species that we're basically admitting we don't know a whole heck of a lot about,” he said.
“We're not asking for a complex research project that looks at the factors that might influence reproductive strategy, like we're not interested in that level of detail,” Kuklinski said. “What we need to know is where are these things and how many of them are out there?”
Those questions may be answered in the coming years. A plan was sent to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service at the end of September for approval, but the government shutdown has temporarily stopped conversations between the two entities.
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