David Magney Environmental Consulting - California Native Plant ...

Comments on Draft EIR for Newhall Ranch Mission Village Development
DMEC Project No. 10-0181
1/3/2011
Page 6
D:\DMEC\Jobs\Friends_SantaClaraRiver\Newhall-MissionVillage\DMEC_comments_on_Newhall_MissionVillage_DEIR-20110103.doc
DMEC
Another much smaller group of invertebrate wildlife species consists of mollusks (Phylum Mollusca), made
up of seven classes:
�� Aplocophora (glistenworms);
�� Bivalvia (bivalves, clams, oysters);
�� Cephalopoda (squid, octopuses);
�� Gastropoda (snails, slugs, melampus, pedipes, capshells, ancylids, thorn snails, lymnaca, etc.);
�� Monoplacophora (monoplacophores);
�� Polyplacophora (chitons); and
�� Scaphopoda (tusk shells).
Clearly, some of these classes of mollusks are marine taxa and certainly would not be found on the Newhall
Ranch project site; however, those groups that are terrestrial or freshwater aquatic species should be better
addressed. The fact that a new species of aquatic mollusk, a species of Pyrgulopsis castaicensis sp. nova in
the Class Gastropoda, was found in a freshwater spring on the ranch clearly illustrates that there are very
likely other undescribed, and very possibly rare, species of mollusks that could be directly or indirectly
impacted by the proposed development. Hershler (1994 3 ), an expert on the Pyrgulopsis genus, states that
over 50% of the species in North America are rare and very habitat specific. The vast majority of western
U.S. Pyrgulopsis species are restricted to freshwater spring habitats (Hershler 1994), similar to the situation
for the undescribed species found at Middle Canyon Spring.
Based solely on comments from DMEC and others on the SCP DEIR, Newhall contracted Aspen 4 (only
identified as an email correspondence, who in actuality contracted with Lawrence Hunt) to conduct field
surveys for terrestrial mollusks. While a copy of his report was excluded from the technical appendices of
the Mission Village DEIR, he found three terrestrial mollusk taxa on Newhall Ranch. The DEIR’s
explanation of Hunt’s findings will be discussed in greater detail later in this letter.
Only three groups of invertebrate wildlife were given any attention, butterflies (Class Insecta: Order
Lepidoptera), general insects (Class Insecta), and mollusks (Class Gastropoda). Nothing is discussed about
other groups of invertebrates, such as: pelecypods, arachnids, crustaceans (Anostraca, Isopoda,
Amphipoda, or Decapoda), and many other groups of invertebrates. This is inadequate given the history of
species discovery on Newhall Ranch and its importance as a biologically rich and important area.
Meloe ajax, a rare blister beetle from chaparral in southwestern Riverside County (Pinto 1998 5 ) is just
one example of the insect biodiversity of the Los Angeles region, where new species are discovered.
It is entirely possible that one or more undescribed species of invertebrates, in particular, insects, occur
on Newhall Ranch, including the Mission Village portion of the ranch.
Bond et al. (2006 6 ) study hypothesizes that there is high probability of one or more Mygalomorph species
on Newhall Ranch and surrounding areas based on their model. This is strong evidence that this sensitive
3
Hershler, Robert. 1994. A Review of the North American Freshwater Snail Genus Pyrgulopsis (Hydrobiidae). Smithsonian
Contributions to Zoology 554.
4
Footnote 25 on page 4.3-28 “C. Huntley, “Re: Snail Methods, etc.” Email from C. Huntley (Aspen) to P. Behrends (Dudek), A.C.
Lynch (Sohagi Law Group), D. Bedford (CDFG), K. Drewe (CDFG), S. White (Aspen), M. Carpenter (Newhall Land), S. Rojas
(Newhall Land), and S. Miller (Dudek), March 12, 2010.”
5
Pinto, John D. 1998. A New Meloe Linnaeus (Coleoptera: Meloidae, Meloinae) from Southern California Chaparral: A
Rare and Endangered Blister Beetle or Simply Secretive? The Coleopterists Bulletin 52(4):378-385.
6
Bond, J.E., D.A. Beamer, T. Lamb, and M. Hedin. 2006. Combining Genetic and Geospatial Analyses to Infer Population
Extinction in Mygalomorph Spides Endemic to the Los Angeles Region. June. American Conservation 9:145-157.