Cold weather grasshopper reappears in Nebraska after over a century

The “whole time” is almost uncomfortably accurate. As he mapped each colony, Brust overlaid them on the habitats of the state’s glacial relict fish populations; in other words, those that have been present since the Ice Age glaciers have retreated.

Wherever he found the fish, he’d find the hopper.

“It has everything to do with the cold water system,” he said, “That water is keeping the environment cold enough for that fish to survive.”

But those environments and the grasshoppers therein could be in danger if the state endures milder and milder winters.

“You know, there is cause for concern, especially as climate change keeps warming things up,” he said. “These are already a cool weather species, they’ll probably become even more and more limited.”

Brust is also concerned that human intervention may cause some habitat destruction.

“We could see a change in land use, drainage of some habitat areas, and I’m especially concerned, here in Nebraska, about invasive grasses,” he added.

The northern spur-throat eats only a handful of specific native plants.

However, Brust said the good news is that the species isn’t extinct, or even declining yet, and he’s hoping that its resurgence and growth can prove to be a bellwether for the state’s cold-weather ecosystems.

“The number of these wetland sites that I surveyed thoroughly versus how many are out there in the Sandhills, and how extensive they are, I’d bet there’s probably five to 10 times more out there than I accounted for,” Brust said.