Uroctonus mordax (Western Forest Scorpion)
Credit: Prakrit Jain
about the species
If one could call a scorpion species iconic for the state of California, it would almost certainly be the Western Forest Scorpion, Uroctonus mordax. This species is known from at least 30 counties in the state of California, distributed throughout much of central and northern forested areas, and encompassing 9 of the state’s ecoregions. Most notably, this species is almost entirely restricted to California’s iconic Redwood Forests and Oak Woodlands, and should be considered a foundational species in our ecosystems. The Western Forest Scorpion is also a moisture-sensitive microhabitat specialist, and exhibits patterns of distribution similar to other dispersal-limited species, for example salamanders, but at densities far greater than any vertebrate species. Our goal is to understand the effects of historic global change on the present day patterns of distribution and genomic diversity in this California icon.
why species was selected
Climate change and increasingly severe forest fires will have a strong, and potentially irreversible effect on the Western Forest Scorpion in the years to come, and understanding those potential effects will improve our ability to proactively manage regions of high diversity or unique populations.
