ABSTRACT
The large branchiopods (fairy shrimp, tadpole shrimp, and clam shrimp) are flagship animals for the conservation of seasonal wetlands and salt lakes. These animals live in seasonally astatic aquatic habitats on all continents and many islands. However, these habitats generally occur on level open land, which tends to be desirable for development or other land conversion types. Although fairy shrimp biodiversity is reasonably understood, the biodiversity of the other branchiopod groups is limited due to morphological plasticity, numerous cryptic taxa, and confounding genetic systems. Furthermore, most taxa are known from only their type locality. While many specific anthropogenic threats are clear, the high number of narrow range endemics suggests that many taxa may become extinct due to stochastic effects.
