Changes in the status of wildlife species at risk
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Wildlife species are essential to the integrity of ecosystems. However, some wildlife species are at risk of disappearing from Canada. Wildlife species that are thought to be at risk are periodically assessed. This indicator reports on changes in the status of wildlife species at risk when they are reassessed. Changes in status over time may help determine whether conditions for these wildlife species are improving.
Results
Key results
Of the 530 wildlife species at risk that have been reassessed since the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada started their assessments in 1982, and for which sufficient data are available to determine if there has been a change in status:
- 85 wildlife species (16%) are now in a higher risk category
- 105 wildlife species (20%) are now in a lower risk category
- 340 wildlife species (64%) show no change in status
Changes in the risk of disappearance of wildlife species from Canada, May 2023
Data table for the long description
Wildlife species group | Higher risk (number of species) |
No change (number of species) |
Lower risk (number of species) |
---|---|---|---|
Amphibians | 3 | 14 | 1 |
Arthropods | 4 | 25 | 5 |
Birds | 14 | 53 | 20 |
Fishes (freshwater) | 14 | 47 | 10 |
Fishes (marine) | 8 | 13 | 6 |
Lichens | 1 | 5 | 4 |
Mammals (marine) | 7 | 23 | 3 |
Mammals (terrestrial) | 5 | 27 | 6 |
Molluscs | 2 | 21 | 6 |
Mosses | 0 | 11 | 3 |
Reptiles | 5 |
27 | 7 |
Vascular plants | 22 | 74 | 34 |
Total | 85 | 340 | 105 |
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How this indicator was calculated
Note: In this analysis, wildlife species refers to a species, subspeciesFootnote 1 or a genetically or geographically distinct population. Wildlife species disappearance may refer to extinction or extirpation (an extirpated species no longer occurs in the wild in Canada). Lower risk consists of species reassessed as no longer at risk as well as species in a lower risk category compared to the previous assessment.
Source: Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (May 2023).
Monitoring wildlife speciesFootnote 2 is important in order to determine the status of wildlife species, including if they are at risk. Conservation actions are often required to prevent the disappearance of wildlife species at risk from Canada.
The Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada assesses wildlife species that may be at risk and places them in a risk category. If conservation actions are effective, the risk level will generally decrease over time. Nonetheless, depending on the life cycle of the species and the condition of its habitat, recovery may take many decades. In addition, some wildlife species are naturally rare in Canada, and these species are expected to remain at some level of risk.
Changes in risk level can be a result of improved information rather than actual changes in the condition of the wildlife species. This is more likely to occur for wildlife species that have improved in status than for wildlife species that have declined.Footnote 3
Most wildlife species remain in the same category when they are reassessed. The changes that are observed most often occur between neighbouring categories.
In December 2022 and May 2023, 31 wildlife species were reassessed, of which 27 had no change in their status. Of the 4 wildlife species that had a change in status, 3 were classified to a lower risk category and 1 was classified to a higher risk category:
- The Gulf of St. Lawrence Aster changed in status from threatened to endangered as a result of climate change and changes in the quality and quantity of habitat available
- The Eastern Whip-poor-will changed in status from threatened to special concern as a result of a change in methodology for estimating abundance
- The Foothill Sedge changed in status from endangered to special concern as a result of changes in how assessment criteria were applied
- The Small-flowered Sand-verbena changed in status from endangered to special concern as a result of new subpopulations being discovered and improved monitoring
More information
Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada status categories | Extinct, latest assessment (number of species) |
Extirpated, latest assessment (number of species) |
Endangered, latest assessment (number of species) |
Threatened, latest assessment (number of species) |
Special concern, latest assessment (number of species) |
Not at risk, latest assessment (number of species) |
Total, previous assessment (number of species) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Extinct, previous assessment | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 |
Extirpated, previous assessment | 2 | 19 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 21 |
Endangered, previous assessment | 1 | 0 | 154 | 23 | 13 | 0 | 191 |
Threatened, previous assessment | 0 | 0 | 36 | 53 | 38 | 6 | 133 |
Special concern, previous assessment | 0 | 0 | 13 | 26 | 91 | 25 | 155 |
Not at risk, previous assessment | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 12 | 19 |
Total, latest assessment | 14 | 19 | 203 | 102 | 149 | 43 | 530 |
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Note: In this analysis, wildlife species refers to a species, subspeciesFootnote 1 or a genetically or geographically distinct population. This detailed view shows the changes in status categories for wildlife species at risk from the previous assessment to the most recent assessment. The assessments are from various years up to May 2023.
Source: Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (May 2023).
About the indicator
About the indicator
What the indicator measures
The Changes in the status of wildlife species at risk indicator reports on changes in wildlife species designations for wildlife species assessed by the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC). The COSEWIC is composed of independent experts who determine the national status of Canadian wildlife species, subspecies,Footnote 1 varietiesFootnote 4 or other designatable units that are suspected of being at risk of extinction or extirpation.
Why this indicator is important
Recognition that a wildlife species is at risk of extinction or extirpation can focus management action. Successful management should reduce the risk of species loss. The conservation of wildlife species at risk is a key component of the Canadian Biodiversity Strategy, which aims to conserve biological diversity in Canada.Footnote 5 The conservation of such wildlife species is also the goal of the Species at Risk Act, which provides legal protection to prevent the extinction of wildlife species and secure the necessary actions for their recovery.
Ecosystems are composed of a variety of animals, plants and other organisms, each of which performs a specialized role. This diversity of life supports vital ecological processes and provides a wide range of resources known as ecological goods and services, such as pest management, oxygen production and water purification. The loss of species has detrimental impacts on ecosystems and the goods and services they provide.
Related initiatives
The indicator contributes to the Sustainable Development Goals of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. It is linked to Goal 15, Life on Land and Target 15.5, "Take urgent and significant action to reduce the degradation of natural habitats, halt the loss of biodiversity and, by 2020, protect and prevent the extinction of threatened species."
The indicator also contributes to the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. It is linked to Target 4: "Ensure urgent management actions, to halt human induced extinction of known threatened species and for the recovery and conservation of species, in particular threatened species, to significantly reduce extinction risk, as well as to maintain and restore the genetic diversity within and between populations of native, wild and domesticated species to maintain their adaptive potential, including through in situ and ex situ conservation and sustainable management practices, and effectively manage human-wildlife interactions to minimize human-wildlife conflict for coexistence."
Related indicators
The Species at risk population trends indicator shows whether population and distribution trends of species at risk that are listed under the Species at Risk Act are consistent with recovery or management objectives
The General status of wild species indicator reports extinction risks across a broad set of species and can reveal early signs of trouble before species reach a critical condition.
The Canadian species index indicator tracks average population trends for vertebrate species in Canada and is a good proxy measure of overall biodiversity trends.
Data sources and methods
Data sources and methods
Data sources
Data are from the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) database on wildlife species at risk. Individual wildlife species status reports are available in the Species at risk public registry.
More information
The COSEWIC meets twice a year to consider wildlife species reports, assess wildlife species' risk of extinction or extirpation, and designate a status category. The COSEWIC Secretariat maintains a database of the assessment results, which were summarized for this indicator. Documents related to wildlife species of interest can be found on the Species at Risk Public Registry. In general, wildlife species are reassessed every 10 years, or sooner if there is reason to believe there is a significant change in their status. The date of reassessment therefore varies widely within the dataset.
Wildlife species are assigned to 1 of 7 status categories: extinct, extirpated, endangered, threatened, special concern, not at risk or data deficient. As of May 2023, a total of 1 132 wildlife species had been assigned a status.
Status category | Number of species |
---|---|
Extinct | 23 |
Extirpated | 21 |
Endangered | 373 |
Threatened | 197 |
Special concern | 255 |
Not at risk | 202 |
Data deficient | 61 |
Total | 1 132 |
Methods
Wildlife species are assigned a status change based on their previous status. The Changes in the status of wildlife species at risk indicator uses the set of wildlife species that have been reassessed by the COSEWIC and have not been designated as data deficient in either of the last 2 assessments (530 species).
More information
Wildlife species assessment
COSEWIC is a committee of independent experts that assesses wildlife species that may be at risk of disappearing from Canada.
The assessment process is divided into 3 sequential steps:
- selection of wildlife species requiring assessment to create the prioritized candidate wildlife species list
- compilation of available data, knowledge and information to produce status reports
- assessment of a wildlife species' risk of extinction or extirpation and corresponding designation (status category)
In general, wildlife species are reassessed every 10 years. If information received suggests that a species should be reassessed sooner, COSEWIC may do so.
Indicator calculation
In its assessments, COSEWIC notes a status change. Wildlife species that have been assessed only once are given the change status of new. For reassessed wildlife species, there are 6 possible change status categories: no change, in a higher risk category, in a lower risk category, no longer at risk, changed, and reassigned. The change status for reassessed species is based on the 2 most recent assessments.
The indicator includes wildlife species that have been reassessed and for which it is possible to assess the change in risk. Therefore, of the 1 132 wildlife species with an assigned status, the indicator excludes 606 wildlife species:
- that have been assessed only once and have a change status designation of new (486 species)
- that are data deficient in either their most recent or previous assessment and have a change status designation of changed (that is, wildlife species moved to the data deficient category from a risk category or to a risk category from the data deficient category) (25 species)
- with a status change designation of reassigned (91 species), which is used in cases where the unit being assessed has changed based on new information, for example a species that is split into subspecies or geographical units
- that are data deficient in both recent assessments, which are assigned a change status designation of no change (4 species)
Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada change status | Definition | Changes in wildlife species' disappearance risk category |
---|---|---|
New | Wildlife species examined for the first time | Excluded from the indicator |
Changed | Wildlife species moved to the data deficient category from a risk category or to a risk category from the data deficient category | Excluded from the indicator |
No change | Wildlife species stays in the same category after reassessment | No change[A] |
In a higher risk category | Wildlife species placed in a higher risk category after reassessment | Higher risk |
In a lower risk category | Wildlife species placed in a lower risk category after reassessment | Lower risk |
No longer at risk | Wildlife species moved to the not at risk category from a risk category | Lower risk |
Reassigned | Wildlife species that has been assigned to a different designatable unit | Excluded from the indicator |
Note: [A] Wildlife species with a change designation of "no change" and that are data deficient on both dates when an assessment was made are excluded from the indicator.
Caveats and limitations
Species at risk may take a long time to recover, and some wildlife species are naturally rare in Canada. A change in status may occur only after significant biological change (for example, increases in abundance, population size or geographical range) has been detected. For these reasons, relatively few wildlife species should be expected to show changes in risk level when reassessed. Nonetheless, if management efforts are successful, we should expect to see more improvements than declines over time.
Wildlife species at risk are reassessed approximately every 10 years and only a portion of assessed wildlife species are considered in this indicator. As such, comparisons between years should be made with caution.
More information
Changes in risk level can be a result of improved information rather than actual changes in the condition of the wildlife species. Many wildlife species that show decreased risk are reclassified due to new information, rather than biological change. Changes in knowledge often involve the detection of additional populations, with the result that wildlife species are less at risk of extinction than previously believed. Changes due to new knowledge can happen quickly, while biological changes need time. Wildlife species that are at risk can take a long time to recover, especially if they are long-lived and slow to reproduce. Also, in some cases, recovery depends on improvements to habitat which may take many decades.
Some wildlife species may change risk level due to changes in the interpretation of the assessment criteria.
Wildlife species that are naturally rare may be considered to be at risk because they are more vulnerable to threats. The lack of change for these wildlife species should not be considered a conservation failure.
Knowledge of which wildlife species may be at risk is far from complete, and only a portion of those suspected to be at risk can be assessed. The Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada prioritizes assessments based on expert opinion. Early efforts focused mainly on vertebrates and plants, which are also the better-known wildlife species. As a result, these wildlife species are over-represented among those that have been reassessed. Similarly, more knowledge has been gathered on wildlife species in southern Canada and in terrestrial habitats.
Resources
Resources
References
Canadian Endangered Species Working Group (2016) Wild Species 2015: The General Status of Species in Canada. National General Status Working Group. Retrieved on October 17, 2023.
Government of Canada (2021) Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada. Retrieved on October 17, 2023.
Government of Canada (2022) Species at Risk Public Registry. Retrieved on October 17, 2023.
International Union for Conservation of Nature (2022) The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2022-1. Retrieved on October 17, 2023.
International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (2011) What is a plant variety? Retrieved on October 17, 2023.
Moore A, Cyr A, Findlay S (2016) Do changes in COSEWIC status reflect changes in species' biological status. Report to the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC), 10pp. Retrieved on October 17, 2023.
Patten MA (2015) Subspecies and the philosophy of science. The Auk 132(2): 481-485. Retrieved on October 17, 2023.
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