Incurved Grizzled Moss (Ptychomitrium incurvum): COSEWIC rapid review of classification 2021

Official title: COSEWIC Rapid Review of Classification on the Incurved Grizzled Moss (Ptychomitrium incurvum) in Canada 2021

Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC)
Extirpated 2021

COSEWIC assessment summary

Assessment summary – November 2021

Common name : Incurved Grizzled Moss

Scientific name : Ptychomitrium incurvum

Status: Extirpated

Reason for designation: This small moss is widely distributed in the eastern deciduous forests of North America but is rare throughout the northern portion of its range. In Canada, it was only known from one occurrence in southern Ontario, documented in 1825. Despite many years of botanical activity in the region, the species has never been rediscovered.

Occurrence: Ontario

Status history: Designated Extirpated in November 2002. Status re-examined and confirmed in May 2012 and December 2021.

COSEWIC rapid review of classification

Preface

Since Incurved Grizzled Moss (Ptychomitrium incurvum) was last assessed (COSEWIC 2012), digitization has advanced in herbarium collections worldwide. Furthermore, the citizen science platform iNaturalist has facilitated sharing species occurrences, and connecting bryology enthusiasts who might otherwise not have been aware of each other’s work. Despite this improved data access, no Canadian specimens of Incurved Grizzled Moss have surfaced other than the one – from Thomas Drummond in 1825^{Footnote 1} – upon which the species’ Canadian presence is based.

Three reportedly-Canadian specimens other than Drummond’s (a single collection with many widely-distributed duplicates, in the form of an exsiccata) appeared in the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF 2021a) at the time of this Rapid Review of Classification:

1. CHRB-B-0003838, from western Ontario, was borrowed in November 2018 and was determined by J. Doubt to represent a different taxon
2. TENN-B-0028814, from British Columbia appears to have been mis-transcribed: it is databased as Grimmia muehlenbergii, which is a synonym of Ptychomitrium incurvum, but the label reads Grimmia muehlenbeckii, which is a distinct, accepted taxon in a different family
3. E00049071 is a data entry error. The label information clearly shows that it was collected in the United States, but the search results suggest it came from Canada

A few new occurrences of Incurved Grizzled Moss have been documented in the northeastern United States over the past 10 years, showing that it is still extant – if rare – in the northern part of its historical North American range.

Status history

Designated Extirpated in November 2002. Status re-examined and confirmed in May 2012 and December 2021.

Updated map

Not required, as there are no recent changes in distribution in Canada; see previous assessment (COSEWIC 2012)

Technical summary

Pychomitrium incurvum
Incurved Grizzled Moss
Ptychomitre à feuilles incurvées
Range of occurrence in Canada: Ontario (historical)

Status and reasons for designation

Status: Extirpated

Alpha-numeric codes: Not applicable

Reasons for designation: This small moss is widely distributed in the eastern deciduous forests of North America but is rare throughout the northern portion of its range. In Canada, it was only known from one occurrence in southern Ontario, documented in 1825. Despite many years of botanical activity in the region, the species has never been rediscovered.

Applicability of criteria

Criterion A (Decline in Total Number of Mature Individuals): Not applicable.

Criterion B (Small Distribution Range and Decline or Fluctuation): Not applicable.

Criterion C (Small and Declining Number of Mature Individuals): Not applicable.

Criterion D (Very Small or Restricted Population): Not applicable.

Criterion E (Quantitative Analysis): Not done.

Acknowledgements

Sincere thanks are extended to all the authorities contacted (below) for access to current, curated species occurrence information for Ontario; to the iNaturalist, Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) and Consortium of North American Bryophyte Herbaria (CNABH) communities, including collection and data managers, and amateur and professional botanists, for digitizing and sharing species occurrence and specimen information; to René Belland, Co-chair of the Mosses and Lichens Subcommittee of COSEWIC for guidance in preparing the RROC; and to Jenny Wu and other members of the COSEWIC Secretariat for administrative support.

Authorities contacted

Bradley, D. Ontario Natural Heritage Information Centre, Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry

Brinker, S. Ontario Natural Heritage Information Centre, Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry

Harris, D. Herbarium (E), Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh

King, M. Herbarium (CHRB), Rutgers University

Oliver, M. Herbarium (TENN), University of Tennessee

Information sources

ACER / Greening Niagara. 2014. Report on ACER and Greening Niagara’s Hazard Identification Risk Assessment (HIRA) workshop, Heartland Forest Outdoor Centre, Friday, PDF: (Last Accessed November 2021).

COSEWIC. 2002. COSEWIC assessment and status report on the incurved grizzled moss Ptychomitrium incurvum in Canada. Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada. Ottawa. vi + 14 pp.

COSEWIC. 2012. COSEWIC status appraisal summary on the Incurved Grizzled Moss Ptychomitrium incurvum in Canada. Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada. Ottawa. xii pp. (www.registrelep-sararegistry.gc.ca/default_e.cfm).

Environment Canada. 2007. Recovery Strategy for the Incurved Grizzled Moss (Ptychomitrium incurvum) in Canada. Species at Risk Act Recovery Strategy Series. Environment Canada. Ottawa. iv + 8 pp.

Global Biodiversity Information Facility. 2021a. Search results for Ptychomitrium incurvum and Weissia incurva in Canada. DOI 10.15468/dl.wzynpr

Global Biodiversity Information Facility. 2021b. Search results for Pychomitrium incurvum worldwide. DOI https://doi.org/10.15468/dl.dbgxne

Spitale, S., N. McDonald, M. Pushkar, K. Harrison, P. Catling, C. Moon, M. Sharp, G. Pothier. 2019. New Niagara Official Plan: Natural Environment Background Study. Niagara Region. PDF: (Last Accessed November 2021).

Writer of rapid review of classification

Jennifer Doubt

COSEWIC history

The Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) was created in 1977 as a result of a recommendation at the Federal-Provincial Wildlife Conference held in 1976. It arose from the need for a single, official, scientifically sound, national listing of wildlife species at risk. In 1978, COSEWIC designated its first species and produced its first list of Canadian species at risk. Species designated at meetings of the full committee are added to the list. On June 5, 2003, the Species at Risk Act (SARA) was proclaimed. SARA establishes COSEWIC as an advisory body ensuring that species will continue to be assessed under a rigorous and independent scientific process.

COSEWIC mandate

The Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) assesses the national status of wild species, subspecies, varieties, or other designatable units that are considered to be at risk in Canada. Designations are made on native species for the following taxonomic groups: mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, fishes, arthropods, molluscs, vascular plants, mosses, and lichens.

COSEWIC membership

COSEWIC comprises members from each provincial and territorial government wildlife agency, four federal entities (Canadian Wildlife Service, Parks Canada Agency, Department of Fisheries and Oceans, and the Federal Biodiversity Information Partnership, chaired by the Canadian Museum of Nature), three non-government science members and the co-chairs of the species specialist subcommittees and the Aboriginal Traditional Knowledge subcommittee. The Committee meets to consider status reports on candidate species.

Definitions (2021)

Wildlife species

A species, subspecies, variety, or geographically or genetically distinct population of animal, plant or other organism, other than a bacterium or virus, that is wild by nature and is either native to Canada or has extended its range into Canada without human intervention and has been present in Canada for at least 50 years.

Extinct (X)

A wildlife species that no longer exists.

Extirpated (XT)

A wildlife species no longer existing in the wild in Canada, but occurring elsewhere.

Endangered (E)

A wildlife species facing imminent extirpation or extinction.

Threatened (T)

A wildlife species likely to become endangered if limiting factors are not reversed.

Special concern (SC)
(Note: Formerly described as “Vulnerable” from 1990 to 1999, or “Rare” prior to 1990.)

A wildlife species that may become a threatened or an endangered species because of a combination of biological characteristics and identified threats.

Not at risk (NAR)
(Note: Formerly described as “Not In Any Category”, or “No Designation Required.”)

A wildlife species that has been evaluated and found to be not at risk of extinction given the current circumstances.

Data deficient (DD)
(Note: Formerly described as “Indeterminate” from 1994 to 1999 or “ISIBD” [insufficient scientific information on which to base a designation] prior to 1994. Definition of the [DD] category revised in 2006.)

A category that applies when the available information is insufficient (a) to resolve a species’ eligibility for assessment or (b) to permit an assessment of the species’ risk of extinction.

The Canadian Wildlife Service, Environment and Climate Change Canada, provides full administrative and financial support to the COSEWIC Secretariat.