Western skink (Eumeces skiltonianus) COSEWIC assessment and status report: chapter 9

• Previous page
• Table of contents
• Next page

Special Significance of the Species

Populations of E. skiltonianus in British Columbia are of considerable scientific and conservation significance, although the species has a wide distribution farther south. Populations at the extremities of a species' distribution form reservoirs of genetic variation, which might enable adaptations to changing environmental conditions (Scudder 1980). Such populations also provide excellent subjects for monitoring ecological effects of large-scale environmental changes, such as global climate change. They also provide subjects for studies on factors that limit the northern expansion of a species' distribution. Only three species of lizards live in western Canada and only two are currently present in British Columbia; E. skiltonianus contributes significantly to the biological diversity of the communities that it occupies.