Wild species 2010: chapter 26

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Section 4: Conclusion

Summary of the results

Previous Wild Species reports presented the general status assessments for respectively 1670 species in the 2000 report and for 7732 species in the 2005 report. In the Wild Species 2010 report, the general status assessments of 11 950 species are presented. This report represents a huge achievement, by publishing the results for 20 taxonomic groups, including lichens, mosses, vascular plants, freshwater mussels, spiders, odonates, predaceous diving beetles, ground beetles, lady beetles, bumblebees, black flies, horse flies, mosquitoes, some selected macromoths, butterflies, crayfishes, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals. The largest group assessed was the vascular plants, with 5111 species, demonstrating the commitment of botanists across the country to assessing and conserving Canada’s plants. The most species-rich regions are Ontario (6995 species, figure 26), British Columbia (6841 species) and Quebec (6150 species), due to the variation in climate and geology that provide diverse habitats in which different species can survive. However, the region with the highest diversity (species richness/area) is Prince Edward Island; the region where you can see the highest number of species in the smallest area!

Proportion of species ranked as Secure

The majority of the 11 950 species assessed in this report received Canada ranks of Secure (6600 species, 55%). However, part of the variation in the proportion of species with low or high levels of risk is associated with variation in the proportion of species with Canada ranks of Extinct, Extirpated, Undetermined, Not Assessed, Exotic or Accidental (e.g. bumblebees have a large proportion of species ranked Undetermined, and a correspondingly small proportion of species ranked Secure). Therefore, to get a clearer picture of which species groups are most secure, or most at risk, we can focus just on species with Canada ranks of At Risk, May Be At Risk, Sensitive and Secure (table 38). The proportion of species ranked as Secure within these categories ranged from 33% to 98%. Reptiles (33%) and freshwater mussels (39%) are the taxonomic groups that have the lowest proportion of species ranked as Secure. At the opposite, ground beetles (88%), bumblebees (94%), mosquitoes (95%) and predaceous diving beetles (98%) were the taxonomic groups that had the highest proportion of species ranked as Secure. However, the high percentages of species ranked as Secure in these taxonomic groups might still reflect our lack of knowledge on these species, since they were also among the taxonomic groups with the highest proportion of species ranked as Undetermined or Not Assessed.

When excluding species ranked as Extinct, Extirpated, Undetermined, Not Assessed, Exotic or Accidental, 77% of the species assessed in the Wild Species 2010 report had Canada General Status Ranks (Canada ranks) of Secure.

^* When excluding species ranked as Extinct, Extirpated, Undetermined, Not Assessed, Exotic or Accidental.

Species ranked as May Be At Risk

One of the aims of the Wild Species series is to help COSEWIC prioritize species for detailed status assessments. The species that are ranked as May Be At Risk by the National General Status Working group are species that could be candidates for more detailed assessments by COSEWIC. In this report, a total of 806 species were ranked as May Be At Risk (table 39). The taxonomic groups that had the most species ranked as May Be At Risk were the vascular plants (444 species), followed by lichens (100 species), mosses (71 species) and spiders (62 species). The complete list (among assessed taxonomic groups) of species ranked as May Be At Risk can be found on the Wild Species website in the database or in the search tool.

Exotic species

Exotic species have been introduced to Canada, both deliberately and accidentally, from around the world. In addition, species with regional ranks of Exotic are often native species that have been moved from regions of the country in which they traditionally occur, to regions in which they are not naturally found. Whether from abroad, or from a different part of Canada, exotic species can cause problems for native species in a variety of ways, including competition for space and resources, predation, hybridization and introduction of new diseases. On the 11 950 species assessed, a total of 1426 species were ranked as Exotic. Most of the species that were given a Canada rank of Exotic in this report are vascular plants (1252 species), representing 89% of all Exotic species. Vascular plants have the highest proportion of Exotic species of any group covered in this report (table 40). Other taxonomic groups that had many Exotic species were the spiders (70 species) and the ground beetles (54 species). The complete list (among assessed taxonomic groups) of Exotic species can be found on the Wild Species website in the database or in the search tool.

Lack of knowledge

For most species groups and regions, the proportion of species ranked Undetermined or Not Assessed is variable. For some taxonomic groups such as vertebrates, the information on the status of the species is relatively well known. However, for other taxonomic groups, the amount of information is not as abundant. One purpose of this report is to encourage more information to be collected on species currently ranked as Undetermined or Not Assessed. In this report, a total of 1618 species had these ranks because of a lack of knowledge (table 41). The taxonomic group that had the highest number of species ranked as Undetermined or Not Assessed was the spiders (477 species), representing 29% of all the species with these ranks. Other taxonomic groups, such as ground beetles (260 species), mosses (235 species), and lichens (218 species) had also a large number of species ranked as Undetermined or Not Assessed. As well, approximately 60 000 Canadian species, primarily invertebrates, remain too poorly known for inculsion in this report. We hope that more information will become available for those groups as well.

Without information on the status of these species, it is difficult to judge how the human uses affect the ecosystems and species. As the Wild Species program assesses species groups which are not well-known or not well-studied in Canada, the proportion of species that receive ranks of Undetermined and Not Assessed is likely to rise.

Changes in species status

One of the important achievements of this report is to update the status assessments of taxonomic groups that were included in previous Wild Species reports. Among the taxonomic groups that were reassessed in this report, a total of 626 species had a change in their Canada rank.

In total, 15% of the changes involved species moving into a rank with an increased level of risk (95 changes, table 42), 27% involved species moving into a rank with a reduced level of risk (166 changes), and 16% involved species moving into or out of the Undetermined, Not Assessed, Exotic or Accidental ranks (102 changes). Updates have also resulted in the addition of 162 new species to the national list (26% of the changes). Just as importantly, 101 species have been removed from the national list (16% of changes). Updating the national species lists in this way keeps the General Status program and the Wild Species series abreast of the latest scientific knowledge.

Most of these changes were due to improved knowledge of the species (table 43). This reason accounted for more than half of all the changes observed in the Canada ranks. Taxonomic changes, biological changes, and changes due to new COSEWIC detailed assessments also accounted for an important part of the reasons of the changes.

^* Note: 5 = Undetermined, 6 = Not Assessed, 7 = Exotic, 8 = Accidental.

Next steps and strategic orientations

The vision of the Wild Species series is of a single platform for wild species assessment and monitoring: a tool that allows a wide variety of species from all regions of Canada to be ranked under the same system. This allows everyone from the resource manager to the high school student the ability to place a species in a geographic, taxonomic, and ecological context, and to gain an impression of the species’ general status in that context. The report Wild Species 2010 has contributed to this goal by increasing the number and variety of species assessed by the general status program, and by providing updated ranks for species first assessed in previous reports. However, the Wild Species series is a product of an ongoing, national program and the next report will aim to include an even broader diversity of species. Priorities for the future of the Wild Species series include:

• Increase the number and variety of species assessed. The Wild Species 2010 report, by providing the results of the assessment of 11 950 species, is one of the most important in term of number of species studied. Still, this represents only about 17% of the species known to reside in Canada! The vast majority of species left to be assessed are insects and other invertebrates. To date, the general status program has focused on groups for which experts and information are fairly readily available. However, as the program delves deeper into lesser known taxonomic groups, information will be less readily available and the process of assessing Canada’s wild species will become even more challenging. Nevertheless, the benefits of assessing these lesser known taxonomic groups will be enormous. In preparation of the next report, Wild Species 2015, the National General Status Working Group is planning to include other lesser known taxonomic groups that will be assessed for the first time.
• Continue to update general status assessments. Updating general status assessments has two benefits. Firstly, it allows the incorporation of new data and new data sources, to maintain the best possible estimate of species’ status. Secondly, periodically updating general status assessments will allow Canadians to track patterns of improvement or decline in species’ status through time. Such patterns not only give a better indication of the nature and magnitude of a problem, but also may point the way to improved conservation practices. In preparation of the next report, Wild Species 2015, the National General Status Working Group is planning to reassess the taxonomic groups that were already included in the previous Wild Species reports.

There are many potential ways on how the Wild Species reports could be used. We present here five strategic orientations that identify the potential uses of the report:

• Species at Risk Act. Under the federal Species at Risk Act (SARA), a general report on the status of wildlife in Canada must be prepared every five years and be made available to the public on the SARA public registry. The Wild Species reports represent the main sources of information used to fulfill this engagement. The next SARA report will portray a summary of the results obtained in the Wild Species 2010 report.
• COSEWIC. The species that are ranked as May Be At Risk by the National General Status Working Group in the Wild Species reports can be used directly by the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) in prioritizing species for detailed status assessments. This category flags the species that need more attention because of possible conservation concerns.
• Strategy on exotic species. The species that are ranked as Exotic by the National General Status Working Group in the Wild Species reports could be used in a national strategy about exotic species. For example, in the Wild Species 2010 report, we flag that 24% of the vascular plants in Canada are Exotic species. Our report can thus be a good source to identify the taxonomic groups that have the greatest proportion of exotic species and can also be used to build a list of exotic species in Canada (for the taxonomic groups that were assessed).
• Lack of knowledge. In the Wild Species 2010 report, data were lacking for some species in some regions (Not Assessed), or the data were insufficient to allow a confident assessment of the species’ general status to be made (Undetermined). It is hoped that the Wild Species series will continue to raise the profile of existing data gaps and stimulate people either to contribute data for these species, or to collect new data to address these shortfalls. In particular, it is hoped that the Wild Species series will stimulate more basic survey work on the distribution and abundance of Canadian species. The list of taxonomic groups indentified by the National General Status Working Group with a lack of knowledge can be used to flag the groups that need more research and funding efforts.
• Sustainable development strategy. The changes in species status over time and the proportion of species ranked as Secure could also probably serve as Canadian environmental sustainability indicators, more specifically for wildlife conservation.

The Wild Species series highlights both the wealth of knowledge we have about Canada’s wild species, and the information gaps that need to be filled. In the future, the Wild Species series will continue to consolidate our knowledge of wild species by using information from experts, both amateurs and professionals, to create a baseline for comparison of the status of Canada’s species. We hope that people will be encouraged by the release of these reports to contribute data on their own, or to become involved with general status assessments in their province or territory. If you want to help in the effort to collect information on Canada’s species, see Appendix 1.

Human impacts upon natural systems can be complex, subtle, and ongoing and large scale, long-term programs, like the Wild Species series, are essential in understanding exactly what these impacts are. Future reports will continue to require long hours from experts across the country, but this effort is a small price to pay to help sustain Canada’s majestic natural heritage.