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Canadian Biodiversity: the IUCN Red List and SARA

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Canadian Biodiversity: the IUCN Red List and SARA Canadian Biodiversity : The IUCN Red List and SARA Bombus terricol a , photo by Tom Murray – Discover Life Debborah Donnelly University College Dublin World Heritage Conservation May 27 , 2016 D. Donnelly 1 Introduction Canadian biodiversity is extensive , and is subjected to many of the same g lobal pressures that effect all non - human species. The IUCN Red List was developed to inform and encourage governments to take action in a prioritised fashion, in order to address those species most at risk. This paper shall i dentify the differences betwee n the IUCN Red List and the Canadian Species at Risk Act (SARA) registr y with regards to Canadian taxa, as well as the major threats facing them. A spreadsheet will be included with information gleaned from both databases for conducting analysis, and in or der to c ompare and contrast the results for Canada with the IUCN list of global priorities. IUCN Red List Criteria The IUCN (2012: 14 - 15) provides definitions for the criteria following: “ Least Concern (LC) - A taxon is Least Concern when it has been evalu ated against the criteria and does not qualify for Critically Endangered, Endangered, Vulnerable or Near Threatened. Widespread and abundant taxa are included in this category. Near Threatened (NT) - A taxon is Near Threatened when it has been evaluated ag ainst the criteria but does not qualify for Critically Endangered, Endangered or Vulnerable now, but is close to qualifying for or is likely to qualify for a threatened category in the near future . Vulnerable (VU) - A taxon is Vulnerable when the best avai lable evidence indicates that it meets any of the criteria A to E for Vulnerable (see Section V), and it is therefore considered to be facing a high risk of extinction in the wild. Endangered (EN) - A taxon is Endangered when the best available evidence in dicates that it meets any of the criteria A to E for Endangered (see Section V), and it is therefore considered to be facing a very high risk of extinction in the wild. Critically Endangered (CR) – A taxon is Critically Endangered when the best available e vidence indicates that it meets any of the criteria A to E for Critically Endangered (see Section V), and it is therefore considered to be facing an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild. ” 1 1 Underlined words are highlighted by this author. D. Donnelly 2 Fig. 1 – Structure of the Categories (IUCN , 2012: 5) Canada – Red List Under a location search for ‘Canada’ on the Red List of Species , the result listed in 2047 species o f wh ic h 39 a re l is te d as Critically Endangered (CR) 11, or Endangered ( EN) 28 , a nd are depicted in the table below . 2 The SARA Listing (if any) is noted on the left. SARA 3 Scientific Name Common Name Status Type Betula murrayana Murray Birch CR Plant EN Bombus affinis Rusty Patched Bumble Bee CR arthropod Bombus suckleyi Suckley Cuckoo Bumble Bee CR arthropod EN Coregonus reighardi Shortnose Cisco CR fish Coryphaenoides rupestris Roundnose Grenadier CR fish E pioblasma torulosa Tubercled Blossom, Green - blossom CR mollusc Pearly Mussel EN Erioderma pedicellatum Boreal Felt Lichen CR fungi EN Marmota vancouverensis Vancouver Island Marmot CR mammal Nicrophorus americanus American Burying Beetle CR arthropod EN Numeniu s borealis Eskimo Curlew CR bird Sebastes paucispinus Bocaccio Rockfish CR fish Anguilla rostrata American Eel EN fish EN Balaenoptera borealis Sei Whale EN mammal EN Balaenoptera musculus Blue Whale EN mammal TH Balaenoptera physalus Fin Whale EN mammal 2 IUCN Red List a cces sed and searched 27 May 2016. 3 SARA abbreviations: EN – endangered; TH – threatened; SP – Special Concern ; EX - extirpated D. Donnelly 3 TH Brac hyramphus marmoratus Marbled Murrelet EN bird EN Clemmys guttata Spotted Turtle EN reptile Dipturus laevis Barndoor Skate EN fish EN Emydoidea blandingii Blanding's Turtle EN reptile SP Enhydra lutris Sea Otter EN mammal EN Eubalaena glacialis North Atlantic Righ t Whale EN mammal Gastrolactarius camphoratus EN Fungi TH Glyptemys insculpta Wood Turtle EN reptile EN Grus americana Whooping Crane EN bird EN Haliotis kamtschatkana Pinto Abalone, Northern Abalone EN mollusc Hippoglossus hippoglossus Atlantic Halibut EN f ish SP Lampsilis cariosa Yellow Lampmussel EN mollusc EN Leucoraja ocellata Winter Skate EN fish Lopholatilus Golden Tilefish EN fish chamaeleonticeps Malacoraja senta Smooth Skate EN fish EN Moxostoma hubbsi Copper Redhorse EN fish EX Mustela nigripes Black - foo ted Ferret EN mammal EN Pinus albicaulis Whitebark Pine EN plant EN Platanthera praeclara Western Prairie Fringed Orchid EN plant Rhizopogon alexsmithii EN Fungi Sebastes fasciatus Redfish EN fish Sebastolobus alascanus Shortspine Thornyhead EN fish Thun nus thynnus Atlantic Bluefin Tuna EN fish EN Villosa fabalis Bean Mussel, Rayed Bean EN mollusc Of the 39 CR and EN species on the IUCN list, only 23 also appear on the SARA list , with 5 being listed at a lower l evel and 1 extirpated species in Canada. For these 39 identified endangered species, the following risks were identif ied : 1. Residential and Commercial Development ( 9 ) 2. Ag riculture & aquaculture ( 12 ) 3. Energy production and mining ( 4 ) 4. Transportation and Service Corridors ( 7 ) 5. Biological Resource Use ( 2 5) a. Hunting and trapping terrestrial animals ( 5 ) b. Logging and wood harvesting ( 6 ) c. Fishing and harvesting aquatic resources (1 7 ) 6. Human intrusion and disturbance (6) 7. Natural system modification s ( 1 2) 8. Invasive and other problematic species and genes ( 18 ) 9. Pollution (1 3) 10. G eological events (0) 1 1. Climate change and severe weather ( 1 2) 12. Other options (1) D. Donnelly 4 W hile one might at first glance assume this list was restricted to perhaps endemic species, they are not, and IUCN Red List Table 8 indicates only five identified endemic mammals of which one is threatened. No other categories of plants or animals were indicated as havin g Canadian endemic species. Yet, Table 5 – Threatened Species, of the IUCN Red List (2015: 4) shows the following: North Mammals Birds Reptiles Amphibians Fishes Molluscs Other Plants Total America Inverts Canada 11 15 6 1 42 5 19 11 110 Table 6 of the IUCN Red List provides a combined total of both plants and animals for Canada (all categories) as 2,041 species . Table 6a R ed List Cate gory summary country totals ( Animals ) IUCN Red List Categories: EX - Extinct, EW - Extinct in the Wild, CR - Critically Endangered, EN - Endangered, VU - Vulnerable, LR/cd - Lower Risk/conservation dependent, NT - Near Threatened (includes LR/nt - Lower Ri sk/near threatened), DD - Data Deficient, LC - Least Concern (includes LR/lc - Lower Risk, least concern). North EX EW Sub - CR EN VU Sub - NT LR/ DD LC Total America Total Total cd Canada 7 0 7 9 24 66 9 57 0 93 1545 1801 Table 6a Red List Category summar y country totals ( Plants ) North EX EW Sub - CR EN VU Sub - NT LR/ DD LC Total America Total Total cd Canada 1 0 1 1 2 4 7 5 0 1 226 240 SARA The initial search results on the IUCN Red List do not accurately reflect numbers of species at risk in Canada . It was necessary to compare results with the Species at Risk Act (SARA) , which is federal legislation that became Canadian law in December 2002. It is designed to meet one of Canada's key commitments under the International Convention o n Biological Diver sity, and the government maintains its own registry. Environment Canada (2008) uses slightly different categories as outlined in the table below: Category Definition Special A wildlife species that may become a threatened or an e ndangered species because Concern of a combination of biological characteristics and identified threats. Threatened A wildlife species that is likely to become endangered if nothing is done to reverse the factors leading to its extirpation or extinction. Endange red A wildlife species that is facing imminent extirpation or extinction. Extirpated A wildlife species that no longer exists in the wild in Canada, but exists elsewhere. Extinct A wildlife species that no longer exists. Not at Risk A wildlife species t hat has been evaluated and found to be not at risk. Data Deficient Not enough information is available to determine the species’ status. D. Donnelly 5 The Canadian Species at Risk Act (SARA) is divided into four major sections : E xtirpated, 4 E ndangered , Threatened, an d Special Concern Species. COSEWIC 5 explains the Quantitative Criteria and Guidelines for the Status Assessment of Species in Table 2 of the SARA Registry of Canada, updated in 2014. It uses the following descriptors, with parameters for endangered or thre atened status: A) Declining Total Population; B) Small Distribution, and Decline or Fluctuation; C) Small Total Populations Size and Decline; D) Very Small Population or Restricted Distribution; and E) Quantitative Analysis. Actual SARA Schedule 1 (updated October 2015) provided the following results (see Appendix 1 attached) . Below is a comparison between SARA and the IUCN Red List results 6 : SARA Registry IUCN 24 Extirpated 24 7 Endangered 3 9 Critically Endangered and Endangered 132 Threatened 71 Vulnerable 139 Special Concern 61 Near Threatened With few overlapping results in the initial IUCN list (as indicated above) I cross - reference d individual species from the SARA schedule to the IUCN Red List. In order to do this, I needed a se archable list by category, therefore I had to create a database from SARA Schedule 1 updated with information from the Canadian Ministry of the Environment October 2015 assessment (Appendix 1 attached). I then individually searched each Canadian ‘ Endangere d ’ Species (from the SARA list) against the IUCN Red List to verify the ratings and in order to conduct analysis.
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