Species-At-Risk in the Slocan Watershed – 2017
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Species-at-Risk in the Slocan Watershed January 30, 2017 Prepared by: Ryan Durand, RPBio, and Rhia Mackenzie Prepared for: Slocan Solutions Society Species at Risk in the Slocan Watershed January, 2017 Executive Summary The BC Conservation Data Centre (CDC) currently tracks only 20 occurrences of species-at-risk in the Slocan Watershed. One of the occurrences, crested woodfern (Dryopteris cristata), was observed and submitted during the 2014 SWAMP field program. Eight of the 20 records are over 30 years old and their current condition and viability is unknown. Through this project, which was largely a desktop exercise, we have confirmed 47 species-at-risk in the Slocan Watershed in 154 locations, and have identified an additional 11 species that have a high potential to occur. The species include vertebrates, invertebrates, reptiles, amphibians, vascular plants and non-vascular plants. This represents a considerable increase in the number of species-at-risk known to exist in the watershed, although several species on the list are well documented, but are not tracked, or do not show up on, CDC data. The results of this project make it apparent that there is still much to be discovered regarding the species-at-risk that inhabit the Slocan Watershed. With every additional field check more species are found, and the range of existing species is expanded. We hope to secure funding to move beyond this desktop exercise and complete additional inventories. We recommend that a series of specific surveys be carried out in the watershed to complement previous studies. These studies would be completed by experts in their field and focus on under-inventoried areas, namely vascular and non-vascular plants, amphibians and invertebrates. Acknowledgments Many people assisted in this project by sharing reports, general knowledge, locational data, or assisting with identification of species, including: Peter Corbett, Denise Default, Irene Manley, Marlene Machmer, Verena Shaw, Marcy Mahr, Tyson Ehlers, Gregoire Lamoreux, Richard Johnson, Dr. Kristina Ovaska, Robert Forsyth, Dr. Terry McIntosh, Jakob Dulisse, Wayne McCrory, Curtis Bjork, Dr. Toby Spirille, Jo- Anne Stacy, Dr. Dwyane Lepitzki, Judy Lauret, Peter McIver, Janice Arndt, Doris Hausleitner, and many others. Page | 1 Species at Risk in the Slocan Watershed January, 2017 Table of Contents EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ........................................................................................................................................... 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS .............................................................................................................................................. 2 LIST OF FIGURES ..................................................................................................................................................... 3 LIST OF TABLES ...................................................................................................................................................... 5 1.0 INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................................................................... 7 2.0 SPECIES CONSERVATION STATUS AND RANKS ........................................................................................... 7 3.0 STUDY AREA ............................................................................................................................................ 10 4.0 SPECIES AT RISK IN THE SLOCAN WATERSHED ......................................................................................... 12 5.0 RESULTS .................................................................................................................................................. 13 6.0 SPECIES ACCOUNTS ................................................................................................................................. 16 6.1 VERTEBRATE ANIMALS (FISH) ............................................................................................................................ 16 Bull Trout (Salvelinus confluentus) ...................................................................................................................... 16 Burbot (Lower Kootenay Population) (Lota lota pop. 1) ..................................................................................... 17 Columbia Sculpin (Cottus hubbsi) ........................................................................................................................ 18 Shorthead Sculpin (Cottus confusus) ................................................................................................................... 19 Umatilla Dace (Rhinichthys umatilla).................................................................................................................. 20 Westslope Cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarki lewisi) .................................................................................... 21 White Sturgeon (Columbia River pop) (Acipenser transmontanus pop. 2) ......................................................... 22 6.2 VERTEBRATE ANIMALS (MAMMAL) .................................................................................................................... 23 Woodland Caribou (Southern Mountain Population) (Rangifer tarandus pop. 1) .............................................. 23 Grizzly Bear (Ursus arctos) .................................................................................................................................. 24 Mountain Goat (Oreamnos americanus) ............................................................................................................ 25 Wolverine (Gulo gulo and Gulo gulo luscus) ....................................................................................................... 26 6.3 VERTEBRATE ANIMALS (BIRD, BAT) .................................................................................................................... 27 Fringed Myotis (Myotis thysanodes) ................................................................................................................... 27 Lewis' Woodpecker (Melanerpes lewis) .............................................................................................................. 28 California Gull (Larus californicus) ...................................................................................................................... 29 Great Blue Heron, herodias subspecies (Ardea herodias herodias) .................................................................... 30 Tundra Swan (Cygnus columbianus) ................................................................................................................... 31 Olive-sided Flycatcher (Contopus cooperi) .......................................................................................................... 32 Barn swallow (Hirundo rustica) ........................................................................................................................... 33 Black Swift (Cypseloides niger) ............................................................................................................................ 34 Western Screech Owl (Mcfarlanei subspecies) (Megascops kennicottii macfarlanei) ........................................ 35 Bobolink (Dolichonyx oryzivorus) ........................................................................................................................ 36 Common nighthawk (Chordeiles minor) ............................................................................................................. 37 Bank swallow (Riparia riparia) ............................................................................................................................ 38 White-throated swift (Aeronautes saxatalis) ...................................................................................................... 39 6.4 REPTILES AND AMPHIBIANS ............................................................................................................................... 40 Page | 2 Species at Risk in the Slocan Watershed January, 2017 Northern Rubber Boa (Charina bottae) ............................................................................................................... 40 Western Painted Turtle (intermountain - Rocky Mountain population) (Chrysemys picta pop. 2) ..................... 41 Western Skink (Plestiodon skiltonianus) ............................................................................................................. 42 Western Toad (Anaxyrus boreas) ........................................................................................................................ 43 6.5 INVERTEBRATES .............................................................................................................................................. 45 Banded Tigersnail (Anguispira kochi) .................................................................................................................. 45 Coeur D’Alene Oregonian (Cryptomastix mullani) .............................................................................................. 48 Pale Jumping Slug (Hemphillia camelus) ............................................................................................................. 50 Pygmy Slug (Kootenaia burkei) ........................................................................................................................... 51 Vivid Dancer (Argia vivida) .................................................................................................................................