scholarly journals Are we accurately estimating the potential role of pollution in the decline of species at risk in Canada?

FACETS ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 598-614
Author(s):  
Jenny L. McCune ◽  
Sheila R. Colla ◽  
Laura E. Coristine ◽  
Christina M. Davy ◽  
D.T. Tyler Flockhart ◽  
...  

Pollution is a pervasive, albeit often invisible, threat to biodiversity in Canada. Currently, the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) relies on expert opinion to assess the scope (i.e., the proportion of a species’ population that may be affected) of pollution to species at risk. Here, we describe a spatially explicit, quantitative method for assessing the scope of pollution as a threat to species at risk in Canada. Using this method, we quantified the geographic co-occurrence of 488 terrestrial and freshwater species and pollution sources and determined that, on average, 57% of the mapped occurrences of each species at risk co-occurred with at least one pollution source. Furthermore, we found a weak correlation between the scope of the threat of pollution as assessed by COSEWIC expert panels and the geographic overlap of species occurrences and pollution sources that we determined with our quantitative method. Experts frequently identified scope of pollution as absent or negligible even for species with extensive co-occurrence with pollution sources, especially vascular plants. Clearly, a quantitative approach is needed to make accurate estimates of the scope of pollution as a threat to species at risk in Canada.

Rangifer ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 35 (2) ◽  
pp. 49 ◽  
Author(s):  
Justina C. Ray ◽  
Deborah B. Cichowski ◽  
Martin-Hugues St-Laurent ◽  
Chris J. Johnson ◽  
Stephen D. Petersen ◽  
...  

In April 2014, the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) reviewed the status of caribou in the western mountains of Canada, in keeping with the ten-year reassessment mandate under the Species at Risk Act. Assessed as two ‘nationally significant’ populations in 2002, COSEWIC revised the conservation units for all caribou in Canada, recognising eleven extant Designatable Units (DUs), three of which -- Northern Mountain, Central Mountain, and Southern Mountain -- are found only in western Canada. The 2014 assessment concluded that the condition of many subpopulations in all three DUs had deteriorated. As a result of small and declining population sizes, the Central Mountain and Southern Mountain DUs are now recognised as endangered. Recent declines in a number of Northern Mountain DU subpopulations did not meet thresholds for endangered or threatened, and were assessed as of special concern. Since the passage of the federal Species at Risk Act in 2002, considerable areas of habitat were managed or conserved for caribou, although disturbance from cumulative human development activities has increased during the same period. Government agencies and local First Nations are attempting to arrest the steep decline of some subpopulations by using predator control, maternal penning, population augmentation, and captive breeding. Based on declines, future developments and current recovery effects, we offer the following recommendations: 1) where recovery actions are necessary, commit to simultaneously reducing human intrusion into caribou ranges, restoring habitat over the long term, and conducting short-term predator control, 2) carefully consider COSEWIC’s new DU structure for management and recovery actions, especially regarding translocations, 3) carry out regular surveys to monitor the condition of Northern Mountain caribou subpopulations and immediately implement preventative measures where necessary, and 4) undertake a proactive, planned approach coordinated across jurisdictions to conserve landscape processes important to caribou conservation.


2009 ◽  
Vol 17 (NA) ◽  
pp. 53-65 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeffrey A. Hutchings ◽  
Marco Festa-Bianchet

In accordance with the Species at Risk Act (SARA), the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) is nationally responsible for assessing wildlife species considered to be at risk of extinction. A parliamentary review of SARA provides impetus for an up-to-date summary of recent assessments (2006–2008) and a spatiotemporal analysis of the status of Canada's largest vertebrate group of species at risk, fishes. From April 1978 through December 2008, COSEWIC had assessed 13 wildlife species as extinct and 564 at some level of risk (extirpated, endangered, threatened, special concern). Among these 577 assessments, 112 are for fishes (76% freshwater and diadromous; 24% marine). Slightly more than one-quarter (27%) of Canada's 205 freshwater and diadromous species of fishes, many of which are in southwestern Ontario and southeastern Quebec, have been assessed as being at risk throughout all or parts of their ranges. The percentage of Canadian freshwater and diadromous fish species assessed by COSEWIC as endangered or threatened (16%) is similar to the percentage of freshwater and diadromous fishes in the US that have been listed under the Endangered Species Act (12%). The proportion of wholly freshwater fishes assessed by COSEWIC that have been added to SARA's legal schedule is somewhat lower than that of other taxa. However, whereas the US listed its first marine fish in 2005, the Canadian government has to date not accepted COSEWIC's advice to list an endangered or threatened marine fish since the proclamation of SARA in 2003.


2009 ◽  
Vol 66 (6) ◽  
pp. 959-971 ◽  
Author(s):  
James R. Lukey ◽  
Stephen S. Crawford

The Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) is responsible for the assessment of Canadian wildlife at risk. The COSEWIC assessment process is primarily based on five quantitative criteria developed by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, but allows for further modification of designations under certain conditions. This study investigated the consistency of designations predicted using the quantitative COSEWIC criteria compared with observed designations reported by COSEWIC. A total of 49 COSEWIC designations for freshwater fishes from 2000 to 2007 were compared for consistency in decision-making. Overall, there was a 57.1% agreement between predicted and observed designations. A substantial number (35.1%) of COSEWIC designations were downlisted from “Endangered” or “Threatened” without sufficient explanation to justify the modifications. For the cases of uplisting, these differences were associated with qualitative criteria not effectively represented in our algorithm. Recommendations are offered to improve the transparency and accountability of COSEWIC decision-making, including enhancements to reporting and the explicit incorporation of uncertainty in the COSEWIC risk assessment protocol.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (16) ◽  
pp. 9051
Author(s):  
David Urbán-Duarte ◽  
José Fernando De La Torre-Sánchez ◽  
Yooichi Kainoh ◽  
Kazuo Watanabe

The Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) confirmed that pollinators have declined in abundance and diversity; additionally, there is insufficient data for Latin America. Thus, we performed a review on scientific studies and databases to determine the state of the art of the diversity of three pollinator animals (bees, hummingbirds, and bats) in Mexico as well as an analysis of relevant public policies to conserve these species. We found 2063 bee species reported to be present in Mexico. The biodiversity of hummingbirds (58 species) and pollinator bats (12 species) is well known. We identified 57 scientific studies published in the last 20 years related to the biodiversity of bees (30 studies), hummingbirds (16 studies), and pollinator bats (11 studies). Relatively few, or no current studies on hummingbirds and pollinators bats at risk as well as for more than 1000 bee species is available. Great efforts have been made about policies and programs to improve the knowledge and conservation of pollinators in Mexico the last years such as the Species at Risk Conservation Program (PROCER), the Species Conservation Action Program (PACE), and the Natural Protected Ares System (CONANP). However, information of the status of many species and regions is still scarce. Thus, more studies about biodiversity, density, and trends as well as studies of the impact of policies and programs on pollinator species in Mexico are needed.


2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 60-66
Author(s):  
Anggun Mustika Yanti ◽  
Yuhelna Yuhelna ◽  
Rinel Fitlayeni

One of the existing NGOs is FORSIS which is engaged in the grouping of HIV / AIDS risk groups to cope with the spread of HIV / AIDS in the city of Padang. The purpose of this study is to describe how the role of FORSIS in outreach groups at risk of HIV / AIDS in the city of Padang. The approach used in this research is a qualitative descriptive researcher, a technique used for data collection in interviews, observations, and document studies. In addition to the selection of informants is purposive sampling, which consists of informants who are considered to know about the role of FORSIS in outreach groups at risk of HIV / AIDS. The subjects in this research are Padang city community that is the board of FORSIS, LGBT group, caretaker of soul conscience, and LGBT with HIV. The results of this study are to describe the role of FORSIS in outreach groups at risk of HIV / AIDS. Prior to outreach there was a process planned for outreach. This NGO plays a role in improving community knowledge through socialization, then invites VCT to know the status of self so that can cope with the spread of viruses and NGOs also do cooperation with NGOs taratak soul heart to accompany PLWHA. It can be concluded that this FORSIS NGO plays an important role in providing counselling, inviting VCT and working with specific NGOs to assist in the prevention and transmission of HIV / AIDS.


2007 ◽  
Vol 40 (2) ◽  
pp. 367-394 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mary Illical ◽  
Kathryn Harrison

Abstract. Although the US and Canada share ecosystems, with many species ranging freely across the border, the two countries have taken very different approaches to protecting endangered species. The US Endangered Species Act, adopted in 1973, relies primarily on regulation, thus imposing the costs of protecting biodiversity on the private sector. In contrast, Canada's Species at Risk Act, adopted in 2002, relies primarily on public expenditures to support stewardship programs. We argue that this difference is best explained by negative lesson drawing from the US experience. In particular, awareness of the costs of species protection in the US led Canadian business to present stronger opposition to regulation than had their American counterparts decades earlier. We use the case of the Canadian Species at Risk Act to theorize about conditions under which negative lesson drawing is likely to be most influential.Résumé. Bien que les États-Unis et le Canada partagent les mêmes écosystèmes, les deux pays ont adopté des approches très différentes en matière de protection des espèces en péril. La Loi américaine sur les espèces en péril (US Endangered Species Act), adoptée en 1973, porte essentiellement sur la régulation, et de ce fait impose les coûts de la protection de la biodiversité au secteur privé. En revanche, la Loi canadienne sur les espèces en péril, adoptée en 2002, fait principalement retomber les coûts des programmes de gestion au secteur public. Nous démontrons que cette différence s'explique principalement par le rôle des leçons négatives apprises de l'expérience des États-Unis. La prise de conscience des coûts liés à la protection des espèces en péril aux États-Unis a notamment amené les milieux d'affaires canadiens à présenter une plus forte opposition à la régulation que leurs homologues américains l'avaient fait des années plus tôt. En s'appuyant sur le cas de la Loi canadienne sur les espèces en péril, nous visons à théoriser les conditions selon lesquelles l'acquisition de connaissance par leçons négatives (“ negative lesson drawing ”) est susceptible d'être le plus concluant.


2007 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 569-606 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kasper Boye ◽  
Peter Harder

In recent years, there has been considerable discussion about the nature of clausal subordination (cf., for instance, Schilperoord & Verhagen 1998, Verhagen 2001, Verhagen to appear, Diessel & Tomasello 2001, Thompson 2002). One of the foci has been the status of complement clauses of complement-taking predicates like think. Roughly speaking, the two poles of the issue are the ‘traditional’ assumption according to which the ‘main clause’ is central, and a new ‘usage-based’ picture according to which the ‘complement clause’ is central and the ‘main clause’ is more or less an appendix. From the point of view of an approach that sees structure as having a central role in an overall cognitive-functional picture, this potential polarization is at risk of separating issues that should be kept together. The aim of this paper is to show how a picture that is fully committed to maintaining the role of structural (including structural-semantic) subordination can simultaneously remain fully faithful to principles of usage-based linguistics. Ontogeny and phylogeny (acquisition and diachrony) are central elements in the picture.


2020 ◽  
Vol 134 (2) ◽  
pp. 179-188
Author(s):  
Todd J. Morris ◽  
Margaret N. Sheldon ◽  
Kelly A. McNichols-O'Rourke

Freshwater mussels of the family Unionidae are among the world’s most imperilled animals. A third of Canadian species have been assessed by the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada as Extirpated, Endangered, Threatened, or Special Concern, with losses attributed to natural system modifications such as damming, pollution, exploitation for buttons and pearls, urbanization, and the introduction and subsequent effects of aquatic invasive species. In the Great Lakes basin, the introduction of dreissenid mussels in the 1980s caused catastrophic declines, with remnant populations restricted to lotic riverine habitats. In southwestern Ontario, the Canard River is the largest remaining direct tributary of the Detroit River that could provide a source of mussels to aid natural recovery. In 2019, nine sites in the Canard River were sampled using a timed-search approach (4.5 person-hours/site) with a combination of tactile searching by hand and mussel scoops (7-mm mesh) or underwater viewers. The search yielded 362 individuals of eight species, including two Species at Risk, Mapleleaf (Quadrula quadrula) and Lilliput (Toxolasma parvum), which had never been previously recorded in the Canard River.


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