Indicator 1.2.1 - Status of forest-associated species at risk
core indicator


The maintenance and recovery of healthy populations of forest-associated species are prime objectives of sustainable forest management. Forest-associated species at risk are sensitive to habitat alterations from a variety of causes, including timber and nontimber harvesting. Monitoring change in the risk status designated by the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) for forest-associated species may also provide information on the quality and quantity of the habitat for these species.

As a result of the C&I framework reevaluation in 2003 (CCFM 2003), this indicator now reports information on forest-associated species, defined as a species with a measurable dependence on a forest ecosystem(s) for any aspect of its life history (including indirect dependence, such as consuming forest-based or forest-derived resources) (McAfee and Malouin 2004). In the present report, forest-associated species include species in category 1 (forest-dependent and forest-dwelling), category 2 (forest-dependent but not forest-dwelling), and category 3 (forest-using but not forest-dependent) of the 2000 report.

As of May 2004, COSEWIC had designated 444 species¹ at risk in Canada (COSEWIC 2004). Seven taxonomic groups assessed by COSEWIC between 1999 and May 2004 were examined for inclusion in this indicator: plants (vascular and nonvascular), mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians, freshwater fishes, arthropods, and mollusks.

Of the 444 COSEWIC-designated species, 305 (69%) are considered to be forest-associated, of which 219 are listed under Schedule 1 of Canada's Species at Risk Act (SARA), affording them special protection. Proportions of forest-associated species in each COSEWIC risk category are as follows:

. 3% are extirpated;

. 39% are endangered;

. 24% are threatened; and,

. 34% are of special concern.

There was a 27% increase (from 241 to 305) in forestassociated species at risk since the last C&I report, on the basis of 1999 data from COSEWIC. This is consistent with the 31% overall increase (from 340 to 444) in the number of species assessed and designated by COSEWIC in Canada, highlighting that data and information availability is one of the main factors affecting the number and change in status of COSEWIC-designated species at risk.

Figure 1.2a shows the change in status, between 1999 (data used in the 2000 C&I report) and 2004, of forestassociated species at risk in the seven previously mentioned taxonomic groups. Of the forest-associated species reassessed by COSEWIC since 1999:

. 60% have the same COSEWIC status;

. 17% have been moved to a higher risk category; and

. 1% moved to a lower risk category.

The remaining 22% are species assessed by COSEWIC for the first time. The COSEWIC Web site (http://www.cosewic.gc.ca) provides complete information about which species are found in each risk category.



Figure 1.2a Change in COSEWIC status of forest-associated species at risk reassessed by COSEWIC by taxonomic group, 1999-2004. Note: a) Changes in status (i.e., species placed in a lower or higher risk category) could be the result of new information gathered rather than an actual improvement or deterioration in status of the species; b) "Plants" includes both vascular and nonvascular plants; c) extirpated, endangered, threatened, and special concern COSEWIC-designated species are included.
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On the basis of the information included in the COSEWIC status reports, the main threat to forestassociated species at risk is habitat loss and destruction (Figure 1.2b). Unsustainable trade and harvesting are also significant contributing factors. To address these threats, federal, provincial, and territorial governments have enacted species at risk legislation to help protect critical habitat. The federal SARA, for example, aims at protecting places where a species at risk lives, feeds, breeds, and raises its offspring. SARA's intent is to protect critical habitats as much as possible through voluntary actions and stewardship measures. Decreasing genetic diversity, often referred to as the invisible extinction, is also a major threat to species and is often a consequence of the small population sizes of species at risk. Genetic diversity (Indicators 1.3.1 and 1.3.2) allows species to adapt to changing environmental conditions, such as climate change, or to compete with an introduced invasive alien species (Indicator 1.2.4).



Figure 1.2b Threats to forest-associated species at risk as a proportion of all threats identified in COSEWIC status reports.

Approximately half of the forest-associated species at risk occur in the Mixedwood Plains ecozone, particularly in remnants of the Carolinian forest of southern Ontario, a forest type found primarily in the eastern and southeastern United States. Urbanization, agriculture, and rural roads have heavily modified the landscape and are the major causes of species decline. Although the boreal forests (Boreal Plains, Boreal Shield, and Boreal Cordillera ecozones) cover about 30% of Canada's land area, they contain relatively few species at risk. There are four mammals designated at risk in the boreal forest: woodland caribou, wood bison, gray wolf, and American marten, all of which have recovery strategies in place.

Across all forest types in Canada, four forestassociated mammals have been designated at risk by COSEWIC since the last C&I report: woodland caribou (southern population), gray wolf, and two subspecies of American badger. Five mammals were placed in a higher risk category after reassessment: ermine haidarum subspecies (Queen Charlotte Islands population), gray fox, pallid bat, Townsend's mole, and woodland caribou (Gaspé population). No mammals at risk were placed in a lower category of risk after reassessment by COSEWIC in the last five years. Indicator 1.2.3 presents case studies on woodland caribou and American marten in Canada.

Plant species account for 36% of the total forestassociated species at risk. In recent years, COSEWIC has placed only two forest-associated plant species in a lower category of risk after reassessment (blue ash in Ontario and giant helleborine in British Columbia were both moved from threatened to special concern). Of the 27 plant species designated at risk by COSEWIC since the last report, 13 occur in the Carolinian forest.

One forest-associated bird species (harlequin duck, eastern population) was placed in a lower risk category (from endangered to special concern) after reassessment by COSEWIC in 2001. Four birds have been placed in a higher category of risk after reassessment by COSEWIC in 2001: two from threatened to endangered (white-headed woodpecker and the yellow-breasted chat auricollis subspecies) and two from special concern to threatened (northern goshawk laingi subspecies and least bittern). Indicator 1.2.3 presents a case study on the northern goshawk.

Fish habitats are directly and indirectly affected by forest ecosystems. Stream and lakeside forests provide cover, food, water quantity and quality, and substrate (bank stabilization). The status of forestassociated fish at risk deteriorated considerably in the last five years with 16 species placed in higher risk categories after reassessment by COSEWIC. Of the 53 forest-associated fish species at risk in Canada, 32% are considered endangered. Many of these are small isolated populations that are found only in Canada, such as the six populations of stickleback in British Columbia.

Of the eight forest-associated arthropods at risk, six have been added to the COSEWIC list since 2000, such as the endangered Taylor's checkerspot, a butterfly associated with the Garry oak ecosystem in British Columbia. Of the nine forest-associated mollusks at risk, seven are considered endangered. Six new mollusk species have been designated by COSEWIC since 2000.

Although there have been some improvements and successes, the information presented here suggests that the state of forest-associated species at risk appears to have deteriorated between 1999 and May 2004. However, because COSEWIC does not currently document the reasons for transfer between categories, the data showing changes from one status category to another must be used and interpreted very carefully. These changes may also result from the introduction of new information and not an actual change in the status of the species. Future reports prepared on the basis of long-term monitoring of individual forest-associated species at risk will provide a more accurate trend on their status.

¹ Because the COSEWIC definition of wildlife species includes full species, subspecies variety, or geographically or genetically distinct population, the use of "species" in this report refers to all of the above categories. Also, this number includes species designated extirpated, endangered, threatened, and of special concern.