Wicked Problems

Endangered Species of British Columbia

By:

hayleybartella

The land on which we gather is the traditional and unceded territory of the Indigenous peoples of British Columbia, past, present, and emerging.

“Wildlife, in all its forms,

has value in and of itself…”

– Species at Rick Act

About Fragmentation
  • Destruction and degradation of ecosystems are the primary causes of declines in global diversity which leads to fragmentation.
  • Ecosystem Size: Smaller habitat patches often support fewer unique individuals.
  • Distance: Greater distances between patches make immigration and dispersal more difficult.
  • Edge Effects: Increased edges alter habitat conditions.
About Invasive Species
  • Leading cause of both biodiversity loss and species extinction on a global scale.
  • One of the most critical threats to Canadian species at risk in B.C.
  • At the provincial level in B.C. there is no single legislation for species at risk.
  • Ecological mechanisms that impact species at risk: Behaviour, Collateral, Competition, Disease, Genetic effects, Degradation & Predation

[2,3]

Do You Know Your Endangered Species?

Click to Reveal
Species

*Burrowing owl*

Fun Fact: Burrowing owls don’t actually dig their own burrows! They move into abandoned tunnels made by animals like badgers and marmots

Click to Reveal
Species

*Whitebark Pine*

Fun Fact: This tree relies completely on a single bird species called the Clark’s nutcracker to distribute it’s seeds

Click to Reveal
Species

*White Sturgeon*

Fun Fact: This fish was nicknamed “living fossil” due to it’s unchanged appearance in the last 175 million years

References

  1. Government of Canada. (2002). Species at Risk Act (S.C. 2002).
    https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/pdf/S-15.3.pdf
  2. Haddad, N. M., Brudvig, L. A., Clobert, J., Davies, K. F., Gonzalez, A., Holt, R. D., Lovejoy, T. E., Sexton, J. O., Austin, M. P., Collins, C. D., Cook, W. M., Damschen, E. I., Ewers, R. M., Foster, B. L., Jenkins, C. N., King, A. J., Laurance, W. F., Levey, D. J., … Townshend, J. R. (2015). Habitat fragmentation and its lasting impact on Earth’s ecosystems. Science Advances, 1(2), e1500052. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4643828/pdf/1500052.pdf
  3. Tamburello, N., & Litt, A. (2021, June 30). A systematic assessment of invasive species impacts to species at risk in British Columbia (Final Report). ESSA Technologies Ltd.; Invasive Species Council of BC. https://bcinvasives.ca/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/A-Systematic-Assessment-of-Invasive-Species-Impacts-to-Species-at-Risk-in-BC-2021.pdf