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

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dc.contributor.authorMcCune, Jenny L.
dc.contributor.authorColla, Sheila R.
dc.contributor.authorCoristine, Laura E.
dc.contributor.authorDavy, Christina M.
dc.contributor.authorFlockhart, D. T. Tyler
dc.contributor.authorSchuster, Richard
dc.contributor.authorOrihel, Diane M.
dc.date.accessioned2022-12-21T23:38:18Z
dc.date.available2022-12-21T23:38:18Z
dc.date.issued2019
dc.descriptionOpen access article. Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license (CC BY 4.0) appliesen_US
dc.description.abstractPollution 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.en_US
dc.description.peer-reviewYesen_US
dc.identifier.citationMcCune, J. L., Colla, S. R., Corstine, L. E., Davy, C. M., Flockhart, D. T. T., Schuster, R., & Orihel, D. M. (2019). Are we accurately estimating the potential role of pollution in the decline of special at risk in Canada? FACETS, 4(1), 598-614. https://doi.org/10.1139/facets-2019-0025en_US
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10133/6400
dc.language.isoen_USen_US
dc.publisherCanadian Science Publishingen_US
dc.publisher.departmentDepartment of Biological Sciencesen_US
dc.publisher.facultyArts and Scienceen_US
dc.publisher.institutionCarleton Universityen_US
dc.publisher.institutionYork Universityen_US
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of British Columbiaen_US
dc.publisher.institutionTrent Universityen_US
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Marylanden_US
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Northern British Columbiaen_US
dc.publisher.institutionQueen's Universityen_US
dc.publisher.urlhttps://doi.org/10.1139/facets-2019-0025en_US
dc.subjectContaminantsen_US
dc.subjectEndangered speciesen_US
dc.subjectPollutionen_US
dc.subjectRecovery planningen_US
dc.subjectThreatened speciesen_US
dc.subjectThreats Calculatoren_US
dc.subject.lcshEndangered species--Canada
dc.subject.lcshBiodiversity--Canada
dc.subject.lcshPollution--Canada
dc.subject.lcshPollutants--Canada
dc.subject.lcshWildlife recovery--Canada
dc.titleAre we accurately estimating the potential role of pollution in the decline of species at risk in Canada?en_US
dc.typeArticleen_US
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