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NWT Species General Status Ranking Program & Species Infobase

If you have a question you would like to see answered here, please send it to SARA@gov.nt.ca.

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What is the difference between a General Status Rank and a COSEWIC status?

A General Status (GS) Rank is the result of a coarse evaluation of the status of a species. GS ranks identify, in a very general way, which species are thought to be secure, which are sensitive and which species may be at risk and therefore require more attention or investigation. Species with a GS rank of “May be at Risk” are the highest priority for more detailed assessment by either the jurisdiction or COSEWIC.

The GS ranks of wild species were evaluated for the first time in all Canadian provinces and territories in 2000. The first Canada-wide report on the GS ranks of wild species was published in 2001. For the most recent report, click here.

A COSEWIC (Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada) status is the result of a detailed assessment of the status of a species. COSEWIC was been performing detailed species assessments and listing species at risk since 1978. A COSEWIC status identifies whether or not a species is at risk of becoming extinct. Since 2001, COSEWIC has been using the General Status Rank, along with other information, to prioritize which new species the committee will assess in detail.

Note that all species ranked as "At Risk" in the NWT list of General Status Ranks have a COSEWIC status of either Endangered or Threatened.

For more information on COSEWIC, click here.

For more information on species monitoring in Canada:

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What are G-ranks and S-ranks?

Conservation Data Centres (CDCs) track and assign ranks for a select list of wild species. The tracking lists differ among provinces (states or countries). Most species on the CDC tracking lists are rare.

Ranks assigned by CDCs are sometimes also called G-ranks, S-Ranks, Heritage Ranks or Conservation Ranks.

Species (elements) can be ranked at the sub-national level (e.g. Provincial S-Ranks) and at the global level (G-Ranks). In general, scientists from the Association for Biodiversity Information (ABI) assign Global, U.S., and Canadian national ranks. ABI scientists receive guidance from subnational data and from experts on particular taxonomic groups.

To find more information, please visit NatureServe.

Conservation Data Centres (CDCs, also known as Natural Heritage Information Centres), exist in six provinces, two territories and one region (Atlantic) in Canada. The General Status (GS) ranking exercise used the information and expertise accumulated in CDCs extensively to help rank species in some provinces. There is no CDC in the Nunavut.

Definitions of conservation ranks can be found from the B.C. Conservation Data Centre webpage.

A "May Be At Risk" rank is not a legal designation and has no legal consequences.

Here are some examples of how the results of this project can be used. Please share your ideas and comments with us!

  1. Use the NWT Species Infobase to determine the proportion of species in each group that were ranked as "May be at Risk," "Sensitive," "Secure," "Undetermined" or were not assessed.
  2. Use the habitat field in the infobase to determine where: 

    most "May be at Risk" and "Sensitive" species occur

    most "Exotic-Vagrant" species occur

    most "Undetermined" species occur

  3. Make a list of plants and animals for which more information is needed and look for them in your study area. Report your findings and be an official contributor to this project.
  4. Use the threat fields in the infobase to study what kind of threats appear to be the most important in the NWT.
  5. Use the ecozone field in the infobase to build official lists of plants and animals for your community or your project area. Crosscheck this list with a list of all the species that members of your community or your study team have identified so far.
  6. Consult the latest NWT Species report to see where species have improved in status and where our knowledge has improved. 
  7. Report the status of species of interest to you in your work. See below for how to use and cite General Status Ranks.

Yes. We compiled these lists over the past two years by gathering all the available information published or communicated by knowledgeable people.

If you find an error, please report it. Accurate species lists are important for the future evaluation of status ranks and for other users.

Report your observations and comments to WildlifeObs@gov.nt.ca.

Please provide your name and address.

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What if I know of a species found in the NWT but not listed in the Infobase?

Report your observations and comments to WildlifeObs@gov.nt.ca.

Provide your name and address and a description of:

  • the species
  • location(s) (Latitude and Longitude)

Your knowledge is important. Report your observations and comments to the Government of the Northwest Territories. Please provide your name and address.

Email: WildlifeObs@gov.nt.ca

Phone: 867-920-6327

Mail:

Director, Wildlife Management

Department of Environment and Climate Change

Government of the Northwest Territories

PO Box 1320

Yellowknife, NT X1A 2L9

The NWT Species Infobase is a compendium of referenced information summarized to help rank the general status of species. Each line of information in the infobase is referenced. Sources of information may be printed publications, databases or knowledgeable persons. The information provided in this infobase may be cited under specific rules:

If the original source is printed material and is available, please CITE THE ORIGINAL SOURCE, and acknowledge use of the Infobase in your work.

If the original source is a knowledgeable person, as referenced in the Infobase by reference codes beginning with H, the information may be cited as:

1. (Referenced from the CD)

Knowledgeable person's name, Affiliation. YEAR. in Government of the Northwest Territories. NWT Species Infobase. CD Format - Version YEAR. Environment and Natural Resources, GNWT, Yellowknife, NT.

2. (Referenced from the Web site)

Knowledgeable person's name, Affiliation. YEAR. in Government of the Northwest Territories. NWT Species Infobase. Available online: www.enr.gov.nt.ca/species-search (Date accessed). Department of Environment and Natural Resources, GNWT, Yellowknife, NT.

Indigenous and community knowledge (ICK) are being integrated into this knowledge base through printed work and databases on ICK and by citing knowledgeable people. Along with scientific information, Indigenous and community knowledge was essential in ranking the status of NWT wild species by:

  • Indicating the actual presence of a species (e.g. Long-toed Salamander in Liard Valley).
  • Contributing to the number of species known to exist in the NWT
  • Contributing to information relative to each indicator (for example, the number of occurrences, identification of threats, etc.)
  • Contributing to our understanding of the importance of individual species to our northern social fabric and economy (see "Human/economic considerations" field in the infobase).

All co-management boards responsible for wildlife in the NWT contributed to and reviewed the draft ranks. During this process, Indigenous and community knowledge contributed information that changed ranks and increased the number of known species in the NWT (e.g. salmon species and some marine mammals were confirmed present by Indigenous and community knowledge).

All provinces and territories participated in the Canada-wide ranking exercise. All of them used the same guidelines and GS rank definitions. The ranking process resulted in Canada-wide GS ranks of wild species.

The General Status Ranking process in the NWT looked at the status of each species in the NWT, while also taking into account available information on:

  • populations in adjacent provinces (northern British Columbia, northern Alberta, northern Saskatchewan) and territories (Yukon, Nunavut); and
  • populations of migratory NWT species from wherever they spend a portion of their life cycle (e.g. migratory stop-overs, wintering grounds, breeding grounds outside the NWT)

The General Status Ranking process in Canada looked at the status of each species in Canada as a whole, taking into account how each species was doing in each of the provinces and territories where they are occur. All provinces and territories participated in this ranking exercise. All shared the same guidelines and GS rank definitions.

To access both Canada-wide ranks and the ranks in each province and territory (including the NWT), click here.

These titles are provided for your convenience. This list is not comprehensive and does not represent an endorsement. Other works may exist that could provide comparable or better reference material for identifying individual species in the Northwest Territories.

Mammals (terrestrial and marine)

Wilson DE, Ruff S, editors. 1999. The Smithsonian Book of North American Mammals. Smithsonian Institution Press, in association with the American Society of Mammalogists, Washington, DC.

Birds

Robbins, C.S., Brunn, B. and ZIM, H.S. 1983. A guide to field identification. Birds of North America. Golden Press, New York, NY.

National Geographic. 1999. Field guides to Birds of North America. Third edition. National Geographic Society, Washington DC.

Vascular Plants

Plant names have been modified since the early 1990s. Any field guides published before that time may not use the most current scientific Latin names for plants in the Northwest Territories and Nunavut. 

Porsild, A.E. and Cody, W.J.. 1980. Vascular plants of continental Northwest Territories, Canada. National Museum of Natural Sciences, Natural Museums of Canada, Ottawa, ON.

Cody, W.J. 1996. Flora of the Yukon Territory. NCR Research Press, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.

Johnson. D., Kershaw, L., MacKinnon, A., Pojar, J. 1995. Plants of the western boreal forest & aspen parkland. Lone Pine Pub. Edmonton, Canada.

Freshwater Fishes

Page LM, Burr BM. 1991. A field guide to freshwater fishes: North America north of Mexico. New York: Houghton Mifflin. 432 p.

Butterflies

Layberry RA, Hall PW, Lafontaine JD. 1998. The butterflies of Canada. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. 280 p.

Tiger Beetles

Catling, P. 2006. Tiger Beetles of the Northwest Territories. Agriculture and Agrifood Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada 19 pp.

Dragonflies and Damselflies

Catling, P. 2004. Odonata of the Northwest Territories - Status Ranking and Preliminary Atlas. Agriculture and Agrifood Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada 19 pp.

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