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Natural
History
A
Compendium of Environmental and Resource Information
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Species At Risk Topics
Mammals
Introduction
Within the Columbia Basin, 15 species
are Red- or Blue-listed
(Table 1 below). Details on the ranking system can be found in the
Overview of Species at Risk. Brief
species accounts are provided by Beardmore (1999) for each of these
species. Information on the large
carnivore (grizzly bears) ungulates
(bighorn sheep, caribou), mustelids
(badger, wolverine, fisher) and small
mammals (chipmunks, voles, gophers, bats) is given in the Wildlife
section.
Table 1: Mammals at
Risk in the Columbia Basin
(from Beardmore, 1999)
| Species |
Latin
Name |
Global
(G), Provincial (S) CDC Rank |
Provincial
List |
| Grizzly
Bear |
Ursus
arctos horribilis |
G4,S3 |
Blue |
| Wolverine |
Gulo
gulo luscus |
G4T4,S3 |
Blue |
| Fisher |
Martes
pennanti |
G5,S3S4 |
Blue |
| Badger |
Taxidea
taxus |
G5,S2 |
Red |
| Mountain
Caribou |
Rangifer
tarandus |
G5T2T3Q,S2S3 |
Blue |
| Rocky
Mountain Bighorn Sheep |
Ovis
canadensis canadensis |
G4G5T4T5,
S3 |
Blue |
| California
Bighorn Sheep |
Ovis
canadensis californiana |
G4G5T4,S3 |
Blue |
| Least
Chipmunk (oreocetes) |
Tamias
minimus oreocetes |
G5T3,S1S3 |
Red |
| Least
Chipmunk (selkirki) |
Tamias
minimus selkirki |
G5T1T3,S1S3 |
Red |
| Red-tailed
Chipmunk (ruficaudus) |
Tamias
ruficaudus ruficaudus |
G5T5,S2 |
Red |
| Red-tailed
Chipmunk (simulans) |
Tamias
ruficaudus simulans |
G5T4T5,S2 |
Red |
| Southern
Red-backed Vole |
Clethrionomys
gapperi galei |
G5T?Q,S3S4 |
Blue |
| Northern
Pocket Gopher |
Thomomys
talpoides segregatus |
G5T2Q,S2 |
Red |
| Northern
Long-eared Myotis |
Myotis
septentrionalis |
G4,S2S3 |
Blue |
| Townsend's
Big-eared Bat |
Corynorhinus
townsendii |
G4,S2S3 |
Blue |
The distribution of many of the
small mammals in the Columbia Basin is largely a legacy of
historical biogeography and barriers to dispersal. For example,
a Royal
British Columbia Museum study of the chipmunks and pocket
gopher found that the Kootenay and Columbia River systems
are a major barrier to dispersal of these species. Other factors
affecting the known distribution may include:
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"peripheral" species
at the northern limit of their ranges in British Columbia,
and may be less threatened near the centres of their ranges
to the south,
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the amount of habitat disturbance
in the more settled southern and valley bottom portions of
the Basin, and
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the locations where biological
collections have been most intensive. |
Further comments on the relative
paucity of information on bats and small mammals are found in the
Wildlife - Small Mammals section.
References
- Cannings, S.G., D.F.Fraser, L.R.Ramsay,
and M.Fraker,1999. Rare Amphibians, Reptiles and Mammals
of British Columbia. Ministry of Environment, Lands and Parks,
Victoria B.C.
- COSEWIC, 1999. List of Canadian species
at risk, April, 1999. Committee on the status of endangered
wildlife in Canada. Ottawa, Ontario.
- Sullivan, R.M. and D.W. Nagorsen, 1998.
Tamais minimus account. Pages 54-55 in D.J. Hanfer,
E.Yensen and G.L.J. Kirkland (eds.), North American rodents:
status survey and conservation action plan. IUCN Publications,
Gland, Switzerland.
- Yensen, E. and D.W. Nagorsen, 1998.
Thomomys talpoides account. Pages 66-67 in
D.J. Hanfer, E.Yensen and G.L.J. Kirkland (eds.), North American
rodents: status survey and conservation action plan. IUCN Publications,
Gland, Switzerland.
Species At Risk Topics
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