Appendix 2. Checklist of the Dragonflies of Northern British Columbia and their Faunal Elements.

Sixty-four species are known from the region defined here as Northern British Columbia (north of latitude 52º) At least four additional species probably occur in the region; these are marked (*). The total of 68 species represents 78% of the provincial fauna. As of December 2005, nine of this total of 68 dragonfly species are considered rare and potentially threatened and are marked (**); see also Table 1. These species are tracked by the BC Conservation Data Centre. The first column lists the scientific name of the families and species, the second gives the English names, and the third indicates the faunal element of the species. The faunal elements, which categorize the species' range types, are defined below.

Faunal Elements

Dragonfly species may be grouped with others that share similar distributions to form what can be termed faunal elements. The majority of the 68 species known or expected from northern British Columbia are restricted to North America (Nearctic Region), although five are Holarctic (H), and are defined here as species with transcontinental ranges in both North America and Eurasia. Two species (Anax junius and Sympetrum corruptum) are known from eastern Asia but do not have holarctic distributions. This section describes the Nearctic faunal elements found in the North (species with holarctic distributions are also assigned to a North American faunal element. The faunal elements are:

1. Boreal (28 species, 41%). Species occurring in the northern spruce (Picea) forests, across the boreal zone from treeline to the southern margin. In general, these species range from the Atlantic Provinces across the northern New England states, Quebec, northern Ontario, parts of the northern tier of mid-western states, the Prairie Provinces north of the Great Plains, and northern British Columbia, often ranging considerably southward in the higher mountains and plateaux of the western Cordillera. These species can be further subdivided into:

i. Widespread Boreal (13 species, 19%). With ranges as described above. Coenagrion resolutum, Enallagma annexum, E.boreale, Aeshna eremita, A. juncea (also Holarctic), A. sitchensis, A. subarctica (also Holarctic), Cordulia shurtleffi, Somatochlora albicincta, S. franklini, S. whitehousei, Leucorrhinia hudsonica, Sympetrum danae (also Holarctic).

ii. Northern Boreal (4 species, 6%). Species that are common near the northern treeline, but that are virtually absent from the northern contiguous United States and from the southeastern Atlantic Provinces, and do not extend far south into the Cordillera. These species are Coenagrion interrogatum, Aeshna septentrionalis, Somatochlora septentrionalis and Leucorrhinia patricia.

iii. Southern Boreal (9 species, 13%). Species that are uncommon north of 60º N in the West and absent near the Arctic treeline in the East, but range far down the Cordillera and/or into the southeastern Atlantic Provinces and New England states. Some (e.g. Aeshna interrupta) are common on the Great Plains. Nehalennia irene, Aeshna interrupta, Ophiogomphus colubrinus, Somatochlora brevicincta, S. cingulata, S. kennedyi, S. minor, S. walshii and Leucorrhinia proxima.

iv. Western Boreal (2 species, 3%). Species not found east of Hudson Bay: Somatochlora hudsonica and Leucorrhinia borealis.

2. Transition (15 species, 22%). Species generally most common in the southern boreal forests and adjacent montane forests in the West, and mixed and deciduous forests in the East. Enallagma ebrium, E. hageni, Aeshna canadensis, A. tuberculifera, A. umbrosa, Epitheca canis, E. spinigera, Somatochlora forcipata, Leucorrhinia glacialis, L. intacta, Ladona julia, Sympetrum costiferum, S. internum, S. obtrusum, S. Semicinctum.

3. Cordilleran (6 species, 9%). Species confined to the western mountains and their intervening valleys and plateaux. Ischnura cervula, Rhionaeschna californica, Aeshna palmata, Tanypteryx hageni, Cordulegaster dorsalis, Somatochlora semicircularis.

4. Western (9 species, 13%). Species confined to west of the 100th meridian but otherwise ranging widely in North America. Amphiagrion abbreviatum, Coenagrion angulatum, Enallagma clausum, Ischnura damula, I. perparva, Rhionaeschna multicolor, Ophiogomphus severus, S. madidum, S. pallipes.

5. Austral (4 species, 6%). Species ranging across the continent south of the boreal forests, often extending into Transition areas, but with most of the range in the United States. Lestes forcipatus, Enallagma carunculatum, E. civile, Anax junius (also in parts of Asia and the Pacific Islands).

6. Widespread (6 species, 9%). Species with broad distributions in North America, from north to south and east to west, overlapping several of the other elements listed. These species range into boreal regions to varying degrees. Lestes congener, L. disjunctus, L. unguiculatus, L. dryas (also Holarctic), Libellula quadrimaculata (also Holarctic) and Sympetrum corruptum (also in parts of Asia).