Year 3: 2002

In the 2002 field season we surveyed northern Tweedsmuir Park, the Babine and Bulkley regions, the upper Skeena region, including the Kispiox Valley and the southern parts of the Highway 37 corridor. A side trip to Williams Creek Ecological Reserve near Terrace was undertaken because of strong BC Parks interest in the project. Two contractors were hired to search for and collect dragonflies: Syd Cannings worked in the Smithers-Skeena regions early in the season, scouted for good mid and late season sites and undertook mid season sampling; Gord Hutchings surveyed the western portion of the study area. Rob Cannings, Leah Ramsay, and Leah Westereng each visited the study area once, for a total of 37 days in the field by the principal biologists. Four additional provincial government biologists were temporarily assigned to this project and contributed about 41 days total.

A total of 175 sites was recorded. Approximately 2200 adult and 250 larval specimens of at least 50 species were collected. Rhionaeschna californica was the only species added to the regional list in 2002. This southern species of rich, lowland marshes was known from just south of the study area in the southern Cariboo-Chilcotin, but in 2002 was found in the Smithers area, far to the north. We downlisted the conservation ranks of several species. Epitheca canis was downlisted from S2S3 to S3 and Somatochlora forcipata from S1S2 to S2; a significant population of the latter rare species was found at Cinema, near Quesnel, on Highway 97. Somatochlora septentrionalis was collected at two more sites and went from S2 to S3. Somatochlora brevicincta, although not collected in 2002, was listed at S2S3, down from S2; this rank reflects the wide distribution range of this rare and local species. Another significant record represents the second site of Ischnura damula in the province. Previously known only from the warm waters of Liard River Hot Springs, this red-listed damselfly was found in the Kispiox Valley. This is a major range extension, about 450 km southwest of Liard and the first record of this species west of the Rocky Mountains in Canada. There was no evidence of springs at this site.

The naturalist community in Smithers, Terrace, Houston and New Hazelton responded positively to our request for volunteers. Fourteen naturalists and biologists living in the study area volunteered their time during the project. Syd Cannings visited the area in June and gave an evening presentation in Smithers on dragonfly biology and identification, followed by a day-long field workshop to those enthusiastic attendees who were interested in developing their inventory skills. A successful partnership was forged with BC Ministry of Forests; helicopter time was shared, allowing the project into an area that was otherwise inaccessible.

From 2 to 5 May, 2002, The RBCM held a series of public programs in Williams Lake as part of its Living Landscapes project. The Northern Dragonfly Survey is a significant part of this project, and an exhibit and specimens were on display. During this event, Rob Cannings presented several school programs and public talks on dragonflies in the North. The exhibit on the dragonfly project was displayed at a similar public event in Quesnel the next week, but no school programs or lectures were presented

Rob Cannings was an invited speaker at the symposium entitled "North American Dragonflies" held at the joint annual meeting of the Entomological Society of Canada and the Entomological Society of Manitoba, 9 October 2002, in Winnipeg. Representatives from most regions of Canada presented overviews of dragonfly inventories undertaken in their jurisdictions. Cannings outlined the purpose and results of the Northern Dragonfly Survey project in BC. A workshop entitled "Dragonflies: a status assessment" was also held. This was the first time researchers from across Canada had gathered to discuss the national conservation status of all the species on the Canadian list. Results from the BC inventories played an important role in these discussions. Rob Cannings also gave a lecture on the BC dragonfly survey at the annual Invertebrate Symposium held at the University of Victoria on 21 March 2003.

The RBCM held a series of public programs in Prince George from 17 to 20 October 2002 to wrap up the Upper Fraser Basin portion of the Living Landscapes project. As in Williams Lake earlier in the year, the exhibit on the Northern Dragonfly Survey was on hand, and Rob Cannings gave a lecture about the dragonfly survey during the symposium that highlighted all the projects undertaken in the Living Landscapes program. Copies of the recently published field guide to the dragonflies of British Columbia and the Yukon (Cannings 2002a), written by Rob Cannings as part of the Northern Dragonfly Survey project, were sold.

Publications. A Species at Risk brochure on rare dragonflies of BC came out in May 2002, published jointly by the Ministry of Sustainable Resource Management and Ministry of Water, Land and Air Protection (Cannings 2002b). The brochure is distributed throughout BC in paper format and is on the web: http://wlapwww.gov.bc.ca/wld/documents/dragonflies.pdf. Information from the Northern Dragonfly Survey surveys was used in the publication.

Rob Cannings wrote a new book, Introducing the Dragonflies of British Columbia and the Yukon, as part of the project (Cannings 2002a). This is a 96-page field guide with colour photos, species descriptions, and information on distribution, habitat and behaviour for every species in British Columbia and the Yukon. An introduction to dragonfly biology and dragonfly study is also included. Copies were distributed to survey volunteers. The first printing of 2000 copies was exhausted by the end of 2004; a second printing was completed in 2005.