Species at Risk open session

The Committee on the Status of Species at Risk in Ontario (COSSARO) will be meeting in Windsor on May 23-26th, 2017 to assess 15 species and populations (see list below).  The meeting will be held at the Holiday Inn Downtown Windsor, 430 Ouelette Ave (Phone: 1-519-256-4656).

As part of the meeting, an open session to allow interested stakeholders and members of the public an opportunity to comment on species at risk assessments will be held on May 23 from 13:00 to 15:00.  Information on species abundance, distribution and threats to the species is particularly useful.

The species assessment session will be held from May 24-25.  It is open to observers; however, observers will be asked to leave the meeting room prior to the committee’s vote on a species’ proposed status.  If you would like to sit in on an assessment session, please complete the attached “Observer Form” and send it to Sarah Parna, Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry, 5th Floor North Tower, 300 Water St., Peterborough, ON K9J 8M5; or by email to sarah.parna@ontario.ca by May 1st.  Please indicate on the Observer Form which species assessments you would like to observe.  Those indicating that they would like to attend the meeting as an observer will be provided with an agenda showing the order in which the species will be assessed a week prior to the meeting. All observers will also be required to sign a declaration agreeing to abide by COSSARO’s rules of procedure and confidentiality.

Lists of species to be assessed by COSSARO in May and December 2017 are included below. If you have any written information on these species, please submit it in the attached “Form for Submitting Community Knowledge to COSSARO.”  Information on species to be assessed in May 2017 should be sent to Sarah Parna at sarah.parna@ontario.ca by May 1st in order for COSSARO to have adequate time to consider it in their assessments.

Thank you for your interest in COSSARO. I hope that you will be able to attend the meeting.

Species expected to be assessed by COSSARO in May 2017

Group

Common Name

Scientific Name

Current Status

Birds

Evening Grosbeak

Coccothraustes vespertinus

N/A

Birds

Prothonotary Warbler

Protonotaria citrea

Endangered

Fishes

Channel Darter (3 populations):

·    Lake Erie populations

·    Lake Ontario populations

·    St. Lawrence populations

Percina copelandi

Threatened

Fishes

Pygmy Whitefish (2 populations):

·    Great Lakes- upper St. Lawrence populations

·    Saskatchewan- Nelson River populations

Prosopium coulterii

N/A

Insects

Monarch

Danaus plexippus

Special Concern

Insects

Transverse Lady Beetle

Coccinella transversoguttata richardsoni

N/A

Lichen

Golden-Eye Lichen (2 populations):

·    Great Lakes population

·    Prairie/Boreal population

Teloschistes chrysophthalmus

N/A

Molluscs

Mapleleaf Mussel (Great Lakes/St. Lawrence population)

Quadrula quadrula

Threatened

Reptiles

Blanding’s Turtle (Great Lakes/St. Lawrence population)

Emydoidea blandingii

Threatened

Reptiles

Western Painted Turtle (Prairie/Western Boreal-Canadian /Shield population)

Chrysemys picta bellii

N/A

Vascular Plants

American Hart’s-tongue Fern

Asplenium scolopendrium

Special Concern

 

Species expected to be assessed by COSSARO in December 2017

Group

Common Name

Scientific Name

Current Status

Birds

Harris’s Sparrow

Zonotrichia querula

N/A

Birds

Rusty Blackbird

Euphagus carolinus

N/A◊

Fishes

Deepwater Sculpin

Myoxocephalus thompsonii

N/A◊

Fishes

Lake Sturgeon

(Great Lakes – Upper St. Lawrence River population)

Acipenser fulvescens

Threatened

Fishes

Lake Sturgeon (Northwestern Ontario population)

Acipenser fulvescens

Threatened

Fishes

Lake Sturgeon (Southern Hudson Bay – James Bay population)

Acipenser fulvescens

Special Concern

Fishes

Shortnose Cisco

Coregonus reighardi

Endangered

Mammals

Atlantic Walrus

Odobenus rosmarus rosmarus

N/A

Mammals

Caribou (Eastern Migratory population)

Rangifer tarandus

N/A◊

Molluscs

Banded Tigersnail

Anguispira kochi

N/A

Molluscs

Eastern Pondmussel

Ligumia nasuta

Endangered

Vascular Plants

Butternut

Juglans cinerea

Endangered

Vascular Plants

Spotted Wintergreen

Chimaphila maculata

Endangered