Ministry of Environment Endangered Species and Ecosystems

FAQ- B.C. Species and Ecosystems Explorer

Where does the data in BC Species and Ecosystems Explorer come from?

The data in BC Species and Ecosystems Explorer comes from the BC Conservation Data Centre (CDC). CDC species data come from a wide variety of sources including museum specimen records, theses, published and unpublished research, surveys conducted by contractors or ministry staff, naturalist's reports and from observations sent in by the public. For ecological communities, sources include the vegetation component of the Biogeoclimatic Ecosystem Classification (Ministry of Forests and Range Research Branch), the Ecological Reserves Program, theses, International Vegetation Classifications, surveys and mapping projects. If you have information to share about a rare species or ecological community in BC please visit our Help Us page.

When I do an ecological community search in BC Species and Ecosystems Explorer for a specific Forest District (FD) (or Ecosection, Ministry of Environment (MoE) Region, or Regional District), why do the results list BGCs that don't occur in the FD I selected?

All BGC (Biogeoclimatic) units on which an ecological community occurs are displayed in the results, regardless of the BGC unit, FD or Ecosection specified as a search criterion. This means that a FD or Ecosection search may return ecological communities that also occur on BGC units that aren't in the specified FD or Ecosection. For example, Glyceria borealis Fen is one of the ecological communities in the Queen Charlotte Islands FD (QCI FD). The BGCs listed in the search results for Glyceria borealis Fen are CWHvh2, which occurs in the QCI FD, and ESSFdv, MSxv and SBPSxc, which do not.

For more information on interpreting the results of ecological community searches in BC Species and Ecosystems Explorer click the Help tab, then Ecological Community Help, then RESULTS PAGE and refer to the section Understanding the Results of a Search.

Why don't some species show up in distribution searches when I know they occur in a particular jurisdiction? For example, why isn't the Western Grebe on the South Island Forest District Lists? I've seen this species at Saanich Inlet.

First, distribution searches are restricted to Red, Blue and legally designated species. Second, birds are only listed in a jurisdictions in which they breed. The Western Grebe breeds in the interior, then disperses along the coast in the winter.