Scientific Name

The symbols to the left of the Scientific Name indicate the following:
Inverterbrate
Vertebrate ,
Vascular Plants
Bryophytes
Lichens
Macrofuni
Ecological Community .

Vascular Plants: The standard reference for scientific names in BC is:

MacKenzie, W.H., J. Penny, D. Meidinger,  and T. McIntosh. 2016.  Vascular and non-vascular plant species list for British Columbia with synonomy and data codes: version 10.  [ACCESS 2010 Database]. Province of British Columbia. Accessed online < http://www.for.gov.bc.ca/hre/becweb/resources/codes-standards/standards-species.html>The BC CDC largely follows names used in the Flora of North America (FNA), which is recognized as the standard for vascular plant scientific names in North America. For vascular plants that have not yet been published by the FNA, the BC CDC will also include some updates  for species that are newly described in the published scientific literature, if they have a validly published scientific name.

Flora of North America Editorial Committee, eds.  1993+.  Flora of North America North of Mexico.  19+ vols.  New York and Oxford.

Animals:

Only subspecies that are designated red or blue are included in the CDC database. Thus, search results do not include yellow-listed subspecies. The exception to this is butterflies for which we list all subspecies.

B.C. animal scientific names are consistent with those used by NatureServe. NatureServe zoologists use a set of major references generally accepted by researchers working on a given taxonomic group. The link below goes to the major references for vertebrate and invertebrate names and taxonomy used for animals in the Natural Heritage Network:
Natureserve. 2007. Classification of Vertebrates and Invertebrates. NatureServe Explorer.

Additional information about the derivation of scientific names can be found in the following taxonomic catalogues:

Cannings, R.J. 1998. The Birds of British Columbia: A Taxonomic Catalogue, B.C. Minist. Environ., Lands and Parks, Wildl. Branch. 243 pp. Wildlife Bulletin B86.

Green, D.M. 1999. The Amphibians of British Columbia: A Taxonomic Catalogue, B.C. Minist. Environ., Lands and Parks, Wildl. Branch. 22 pp. Wildlife Bulletin B87

Gregory, L.A. and P.T. Gregory. 1999. The Reptilesof British Columbia: A Taxonomic Catalogue, B.C. Minst. Environ., Lands and Parks, Wildl. Branch. 28 pp. Wildlife Bulletin B88.

Nagorsen, D.W. 1990 The Mammals of British Columbia:A Taxonomic Catalogue. Royal B.C. Mus. 148 pp.

Ecological Communities:

Scientific names of ecological communities are based on one of the following:

British Columbia Ministry of Forests Research Branch. 1992. Vegetation classification hierarchy: DBASE September 1992. B.C. Minist. For., Victoria, B.C.

British Columbia Ministry of Forests Research Branch. 2002. Vegetation classification hierarchy: BECMaster September 2002. B.C. Minist. For., Victoria, B.C.

British Columbia Ministry of Forests Research Branch. 2003. Vegetation classification hierarchy: BECMaster May 2003. B.C. Minist. For., Victoria, B.C.

British Columbia Ministry of Forests Research Branch. 2004. Vegetation classification hierarchy: BECMaster March 2004. B.C. Minist. For., Victoria, B.C.

British Columbia Ministry of Forests and Range. 2010. BECMaster ecosystem plot database: vegetation hierarchy [MSAccess 2003 format]. Research Branch, Victoria, B.C. Data request: http://www.for.gov.bc.ca/hre/becweb/resources/information-requests/index.html (Accessed July 23, 2010).

Douglas, G.W. 1980. Alpine plant communities of British Columbia and their occurrence in existing or proposed ecological reserves. Unpublished report prepared for Ecological

Reserves Program, B.C. Min. Parks.
MacKenzie, W.H. and J.R. Moran. 2004. Wetlands of British Columbia: a guide to identification. Res. Br., B.C. Min. For., Victoria, B.C. Land Manage. Handb. No. 52.

University of British Columbia Department of Forest Sciences. 1991. Vegetation and Site Classification for Coastal British Columbia. Vegetation and Environment Summaries. Univ. B.C., Vancouver, B.C.

Numerous other publications, theses, and inventory data.
The scientific names of plant species that comprise ecological community names follow the taxonomic standard for plants in B.C.:

Meidinger, Del; Lee, Tina; Douglas, George W.; Britton, Greg; MacKenzie, Will; Qian, Hong. 2004. British Columbia plant species codes and selected attributes. Version 5 Database. Research Branch. B.C. Ministry of Forests.

Meidinger, D., T. Lee, G.W. Douglas, G. Britton, W. MacKenzie and H. Qian. 2012. British Columbia plant species codes and selected attributes: Version 7 Database. Res. Branch. B.C. Minist. of For.