Blue-listed species are species that belong to the Blue List and includes any indigenous species or subspecies (
taxa
In biology, a taxon (back-formation from ''taxonomy''; plural taxa) is a group of one or more populations of an organism or organisms seen by taxonomists to form a unit. Although neither is required, a taxon is usually known by a particular nam ...
) considered to be vulnerable in their locale in order to provide early warning to federal and regional governments. Vulnerable taxa are of special concern because of characteristics that make them particularly sensitive to human activities or natural events. Blue-listed taxa are at risk, but are not
extirpated
Local extinction, also known as extirpation, refers to a species (or other taxon) of plant or animal that ceases to exist in a chosen geographic area of study, though it still exists elsewhere. Local extinctions are contrasted with global extinct ...
,
endangered
An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching and inva ...
or
threatened
Threatened species are any species (including animals, plants and fungi) which are vulnerable to endangerment in the near future. Species that are threatened are sometimes characterised by the population dynamics measure of ''critical depensat ...
.
History
The concept of a Blue List was derived in 1971 by Robert Arbib from the National Audubon Society in his article, "Announcing-- The Blue List: an 'early warning' system for birds". The article stated that the list was made up for species that appear to be locally common in North America, but is undergoing non-cyclic declines. Starting from 1971, it was utilized to list vulnerable bird species throughout North America. Unlike the US Fish and Wildlife Endangered Species List, the Blue List was made to identify patterns of population losses for regional bird populations before they could be listed as endangered. Every decade after its release, the list is revisited and revised based on regional editors and species get "nominated" to be added to the list. From then on, species that are part of the Blue List were referred to as Blue-listed species.
Status Ranks
Initially, in order to identify the types of risks that each Blue-Listed species have, the Blue List has identified various categories for Blue-Listed species based on the following alphabets:
"A" : the species population is "greatly down in numbers"
"B" : the species population is "down in numbers"
"C" : the species population is experiencing no change
"D" : the species population is "up in numbers"
"E" : the species population is "greatly up in numbers"
Using this metric reginal editors were able to report on the species along with their status ranks in order to identify the patterns of population growth that each species is facing. Later on, the Government of British Columbia has revised the status ranks such that Blue-Listed species are listed based on the following modifier codes
:
See also
*
Biodiversity Action Plan
*
Red-listed
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biologi ...
References
External links
British Columbia
Biota by conservation status
Environmental conservation
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