E-Flora Updates July 2018

Our listings for vascular plants have now been updated based on 2018 British Columbia Conservation Data Centre changes to the BC flora.  Updates include nomenclatural changes, status information and database updates for the herbaria databases used in our mapping. Work is now ongoing to incorporate 2017 updates.

Additionally, our map presentation have been updated based on a new edition of the mapping software.  This has improved the legends on the full-size interactive maps and removed some glitches in the mapping.

Next up will be the updating of Frank Lomer's list of incoming/non-established vascular plants for BC.  Frank tracks populations of species not yet established in the province to determine persistance and abundance, often leading to inclusion in the official list of provincial vascular flora.

Exotic Ungulates in BC: New Article 2018

A new article on exotic ungulates in British Columbia by mammal expert David Shackleton has now been posted on E-Fauna BC. You can find it and other introductory articles linked to from the menu on the home page.  The new article is extracted from David's book on the Hoofed Mammals of British Columbia (Revised Edition).  It covers species introductions and persistence, with documentation.  Exotic species covered include Fallow Deer, Wild Boar, feral goats and feral horses.  The Hoofed Mammals of British Columbia is an invaluable source of information on ungulates in BC, with detailed discussion of native species and introduced species. The introduction is well worth a read.

More Bird Information on E-Fauna BC: 2018

The Birds of British Columbia sections on E-Fauna have just been expanded, thanks to the efforts of expert birders Rick Toochin, Jamie Fenneman,  Mitch Meredith, Louis Haviland, Don Cecile, Peter Hamel, Margo Hearne, Martin Williams, Paul Baker and Dave Baker. This includes updated checklists of species on our checklists page, more than thirty new articles on the vagrant birds of BC (see home page menu) and new articles on other bird species in BC.  Discussions are provided on hypothetical species, introduced species, and extinct species.  New articles that have been added include Eurasian Skylark, Eastern Bluebird, Great Black-backed Gull, and more. These articles are extensive and provide documentation of all records for a vagrant species in BC, documentation of species introductions and successes or failures, and discussion of species that hypothetically occur here.  There is more to come as Rick and others write about definitions of status and more.

Now Available: Illustrated Key to the Chitons (Gulf of Alaska south to the Oregonian Province)

An illustrated key to the Chitons (Polyplacophora) (Gulf of Alaska south to the Oregonian Province) is now available on E-Fauna BC.  Compiled by marine invertebrate specialist Aaron Baldwin, and using photos, this illustrated key provides identification assistance for common species of chitons found in this region.

In his introduction to the key, Baldwin provides insight into the life of chitons:  "Intertidal chitons tend to remain under rocks during the daytime but become active at night. This is especially true for those species that occur in warmer climes. Amazingly, chitons have “eyes” on the tops of their shells. Some chitons have as many as 11,000 tiny little light receptors! It is possible that they use these to tell day from night. It is also likely that they are used in a fashion similar to the eyes of sea stars for detecting shadows passing over them so that they can clamp tightly to the substrate." 

Aaron is the marine invertebrate editor for E-Fauna BC and a fisheries biologist with the Alaskan Department of Fish and Game.

Read more about Aaron here.