April Wrap-Up

In the month of April, the I Spy and Identify Invasives project made 16,483 observations of 2,118 species! We had 241 different individuals observe and report native and invasive species across Canada and our network grew by 74 new individuals. Spring is arriving all across Canada and so many people are out observing, reporting and connecting with the nature around them!

This included 2,055 observations of 341 different introduced and invasive species. Three invasive species reports from March 2022 include:

• An observation of Common reed (Phragmities australis) by @chrisdelacampagne in Quebec. This was one of our target species for April as it can impact our native freshwater ecosystems. Did you know these invasive reeds can hybridize with our native reed species?
• A Japanese skeleton shrimp (Caprella mutica) in British Columbia by @rharbo. This marine invasive species is commonly found on ropes or buoys in BC harbours ands can tolerate a wide variety of ocean temperatures as well as rapidly reproducing.
• A House sparrow (Passer domesticus) observation in Newfoundland by @squiggleme. Did you know this common urban bird is non-native to Canada? While they share the common name of ‘sparrow’ with many native Canadian birds, they actually belong to a different taxonomic bird family!

A couple species at risk were reported across Canada in our project in April!

• An observation of Golden Indian paintbrush (Castilleja levisecta) in British Columbia by @ellyne. This species’ status is endangered and has only a few populations remaining in the Victoria area. Invasive species such as English ivy (Hedera helix), Spurge laurel (Daphne laureola) and Scotch broom (Cytisus scoparius) are currently threatening the population on Trial Island!
• A Ribbon snake (Thamnophis saurita) found in Ontario by @flamingo52. The Great Lakes population of this species is currently assessed as Special Concern. Ribbon snakes are known to be a quick species of snake to hunt down their prey more efficiently!

Thank you for your iNaturalist observations and reports! Let’s take a look for and report these invasive species in the month of May. Spotted knapweed (Centaurea stoebe), Yellow flag iris (Iris pseudacorus) and Purple loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria) can be found all across Canada. Also keep an eye out for a potential new invasive species Flowering rush (Butomus umbellatus) taking hold in Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal with scattered reports throughout the rest of Canada!

Publicado el 20 de mayo de 2022 a las 07:57 PM por invasive_species_council_of_bc