Victorin's water-hemlock (Cicuta maculata) COSEWIC assessment and status report: chapter 10

Victorin’s water-hemlock was designated a species of special concern by the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) in 1987.  The organization NatureServe has assigned it a global rank of G5T2, a Canadian rank of N2 and a Quebec rank of S2 (NatureServe 2001).  Argus and Pryer (1990) consider it rare in Canada and assign it a Canadian priority rating of 2.

The populations of Saint-Michel-de-Bellechasse (anse Saint-Vallier), L’Islet, and Saint-Jean-Port-Joli (Anse de Trois-Saumons) are protected because they are located in the Saint-Vallier, L’Islet and Trois-Saumons migratory bird sanctuaries.  The Grosse-Île population is also protected because it is located in the Grosse-Île and the Irish Memorial National Historic Site.  In addition, the organization Conservation de la nature Québec owns part of the site on which the Saint-Vallier population occurs.

In Quebec, Victorin’s water-hemlock was designated “threatened” in February 2001 and is now protected under the Act Respecting Threatened or Vulnerable Species.  However, Cicutamaculata is considered a weed under the Agricultural Abuses Act (R.S.Q. A-2). The lack of provisions in the Act regarding the variety of water hemlock creates confusion among the public and among inspectors of the Quebec Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food.

Its habitat is protected against the most serious threat to its survival by the Regulation Respecting Motor Vehicle Traffic in Certain Fragile Environments (R.S.Q., c. Q-2, r. 2.2). Further, the Quebec policy respecting the protection of lakeshores, riverbanks, littoral zones and floodplains seeks to maintain and improve water quality by ensuring a minimum adequate level of riverbank protection. However, current threats from ATV activity in Victorin’s water-hemlock habitat clearly indicates that these regulations alone without adequate enforcement are inadequate to protect the taxon.

Page details

Date modified: