Grizzled moss (Ptychomitrium incurvum) recovery strategy

Official title: Recovery Strategy for the Incurved Grizzled Moss (Ptychomitrium incurvum) in Canada (Final)

Incurved grizzled moss: Reproduced, with permission, from Crum & Anderson (1981).

Incurved Grizzled Moss

About the Species at Risk Act Recovery Strategy Series

What is the Species at Risk Act (SARA)?

SARA is the Act developed by the federal government as a key contribution to the common national effort to protect and conserve species at risk in Canada. SARA came into force in 2003 and one of its purposes is“to provide for the recovery of wildlife species that are extirpated, endangered or threatened as a result of human activity.”

What is recovery?

In the context of species at risk conservation, recovery is the process by which the decline of an endangered, threatened, or extirpated species is arrested or reversed and threats are removed or reduced to improve the likelihood of the species’ persistence in the wild. A species will be considered recovered when its long-term persistence in the wild has been secured.

What is a recovery strategy?

A recovery strategy is a planning document that identifies what needs to be done to arrest or reverse the decline of a species. It sets goals and objectives and identifies the main areas of activities to be undertaken. Detailed planning is done at the action plan stage.

Recovery strategy development is a commitment of all provinces and territories and of three federal agencies -- Environment Canada, Parks Canada Agency, and Fisheries and Oceans Canada -- under the Accord for the Protection of Species at Risk. Sections 37–46 of SARA outline both the required content and the process for developing recovery strategies published in this series.

Depending on the status of the species and when it was assessed, a recovery strategy has to be developed within one to two years after the species is added to the List of Wildlife Species at Risk. Three to four years is allowed for those species that were automatically listed when SARA came into force.

What’s next?

In most cases, one or more action plans will be developed to define and guide implementation of the recovery strategy. Nevertheless, directions set in the recovery strategy are sufficient to begin involving communities, land users, and conservationists in recovery implementation. Cost-effective measures to prevent the reduction or loss of the species should not be postponed for lack of full scientific certainty.

The series

This series presents the recovery strategies prepared or adopted by the federal government under SARA. New documents will be added regularly as species get listed and as strategies are updated.

To learn more

To learn more about the Species at Risk Act and recovery initiatives, please consult the SARA Public Registry and the Web site of the Recovery Secretariat (http://www.speciesatrisk.gc.ca/recovery/).

Recommended citation:

Environment Canada. 2007. Recovery Strategy for the Incurved Grizzled Moss (Ptychomitrium incurvum) in Canada. Species at Risk Act Recovery Strategy Series. Environment Canada. Ottawa. iv + 8 pp.


Additional copies:

Additional copies can be downloaded from the SARA Public Registry.

Cover illustrations: Incurved grizzled moss: Reproduced, with permission, from Crum & Anderson (1981).

Également disponible en français sous le titre :

« Programme de rétablissement du ptychomitre à feuilles incurvées (Ptychomitrium incurvum) au Canada »

© Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada, represented by the Minister of Environment, 2007. All rights reserved.

ISBN 978-0-662-46839-4

Catalogue no. En3-4/30-2007E-PDF

Content (excluding the illustrations) may be used without permission, with appropriate credit to the source.

Declaration

This recovery strategy has been prepared in cooperation with the jurisdictions responsible for the incurved grizzled moss. Environment Canada has reviewed and accepts this document as its recovery strategy for the incurved grizzled moss, as required under the Species at Risk Act. This recovery strategy also constitutes advice to other jurisdictions and organizations that may be involved in recovering the species.

It was determined that the recovery of the incurved grizzled moss in Canada is not technically or biologically feasible at this time. The species still may benefit from general conservation programs in the same geographic area, and will receive protection through SARA and other federal, and provincial or territorial, legislation, policies, and programs.

The feasibility determination will be re-evaluated at a minimum, every five years as part of the report on implementation of the recovery strategy, or as warranted in response to changing conditions and/or knowledge.

In the spirit of the Accord for the Protection of Species at Risk, the Minister of the Environment invites all responsible jurisdictions and Canadians to join Environment Canada in supporting and implementing this strategy for the benefit of the incurved grizzled moss and Canadian society as a whole.

Responsible Jurisdictions

  • Canadian Wildlife Service – Ontario Region, Environment Canada
  • Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources

Authors

This recovery strategy was developed by Angela McConnell, Canadian Wildlife Service – Ontario Region, Environment Canada.

Acknolwedgements

The author would like to thank Jennifer Doubt, Michael Oldham and Carolyn Seburn for providing information for this strategy. The author would like to thank Alain Branchaud for clearing up the mysteries of the Quebec records. The author would also like to thank Aissa Feldmann of the New York Natural Heritage Program for attempting to find information on the New York occurrences. Thanks also go to Kate Hayes and Barbara Slezak for providing guidance in the development of this document.

Strategic Environmental Assessment

A strategic environmental assessment (SEA) is conducted on all SARA recovery planning documents, in accordance with the Cabinet Directive on the Environmental Assessment of Policy, Plan and Program Proposals. The purpose of a SEA is to incorporate environmental considerations into the development of public policies, plans, and program proposals to support environmentally sound decision-making.

Recovery planning is intended to benefit species at risk and biodiversity in general. However, it is recognized that strategies may also inadvertently lead to environmental effects beyond the intended benefits. The planning process based on national guidelines directly incorporates consideration of all environmental effects, with a particular focus on possible impacts on non-target species or habitats. The results of the SEA are incorporated directly into the strategy itself, but are also summarized below.

This recovery strategy indicates that recovery of the incurved grizzled moss is not considered feasible at this time. The SEA concluded that this strategy will have no impact on the environment and will not entail any significant adverse effects, as no recovery efforts will be undertaken.

Residence

SARA defines residence as:

a dwelling-place, such as a den, nest or other similar area or place, that is occupied or habitually occupied by one or more individuals during all or part of their life cycles, including breeding, rearing, staging, wintering, feeding or hibernating [Subsection 2(1)].

Preface

Incurved grizzled moss is under the management jurisdiction of the Ontario provincial government. The Species at Risk Act(SARA, Section 37) requires the competent minister to prepare recovery strategies for listed extirpated, endangered or threatened species. Incurved grizzled moss was listed as Extirpated under SARA in June 2003. The Canadian Wildlife Service – Ontario Region, Environment Canada, developed this recovery strategy. The Province of Ontario reviewed and acknowledged receipt of the strategy. The proposed strategy meets SARA requirements in terms of content and process (Sections 39–41).

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