Indicator 15.5.1 Red List Index

Goal 15: Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss

Target 15.5: Take urgent and significant action to reduce the degradation of natural habitats, halt the loss of biodiversity and, by 2020, protect and prevent the extinction of threatened species

Indicator 15.5.1: Canadian species index

The Canadian species index represents the average percent change in the abundances of Canadian vertebrate species’ populations since 1970. The index is an “average of trends”, rather than a measure of change in the total number of animals: each species, whether it is common or rare, has the same effect on the index.

Animal wildlife populations depend on healthy habitats and can be negatively impacted by threats, such as pollution, habitat degradation or overhunting. The status of wildlife populations is a key factor that contribute to ecosystem health and species’ resilience to threats. Trends in animal populations can provide an indication of the health of biodiversity and ecosystems in Canada. Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC)

The national trend is the average rate of change across all monitored vertebrate species. The indices may reflect changes in data availability. Data are not available for all species and do not always cover the geographic range of each species or the whole time period reported. While large scale trends broadly reflect environmental change, smaller scale subindices can be subject to change if species with a different trajectory are added. The index should be interpreted with these limitations in mind. (ECCC)

This is a proxy indicator presenting the Canadian species index rather than the Red List Index as specified by the metadata.

The national index includes 928 species of birds, fish, mammals, amphibians and reptiles. The number of species represents 52% of the 1 798 native vertebrate species that regularly occur in Canada. Birds are the best represented species group, with about 89% of all bird species regularly occurring in Canada represented. 35% of native fish species as well as 55% of native mammal species are represented. Amphibians and reptiles are the least represented species group, as the data for the species regularly occurring in Canada have poor geographical coverage across the reporting period. (ECCC)