National general status working group in Canada
The National General Status Working Group (NGSWG) is responsible for implementing the mandate of the General Status of Species in Canada program,[1] which is to "monitor, assess and report regularly on the status of all wild species".[2] This mandate was one of the commitments that was made when wildlife ministers in Canada signed the Accord for the Protection of Species at Risk in 1996.[2] Under this mandate, a report on the status of wild species must be prepared every five years (Species at Risk Act, section 128).[3] In order to meet this requirement, the working group established the Wild Species report series in 2000.[1] The purpose of these reports is to provide information on the status of species in Canada, and to protect species from going extinct due to human activity.[1] So far, four Wild Species reports have been released, and the most recent report from 2015 included assessments from 29,848 species and covered a significant portion of Canada's species diversity.[1] Another important role of the National General Status Working Group is to facilitate the establishment of common names for all species in Canada.[4] A comprehensive review process is used to develop species common names in both English and French. This approach helps to ensure that each species is given an appropriate name, and it enables consistency both within and across taxonomic groups.[4] This is an ongoing process, but the working group has already developed common names for 17,286 species (list last updated in December 2020).
Representatives of the working group[edit]
The members of the National General Status Working Group include representatives from all Canadian provinces and territories, and three federal agencies whose mandate includes wildlife: Canadian Wildlife Service of Environment and Climate Change Canada, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, and Parks Canada.[5] In addition, there are three different membership categories that each serve different roles in the working group.[5]
Membership Categories
Government representatives[edit]
The government representatives are the voting members of the working group and they have the final say on the conservation status ranks of species.[5] They are accountable to the federal, provincial or territorial Canadian Wildlife Directors’ Committee of their jurisdiction.[5] These representatives usually include biologists who organize the revision of species ranks.[5]
Conservation Data Centre specialists[edit]
This membership category includes coordinators of the conservation data centres.[5] Their role is to coordinate data sharing and transfers, and they are also responsible for integrating the results of the assessment into the data centres.[5]
Ex officio members[edit]
This final membership category includes key collaborators that are experts on certain species groups and assist with their assessments.[5] There are currently ex officio members in the working group from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Natural Resources Canada, and NatureServe Canada.[5]
Structure of the common names[edit]
Most common names consist of two parts: 1) the first part refers to the taxonomic group of the species and 2) the second part describes a distinctive feature of the species.[4] This specific characteristic could relate to the physical appearance of the species, a distinctive behaviour of the species, the habitat used by the species, the region where it occurs, the name of a location where it was found, or the name of a person associated with the species.[4] In some cases, the scientific name can also provide inspiration for developing the common name of a species.
Here are some common names of lady beetles or species in the family Coccinellidae, to show specific examples of the different types of distinctive features (listed above) that are used to create common names:
| Type of distinctive feature | Scientific name | Common name | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Physical appearance | Hippodamia quinquesignata | Five-spotted lady beetle | Named after its spots |
| Behaviour | Delphastus pusillus | Whitefly predator lady beetle | Named for being a predator and biological control for whiteflies (Bemisia tabaci) |
| Habitat | Anisosticta bitriangularis | Marsh lady beetle | Named after its preferred wetland habitat |
| Region | Hyperaspis oregona | Pacific Northwest lady beetle | Named after the Pacific Northwest geographic region |
| Location | Hyperaspis jasperensis | Jasper lady beetle | Named after an alpine town in the province of Alberta, Canada |
| Person | Anatis lecontei | LeConte's giant lady beetle | Named after the American entomologist John Lawrence LeConte |
Process to develop species common names in Canada[edit]
A comprehensive review process has been established to develop common names for species in Canada and the National General Status Working Group facilitates this naming process. Two important advantages of this approach are that it helps to ensure the most appropriate name is given to each species and it enables consistency in developing common names both within and across taxonomic groups.[4]
- Firstly, English and French experts are hired to suggest common names for the species in the taxonomic groups that they study.[4]
- The suggested common names are then examined by the Canadian Wildlife Service (Environment and Climate Change Canada, Government of Canada) to ensure that the taxonomic logic of the common names is sound.[4] This process also involves standardization of the part of the common name that describes the species taxonomic group. For example, this step ensures that all species in the family Coccinellidae have "lady beetle" as part of their common name.
- The suggested common names are then reviewed by the Terminology Standardization Division of the Translation Bureau of the Government of Canada. This step involves a linguistic review in both English and French. If possible, it also provides an opportunity to align the English and French common names to ensure they have similar meanings.[4]
- Lastly, the common names are reviewed by the National General Status Working Group.[4] A special committee called the General Status Common Names Committee, was created to help the working group complete this task.
- Once this extensive process is completed, the common names are published on the Wild Species website, the TERMIUM Plus® website, and many others.[4]
References[edit]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 "National General Status Working Group". National General Status Working Group. 2020.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Protection of species at risk: federal, provincial and territorial accord". Government of Canada. 2014.
- ↑ "Species at Risk Act". Justice Laws Website. 2021.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7 4.8 4.9 "Common names of species". National General Status Working Group. 2020.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 5.7 5.8 "Working Group". National General Status Working Group. 2020.
See also[edit]
- Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
- Common name
- Environment and Climate Change Canada
- Fisheries and Oceans Canada
- Folk taxonomy
- Government of Canada
- .gc.ca
- List of historical common names
- List of Wildlife Species at Risk (Canada)
- Natural Resources Canada
- Parks Canada
- Public Service of Canada
- Scientific terminology
- Species at Risk Act
- Category:Plant common names
External links[edit]
 |
Look up national general status working group in canada in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. |
- General Status of Species in Canada Official Website
- Wild Species Reports
- Standardized Common Names for Wild Species in Canada database
National general status working group in Canada[edit]
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