Presentation Abstract
There are nearly 700 seaweed species, subspecies and varieties reported in the Northeast Pacific, many with a distribution that includes British Columbia. Yet, it can be difficult to access reported distribution information at a regional scale; for example: does a seaweed species reported from Southern B.C. include the Salish Sea or just the West coast of Vancouver Island? Occurrence data for many seaweeds exist in the form of herbarium specimens, DNA records, and observations made by governmental agencies and citizen science initiatives. However, there are challenges to building species lists from these data, including: difficulty collating the disparate data types into regionally-specific lists, especially for data that are not accessible through the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF); low reliability of records for certain taxonomic groups due to incorrect identifications or frequent taxonomic reclassifications (both common issues for seaweeds); and infrequent or geographically-biased sampling efforts. An example of the last challenge: the last comprehensive floristic seaweed survey around Greater Vancouver was in 1983 by researchers at the University of British Columbia, the results of which are unpublished. The lack of local species checklists for ecologically-important marine organisms like seaweeds is surprising given that these checklists can aid in management and Greater Vancouver (and the Salish Sea in general) are experiencing ever-increasing human impacts. The goals of this project were to 1) update the checklist of seaweeds for Greater Vancouver using intertidal surveys, and 2) create a checklist of seaweed species for regions of the Salish Sea, specifically the Strait of Georgia and Juan de Fuca Strait, by collating occurrence data from herbaria, DNA barcoding records, and verified citizen science records. These checklists provide insight into seaweed richness within specific areas of the Salish Sea. Finally, we make recommendations based on biases and gaps in historic sampling efforts.
Session Title
Track: Biodiversity – Posters
Conference Track
Biodiversity
Conference Name
Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference (2020 : Online)
Document Type
Event
SSEC Identifier
2020_abstractID_5866
Start Date
21-4-2020 9:00 AM
End Date
22-4-2020 4:45 PM
Genre/Form
conference proceedings; presentations (communicative events); posters
Subjects – Topical (LCSH)
Seaweed--Salish Sea (B.C. and Wash.); Marine Algae--Habitat--Salish Sea (B.C. and Wash.)
Geographic Coverage
Salish Sea (B.C. and Wash.)
Rights
Copying of this document in whole or in part is allowable only for scholarly purposes. It is understood, however, that any copying or publication of this document for commercial purposes, or for financial gain, shall not be allowed without the author's written permission.
Type
Text
Language
English
Format
application/pdf
Included in
Fresh Water Studies Commons, Marine Biology Commons, Natural Resources and Conservation Commons, Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology Commons
Species Checklists for Salish Sea Seaweeds
There are nearly 700 seaweed species, subspecies and varieties reported in the Northeast Pacific, many with a distribution that includes British Columbia. Yet, it can be difficult to access reported distribution information at a regional scale; for example: does a seaweed species reported from Southern B.C. include the Salish Sea or just the West coast of Vancouver Island? Occurrence data for many seaweeds exist in the form of herbarium specimens, DNA records, and observations made by governmental agencies and citizen science initiatives. However, there are challenges to building species lists from these data, including: difficulty collating the disparate data types into regionally-specific lists, especially for data that are not accessible through the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF); low reliability of records for certain taxonomic groups due to incorrect identifications or frequent taxonomic reclassifications (both common issues for seaweeds); and infrequent or geographically-biased sampling efforts. An example of the last challenge: the last comprehensive floristic seaweed survey around Greater Vancouver was in 1983 by researchers at the University of British Columbia, the results of which are unpublished. The lack of local species checklists for ecologically-important marine organisms like seaweeds is surprising given that these checklists can aid in management and Greater Vancouver (and the Salish Sea in general) are experiencing ever-increasing human impacts. The goals of this project were to 1) update the checklist of seaweeds for Greater Vancouver using intertidal surveys, and 2) create a checklist of seaweed species for regions of the Salish Sea, specifically the Strait of Georgia and Juan de Fuca Strait, by collating occurrence data from herbaria, DNA barcoding records, and verified citizen science records. These checklists provide insight into seaweed richness within specific areas of the Salish Sea. Finally, we make recommendations based on biases and gaps in historic sampling efforts.
