What’s that species, is it endangered or just a look-alike? The South Coast Endangered Species Finder is the newest citizen science tool developed by BC’s South Coast Conservation Program to help identify endangered species that you may encounter around BC’s Coast Region (South, Central and North Coast, Vancouver Island and Haida Gwaii) with a special focus on the South Coast (Lower Mainland) of BC. Each profile includes:
· An extensive image gallery for each species at various life-stages, and their most common look-alike species
· Detailed characteristics to assist in identification on the go!
Up to date taxonomic information (species scientific name)
· All about the species ecology (habitat, diet), lifecycle tables, range maps as well as information about threats affecting the species
· Conservation status at the provincial, federal and international level and information on the species’ conservation and management.
A search tool using keywords, species common name and scientific name
· Field ID tip guides and illustrations of a range of species
· Easy to use menu and links to other helpful resources.
Use your phone’s camera to take pictures of species you encounter and make field notes using your phone’s GPS system to create a diary of occurrences and favourites to use for future reference. This information will also be invaluable for reporting your information through portals like the BC Conservation Data Centre, BC Frog Watch and the BC Community Bat Program
The app is designed for mobile devices that run iOS 8.0 or higher. New species profiles and information is being added regularly. The SCCP is also looking to build capacity to incorporate a “report a species” function so that users can submit images, coordinates and records of species for confirmation. Ultimately the SCCP hopes the system will be integrated with its “Species at Risk Networking” platform as well as provide a conduit for submitting occurrence information to the BC Conservation Data Centre as well as other programs like iNaturalist and Naturewatch