Tracking & Watch Lists

As a first step to documenting biodiversity in Alberta, ACIMS endeavors to list all elements reported for the province.  This is a big task, with new information constantly coming forward and changes in taxonomy being made as various element groups are studied and reviewed.  Not all element groups are present and some are incomplete - this is an on-going project.

As an element is added, it is reviewed and given a conservation rank.  Conservation ranks for ecological community elements and species elements are similar, but with some minor differences.  Those elements that current data suggests may be rare are placed on a tracking or watch list.  These lists serve as focus for data gathering and include the elements for which ACIMS actively collects location information.  Details are pulled into the database and the associated GIS system.  If, as data are assembled, an element proves to be more common than originally thought, it may be re-ranked and removed from the tracking or watch list.

To report an observation of a tracked or a watched element, go to submit data.

All Elements of Biodiversity

• List of All Elements
• • All species and ecological communities in the ACIMS database (tracked and watched, as well as not tracked/watched) 
• Definitition of species conservation ranks
• Definition of ecological community conservation ranks
• Kinds of ecological communities
• Ecological Community Sampling Guidelines

Tracked and Watched Elements of Biodiversity

• List of Tracked and Watched Elements
• • Excel spreadsheet that includes all tracked and watched elements and their ranks
  • Includes vertebrates, invertebrates, lichens, non-vascular plants, vascular plants and ecological communities

• Tracked elements by Natural Subregion
• • Excel spreadsheet of all tracked elements with confirmed locations by Natural Subregion
  • Created by intersecting mapped element occurrences with the Natural Subregion spatial boundaries
  • Does not include all tracked elements; only those with mapped occurrences

• Tracked and Watched Ecological Communities (detailed)
  • Pdf document with details on each of the tracked and watched ecological communities
  • Does NOT include vertebrates, invertebrates, lichens, non-vascular plants or vascular plants

• Tracked Ecological Communities by Natural Subregion
  • An excel spreadsheet listing the ecological communities on the tracking list
  • Changes made in 2011 are shaded grey
  • For each element, the natural region it is thought to occur in is coloured.  For each associated subregion, the following code is supplied:
  • • C - confirmed in the subregion
    • P - potentially occurs in the subregion, but not yet confirmed there
    • U - unlikely to occur in the subregion

• Photo gallery of selected tracked ecological communities