Strategies to protect critical habitat not always followed

A new study from UBC’s Okanagan campus has found that in many cases, Canada isn’t following federal legislation requiring the protection of threatened or endangered species and could be placing them further at risk of extinction.

Canadian endangered species legislation requires developing a Recovery Strategy for every species listed as threatened or endangered to help their recovery and protect them from harmful human activities. These strategies are supposed to identify habitats critical to the species’ survival.

“The legislation is crystal clear,” says the study’s co-author Karen Hodges, associate professor of biology at UBC Okanagan. “Once a species is listed as endangered or threatened, we have specific timelines to develop a Recovery Strategy that identifies the critical habitat for that species.”

But Hodges says that habitat protection work just isn’t happening, or it happens years later than the required timelines. Hodges and her co-author Sarah Bird, who undertook this research while an undergraduate student in the UBC Okanagan biology program, found that of the 391 species under the protection of the Canadian Species at Risk Act (SARA), only 11.8 per cent had critical habitats fully identified, while more than 60 per cent had no critical habitat designation at all.

Hodges and Bird arrived at their conclusion after analyzing all SARA-listed species and their recovery strategies dating up to August 2015. They also studied lawsuits involving the Species at Risk Act since its adoption in 2002, several of which challenge these failures to designate critical habitat.

“Habitat loss is a primary cause of species loss,” adds Hodges. “Current implementation of SARA is sorely lagging and simply isn’t providing the majority of species the protection the law requires. Without using these legal tools to the fullest extent possible, we run the very real risk of losing some of these species forever.”

The study was published in Environmental Science & Policy with funding support from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council.

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Louise Sidley, left, and David Sidley speak to family and friends gathered after the sculpture “Pair of Deer” was officially unveiled at UBC’s Okanagan campus.

Student’s father creates bronze deer in memory of his son

Two bronze deer now grace the grounds of UBC’s Okanagan campus, a gift that will forever stand as a legacy to former undergraduate student River Sidley.

River died suddenly in 2014 and received a posthumous Bachelor of Science degree in June 2015.

The artwork, “Pair of Deer” was created by River’s father David, a sculptor from Rossland, BC. The family, grateful for the experience their son had at the university, donated the bronze sculptures as a way of commemorating River’s memory.

“In appreciation of UBC Okanagan, and in honour of River, I decided to install these sculptures on the campus,” says David Sidley. “Hopefully, they will be enjoyed for years to come and remind people of my son who probably would have made a name for himself here as well.”

The bronzes, which were conceived in Rossland at the artist’s studio and then cast in Kelowna, were installed in the campus courtyard in time for June’s convocation celebrations.

“UBC Okanagan gratefully welcomes David Sidley’s beautiful artwork to the campus,” says UBC Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Principal Deborah Buszard. “The sculpture is a moving tribute from a parent to his departed son. River felt at home on this campus and we were honoured to choose a prominent location for the work as a reflection of the Sidley family’s embrace of our learning community.”

“His important work adds breadth to our collection and resonates well with existing outdoor artworks on campus,” says Susan Belton, curator of UBC Okanagan’s Public Art Collection.

River was studying at the Bamfield Marine Science Centre at the time of his passing, leading the Sidley family to endow the River Timothy Sidley Memorial Award in 2015. The award supports a UBC Okanagan student who shares River’s love for marine biology and who is pursuing additional studies at the Bamfield Marine Science Centre.

River’s mother Louise, who received her Masters of Fine Arts from UBC in 2010, says her son had found his life passion at Bamfield and through the award in River’s name the family wishes to honour his life.

“We wanted to carry on River’s potential, and it’s been really meaningful for us because we’ve been able to see the recipients, and we have formed relationships with new students. That’s been very energizing for us,” says Louise. “UBC has been incredibly supportive of us as a family trying to grow and to learn, and it’s nice to keep our connection to the campus with this scholarship and the deer.”

The family ties with UBC are deep and the Sidleys were filled with pride when River’s sister Sage graduated from UBC Okanagan campus in 2016 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts. The family is now in the process of establishing a second award at UBC Vancouver to further honour their son’s memory and support even more UBC students.

“I think our relationship with UBC has helped our whole family deal with our loss because of the legacy we’re able to leave behind,” Louise adds.

The deer were installed into the university’s courtyard, a spot where students and faculty gather for occasions throughout the year. The artwork was officially unveiled on June 16.

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More than 1,650 students will receive their degrees at UBC’s Okanagan campus this week.

For many, it’s one of the biggest milestones of their lives—graduating from university. At UBC’s Okanagan campus, nearly 1,650 students will reach that milestone this week as the university gears up for six convocation ceremonies.

Convocation starts Thursday, with four ceremonies, and wraps up Friday with two additional ceremonies. During these two days, UBC will confer 33 doctoral degrees, 148 master degrees, 1,465 undergraduate degrees and an honorary degree to Canadian artist Alex Janvier.

This is the twelfth graduating class at UBC’s Okanagan campus and the number of graduates has more than tripled since 2006, when UBC Okanagan’s very first graduating class of 468 crossed the stage.

Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Principal of the Okanagan campus Deborah Buszard says this year’s graduates join the more than 325,000 alumni who have successfully graduated from UBC and continue to be members of the UBC community.

"Members of this, our twelfth, graduating class have already shown themselves to be accomplished change-makers and innovators on campus and in the community," says Buszard. "They are extraordinarily talented and I have no doubt they will be a force for positive change wherever they go."

While Convocation is a time to celebrate students, UBC also recognizes outstanding faculty at the event. Ramon Lawrence, an associate professor in Computer Science and Christine Schreyer, an associate professor of anthropology, will be presented with the Award for Teaching Excellence and Innovation. And Security Manager Michael Gesi will be presented with the President’s Service Award for Excellence.

Convocation ceremonies will be webcast live at: graduation.ok.ubc.ca/event/live-webcast

Thursday, June 8

8:30 a.m.—Irving K. Barber School of Arts and Sciences
All Ph.D., master, or undergrad degrees for students in: Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Biology, Chemistry, Earth and Environmental Sciences, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Environmental Chemistry, Environmental Sciences, Freshwater Sciences, General Studies (Science), Interdisciplinary Studies (Sciences), Microbiology, Zoology

11 a.m.—Irving K. Barber School of Arts and Sciences 
All Ph.D., master, or undergrad degrees for students in: Anthropology, Computer Science, Economics, Gender and Women’s Studies, General Studies (Arts), Geography, History, Indigenous Studies, Interdisciplinary Studies (BSAS – Arts), International Relations, Mathematics, Physics, Statistics

1:30 p.m.—Irving K. Barber School of Arts and Sciences & Faculty of Creative and Critical Studies
All Ph.D., master, or undergrad degrees for students in: Art History, Creative Writing, Cultural Studies, English, French, Interdisciplinary Performance, Interdisciplinary Studies (FCCS), Philosophy, PPE, Political Science, Psychology, Sociology, Spanish, Visual Arts

4 p.m.—Faculty of Applied Science: School Of Engineering
All Ph.D., master, or undergrad degrees for students in Civil Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering

Friday, June 9

8:30 a.m.—Faculty of Education; Faculty of Management
All Ph.D., master, or undergrad degrees for Education, Interdisciplinary Studies, and Management

11 a.m.—Faculty of Health and Social Development: School of Health and Exercise Sciences; School of Nursing; School of Social Work
All Ph.D., master, or undergrad degrees for Human Kinetics, Interdisciplinary Studies, Nursing, and Social Work

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New genetic markers in sockeye salmon that can help improve management of fish populations. Photo credit: Kyle Hawes

The markers, called single nucleotide polymorphisms, are individual locations in the genome that, in this case, allow researchers to distinguish between the different variants of sockeye salmon: those that spawn on lakeshore or island beaches and those that spawn in rivers and streams.

“The obvious practical application is in fisheries management,” says study senior author Michael Russello, biology professor at UBC Okanagan. “Until now, it was quite challenging and even impossible, in some cases, to identify these different variants outside the spawning season. But the new genetic markers provide a fast, inexpensive and accurate way to tell them apart.”

Michael Russello is a biology professor at UBC Okanagan.

The ability for fisheries managers to precisely identify and monitor the abundance of different sockeye salmon populations is important to helping maintain healthy fish stocks, says Russello. The Ecological and Conservation Genomics Lab is working with fisheries managers to help classify kokanee, a freshwater form of sockeye salmon, to more accurately estimate population numbers, an important key in monitoring the impacts of changes to their habitat and hopefully in preventing future declines in the salmon run.

Russello and former UBC Okanagan post-doctoral associate Andrew Veale (now at the University of Otago) studied populations across the range of sockeye salmon in the United States, Canada, Russia and Japan at these areas in the genome. What they found was remarkably consistent genetic patterns for shore- and stream-spawning sockeye, despite spawning locations spanning different continents.

“What’s really exciting are the clues this provides for better understanding the genetic basis of how new forms arise in nature,” adds Russello. “In this case, we can estimate that the different sockeye salmon types diverged some 3.8 million years ago, much earlier than we would have predicted. There is incredible potential here to better understand the complex evolutionary history of this species.”

The study was published in Scientific Reports, an online journal from the publishers of Nature, and was supported by funding from Genome British Columbia, Okanagan Aquatic Enterprises, BC Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource, and BC Hydro.

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