NWT 2011-2015 - NWT Species at Risk

5. Results – What did we learn?
During this evaluation of the general status of
NWT species, we learned the following.
About NWT Species
A summary of ranks for each species is presented in the
following tables.
• Entomologists are intensively studying insects in the
NWT for the first time in 30 years. Each summer brings
information on new species that were either overlooked in
the 1960-70s, or that are new to the NWT. Some species are
found more than 500 km further north than expected.
• The NWT has areas that were not glaciated during the last
Ice Age and harbour species that survived that period in
the dry and cold Beringia. As noted in 2006 for plants, rare
insects and spiders are mostly found in or near these areas.
• Additional alien vascular plants were recorded in the
NWT during the past five years, but the percentage of
these plants over the total number of vascular plants
recorded was similar (10%) to the percentage recorded in
2006. This percentage is expected based on what is found
in other northern and western jurisdictions in Canada.
• So far, no aquatic invasive alien plant is known to occur
in the NWT. As more areas are disturbed and as more
people use lakes and rivers without cleaning their boats
and trailers properly, alien and invasive plants and
aquatic organisms can arrive in the NWT.
Number of alien plant species
1200
1000
800
600
400
200
0
NU
PE
NL
NB
NS
YT
NT
East
R 2 = 0.8
SK
MB
AB
QC
ON
BC
North-West
R 2 = 0.9
0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500
Number of native plant species
Narcissus-flowered Anemone
Photo Credit: J Nagy
12
NWT Species 2011-2015