Natural Heritage Information Centre

A Guide to filling out a Rare Species Reporting Form

Species Information It is mandatory to fill in either Scientific Name (preferred) or Common Name. Do not include author (authority) names with the Scientific Name. Scientific Names for species can be found by referring to the species lists our web site.

Observation Information Observation Date: When choosing an observation date, if the exact month or date is not known, choose the "??" in the pick-list.

Name of Observer(s): please provide a full name.

E-mail: We require an email address so that we can contact you if necessary to follow up on details of an observation. We do not sell, share or distribute personal information.

Others knowledgeable about this observation: if there are other people that are knowledgeable about this species at this location (they may or may not have been present for this particular visit) please provide their name and contact information so that they can be contacted if necessary.

Location Information EO Id Number: All occurrences of rare species in the NHIC database are assigned a unique Element Occurrence (EO) identification number. Some contributors will be aware of this EO Id number and are asked to include it with their record if known. Otherwise, this field will be left blank.

Location Name: a brief name of the site. This may be a place name such as "Awenda Provincial Park" or "Luther's Marsh" or a short description such as "15th Sideroad, King Township".

Topographic Map Number: especially if a National Topographic System (NTS) mapsheet was used to determine geographic coordinates, choose the appropriate map number from the pick list.

UTM Coordinates: UTM stands for Universal Transverse Mercator. It is a numerical value that represents the precise location of a site using a type of grid system. A UTM consists of three sets of numbers. A two-digit "Zone", a six-digit "Easting", and a seven-digit "Northing". Together, these three numbers refer to a precise location. An example of a full UTM would be 17 693455 5071456.

There are several ways to generate an UTM. Hand-held GPS (Global Positioning System) units are the easiest, and most accurate way to generate a coordinate (either a UTM or Latitude and Longitude) for a location, provided you are physically at that location with your GPS unit. These units are relatively inexpensive, small in size and easy to carry around in the field, and are available at most outdoors and camping stores. They will display geographic coordinates in UTM, Latitude and Longitude, or both.

A UTM grid reference can also be generated from an NTS (National Topographic System) mapsheet. This method can be used regardless of whether or not you are physically at the site. Such mapsheets are available at camping and outdoors stores, as well as map stores. NTS maps are available at two scales, 1:50,000 and 1:250,000. A scale of 1:50,000 is the most useful for fieldwork. More information on where to buy these maps can be found at: http://maps.nrcan.gc.ca/cmo/dealers.html. Instructions on generating a UTM from an NTS mapsheet can be found at: http://maps.nrcan.gc.ca/maps101/grid_ref.html and can also be found on the right margin of the mapsheet.

Datum: When reporting a location using a UTM, there are two grid systems that are used in Canada - NAD27 (North American Datum 1927) and NAD83 (North American Datum 1983). The datum used on an NTS mapsheet is indicated somewhere on the bottom of the map. In addition, when using a hand-held GPS unit, you can program your unit to display the coordinates in either NAD27 or NAD83. It is important to indicate the "datum" with any UTM because, in Ontario, they differ by approximately 200 metres in the Northing (and a little in the Easting). Naturally, NAD83 is the more up-to-date system and is preferred, but as long as the datum system used is provided with the coordinates, a conversion can be made.

UTM Source: The UTM Source field allows you to report what method you used to generate a UTM (or any other coordinates - e.g. Latitude, Longitude). The following codes are used:

Accuracy: refers to how precise the coordinates supplied (UTM or Latitude and Longitude) are. Accuracy is rated using a series of numbers from zero to five.

If you record a species at a site and have a hand-held GPS unit to record the coordinates directly at the location of a plant, for example, your coordinates would typically be accurate to within 10 metres. If you used an NTS mapsheet to determine your location, and you are 100% certain of your exact location (usually because of some sort of landmark shown on the map - e.g. a building, the point of a peninsula, etc.) your coordinates would probably be accurate to within 100 metres. If you have used an NTS mapsheet and/or a GPS unit to generate coordinates but walked away from that location, estimate how far away from the coordinates you may have been (e.g. within 50 metres, within 200 metres, within 500 metres, etc.).

Accuracy Comments: There are times when the accuracy of a coordinate may not be within 100 metres, but is not as great as 1000 metres. For example, you may have taken a GPS reading from your vehicle and then walked from there. 200 metres away, you may have found a rare species, but you might not have taken a GPS reading there. In such cases, you would use the coordinates from your vehicle's locatoin, choose an accuracy of 3 from the pick-list and include "within 200 metres" in the Accuracy Comments Field.

Other Coordinates: If another set of coordinates were recorded (e.g. Latitude, Longitude) use this field to record them.

Directional examples: Some examples of directions include: "approximately 1.5 km north of Joesville Post Office (or main intersection), in abandoned farm field on west side of County Rroad 12". A more detailed example might be something like: "From the town of SmithvilleSuch-and-such, drive north on BluebirdSuch-and-such Road. 3.7 km to Concession Road 8. Turn right (east) on Concession. Rd. 48 until it ends at a dirt track. On the north side of the road is a white house. Walk approximately 250 metres past the white house, east along the dirt track. At the large dead Silver Maple on the north side, turn northward into the swamp. The nest is approximately 150 metres due north from this point, in a large Basswood tree."

Biological Information Search Results: It is of interest to report negative search results, especially if an intentional search is made for a species. Such results do not necessarily mean that the species is no longer found there but it could lead to more detailed searches in the future to better determine the status of the occurrence. It is equally important to include information on "Search Effort" for negative searches to evaluate how likely it was that the species may have been overlooked. For example, a search may have been negative but perhaps only 20 minutes was spent looking in an area that requires several hours for a full search effort.

Collection # and Repository: Many people who collect specimens for institutional or private collections, assign each specimen with a unique collection number (e.g. 13454 or 2002-0045). The repository refers to the location where the specimen resides. The repository may be an institutional collection such as the Royal Ontario Museum or the private collection of an individual or organization. Note that many rare species are protected by various pieces of legislation (e.g. Provincial Parks Act, Endangered Species Act, Fish and Wildlife Conservation Act) and should not be collected. A close-up photograph showing key identification features can be used to document a rare species record when a specimen is not collected. Such photographs can be submitted to NHIC with a Rare Species Report.

Habitat Information Habitat Description: A habitat description need not be extremely long or technical. A brief description such as "small forest bordered by farm fields" or "marshy shoreline of large lake" will suffice. Obviously, the more detailed the habitat description the better, but a brief description is better than nothing at all. For rare plant reports it is useful to record what plant species were growing with the rare species and what the dominant plant species in the habitat were.

Management and Protection Information Current Land Use: Some examples include: active cropland, pasture, orchard, managed forest, city park, provincial park, etc.

Visible Disturbances and Possible Threats: Include such things as development (housing, roads, bridges, etc.), pollution, trampling (e.g. heavy foot traffic), change of habitat (either naturally through forest succession or due to human-based changes), and presence of non-native alien species.

Conservation/Management Needs: An example of the conservation needs for a species might be something relatively simple such as "the walking trail should be re-routed 200 metres to the east in order to avoid trampling". These needs could also involve a much more detailed evaluation of what is required to protect this species from any possible threats. Such detailed evaluations may only be possible by those individuals who are knowledgeable about the conservation needs of a particular species.

Data security: Some rare species are at risk due to collection or consumption by humans (e.g. Wild Ginseng, Wood Turtles). Additional data security (above and beyond what is "normal" for rare species) is required for such species in order to provide protection to them from the possibility of collection. Data security may also be deemed necessary if the location of the rare species occurs on private lands where there are issues with the landowner.

Other Information Digital Attachments: After you submit a report, there is an option for the user to upload digital files associated with that species observation. Please follow these instuctions:

If you have a digital file (e.g. .jpeg, .gif, .doc) you can attach it to the database by clicking on the browse button to retrieve the file. Click the Add Maps/File button to send the file to the database. This process can be repeated for a report that has several file attachments.

Topographic Map: Attach a scanned copy of the appropriate portion of the topographic map for the area and indicate the precise location of each species observation. See the directions below:
1. If the size of the observation is very small, simply draw a DOT on the map indicating the location of the observation.
2. If the observation is large enough, draw a boundary (using a solid line) around the known extent of the observation.
Habitat Map: Draw a detailed sketch of the habitat showing fine details not shown on the topographic map. Indicate the route taken, streets, landmarks, disturbance, scale, and north.

Submitted Reporting Forms: Once you've submitted your Rare Species Report Form, a copy of the form is automatically sent to the biologist that you select at the bottom of the form. The data is also entered into a temporary database for records entered via the web. You will also receive an email confirmation that your data has been received. Before any rare species observations can be entered into the main Element Occurrence database at the NHIC, a number of steps have to be taken.

NHIC staff will confirm that the species is, in fact, a provincially rare species tracked by the NHIC.
We need to review the record to ensure that there are no obvious errors or omissions.
If any errors are detected, or if we have any questions about your observation, we may need to contact you. Because this information is used to help protect rare species, and is used in land-use planning decisions, we need to ensure that the data is accurate.
We need to determine if the record does, in fact, qualify as an Element Occurrence (EO). For example, although the NHIC tracks Peregrine Falcons, a record of one in migration does not constitute an Element Occurrence since the bird is only passing through. An Element Occurrence usually consists of a site where there is habitat for a species or population to breed or, in some cases, a site that is critical for wintering or as a migration stopover (in the case of some animals).
Finally, when adding this information to the Element Occurrence database, we need to compare the location of the population with existing records in the database. This is done in order to determine whether the record is from an existing site (Element Occurrence or EO) or is a new EO. Based on this comparison the NHIC staff either enters the record as a new Element Occurrence, or adds the observation details to an existing EO record.