Recovery Strategy and Action Plan for the Banff Springs Snail (Physella johnsoni) in Canada
A strategic environmental assessment (SEA) is conducted on all SARA recovery planning documents, in accordance with the Cabinet Directive on the Environmental Assessment of Policy, Plan, and Program Proposals. The purpose of a SEA is toincorporate environmental considerations into the development of public policies,plans, and program proposals to support environmentally sound decision-making.
Recovery planning is intended to benefit species at risk and biodiversity in general. However, it is recognized that recovery strategies and action plans may also inadvertently lead to environmental effects beyond the intended benefits. The planning process based on national guidelines directly incorporates consideration of all environmental effects, with a particular focus on possible impacts on non-target species or habitats. The results of the SEA are summarized below.
While thisBanff Springs Snail Recovery and Action Plan will clearly benefit the environment by promoting the recovery of the Banff Springs Snail, several potentially adverse effects were also considered.
The potential for recovery actions to inadvertently lead to adverse effects on other species was considered. Recent surveys have shown that the Sulphur Mountain thermal springs in BNP harbour high numbers of rare species among several taxa.
In addition to the Banff Springs Snail, survey work found two rare damselflies, 28 rare mosses (including one new provincial record), six rare liverworts, eight rare plants, and three rare amphibians.
It was determined that actions requiring the physical alteration of hot springs have the potential to adversely affect the mosses, liverworts and plants through direct physical damage to them or the substrates they require to grow. Water flow changes as a result of such physical alterations could leave mosses and liverworts submerged or result in them drying out. Water flow changes resulting in a reduction of cooler free-flowing water could lead to a reduction in damselfly larval habitat. In addition, the development of policies to address population lows, including such potential activities as supplemental feeding and modification of lighting, have the potential to cause adverse effects on the microbial community (algae and bacteria). Altered light regimes could lead to greater or lesser microbial growth, or changes in microbial community composition which could in turn effect the Banff Springs Snail as the microbial community makes up a large part of its diet. These proposed activities would be subject to specific environmental assessments prior to approval. For each environmental assessment the potential effects on other species, including the rare mosses, liverworts, vascular plants, damselflies and amphibians, must be included. Increasing ecosystem knowledge through designing a multi-species or ecosystem recovery strategy would have a large positive effect on all species, including the rare mosses, liverworts, vascular plants, and amphibians, that inhabit the Sulphur Mountain thermal springs.
The SEA also looked at the potential effects of proposed actions on visitor experience and commemorative integrity. It was determined that the additional pickets added to guide rails along sections of boardwalk and the possibility of constructing a touching pool have the potential to affect both visitor experience and the commemorative integrity of the site by altering the natural physical attributes and sensory experience.
Preventing limb-dipping completely (through some sort of physical barrier) may affect both visitor experience and commemorative integrity, while allowing it could potentially cause harm to the Banff Springs Snail. The recovery strategy and action plan suggests evaluating the feasibility of constructing a specific thermal water touching pool. It is recommended that the proposal to build a specific touching pool be addressed in the Cave & Basin National Historic Site of Canada management planning and environmental assessment processes to ensure that it is addressed in the context of visitor experience and commemorative integrity for the entire site. It is also recommended that research be initiated into the effects of limb-dipping on the Banff Springs Snail.
If the re-establishment of snails at the Upper Hot Spring is biologically feasible effects on visitor experience and cultural resources will need to be evaluated.
Further information is presented in theStrategic Environmental Assessment for the Recovery Strategy and Action Plan for the Banff Springs Snail (Physella johnsoni) in Canada (Parks Canada 2006). Taking these mitigation measures into account, it was concluded that the strategy will not cause any significant adverse effects.
Implementation of the recovery strategy and action plan will mitigate the effects of threats, protect and enhance critical habitat and improve upon knowledge gaps, thereby resulting in positive impacts to the species and its thermal spring habitat.