HOW TO USE E-FAUNA BC

Bighorn Sheep, (Ovis canadensis). Photo by David Boag

 

Where to Start: A Tiny Tutorial

E-Fauna BC provides general introductions to the wildlife groups of the province, species-specific atlas pages, and an extensive photo gallery for each wildlife group.

1) Use our General Information Pages...

If you wish to know more about wildlife topics in general, then use the information page links in the menu on the left.   Our information pages provide introductory information on a variety of topics, including:

• the wildlife groups found in BC
• historical information on the introduced wildlife species in the province
• an introduction to zoogeography and species dispersal in the province

In this section, we also provide comprehensive checklists for each wildlife group found in the province prepared by provincial experts. The lists are nomenclaturally up-to-date, and provide definitive listings of species that have been verified as occurring in BC. They provide a key overview to the biodiversity of BC as represented by wildlife groups. Available checklists cover well-known groups such as mammals and birds, and lesser known groups such as ribbon worms, jellyfish, hydroids, earthworms, and many insects groups.

2) Use our Our Atlas Pages...

If you wish to find information on a particular species or group of species (e.g. bats or fish or birds), then visit our atlas pages. These will provide you with species-specific information on distribution, ecology, biology, identification, conservation status and more. In addition to accessing information about a particular species, our . Advanced Search feature allows you to access information about groups of species, such as those species of conservation concern (blue- or red-listed species in the province).

Click here to learn how to conduct a species search and access our atlas pages.
Click here to learn about our atlas pages, and what they contain.
Click here to visit our photo galleries. In order to view all of our galleries, you will need to turn on "session cookies" on your computer.
Click here to view a sample atlas page.

3) Use our Photo Galleries...

E-Fauna BC has extensive and growing photo galleries for many wildlife groups in the province. You can browse the galleries, or you can use the drop down menus and search features in the gallery to call up any species you are interested in. You can also call up all photo for a particular photographer. Each photo in the gallery has a direct link to the species atlas page.

Banana Slug (Ariolimax columbianus). Photo by David Blevins

What can I learn by exploring E-Fauna BC?

Use E-Fauna BC to learn about all of our wildlife species, including rare and endangered species, invasive species, and species that are just generally interesting and curious.   Learn about where species occur, how large or small their range is, and, using our interactive distribution maps and biogeographic map layers, you can learn how climate and geology influences their distribution.   Here are some of the things you can learn using E-Fauna BC:

• read the mosqitoe atlas pages to learn about the mosquitoes of BC, where they occur, their ecology and biology, and the biological factors that will influence the arrival of West Nile Virus in BC.  Learn about the mosquito species that carry West Nile Virus (e.g. Culex pipiens);
• use our atlas pages to learn about endangered species, such as the elusive Townsend's Mole, or the Pacific Water Shrew, two of Canda's species at risk;
• read our introductory pages on Molluscs and discover that our tiny land snails are related to Octopuses and Squid;
• visit our Checklists Page to find out which species are actually found in our province; 
• read the introductory pages on the insects of BC to learn about grasshoppers, termites and other "bugs" in BC;
• visit the Bumblebee checklist to learn which species of bumblebees are found in BC.
  

Water Flea (Drepanothrix dentata). Photo courtesy Royal BC Museum

E-Fauna BC doesn't provide information on...

Note that E-Fauna does not provide detailed information on pest management or pest control, on wildlife rescue, or on domestic animals. Visit our Wildlife Resources page for links to sources of this information.