Spotted owl (Caurina subspecies) COSEWIC assessment and status report: chapter 9
Special Significance of the Species
Importance to people
The Northern Spotted Owl is among the most studied owl species in the world because of its association with commercially valuable old-growth coniferous forests (Gutiérrez et al. 1995; Courtney et al. 2004; Anthony et al. 2006). It has become an environmental icon in Canada and the USA (e.g., Noon and Blakesley 2006), lauded by those concerned with environmental values as an indicator of the health of old-growth forests (e.g., Sierra Legal Defence Fund 2002, 2005), or those concerned about their fate (e.g., Pynn 2006) and dismissed by those who want unfettered economic development of those forests (e.g., Stout 2003). In December 2005, the Sierra Legal Defence Fund launched the first-ever lawsuit seeking an emergency order under the Species at Risk Act to protect Canadian Northern Spotted Owls.
Northern Spotted Owls are much sought after by bird watchers, but few attempt to observe them in British Columbia because of their extreme rarity and the remote locations in which they live.
Ecological role
The Northern Spotted Owl is a high-level predator with specialized habitat requirements. It is at the top of the food chain in some late-successional coniferous forest ecosystems on the west coast of North America, including southwestern mainland British Columbia. Specialized and rare forest species can be thought of as indicators of forest ecosystem diversity and function. If the Northern Spotted Owl persists, then that may indicate that forest ecosystems are functioning as well as previously. If the Northern Spotted Owl becomes extirpated, the full consequences for forest ecosystems might not be well understood. But if consequences for ecosystem function are minimal, biodiversity values would obviously be lessened.
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