Rusty cord-moss (Entosthodon rubiginosus) COSEWIC assessment and status report: chapter 4

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Distribution

Global range

Entosthodon rubiginosus is endemicto western North America (Lawton 1971; McIntosh 1986, 1997; Figure 3). It has a scattered distribution, found in southern British Columbia, Montana (Montana Natural Heritage Program 2003), Arizona, and New Mexico (Lawton 1971, McIntosh 1989, NatureServe Explorer 2002). In Montana, it is known from a single collection made in 1887 on the banks of the Missouri River near Great Falls (the type collection site). Efforts by others to relocate the type location were unsuccessful, partly because the search was not exhaustive and also because the original river banks above and below Great Falls have been inundated by reservoirs resulting from the construction of dams (NatureServe Explorer 2003). There is still a possibility that a new population of E. rubiginosus may yet be found in this area.

Figure 3. North American distribution of Entosthodon rubiginosus (X = Great Fallssite where population has probably been extirpated).

Canadian range

In Canada, the rusty cord-moss has been found at four sites in the south-central portion of British Columbia: at White Lake in the southern Okanagan Valley, south-east of Princeton, north-west Kamloops, and south of Riske Creek in the Cariboo Forest Region (Figure 4).

Major collection efforts contributing to our present knowledge of the Canadian distribution include the following: 1) surveys conducted as part of the PhD research of T. McIntosh from 1980 to 1983, 2) a provincial arid-land survey conducted by T. McIntosh (1997-2001), and 3) field work conducted by T. McIntosh in support of a COSEWIC assessment in 2002-2003.

Figure 4. Canadian distribution ofEntosthodon rubiginosus (X = Kamloopssite where population was not confirmed).