These comments are in…

These comments are in response to the DRAFT Government Response Statement to the Recovery Strategy for the Gypsy Cuckoo Bumble Bee in Ontario. In general, this is a well rounded and critically important document for this species and we would like to thank the government and ERO for this opportunity to comment on the Government Response Statement for the gypsy cuckoo bumble bee in Ontario.

Following are our specific comments related to the document;

Line 58 and 59. Suggest rewording to clarify what is meant by “adequately” in sentence “The northern parts of its range have not been adequately surveyed in Ontario to determine absence or presence”, as there have been a number of surveys focused specifically on YBBB in northern ON in recent years, and in a number of regions such as Thunder Bay there have been surveys that definitively determine presence/absence.

Line 60-61. We would suggest re-emphasizing that GCBB distribution is reliant on host species distribution so as not to suggest a generalist diverse habitat range by adding the words ”…where host species occur.” at the end of the line regarding habitat use to read “Gypsy cuckoo bumble bee occurs in diverse habitats, including open meadows, mixed 60 farmlands, urban areas, open woodlands and boreal forest where their host species occur.”

Lines 100-10 regarding “The government’s short-term goal for the recovery of Gypsy Cuckoo Bumble Bee is to maintain the persistence of the species at existing locations in Ontario while filling knowledge gaps related to the species’ distribution and the presence and severity of threats.” We wonder if this goal is appropriate given that the last known record for the species was in 2008 and there are no known localities where the species is known to persist in Ontario. Would it be more appropriate to link the short-term goals either to ensuring that the host species persist and/or to increased survey effort to determine presence vs absence of gypsy cuckoo bumble bees?

Lines 179-182 regarding the “Objective: Maintain or improve habitat and reduce threats to Gypsy Cuckoo Bumble Bee and its host species in or near Pinery Provincial Park, and additional sites if occupied or identified for recovery purposes”
We suggest that it may be best to have a determination/discovery element directly in the objective, not just as part of the actions described in the text following the objective. More information about habitat requirements and specific threats to GCCB are required before best practices to maintain or improve habitat can be developed so this objective could be reworded as “Determine habitat requirements and threats to maintain or improve habitat and reduce threats to….”

Two minor spelling errors.
On Line 224: The word bee is missing after gypsy cuckoo bumble….
And on Line 264: cuckoo is misspelled.

Thank you