Assessment Report - Afroaster pseudobakerianus

	IUCN Species Information Service (SIS) Toolkit
	Assessment Report

Taxonomy
Kingdom	Phylum	Class	Order	Family
PLANTAE	TRACHEOPHYTA	MAGNOLIOPSIDA	ASTERALES	ASTERACEAE

Scientific Name:	Afroaster pseudobakerianus
Species Authority:	(W.Lippert) J.C.Manning & Goldblatt
Common Name/s: -
Synonym/s:	Aster pseudobakerianus W.Lippert
Taxonomic Notes:	-

Assessment Information
Red List Category & Criteria:	Vulnerable B1ab(iii)+2ab(iii)
Year Assessed:	2023
Assessor/s:	Braun, K.
Reviewer/s:
Contributor/s:
Facilitator/s:
Institutions/s:
Justification: Afroaster pseudobakerianus has a limited distribution range, having only been recorded from within Eswatini. The estimated extent of occurrence is 2831 km², and the area of occupancy of 24 km². Although the species has not been recorded in recent years, at the time of assessment, there was no evidence to indicate that they no longer occur in these areas. However, as it is found in the grassland areas of the Eswatini highveld, these areas are under threat from overgrazing by livestock, as well as urban expansion and other forms of land use change. Based on this, it has been assessed as Vulnerable under Criteria B1 and B2.Date last seen: 2002
History:	-

Geographic Range
Range Description:	This plant has been recorded from the Eswatini highveld, from north of Mbabane, south to the Nhlangano area.
Countries:	Native: Eswatini;

Population
Population:	This species was recorded in the 1950's and 60's, with one more recent record from 2002. No recent population data is currently available.
Population Trend:	Unknown

Habitat and Ecology
Habitat and Ecology:	The records for this species are primarily from KaNgwane Montane Grassland (Gm16) vegetation type, with one record from Swaziland Sour Bushveld (SVI14) (Mucina et. al. 2018). The locality information has been based on the written descriptions on herbarium specimens, so it is possible that in spite of the one record apparently being found in savanna, that it was found in grassland nearby.
List of Habitats:	4 Grassland 4.7 Grassland - Subtropical/Tropical High Altitude

Threats
Major Threat(s):	This species appears to be found in the highveld grassland areas in Eswatini. These areas are, in general, subject to heavy grazing, but further fieldwork is required to determine whether this plant has been affected, and to what degree. In addition, two of the localities are within the Mbabane urban area and might have been affected by urban development. Fieldwork is required to confirm whether these species have been affected by land use change as a result of the urban development.
List of Threats:	1 Residential & commercial development 1.1 Housing & urban areas 2 Agriculture & aquaculture 2.3 Livestock farming & ranching 2.3.2 Small-holder grazing, ranching or farming

Threats

Major Threat(s):

This species appears to be found in the highveld grassland areas in Eswatini. These areas are, in general, subject to heavy grazing, but further fieldwork is required to determine whether this plant has been affected, and to what degree. In addition, two of the localities are within the Mbabane urban area and might have been affected by urban development. Fieldwork is required to confirm whether these species have been affected by land use change as a result of the urban development.

List of Threats:

1 Residential & commercial development
1.1 Housing & urban areas
2 Agriculture & aquaculture
2.3 Livestock farming & ranching
2.3.2 Small-holder grazing, ranching or farming

Conservation Actions
Conservation Actions:	This species has not yet been recorded from any existing conservation areas.
List of Conservation Actions:	3 Species management 3.4 Ex-situ conservation 3.4.2 Genome resource bank

Bibliography
	Bachman S, Moat J, Hill AW, de la Torre J and Scott B. 2011. Supporting Red List threat assessments with GeoCAT geospatial conservation tool. In: Smith V, Penev L (Eds) e-Infrastructure for data publishing in biodiversity science. . ZooKeys 150: 117-126. Mucina, L., Rutherford, M.C. and Powrie, L.W. (Editors). 2018. The Vegetation Map of South Africa, Lesotho and Swaziland. South African National Biodiversity Institute. Available at: http://bgis.sanbi.org/Projects/Detail/186.

Bibliography

Bachman S, Moat J, Hill AW, de la Torre J and Scott B. 2011. Supporting Red List threat assessments with GeoCAT geospatial conservation tool. In: Smith V, Penev L (Eds) e-Infrastructure for data publishing in biodiversity science. . ZooKeys 150: 117-126.
Mucina, L., Rutherford, M.C. and Powrie, L.W. (Editors). 2018. The Vegetation Map of South Africa, Lesotho and Swaziland. South African National Biodiversity Institute. Available at: http://bgis.sanbi.org/Projects/Detail/186.

Citation: