Assessment Report - Eumorphia swaziensis

	IUCN Species Information Service (SIS) Toolkit
	Assessment Report

Taxonomy
Kingdom	Phylum	Class	Order	Family
PLANTAE	TRACHEOPHYTA	MAGNOLIOPSIDA	ASTERALES	ASTERACEAE

Scientific Name:	Eumorphia swaziensis
Species Authority:	Compton
Common Name/s: -
Synonym/s:	-
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: Eumorphia swaziensis has a very restricted range, with a calculated area of occurrence of 22.483 km² and an area of occupancy of 28 km². Part of its range falls within an urban area and is under threat from urban development, and all of the range is affected by overgrazing by livestock. Based on this, it has been assessed as Endangered under Criteria B1 and B2. Date last seen: 2023
History:	-

Geographic Range
Range Description:	This species is known from hilltops in Eswatini, in the Mbabane area and northeast to Sibebe. The calculation of area of occupancy and extent of occurrence is approximate, due to older herbarium specimens not having precise locality information. Interpretation of the locality description puts one of the records in a valley, but it is likely that the plant was found on a hilltop above the valley. The lower figure for altitude range, 1030m, is therefore likely to be inaccurate, all other records falling between 1305m and 1380m.
Countries:	Native: Eswatini;

Geographic Range

Range Description:

This species is known from hilltops in Eswatini, in the Mbabane area and northeast to Sibebe. The calculation of area of occupancy and extent of occurrence is approximate, due to older herbarium specimens not having precise locality information. Interpretation of the locality description puts one of the records in a valley, but it is likely that the plant was found on a hilltop above the valley. The lower figure for altitude range, 1030m, is therefore likely to be inaccurate, all other records falling between 1305m and 1380m.

Countries:

Native:
Eswatini;

Population
Population:	No population surveys have been conducted yet for this species. For the purpose of this assessment, it has been assumed that the plant still exists in the localities recorded on older records, due to its habitat being rocky mountain tops, many of which have survived in spite of urban development. Two additional sub-populations were located in 2023, one covering an area of about 20 x 50 metres, and the other extending around around a small valley in a narrow band, estimated at up to 200 metres long.
Population Trend:	Unknown

Population

Population:

No population surveys have been conducted yet for this species. For the purpose of this assessment, it has been assumed that the plant still exists in the localities recorded on older records, due to its habitat being rocky mountain tops, many of which have survived in spite of urban development. Two additional sub-populations were located in 2023, one covering an area of about 20 x 50 metres, and the other extending around around a small valley in a narrow band, estimated at up to 200 metres long.

Population Trend:

Unknown

Habitat and Ecology
Habitat and Ecology:	This plant has been found in grassland on hilltops and hillsides in the vicinity of Mbabane and north east to Sibebe, in vegetation type KaNgwane Montane Grassland (Gm16) (Mucina et. al. 2018).
List of Habitats:	4 Grassland 4.7 Grassland - Subtropical/Tropical High Altitude

Threats
Major Threat(s):	Due to the distribution of this species being included within the Mbabane urban area, and the ongoing development of surrounding areas, there is a potential threat to this species from urban development. There is no formal conservation of any areas where this plant is found, and the grassland is subject to heavy grazing.
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:	There is no formal conservation of any areas where this plant is found.
List of Conservation Actions:	1 Land/water protection 1.1 Site/area protection 1.2 Resource & habitat protection 3 Species management 3.4 Ex-situ conservation 3.4.2 Genome resource bank

Bibliography
	Bachman, S., Moat, J., Hill, A.W., 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, A.W., 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: