Assessment Report - Ocimum motjaneanum

	IUCN Species Information Service (SIS) Toolkit
	Assessment Report

Taxonomy
Kingdom	Phylum	Class	Order	Family
PLANTAE	TRACHEOPHYTA	MAGNOLIOPSIDA	LAMIALES	LAMIACEAE

Scientific Name:	Ocimum motjaneanum
Species Authority:	McCallum & K.Balkwill
Common Name/s: -
Synonym/s:	-
Taxonomic Notes:	-

Assessment Information
Red List Category & Criteria:	Endangered B1ab(iii)+2ab(iii)
Year Assessed:	2023
Assessor/s:	Braun, K.
Reviewer/s:
Contributor/s:
Facilitator/s:
Institutions/s:
Justification: Ocimum motjaneanum has a restricted distribution, with an estimated extent of occurrence of 1,137.857 km² and area of occupancy of 20 km². All but one of the records for this subspecies have been found within a small area in Eswatini, on ultramafic soils. Threats to this species include potential changes in land use, for urban development and agriculture, as well as potential habitat degradation from ongoing heavy grazing by livestock and uncontrolled burning, and spread of invasive alien plant species. Based on this, the subspecies has been assessed as Endangered, under Criteria B1 and B2. Date last seen: 2020
History:	-

Geographic Range
Range Description:	This species was initially only known from north west Eswatini in the Motjane and Forbes Reef areas. The description of this species included a description of the known populations with an area of occupancy of perhaps 1 km2, with all known plants occurring in an area of less than 25 km, known only from ultramafic sites. An additional record from South Africa near Hendrina raises the question of whether this species is in fact much more widely distributed but poorly collected.
Countries:	Native: Eswatini; Mpumalanga;

Geographic Range

Range Description:

This species was initially only known from north west Eswatini in the Motjane and Forbes Reef areas. The description of this species included a description of the known populations with an area of occupancy of perhaps 1 km2, with all known plants occurring in an area of less than 25 km, known only from ultramafic sites. An additional record from South Africa near Hendrina raises the question of whether this species is in fact much more widely distributed but poorly collected.

Countries:

Native:
Eswatini; Mpumalanga;

Population
Population:	The information for this species within Eswatini is based on fieldwork carried out by Donald McCallum and Kevin Balkwill in 1997. There have been no more recent surveys of this species, and there is a need for more fieldwork to confirm the continued existence in the previously documented localities. For the purposes of this assessment, it has been assumed that the plants still occur in these areas. The additional record from South Africa, recorded in 2020, significantly extends the range of this species, but there is currently no further information on its presence in South Africa.
Population Trend:

Population

Population:

The information for this species within Eswatini is based on fieldwork carried out by Donald McCallum and Kevin Balkwill in 1997. There have been no more recent surveys of this species, and there is a need for more fieldwork to confirm the continued existence in the previously documented localities. For the purposes of this assessment, it has been assumed that the plants still occur in these areas. The additional record from South Africa, recorded in 2020, significantly extends the range of this species, but there is currently no further information on its presence in South Africa.

Population Trend:

Habitat and Ecology
Habitat and Ecology:	Within Eswatini, this species is known from ultramafic soils in highveld grassland, vegetation type KaNgwane Montane Grassland (Gm16), and in South Africa, in Eastern Highveld Grassland (Gm12) (Mucina et. al. 2018).
List of Habitats:	4 Grassland 4.7 Grassland - Subtropical/Tropical High Altitude

Threats
Major Threat(s):	There is an ongoing decline in the quality and extent of the habitat within Eswatini, due to development in the area and the encroachment of black wattle. The grassland is also heavily grazed and frequently burnt.
List of Threats:	1 Residential & commercial development 1.2 Commercial & industrial areas 2 Agriculture & aquaculture 2.3 Livestock farming & ranching 2.3.2 Small-holder grazing, ranching or farming 8 Invasive and other problematic species, genes & diseases 8.4 Problematic species/disease of unknown origin 8.4.2 Named species 8.4.2 Named species

Conservation Actions
Conservation Actions:	None of the known localities for this species fall within a conservation area.
List of Conservation Actions:	1 Land/water 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 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: