Assessment Report - Pachycarpus stelliceps

	IUCN Species Information Service (SIS) Toolkit
	Assessment Report

Taxonomy
Kingdom	Phylum	Class	Order	Family
PLANTAE	TRACHEOPHYTA	MAGNOLIOPSIDA	GENTIANALES	APOCYNACEAE

Scientific Name:	Pachycarpus stelliceps
Species Authority:	N.E.Br.
Common Name/s: -
Synonym/s:	-
Taxonomic Notes:	-

Assessment Information
Red List Category & Criteria:	Critically Endangered B1ab(iii)+2ab(iii); D
Year Assessed:	2023
Assessor/s:	Braun, K.
Reviewer/s:
Contributor/s:
Facilitator/s:
Institutions/s:
Justification: Pachycarpus stelliceps is only known from the Mbabane area in Eswatini, from two records. One of the localities has since been developed as part of the urban area, and the other does not have detailed locality information. As this species is only known from within an urban area, there is an ongoing threat of urban expansion which might have a direct impact on the habitat for this plant. The very limited known distribution qualifies this species for a Vulnerable listing. However, based on the ongoing loss of habitat combined with its small area of occupancy and lack of recent records, it is assessed as Critically Endangered. Most recent record: 1956
History:	-

Geographic Range
Range Description:	This species is only known from the Mbabane area in Eswatini.
Countries:	Native: Eswatini;

Population
Population:	Known only from two records, one from 1905, the other 1957, it is possible that there were two subpopulations of this species This species was first collected by H. Bolus in 1905, from the Mbabane area. No detailed locality information is available for this collection. A second record of this species is now known, a specimen collected by Prof. Compton in 1967 which is in the Pretoria Herbarium was re-named P. stelliceps in 2014. This specimen was collected from Stroma, a farm at the time, now developed as Nkwalini. It is likely that the precise locality where this plant was found fell within the development area, but there are adjacent hills where it might be found again.
Population Trend:	Unknown

Population

Population:

Known only from two records, one from 1905, the other 1957, it is possible that there were two subpopulations of this species This species was first collected by H. Bolus in 1905, from the Mbabane area. No detailed locality information is available for this collection. A second record of this species is now known, a specimen collected by Prof. Compton in 1967 which is in the Pretoria Herbarium was re-named P. stelliceps in 2014. This specimen was collected from Stroma, a farm at the time, now developed as Nkwalini. It is likely that the precise locality where this plant was found fell within the development area, but there are adjacent hills where it might be found again.

Population Trend:

Unknown

Habitat and Ecology
Habitat and Ecology:	This species is known from the type specimen, with a locality of Mbabane, without any further detail, and from Farm Stroma the Mbabane area, now developed as Nkwalini. The area is mountainous, with habitats including open sourveld grassland, granite rock outcrops, small pockets of forest, and streams and small vlei systems. The second record label information indicates this plant was found amongst rocks, with a hilltop locality, so it has been assumed that the habitat for this species is rocky hilltops. The vegetation type for the area is KaNgwane Montane Grassland (Gm16) (Mucina et. al., 2018).
List of Habitats:	4 Grassland 4.7 Grassland - Subtropical/Tropical High Altitude

Habitat and Ecology

Habitat and Ecology:

This species is known from the type specimen, with a locality of Mbabane, without any further detail, and from Farm Stroma the Mbabane area, now developed as Nkwalini. The area is mountainous, with habitats including open sourveld grassland, granite rock outcrops, small pockets of forest, and streams and small vlei systems. The second record label information indicates this plant was found amongst rocks, with a hilltop locality, so it has been assumed that the habitat for this species is rocky hilltops. The vegetation type for the area is KaNgwane Montane Grassland (Gm16) (Mucina et. al., 2018).

List of Habitats:

4 Grassland
4.7 Grassland - Subtropical/Tropical High Altitude

Threats
Major Threat(s):	The two known specimens, from 1905 and 1957 was recorded as being from the Mbabane area, but one with no detailed locality information. The second record was from an area now urban area (Nkwalini). As the area has developed considerably over the intervening years, it is possible that this species is now extinct as a result. However, there are areas of natural vegetation still remaining nearby, so it is not impossible that future surveys could find this species.
List of Threats:	1 Residential & commercial development 1.1 Housing & urban areas

Threats

Major Threat(s):

The two known specimens, from 1905 and 1957 was recorded as being from the Mbabane area, but one with no detailed locality information. The second record was from an area now urban area (Nkwalini). As the area has developed considerably over the intervening years, it is possible that this species is now extinct as a result. However, there are areas of natural vegetation still remaining nearby, so it is not impossible that future surveys could find this species.

List of Threats:

1 Residential & commercial development
1.1 Housing & urban areas

Conservation Actions
Conservation Actions:	There is currently no conservation within the general area where this species was recorded. If this species is found on nearby hills, conservation actions to prevent its extinction would be desirable.
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, 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, 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: