Assessment Report - Thesium infundibulare

	IUCN Species Information Service (SIS) Toolkit
	Assessment Report

Taxonomy
Kingdom	Phylum	Class	Order	Family
PLANTAE	TRACHEOPHYTA	MAGNOLIOPSIDA	SANTALALES	SANTALACEAE

Scientific Name:	Thesium infundibulare
Species Authority:	N.Visser & M.M.le Roux
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: Thesium infundibulare has a restricted distribution, with an estimated extent of occurrence of 3,803.442 km² and an area of occupancy of 20 km². There are ongoing threats to this species from overgrazing by livestock over much of its range. Based on the information available at the time of assessment, it would qualify as Vulnerable under Criterion D based on its very restricted area of occupancy, but due to the threat to its habitat from overgrazing by livestock, it has been assessed as Endangered under Criteria B1 and B2. Date last seen: 1996
History:	-

Geographic Range
Range Description:	This species is known from the Eswatini highveld and from near Vryheid in South Africa. The geo-referencing of older records is a rough estimate, due to the limited information available, so this might affect the elevations and the estimated extent of occurrence. It is likely that this species is very under-collected as it is easily overlooked.
Countries:	Native: Eswatini; KwaZulu-Natal;

Population
Population:	There is no detailed population survey information for this species. For the purposes of this assessment, it has been assumed that this species still occurs at localities from older records as the habitat still exists, and more fieldwork might find this plant at more localities as it is likely to have been under collected.
Population Trend:	Unknown

Habitat and Ecology
Habitat and Ecology:	This species has been found on rocky outcrops in grassland areas. In Eswatini it has been recorded from three vegetation types, namely KaNgwane Montane Grassland (Gm16), Barberton Montane Grassland (Gm17) and Ithala Quartzite Sourveld (Gs2). In South Africa, it has been recorded from Northern Zululanad Mistbelt Grassland (Gs1) (Mucina et. al. 2018).
List of Habitats:	-

Threats
Major Threat(s):	Apart from the locality within Malolotja Nature Reserve, the is likely to be ongoing habitat degradation in the areas where this species has been recorded. The record from within the Mbabane urban area only has approximate locality information, so it is not known whether it has been affected by urban expansion. Most of the highveld grassland areas outside of protected areas are subject to ongoing heavy grazing and burning.
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):

Apart from the locality within Malolotja Nature Reserve, the is likely to be ongoing habitat degradation in the areas where this species has been recorded. The record from within the Mbabane urban area only has approximate locality information, so it is not known whether it has been affected by urban expansion. Most of the highveld grassland areas outside of protected areas are subject to ongoing heavy grazing and burning.

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 been recorded from within Malolotja Nature Reserve, but the other known localities are all outside formally protected areas.
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: