Red List Status
LC - Least Concern, (IUCN version 3.1)

Red List Assessment

Red List Status

Is the reassessment subject to the 5-year rule? (Not specified)

Assessment Information

Date of Assessment: 2023-01-28

Reviewed? (Not specified)

Assessor(s): Braun, K.

Reviewer(s): (Not specified)

Contributor(s): (Not specified)

Facilitators/Compilers: (Not specified)

Institution(s): (Not specified)

Acknowledgements: (Not specified)

Regions: Global

Regional Expert Questions: (Not specified)

Assessment Rationale

Cyphia bolusii has an estimated extent of occurrence of 25,175.683 km² although nearly all the records fall within a much smaller range. The area of occupancy is 68 km². There are ongoing threats to this plant from habitat degradation from overgrazing by livestock through most of its range, and possible expansion of forestry plantations. However, at the time of this assessment there is no evidence in a decline in the population of this species, and based on this, it has been assessed as Least Concern.
Date last seen: 2022

Reasons for Change

Reason(s) for Change in Red List Category from the Previous Assessment: (Not specified)

Red List Index

Red List Index: (Not specified)

Distribution

Geographic Range

This species has been recorded from the Eswatini highveld, from the neighbouring areas in Mpumalanga and two more widespread records, one from the Underberg area, and one from the Volksrust area.

Area of Occupancy (AOO)

Estimated area of occupancy (AOO) - in km2	Justification
68	The estimated area of occupancy has been based on 26 records for this species, calculated using GeoCAT (Bachman et al. 2011), with the standard 2x2 km grid cell being applied.

Continuing decline in area of occupancy (AOO)	Qualifier	Justification
Unknown	-	-

Extreme fluctuations in area of occupancy (AOO)	Justification
Unknown	-

Extent of Occurrence (EOO)

Estimated extent of occurrence (EOO)- in km2	EOO estimate calculated from Minimum Convex Polygon	Justification
25175.683	true	The estimated extent of occurrence is based on 26 records for this species, calculated using GeoCAT (Bachman et al. 2011).

Continuing decline in extent of occurrence (EOO)	Qualifier	Justification
Unknown	-	-

Extreme fluctuations in extent of occurrence (EOO)	Justification
Unknown	-

Locations Information

Number of Locations	Justification
25	The number of locations has been estimated from 26 records for this species.

Continuing decline in number of locations	Qualifier	Justification
Unknown	-	-

Extreme fluctuations in the number of locations	Justification
Unknown	-

Very restricted AOO or number of locations (triggers VU D2)

Very restricted in area of occupancy (AOO) and/or # of locations	Justification
No	The estimated area of occupancy for this species is 68 km2, well over the 20 km2 guideline for categorizing it as very restricted.

Elevation / Depth / Depth Zones

Elevation Lower Limit (in metres above sea level): 765

Elevation Upper Limit (in metres above sea level): 1695

Depth Lower Limit (in metres below sea level): (Not specified)

Depth Upper Limit (in metres below sea level): (Not specified)

Depth Zone: (Not specified)

Map Status

Map Status: (Not specified)

Biogeographic Realms

Biogeographic Realm: Afrotropical

Country	Presence	Origin	Formerly Bred	Seasonality
Eswatini	Extant	Native	-	Resident
South Africa -> KwaZulu-Natal	Extant	Native	-	Resident
South Africa -> Mpumalanga	Extant	Native	-	Resident

Population

No detailed population surveys have been conducted for this species. It appears to be fairly widespread within the Eswatini highveld areas, in grassland that has not been subjected to heavy grazing and burning. For the purposes of this assessment, it has been assumed that this species still occurs in localities from older records, as appropriate habitat still exists in these areas.

Population Information

Current Population Trend: Unknown

Number of mature individuals (=population size): (Not specified)

Extreme fluctuations? (in # of mature individuals): (Not specified)

Severely fragmented? (Not specified)

Continuing decline in mature individuals? (Not specified)

Continuing decline % in mature individuals within 1 generation or 3 years, whichever is longer (up to max. of 100 years in the future): (Not specified)

Continuing decline % in mature individuals within 2 generations or 5 years, whichever is longer (up to max. of 100 years in the future): (Not specified)

Continuing decline % in mature individuals within 3 generations or 10 years, whichever is longer (up to max. of 100 years in the future): (Not specified)

Extreme fluctuations in the number of subpopulations: (Not specified)

Continuing decline in number of subpopulations: (Not specified)

All individuals in one subpopulation: (Not specified)

Number of mature individuals in largest subpopulation: (Not specified)

Number of Subpopulations: (Not specified)

Population Reduction - Past

Percent Change in past: (Not specified)

Past Population Reduction Basis: (Not specified)

Causes of past reduction reversible? (Not specified)

Causes of past reduction understood? (Not specified)

Causes of past reduction ceased? (Not specified)

Population Reduction - Future

Percent Change in future: (Not specified)

Future Population Reduction Basis: (Not specified)

Population Reduction - Ongoing

Both: Percent Change over any 10 year or 3 generation period, whichever is longer, and must include both past and future, future can't go beyond 100 years: (Not specified)

Both Population Reduction Basis: (Not specified)

Causes of both (past and future) reduction reversible? (Not specified)

Causes of both (past and future) reduction understood? (Not specified)

Causes of both (past and future) reduction ceased? (Not specified)

Quantitative Analysis

Probability of extinction in the wild within 3 generations or 10 years, whichever is longer, maximum 100 years: (Not specified)

Probability of extinction in the wild within 5 generations or 20 years, whichever is longer, maximum 100 years: (Not specified)

Probability of extinction in the wild within 100 years: (Not specified)

Habitats and Ecology

This species has been recorded from primarily grassland areas, in vegetation types KaNgwane Montane Grassland (Gm16), Ithala Quartzite Sourveld (Gs2), Barberton Montane Grassland (Gm17), and Swaziland Sour Bushveld (SVI14) within Eswatini, and from Amersfoort Highveld Clay Grassland (Gm13), Barberton Montane Grassland (Gm17) and Drakensberg Foothill Moist Grassland (Gs10) in South Africa (Mucina et. al. 2018). The two records which appear to be from the Swaziland Sour Bushveld might be misleading, due to only approximate locality information being available for these records.

IUCN Habitats Classification Scheme

Habitat	Season	Suitability	Major Importance?
4.7. Grassland -> Grassland - Subtropical/Tropical High Altitude	-	Suitable	Yes

Continuing Decline in Habitat

Continuing decline in area, extent and/or quality of habitat?	Qualifier	Justification
Yes	Inferred	There is an ongoing decline in the status of the highveld grassland areas in Eswatini and neighbouring areas, due to heavy grazing and landscape transformation due to forestry plantations.

Life History

Generation Length: (Not specified)

Age at maturity: female or unspecified: (Not specified)

Age at Maturity: Male: (Not specified)

Size at Maturity (in cms): Female: (Not specified)

Size at Maturity (in cms): Male: (Not specified)

Longevity: (Not specified)

Average Reproductive Age: (Not specified)

Maximum Size (in cms): (Not specified)

Size at Birth (in cms): (Not specified)

Gestation Time: (Not specified)

Reproductive Periodicity: (Not specified)

Average Annual Fecundity or Litter Size: (Not specified)

Annual Rate of Population Increase: (Not specified)

Natural Mortality: (Not specified)

Does the species lay eggs? (Not specified)

Does the species give birth to live young: (Not specified)

Does the species exhibit parthenogenesis: (Not specified)

Does the species have a free-living larval stage? (Not specified)

Does the species require water for breeding? (Not specified)

Movement Patterns

Movement Patterns: (Not specified)

Congregatory: (Not specified)

Systems

System: Terrestrial

Plant / Fungi Specific

Wild relative of a crop? (Not specified)

Plant and Fungal Growth Forms: (Not specified)

Use and Trade

General Use and Trade Information

Species not utilized: (Not specified)

No use/trade information for this species: true

General notes regarding trade and use of this species: (Not specified)

Local Livelihood: (Not specified)

National Commercial Value: (Not specified)

International Commercial Value: (Not specified)

End Use: (Not specified)

Is there harvest from captive/cultivated sources of this species? (Not specified)

Trend in level of total offtake from wild sources: (Not specified)

Trend in level of total offtake from domesticated sources: (Not specified)

Harvest Trend Comments: (Not specified)

Non- Consumptive Use

Non-consumptive use of the species? (Not specified)

Explanation of non-consumptive use: (Not specified)

Livelihoods

Livelihoods: (Not specified)

Threat	Timing	Scope	Severity
2.2.2. Agriculture & aquaculture -> Wood & pulp plantations -> Agro-industry plantations	Ongoing	Unknown	Rapid Declines
2.3.2. Agriculture & aquaculture -> Livestock farming & ranching -> Small-holder grazing, ranching or farming	Ongoing	Majority (50-90%)	Slow, Significant Declines

Conservation

The known distribution of this species includes records from within Malolotja Nature Reserve in Eswatini and Songimvelo Game Reserve in South Africa. These however only account for a small proportion of the range of this species.

Conservation Actions In- Place

Action Recovery Plan	Note
No	-

Systematic monitoring scheme	Note
No	-

Conservation sites identified	Note
Yes, over part of range	-

Occur in at least one PA	Note
Yes	This species has been recorded from Malolotja Nature Reserve in Eswatini, and from Songimvelo Game Reserve in South Africa.

Percentage of population protected by PAs (0-100)	Note
1-10	-

Area based regional management plan	Note
No	-

Invasive species control or prevention	Note
No	Within Malolotja Nature Reserve there are ongoing invasive species control measures being implemented, but for most of the range of this species, there is little control of invasive species.

Harvest management plan	Note
No	-

Successfully reintroduced or introduced benignly	Note
No	-

Subject to ex-situ conservation	Note
No	-

Subject to recent education and awareness programmes	Note
No	-

Included in international legislation	Note
No	-

Subject to any international management/trade controls	Note
No	-

Important Conservation Actions Needed

Important Conservation Actions Needed: (Not specified)

Research Needed

Research Needed: (Not specified)

Cyphia bolusii - E.Phillips