Common Names: No Common Names
Synonyms: No Synonyms

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: 2023-01-19

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

Rhoicissus napaeus is an evergreen tendril climber, found only within Eswatini.  It is however quite widespread within the country, with an estimated extent of occurrence of 3915.684 km2. It appears to be tolerant of habitat degradation, and is therefore not considered to be threatened.  Based on this, it has been assessed as Least Concern.
Date last seen: 2017

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 is found in the Eswatini middleveld, ranging from Mahamba in the south, to the Nyonyane area in the north.

Area of Occupancy (AOO)

Estimated area of occupancy (AOO) - in km2Justification
176The estimated area of occupancy for this species is based on 50 records, calculated using GeoCAT (Bachman et al. 2011), with the standard 2x2 km grid cell being applied.
Continuing decline in area of occupancy (AOO)QualifierJustification
NoInferredThis species appears to be tolerant of degraded habitats.

Extreme fluctuations in area of occupancy (AOO): (Not specified)

Extent of Occurrence (EOO)

Estimated extent of occurrence (EOO)- in km2EOO estimate calculated from Minimum Convex PolygonJustification
3915.684trueThe estimated extent of occurrence is based on 50 records, calculated using GeoCAT (Bachman et al. 2011).
Continuing decline in extent of occurrence (EOO)QualifierJustification
NoInferredThis species appears to be tolerant of degraded habitats.

Extreme fluctuations in extent of occurrence (EOO): (Not specified)

Locations Information

Number of LocationsJustification
48The number of locations is based on 50 records for this species.
Continuing decline in number of locationsQualifierJustification
NoInferredThis species appears to be tolerant of degraded habitats.

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

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

Very restricted in area of occupancy (AOO) and/or # of locationsJustification
NoThis species has been recorded from over 40 locations, with an estimated area of occupancy of 176 km2.

Elevation / Depth / Depth Zones

Elevation Lower Limit (in metres above sea level): 425

Elevation Upper Limit (in metres above sea level): 1050

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

Occurrence

Countries of Occurrence

CountryPresenceOriginFormerly BredSeasonality
EswatiniExtantNative-Resident

Large Marine Ecosystems (LME) Occurrence

Large Marine Ecosystems: (Not specified)

FAO Area Occurrence

FAO Marine Areas: (Not specified)

Population

In addition to herbarium specimens, photographic records and vegetation survey data, this species was included in the Swaziland Tree Atlas (Loffler, 2005), with a total of 50 records currently known for this plant.

Population Information

Current Population Trend: Stable

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 is known from mainly savanna vegetation types, but also extends into the highveld grassland areas, namely Swaziland Sour Bushveld (SVI14), Granite Lowveld (SVI3), Ithala Quartzite Sourveld (Gs2) and KaNgwane Montane Grassland (Gm16) (Mucina et. al. 2018).

IUCN Habitats Classification Scheme

HabitatSeasonSuitabilityMajor Importance?
2.2. Savanna -> Savanna - Moist-SuitableYes
4.7. Grassland -> Grassland - Subtropical/Tropical High Altitude-SuitableNo

Continuing Decline in Habitat

Continuing decline in area, extent and/or quality of habitat?QualifierJustification
NoInferredThis species appears to survive in degraded habitats.

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)

Threats

There are currently no known threats for this species.

Threats Classification Scheme

No past, ongoing, or future threats exist to this species. (Not specified)

The threats to this species are unknown. (Not specified)

Threats: (Not specified)

Conservation

Most of the range of this species falls outside formal protected areas, although it has been recorded from the Mlilwane North area.

Conservation Actions In- Place

Action Recovery PlanNote
No-
Systematic monitoring schemeNote
No-
Conservation sites identifiedNote
No-
Occur in at least one PANote
YesThis species has been recorded from within Mlilwane Game Sanctuary, in the Mlilwane North area.
Percentage of population protected by PAs (0-100)Note
1-10-
Area based regional management planNote
No-
Invasive species control or preventionNote
No-
Harvest management planNote
No-
Successfully reintroduced or introduced benignlyNote
No-
Subject to ex-situ conservationNote
No-
Subject to recent education and awareness programmesNote
No-
Included in international legislationNote
No-
Subject to any international management/trade controlsNote
No-

Important Conservation Actions Needed

Important Conservation Actions Needed: (Not specified)

Research Needed

Research Needed: (Not specified)

Ecosystem Services

Ecosystem Services Provided by the Species

Insufficient Information AvailableAll coded services should have an importance score of 5 - Not Known.
true-

Species provides no ecosystem services: (Not specified)

Ecosystem Services: (Not specified)

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.

Loffler L., Loffler P. 2005. Swaziland Tree Atlas. Sabonet.

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.