Assessment Report - Barleria lebomboensis

	IUCN Species Information Service (SIS) Toolkit
	Assessment Report

Taxonomy
Kingdom	Phylum	Class	Order	Family
PLANTAE	TRACHEOPHYTA	MAGNOLIOPSIDA	LAMIALES	ACANTHACEAE

Scientific Name:	Barleria lebomboensis
Species Authority:	I.Darbysh., McCleland & Froneman
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. & Darbyshire, I.
Reviewer/s:	Raimondo, D.
Contributor/s:
Facilitator/s:
Institutions/s:
Justification: A restricted Eswatini endemic that has a very small extent of occurrence (EOO), ranging from 24 km² based on its currently known area of occupancy (AOO), with an estimated maximum of 80 km² based upon modelling of its preferred habitat and modelled AOO (Darbyshire et. al., 2017). It has been found in three locations. Its habitat is restricted, and the majority of the area where it is found is subject to habitat degradation due to overgrazing. It also faces the potential future threat of competition from alien invasive plants. Based on this, it has been assessed as Endangered, under Criterion B.
History:	-

Geographic Range
Range Description:	This species is known from the higher altitude areas in the Lubombo Mountains in eastern Eswatini with an elevation range of 370 – 560 m a.s.l. It has not yet been found in the neighboring Mozambican portion of the Lubombo Mountains and as modelled distribution suggests, it could conceivably just extend into Mozambique, although only within a very small area.
Countries:	Native: Eswatini;

Population
Population:	It is known only from bushclump grassveld areas on the summit of the Lubombo Mountains. Two of the records are from the late 1970's, but there is no evidence that the plant no longer occurs in these areas. Investigation of the southern and central extent of its known distribution in 2023 confirmed its presence, but also confirmed habitat degradation in this area, where the bushclump grassveld is becoming thicket, due to prolonged overgrazing by livestock. Observations made in 2023 showed that this species occurs frequently within the bushclump grassveld areas within its known range, but no additional observations were made outside this range. The current population trend is unknown.
Population Trend:	Unknown

Population

Population:

It is known only from bushclump grassveld areas on the summit of the Lubombo Mountains. Two of the records are from the late 1970's, but there is no evidence that the plant no longer occurs in these areas. Investigation of the southern and central extent of its known distribution in 2023 confirmed its presence, but also confirmed habitat degradation in this area, where the bushclump grassveld is becoming thicket, due to prolonged overgrazing by livestock. Observations made in 2023 showed that this species occurs frequently within the bushclump grassveld areas within its known range, but no additional observations were made outside this range. The current population trend is unknown.

Population Trend:

Unknown

Habitat and Ecology
Habitat and Ecology:	This species has been found in the Lubombo Mountains in the savanna biome, vegetation type Southern Lebombo Bushveld (SVI16) (Mucina et. al. 2018). The description of this species in Darbyshire et. al., 2017 includes the following information on habitat and ecology: "The type locality is in a mosaic of short, closed grassland on shallow, gravel soils with numerous low rhyolite outcrops and scattered dense, low evergreen thickets. This is the typical vegetation association on hilltops above 450 m in elevation on the summit of the Lebombo range in Swaziland. The plants grow in grassland in full sun or in partial shade of low shrubs."
List of Habitats:	2 Savanna 2.2 Savanna - Moist

Habitat and Ecology

Habitat and Ecology:

This species has been found in the Lubombo Mountains in the savanna biome, vegetation type Southern Lebombo Bushveld (SVI16) (Mucina et. al. 2018). The description of this species in Darbyshire et. al., 2017 includes the following information on habitat and ecology:
"The type locality is in a mosaic of short, closed grassland on shallow, gravel soils with numerous low rhyolite outcrops and scattered dense, low evergreen thickets. This is the typical vegetation association on hilltops above 450 m in elevation on the summit of the Lebombo range in Swaziland. The plants grow in grassland in full sun or in partial shade of low shrubs."

List of Habitats:

2 Savanna
2.2 Savanna - Moist

Threats
Major Threat(s):	One of the locations for this species falls within Mlawula Nature Reserve, which is affected by livestock grazing from time to time, although as at March 2023, the area was observed to be in good condition. The other two locations are in areas which are subject to ongoing heavy grazing by livestock, one location within the proposed Mhlumeni community conservation area, the other unprotected. There is also a potential threat of the spread of Lantana camara and Chromolaena odorata, degrading this species' habitat. As at March 2023, the areas where this species was observed were not yet infested, but these invasive alien species are a major problem further south on the Lubombo mountains.
List of Threats:	2 Agriculture & aquaculture 2.1 Annual & perennial non-timber crops 2.1.2 Small-holder farming 2.3 Livestock farming & ranching 2.3.2 Small-holder grazing, ranching or farming 8 Invasive and other problematic species, genes & diseases 8.1 Invasive non-native/alien species/diseases 8.1.2 Named species 8.1.2 Named species

Threats

Major Threat(s):

One of the locations for this species falls within Mlawula Nature Reserve, which is affected by livestock grazing from time to time, although as at March 2023, the area was observed to be in good condition. The other two locations are in areas which are subject to ongoing heavy grazing by livestock, one location within the proposed Mhlumeni community conservation area, the other unprotected. There is also a potential threat of the spread of Lantana camara and Chromolaena odorata, degrading this species' habitat. As at March 2023, the areas where this species was observed were not yet infested, but these invasive alien species are a major problem further south on the Lubombo mountains.

List of Threats:

2 Agriculture & aquaculture
2.1 Annual & perennial non-timber crops
2.1.2 Small-holder farming
2.3 Livestock farming & ranching
2.3.2 Small-holder grazing, ranching or farming
8 Invasive and other problematic species, genes & diseases
8.1 Invasive non-native/alien species/diseases
8.1.2 Named species
8.1.2 Named species

Conservation Actions
Conservation Actions:	This species is known from within Mlawula Nature Reserve, within the proposed Mhlumeni community conservation area, an ecotourism initiative within the Lubombo Conservancy, and unprotected community land in the Mhlumeni area. At the time of the assessment, the Mhlumeni community conservation area does not have any formal conservation status and is still heavily grazed.
List of Conservation Actions:	1 Land/water protection 1.1 Site/area protection 3 Species management 3.4 Ex-situ conservation 3.4.2 Genome resource bank

Bibliography
	Bachman, S., Moat, J., Hill, A.W., 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. Darbyshire, I, McCleland, W & Froneman, W. 2017. Barleria lebomboensis (Acanthaceae), an endangered new species from the Lebombo Mountains of Swaziland. Phytotaxa 323: 174. 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, A.W., 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.
Darbyshire, I, McCleland, W & Froneman, W. 2017. Barleria lebomboensis (Acanthaceae), an endangered new species from the Lebombo Mountains of Swaziland. Phytotaxa 323: 174.
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: