Assessment Report - Cyphia pectinata

	IUCN Species Information Service (SIS) Toolkit
	Assessment Report

Taxonomy
Kingdom	Phylum	Class	Order	Family
PLANTAE	TRACHEOPHYTA	MAGNOLIOPSIDA	ASTERALES	CAMPANULACEAE

Scientific Name:	Cyphia pectinata
Species Authority:	E.Wimm.
Common Name/s: -
Synonym/s:	-
Taxonomic Notes:	-

Assessment Information
Red List Category & Criteria:	Vulnerable B1ab(ii,iii)+2ab(ii,iii)
Year Assessed:	2023
Assessor/s:	Braun, K. & Loffler, L.
Reviewer/s:	Raimondo, D.
Contributor/s:
Facilitator/s:
Institutions/s:
Justification: This species is only known from ten locations within Eswatini, with an extent of occurrence (EOO) of 2050.064 km², and an area of occupancy (AOO) of 56 km². The population trend is currently unknown, but inferred to be declining due to ongoing loss and degradation of habitat. Based on this, it has been assessed as Vulnerable, under Criterion B.
History:	-

Geographic Range
Range Description:	This species is known from fourteen records from Eswatini, extending from east of Hlatikhulu in the south, to the Maphalaleni Valley in the north.
Countries:	Native: Eswatini;

Population
Population:	No detailed population information is currently available for this species. It was first recorded in 1948 near Manzini. Observations within the last ten years extend its distribution to the south, and the recent identification of specimens collected by Prof. Compton in the 1950's and 60's have further extended its range. Parts of its range have been subject to major changes in land use, including forestry, agriculture and urban development. As the precise locality for the older records is not known, it is not possible to assume that they are no longer found in these areas, but it is likely that their habitat is under threat. Based on ongoing loss and degradation of suitable habitat the population is inferred to be declining.
Population Trend:	Decreasing

Population

Population:

No detailed population information is currently available for this species. It was first recorded in 1948 near Manzini. Observations within the last ten years extend its distribution to the south, and the recent identification of specimens collected by Prof. Compton in the 1950's and 60's have further extended its range. Parts of its range have been subject to major changes in land use, including forestry, agriculture and urban development. As the precise locality for the older records is not known, it is not possible to assume that they are no longer found in these areas, but it is likely that their habitat is under threat. Based on ongoing loss and degradation of suitable habitat the population is inferred to be declining.

Population Trend:

Decreasing

Habitat and Ecology
Habitat and Ecology:	There is very little information currently available for this species. Based on approximate locality information, this plant has been observed in a range of vegetation types, including KaNgwane Montane Grassland (Gm16), Ithala Quartzite Sourveld (Gs2), Swaziland Sour Bushveld (SVI14) and Granite Lowveld (SVI3) (Mucina et. al. 2018).
List of Habitats:	2 Savanna 2.2 Savanna - Moist 4 Grassland 4.7 Grassland - Subtropical/Tropical High Altitude

Threats
Major Threat(s):	Two of the records for this species were from within a proposed community conservation area, however this doesn't protect the species from grazing since livestock will still be kept within these areas. The remaining subpopulations are in areas with no conservation measures in place, and are subject to changing land-uses including construction of infrastructure, crop farming and other rural development. As the older records do not have precise locality information, it is not possible to confirm whether these populations have been lost due to land use changes.
List of Threats:	1 Residential & commercial development 1.1 Housing & urban areas 2 Agriculture & aquaculture 2.1 Annual & perennial non-timber crops 2.1.4 Scale Unknown/Unrecorded 2.2 Wood & pulp plantations 2.2.2 Agro-industry plantations 2.3 Livestock farming & ranching 2.3.2 Small-holder grazing, ranching or farming

Threats

Major Threat(s):

Two of the records for this species were from within a proposed community conservation area, however this doesn't protect the species from grazing since livestock will still be kept within these areas. The remaining subpopulations are in areas with no conservation measures in place, and are subject to changing land-uses including construction of infrastructure, crop farming and other rural development. As the older records do not have precise locality information, it is not possible to confirm whether these populations have been lost due to land use changes.

List of Threats:

1 Residential & commercial development
1.1 Housing & urban areas
2 Agriculture & aquaculture
2.1 Annual & perennial non-timber crops
2.1.4 Scale Unknown/Unrecorded
2.2 Wood & pulp plantations
2.2.2 Agro-industry plantations
2.3 Livestock farming & ranching
2.3.2 Small-holder grazing, ranching or farming

Conservation Actions
Conservation Actions:	More information is needed on this species before a conservation plan can be developed. It has been found within the Ngwempisi community conservation area, and support and upgrading of this area would assist the potential survival of this species. It also occurs within Mlilwane Game Sanctuary.
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, 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. 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.
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: