Assessment Report - Drimiopsis comptonii

	IUCN Species Information Service (SIS) Toolkit
	Assessment Report

Taxonomy
Kingdom	Phylum	Class	Order	Family
PLANTAE	TRACHEOPHYTA	LILIOPSIDA	ASPARAGALES	ASPARAGACEAE

Scientific Name:	Drimiopsis comptonii
Species Authority:	U.Müll.-Doblies & D.Müll.-Doblies
Common Name/s: -
Synonym/s:	Ledebouria comptonii (U.Müll.-Doblies & D.Müll.-Doblies) J.C.Manning & Goldblatt
Taxonomic Notes:	-

Assessment Information
Red List Category & Criteria:	Critically Endangered B1ab(iii)+2ab(iii)
Year Assessed:	2023
Assessor/s:	Braun, K.
Reviewer/s:	Raimondo, D. & Mhlongo, N.
Contributor/s:
Facilitator/s:
Institutions/s:
Justification: This species is only known from one location, with an extent of occurrence (EOO) and area of occupancy (AOO) of 4 km². Its habitat is experiencing ongoing decline in quality due to is location within an urban area. It therefore qualifies for listing as Critically Endangered under criterion B.
History:	-

Geographic Range
Range Description:	This species is only known from one locality in the Mbabane area in Eswatini.
Countries:	Native: Eswatini;

Population
Population:	This species is known from only one population where there are 15 stands of between 10 and 100 mature individuals each. The population is considered to be stable.
Population Trend:	Stable

Habitat and Ecology
Habitat and Ecology:	This plant is found in rocky grassland, on south-facing granitic outcrops in peaty pans. The area falls within KaNgwane Montane Grassland Gm16 (Mucina et. al. 2018). The plant appears to be limited to a very specific micro habitat, where they occur in shallow soil on granite sheets.
List of Habitats:	4 Grassland 4.7 Grassland - Subtropical/Tropical High Altitude

Threats
Major Threat(s):	There is a possible threat due to urban development, but due to the topography, it is unlikely to affect the area where this plant has been found. The site is adjacent to a township and is being used recreationally, there is pollution and trampling taking place which is causing the habitat quality to decline. This pressure is likely to steadily increase in future.
List of Threats:	1 Residential & commercial development 1.1 Housing & urban areas 6 Human intrusions & disturbance 6.1 Recreational activities 9 Pollution 9.4 Garbage & solid waste

Conservation Actions
Conservation Actions:	This species has only been recorded from one location, which is currently unprotected. The site was visited in 2022 and 2023, and it was seen that it lends itself to the establishment of a flora reserve. The topography of the area makes it unsuitable for further expansion of urban development, and it includes not only this species, but other species with restricted distributions. The formal protection of this area would not only provide some measure of protection for these plants, but also maintain a green zone within the Mbabane urban area. Ex-situ conservation of this species is a high priority due to it being only known from one location. This would require maintenance of live plants, as it is believed to be recalcitrant and therefore not suited to storage of seed.
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

Conservation Actions

Conservation Actions:

This species has only been recorded from one location, which is currently unprotected. The site was visited in 2022 and 2023, and it was seen that it lends itself to the establishment of a flora reserve. The topography of the area makes it unsuitable for further expansion of urban development, and it includes not only this species, but other species with restricted distributions. The formal protection of this area would not only provide some measure of protection for these plants, but also maintain a green zone within the Mbabane urban area. Ex-situ conservation of this species is a high priority due to it being only known from one location. This would require maintenance of live plants, as it is believed to be recalcitrant and therefore not suited to storage of seed.

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
	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: