| IUCN Species Information Service (SIS) Toolkit |
| Assessment Report | |
| Taxonomy | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kingdom | Phylum | Class | Order | Family |
| PLANTAE | TRACHEOPHYTA | LILIOPSIDA | ASPARAGALES | ORCHIDACEAE |
| Scientific Name: | Polystachya zuluensis |
| Species Authority: | L.Bolus |
| 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 has a restricted distribution, with an extent of occurrence (EOO) of 2,406.135 km2 and an area of occupancy (AOO) of 36 km2. A decline in habitat quality is inferred as the population of Xerophyta retinervis, on which this species is epiphytic has been observed to be declining due to too frequent burning. It is therefore assessed as Vulnerable under criterion B. | |
| History: | - |
| Geographic Range | |
|---|---|
| Range Description: | This species has a disjunct distribution, with the majority of the records being from the Eswatini highveld, and one record from the Ubombo area in KwaZulu Natal in South Africa. |
| Countries: | Native: Eswatini; KwaZulu-Natal; |
| Population | |
|---|---|
| Population: | There is currently no detailed survey information for this species. For the purposes of this assessment, it has been assumed that the plant still occurs in the locations from older records, as its habitat is still present. However, it is inferred that there is a decline in the population due to habitat degradation. |
| Population Trend: | Decreasing |
| Habitat and Ecology | |
|---|---|
| Habitat and Ecology: | This species is a pseudobulbous epiphyte or lithophyte, usually found growing on Xerophyta retinervis. The majority of the records for this species are from highveld grassland areas in Eswatini, vegetation type KaNgwane Montane Grassland (Gm16), and the one record from South Africa in Southern Lebombo Bushveld (SVI16). |
| List of Habitats: | 4 Grassland 4.7 Grassland - Subtropical/Tropical High Altitude |
| Threats | |
|---|---|
| Major Threat(s): | There is ongoing habitat degradation of highveld grassland areas within Eswatini, the populations of Xerophyta retinervis, on which this species is found, are still present in heavily grazed and burnt areas. However, these host plants are being damaged by too frequent burning which is causing a slow but ongoing loss of habitat. |
| List of Threats: | 2 Agriculture & aquaculture 2.3 Livestock farming & ranching 2.3.2 Small-holder grazing, ranching or farming |
| Conservation Actions | |
|---|---|
| Conservation Actions: | This species has not been recorded from within any formally protected areas, although it has recently been located within a proposed conservancy. |
| 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. 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: | - |