Assessment Report - Selago swaziensis

	IUCN Species Information Service (SIS) Toolkit
	Assessment Report

Taxonomy
Kingdom	Phylum	Class	Order	Family
PLANTAE	TRACHEOPHYTA	MAGNOLIOPSIDA	LAMIALES	SCROPHULARIACEAE

Scientific Name:	Selago swaziensis
Species Authority:	Rolfe ex Bolus
Common Name/s: -
Synonym/s:	-
Taxonomic Notes:	-

Assessment Information
Red List Category & Criteria:	Least Concern N/A
Year Assessed:	2023
Assessor/s:	Braun, K. & Loffler, L.
Reviewer/s:	Raimondo, D.
Contributor/s:
Facilitator/s:
Institutions/s:
Justification: This species is endemic to Eswatini and is known from 16 subpopulations, with an extent of occurrence (EOO) of 555.673 km² and an area of occupancy (AOO) of 56 km². This plant's habitat preference for rocky hilltops appears to provide it with protection from the threats of livestock grazing and other forms of land transformation, so, in spite of the very restricted distribution, it is assessed as Least Concern.
History:	-

Geographic Range
Range Description:	This species is found in the Eswatini highveld in the Mbabane area, the distribution ranging south to Mhlambanyatsi and Lobamba, and north to Malolotja Nature Reserve and the Maphalaleni area.
Countries:	Native: Eswatini;

Population
Population:	No population surveys have been conducted for this species. For the purposes of this assessment, it has been assumed that this species still occurs at locations from older records, as the habitat is still present. There have also been a number of recent observations. It is known from at least 16 subpopulations and is still likely under surveyed. The population trend is stable as it occurs in a micro habitat that buffers it from the impacts of burning and livestock grazing.
Population Trend:	Stable

Population

Population:

No population surveys have been conducted for this species. For the purposes of this assessment, it has been assumed that this species still occurs at locations from older records, as the habitat is still present. There have also been a number of recent observations. It is known from at least 16 subpopulations and is still likely under surveyed. The population trend is stable as it occurs in a micro habitat that buffers it from the impacts of burning and livestock grazing.

Population Trend:

Stable

Habitat and Ecology
Habitat and Ecology:	This species is found in the Eswatini highveld in rocky hilltop habitats, vegetation type KaNgwane Montane Grassland (Gm16) (Mucina et. al. 2018).
List of Habitats:	4 Grassland 4.7 Grassland - Subtropical/Tropical High Altitude

Threats
Major Threat(s):	Although this species has a restricted distribution, its habitat, growing in amongst rocks on hilltops, appears to provide protection for this plant from grazing. There is no known decline in the extent and quality of this micro habitat. In spite of the distribution extending into forestry plantation areas, the topography and rocky nature of this species' habitat mean that it is probably unsuitable for planting, and loss of habitat for this plant is probably limited.
List of Threats:	2 Agriculture & aquaculture 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):

Although this species has a restricted distribution, its habitat, growing in amongst rocks on hilltops, appears to provide protection for this plant from grazing. There is no known decline in the extent and quality of this micro habitat. In spite of the distribution extending into forestry plantation areas, the topography and rocky nature of this species' habitat mean that it is probably unsuitable for planting, and loss of habitat for this plant is probably limited.

List of Threats:

2 Agriculture & aquaculture
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:	One subpopulation of this species has been recorded from Malolotja Nature Reserve. In addition, it has recently been recorded within a proposed conservancy. As the species has been recorded from Ukuthula, a prime candidate for an urban green space, the establishment of a flora reserve in this area would also contribute to increased protection of this endemic species.
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: