Journal of
Threatened Taxa | www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26 July 2018 | 10(8): 12056–12063
Conservation status of Mascarene Amaranth
Aerva congesta Balf.F. Ex Baker (Eudicots: Caryophyllales:
Amaranthaceae): a Critically Endangered endemic herb
of the Mascarenes, Indian Ocean
Kersley Bruno Pynee¹, David Harold Lorence² & Poojanraj
Khurun³
¹ The Mauritius Herbarium, Agricultural
Services, Ministry of Agro-Industry and Food Security, Reginald Vaughan
Building, Mauritius Cane Industry Authority Compound, Réduit,
Mauritius
² National Tropical Botanical Garden, 3530
Papalina Road, Kalaheo, HI 96741, USA
³ The Forestry Service, Mauritius,
Ministry of Agro Industry and Food Security, Head Office, Botanical Garden
Street, Les Casernes, Curepipe, Mauritius
1 kpynee@govmu.org (corresponding author), 2
lorence@ntbg.org, 3 pkhurun@govmu.org
Abstract: Aerva
congesta Balf.f. ex Baker (Amaranthaceae), an
endemic of Mascarene Islands (Mauritius and Rodrigues) is assessed for its
conservation status. Considering its local extinction in Rodrigues and very
small population in Mauritius, in Round Island and at Gris Gris,
south of Mauritius its area of occupancy (AOO) is estimated at 8km². Due to its small AOO and threats by
increasing native vegetation and alien species, A. congesta
is evaluated as Critically Endangered following the latest IUCN Red List
criteria. The species needs an urgent
well-defined restoration program and ecological studies to prevent its
extinction.
Keywords: Amaranthaceae,
conservation status, extinction, Mauritius, Rodrigues.
doi: http://doi.org/10.11609/jott.2402.10.8.12056-12063
Editor: F.B. Vincent Florens, University of
Mauritius, Moka, Mauritius. Date of publication: 26 July
2018 (online & print)
Manuscript
details: Ms # 2402 | Received 04 January 2017 | Final received 12 June 2018 |
Finally accepted 20 July 2018
Citation: Pynee, K.B, D.H. Lorence
& P. Khurun. (2018). Conservation
status of Mascarene Amaranth Aerva congesta Balf.F. Ex Baker (Eudicots:
Caryophyllales: Amaranthaceae):
a Critically Endangered endemic herb of the Mascarenes,
Indian Ocean. Journal of Threatened Taxa 10(8): 12056–12063; http://doi.org/10.11609/jott.2402.10.8.12056-12063
Copyright: © Pynee. et al. 2018. Creative
Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. JoTT
allows unrestricted use of this article in any medium, reproduction and
distribution by providing adequate credit to the authors and the source of
publication.
Funding: None.
Competing interests: The authors declare
no competing interests.
Author Details: Mr. Kersley Bruno Pynee, is a
Senior Technical Assistant at The Mauritius Herbarium, Agronomy Division,
Agricultural Services of the Ministry of Agro-Industry & Food Security. His
main research interests are botanical survey, population survey of Critically
Endangered plants, plant
identification and conservation of plant species. He is holder of a BSc in
Botany with specialisation in Environmental
Management. He has 16 years of experience in botanizing and identifying the
local flora. David H. Lorence, Ph.D., is
Director of the Science and Conservation Department and Curator of the
Herbarium at the National Tropical Botanical Garden. His research specialties
are systematics and floristics of tropical plants,
specifically the Rubiaceae and Monimiaceae
families and ferns of the Pacific and Indian Ocean islands. Mr. Poojanraj Khurun is Deputy Conservator of
Forest in the Forestry Service of the Ministry of Agro-Industry & Food
Security of Mauritius. He is holder of a MSc in
Forestry Management. He has 17 years of
experience in forest management and biodiversity conservation.
Author Contribution: KBP: participated in botanical survey at Gris Gris
where he collected and identified the plant; contributed also in taxonomic and editorial
expertise. DHL: contributed taxonomic and editorial expertise. PK: organized and participated in field
survey at Gris Gris and contributed in editorial
expertise
Acknowledgements: We thank the Sir Seewoosagur
Ramgoolam Botanic Garden Trust, Pamplemousses,
Ministry of Agro-Industry & Food Security (MoAIFS)
for organizing the field trips, the staff from the National Parks &
Conservation Service (MoAIFS) and the Mauritian
Wildlife Foundation for sharing information on the species. Comments from Cláudia
Baider greatly improved the manuscript.
Introduction
The genus Aerva Forssk.
(Amaranthaceae) consists of 21 species (The Plant
List 2013) distributed mostly in the arid or semi-arid regions of the
world. Bojer
(1837) noted three species of Aerva on
Mauritius, A. lanata (L.) Juss., A. caudata Bojer (nomen nudum), and A. chenopodifolia
Bojer (now Nothosaerva
brachiata (L.) Wight), which are considered as
native. Later, Baker (1877) described
three species of Aerva on Mauritius,
two perennials, A. lanata and A. congesta Balf. f. ex Baker, and one annual, A. brachiata
Mart. More recently, Townsend (1994)
listed three species, the Mascarene endemic A. congesta,
and two alien species formerly known only from cultivation, A. lanata and A. sanguinolenta
(L.) Blume.
Referring
to Townsend (1994) and Sukhorukov (2013), Aerva congesta is one of the
two known endemic species of the Amaranthaceae in the
Mascarene Islands (South West Indian Ocean) (Image 1). It is known from both Mauritius (Image 2) and
Rodrigues (Image 3), but is not recorded on Réunion
Island. The first
specimen was collected by Balfour in 1879 where he indicated that the
species grew as a small compact herb present on coralline limestone, in
association with Abrotanella rhynchocarpa Balf.f. (= Rhamphogyne rhynchocarpa S. Moore) and Oldenlandia
sieberi Baker var. congesta. According to Strahm
(1989) A. congesta has not been seen or
collected on Rodrigues since Balfour, and it is probably extinct there;
extensive surveys made on mainland Rodrigues (e.g., Anse
Quitor) and some islets (e.g., Ile Gombrani, Ile Chat, Ile Crabe)
were unfruitful (Wiehe 1949; Cadet 1972, 1975; Guého 1980; Smith et al. 2004a,b). On Mauritius, Strahm
(1989) quoted that there were recent collections from one locality on mainland
Mauritius, but only samples from Round Island, an outer islet northern of
Mauritius (Image 2), were accessed at The Mauritius Herbarium.
Material and
Methods
In June
2013, while carrying out a preliminary population survey of the endemic fern, Ctenitis maritima (Pynee & Khurun 2013) at Gris Gris, in the village of Souillac,
south coastal region of Mauritius (-20.525260S and 57.530860E,
6m elevation) (from Google Earth), the authors (KBP & PK) collected an
interesting small prostrate herb, 0.8–3.2 cm tall, on border of the
cliffs. Two small patches of A. congesta sized 1.8 x 2 cm and 6 x 12.5 cm with a
distance of 2.2m between them and consisting of around 10 plants were
found. Through closer study and
comparison with herbarium specimens and using the ‘Flore
des Mascareignes’ at The Mauritius Herbarium (MAU),
the sample collected was identified as Aerva
congesta Balf.f. ex Baker. The
herbarium specimen is deposited at The Mauritius Herbarium, Department of
Agricultural Services for the Ministry of Agro Industry and Food Security
(Image 4). Significant morphological
characters, locality, absolute location, elevation, phenology, other associated
species and distribution data were included in the herbarium label.
The
actual collection at The Mauritius Herbarium (MAU 0014824) of this small herb
is the first sample from mainland Mauritius accessed for this herbarium. The small dimensions of the species, coupled
with the steepness of cliffs at Gris Gris (Image 5),
are likely to have contributed towards it not being recently collected in this
locality.
All MAU
available collections before 2014 were from Round Island, with only one voucher
(Strahm s.n., MAU 0016304)
giving details of its habitat or ecology, showing that the species was
restricted to an area near a big gully and below the helipad (-19.856680S
and 57.786290E; 63m elevation) (from Google Earth), and found
occasionally in cracks on bare rocks, similar to where the species was found at
Gris Gris.
Results
Aerva congesta in the Mascarenes
is extant only on Mauritius and is believed to be extinct in Rodrigues. This halophyte species grows in open areas
and bare rocks, within the salt-sprayed region (Strahm
1986; Bullock et al. 2002; Lavergne 2007; Khadun et al. 2008).
On Round Island it grows with native species of grasses, forming the
only native dominated community in this islet (Johansson 2003) and includes a
subpopulation of around 19 individuals (A. Gungadurdoss,
pers. comm. 21 June 2016). At Gris Gris, the species shows a similar ecology; it is found
rooted in rock crevices of exposed cliffs in association with the native
grasses and sedges, including (Zoysia matrella (L.) Menill, Stenotaphrum dimidiatum
(L.) Brongn. and Fimbristylis
cymosa R.Br.), as well as other native species (Dichondra repens J.R.
Forst. & G. Forst., Ctenitis maritima (Cordem.) Tardieu and Selaginella obtusa Spring).
In Gris Gris, the fire prone alien invasive
grass Heteropogon contortus
(L.) P.Beauv. ex Roem. & Schult. is also present.
Evaluation of current conservation status
(IUCN 2001)
The
whole population of the species is considered under ‘2 locations’ comprising
two subpopulations. The extent of
occurrence (EOO) of the species cannot be calculated from two localities and is
deemed to be small. Taking the
topographic limitations throughout its geographic range, the Area of Occupancy
(AOO) was measured as 8.0km² (800ha) and the number of mature individuals was
29.
Criterion
B: B1: The EOO
of the species cannot be computed from two localities and is deemed to be very
limited. Of the three conditions to be
fulfilled under B1, the species is found to qualify for two: (a) severely
fragmented and (b) continuing decline observed under the sub criteria: (iii)
area, extent and or quality of habitat and (v) number of mature individuals.
B2: The AOO is 8.0km² and since this estimate is less than 10km², and fulfils
two of the three conditions: (a) severely fragmented, and (b) continuing
decline observed under the sub criteria: (iii) area, extent and or quality of
habitat, and (v) number of mature individuals; the species qualifies under
‘Critically Endangered’ category.
Criterion
C: C2: Based
on observed, estimated, projected and inferred continuing decline, the
species is ‘Critically Endangered’ as it qualifies under C2, fulfilling one of
the two conditions: (a) (i) number of mature
individuals in each subpopulation comprises less than 50 mature individuals.
Criterion
D: Since the
estimated population comprises less than 50 mature individuals it qualifies
under ‘Critically Endangered’ category.
Final
assessment: CR B1ab(iii,v) & B2ab(iii,v); C2a(i); D (Appendix 1).
Discussion
The
species has been closely monitored on Round Island for nearly four decades and
has always occurred in low density (Strahm 1986;
Bullock et al. 2002; Khadun et al. 2008), with an
estimated population of less than 100 individuals (Page 1995). From 1975 to 1996 the density and
distribution remained unchanged (Bullock et al. 2002) even after eradication of
invasive alien goats and rabbits, indicating that grazing by alien species
seemed not to have been a threat. This
could be related to the fact that the species might be adapted to grazing as
both Mauritius and Rodrigues had two species of giant tortoises each. On the other hand, the species has declined
by 50–60 % in more recent times and it was mentioned that increasing native
vegetation cover could be the main threat on Round Island (Khadun et
al. 2008). Indeed, it is known that
grazing can promote species co-existence by reducing interspecific competition
between plants and thereby reducing likelihood of competitive exclusion of one
plant by another (Begon et al. 2006). In 2007, an analogue species of extinct
tortoises of Mauritius, the Giant Aldabra Aldabrachelys
gigantea and the Madagascan Radiated Tortoise Astrochelys radiata,
were introduced to Round Island to help restore ecological function such as
grazing and seed dissemination (Griffiths et al. 2013). The number of individuals of the species on
Round Island after introduction of these tortoises has, however, decreased from
an estimated population of less than 100 individuals (Page 1995; Bullock et al.
2002) to a subpopulation of 16 individuals (A. Gungadurdoss,
pers. comm. 21 June 2016).
As a
safeguard conservation action, the species is successfully propagated at the
nursery of the Nature Reserve of Ile aux Aigrettes since over a decade. The propagated plants were used for both
augmenting the population of Round Island (Khadun et
al. 2008), and also trying to establish a new population on Ile aux
Aigrettes. Of the 50 individuals planted
on Ile aux Aigrettes in 2013, however, none survived the first year (M. Goder, pers. comm. 24 July 2014).
The
discovery of a new population at Gris Gris reduces
the species’ chances of extinction.
However, the newly discovered population in Gris Gris
is very small. Furthermore, there are
signs of natural erosion of the cliff around where the species is growing,
decreasing the number of suitable sites.
The presence of alien invasive weeds, as well as fast-growing native
species, like Stenotaphrum dimidiatum has potentially negative impacts on A. congesta at Gris Gris
through interspecific interactions detrimental to native plant populations as
shown elsewhere on the island (Baider & Florens 2011). To
conserve the recently located population, we suggest setting up ex situ
propagation by the institutions concerned like the National Parks &
Conservation Service and the Forestry Service; avoiding mixing the plants from
the two populations to preserve their eventual genetic distinctiveness. A minor weeding would minimize the negative
effect posed by alien species as well as the fast growing grasses like Z. matrella and S. dimidiatum;
however, this needs to be well planned to minimize soil erosion. A restoration program should also be
implemented to increase native cover of the site that contains other threatened
native species like the fern Ctenitis maritima and the endemic liana Cissus
anulata Desc., which is known only from this region of the island;
taking into account not to create too much shade over the plant which requires
substantial exposure to thrive.
Considering
the failed augmentation on Round Island since 2004 and the failed introduction
on Ile aux Aigrettes in 2013, we suggest setting up systematic research to
better understand the ecological requirements of the species. Finally, it is advisable to survey similar
habitats in Mauritius, Rodrigues and Réunion to try
to locate eventual new populations.
Specimens
examined: Mauritius:
Round Island, 22.vii.1968, Michel, s.n. (MAU
0015990); August 1975, Bullock et al., s.n. (MAU
0015991); August 1978 Gardner et al. s.n. (MAU
0016305); 2.viii.1986, Strahm s.n.
(MAU 0016304); Gris Gris, 23.vii.2013, -20.525277S;
57.530555E, 9m elevation, Pynee et al. s.n. (MAU 0014824); Ile aux Aigrettes, 24.vii.2014,
-20.420833S; 57.730833E, 8m elevation, Pynee s.n. (MAU 0016024; cultivated).
Rodrigues: no loc., August–December 1874, Balfour s.n. (holotype K 000243711; isotype M).
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Appendix 1. Assessment
RED LIST ASSESSMENT (IUCN 2001): Aerva
congesta
Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Caryophyllales
Family: Amaranthaceae
Subfamily: Amaranthoideae
Genus: Aerva
Species: congesta
Authority: Isaac Bayley Balfour, 1877.
Common name: Mascarene Amaranth
Taxonomic notes: The species was
described first by Isaac Bayley Balfour (1877) with
distribution in Rodrigues, where its presence was observed as frequent on the
island. Type specimen is from Rodrigues:
Balf.f. s.n.,
1874 (holo. K, 1 sheet; isotyp. M, 1). The species is considered valid and Aerva congesta is
an accepted name as per version 1.1 of The Plant List (2013).
Assessment
Information
Red List Category and Criteria (Version 3.1): Critically
Endangered CR B1ab(iii,v) & B2ab(iii,v); C2a(i); D.
Justification: The whole population
of the species is restricted to two severely fragmented locations comprising
two sub-populations. The area of
occupancy is estimated as 8km² and the number of mature individuals is 29. Major threats such as erosion, fire, and
alien species keep this species as Critically Endangered due to the continuing
decline observed in the area/quality of habitat and number of mature
individuals.
Geographic Range /
Distribution Information
Range description: The species is
endemic to Mauritius and is found at an elevation range of 3–90 m.
Countries of occurrence: Endemic to Mauritius
and presumed extinct in Rodrigues
Extent of Occurrence (EOO): Not estimated, but
is very small.
Area of Occupancy (AOO): AOO is estimated to
be 8km².
Number of locations: The species is
currently found in two severely fragmented locations
Range map: See Image 2.
Population
Information
Population: The species is
estimated to have about 29 mature individuals, of which 10 are
estimated to be found at Gris Gris and the
remaining 19 on Round Island.
Population trend: The population is
declining. Over the last 10 years the
population has declined by 50–60 %, mainly on Round Island due to various
threats primarily due to competition with fast growing native and alien grasses
and soil erosion.
Habitat And
Ecological Information
Habitat and ecology: This halophyte
species is a small prostrate herb, 0.8–3.2 cm tall, grows in open areas, in
cracks and bare rocks, within the salt-sprayed region on border of the cliffs
and in rock crevices of exposed cliffs at an elevation between 3-90 m. The species is mostly restricted to cliffs
and predominantly brown soils. In
association with the following native species of grasses and sedges (Zoysia matrella
(L.) Menill, Stenotaphrum
dimidiatum (L.) Brongn.
and Fimbristylis cymosa
R.Br.) as well as other native species (Dichondra
repens J.R. Forst.
& G. Forst., Ctenitis maritima (Cordem.) Tardieu and Selaginella
obtusa Spring). In Gris Gris, the
fire prone alien invasive grass Heteropogon
contortus (L.) P.Beauv.
ex Roem. & Schult. is also present. Key threats to the species observed in the
study area are competition with fast growing native and alien grasses;
sometimes competing for resources like light, water and nutrients and leading
to poor plant growth.
System: Small prostrate perennial herb.
Information On
Threats
Major Threats: The main threats to
the two species population are:
Direct competition
for resources such as water, light, nutrients with exotic grasses and other
herbaceous weeds.
Increasing erosion,
mainly during the dry season where there is less ground cover due to die off of
exotic grasses like Heteropogon contortus and where the ground is more vulnerable to
erosion.
Additional threats: Drought; fire;
cyclones; diseases; pest attack; littering (at Gris Gris)
burrowing by Shearwater birds (on Round Island) and thus leading to damage of
plants are other possible threats.
Use And Trade Information
Use: Not known.
Livelihoods and
sustenance: Not reported.
Trend in off take
from the wild: Not reported.
Trend in off take
from cultivation: Not reported.
Information On Conservation Actions
Conservation actions:
The Mauritian
Wildlife Foundation is propagating the species through seeds and cuttings for
augmentation on Round Island and
introduction on Ile aux Aigrettes. Forms
part of the Round Island Plant Restoration Plan
Weeding and planting
in localized patches
Research in place:
Optimising choice of
sites for the augmentation, re-introduction and introduction programmes to
ensure that the correct conditions for the species, including microclimatic
requirements are fulfilled.
Investigating the
translocation of Aerva congesta
to other offshore islets and Rodrigues.
Investigating the
fate of native herbaceous community on Round Island and carrying out weed
management in localized patches.
Research needed:
Setting up systematic
research to better understand the ecological requirements of the species.
Determining the
success of different planting techniques regimes on plant survivorship.
Monitoring in place:
Protecting planted
areas against Shearwater burrowing
Sowing seeds into
restoration areas
Treating restoration
planting and seed sowing as field trials in order to gain valuable information
to aid future restoration work on Round Island and elsewhere.
Education in place: Not known
Education needed: Awareness and
sensitization campaign