|
Scientific Name | Leucadendron chamelaea (Lam.) I.Williams |
Higher Classification | Dicotyledons |
Family | PROTEACEAE |
Synonyms | Leucadendron decurrens R.Br. |
Common Names | Witsenberg Conebush (e) |
National Status |
Status and Criteria | Critically Endangered A2abc+4abc |
Assessment Date | 2020/07/15 |
Assessor(s) | A.G. Rebelo, H. Mtshali, D. Raimondo, R. Koopman & N.A. Helme |
Justification | This species once occurred commonly from the Koue Bokkeveld to Breede River Valley, but through the intensification of agricultural practices, it has suffered severe population reduction and is now facing a high risk of extinction. It has an extent of occurrence (EOO) of 2 770 km². Subpopulations are severely fragmented and continues to decline due to ongoing habitat loss and degradation. A population reduction of 84% over two generations (1992 to 2015) is estimated based on outright loss of subpopulations that were quantified during surveys that took place between 1992 and 2002. The few remaining subpopulations are concentrated in the lower part of its range, the Breede River Valley, where agricultural and development pressure remains high. In excess of 90% loss to the population is predicted to take place over a three generation time period from 1992 to 2037. This species therefore qualifies for listing as Critically Endangered under criterion A. |
Distribution |
Endemism | South African endemic |
Provincial distribution | Western Cape |
Range | It is endemic to the Western Cape Province in South Africa, where it occurs from the Koue Bokkeveld to Franschhoek Valley. |
Habitat and Ecology |
Major system | Terrestrial |
Major habitats | Breede Alluvium Renosterveld, Winterhoek Sandstone Fynbos, Cederberg Sandstone Fynbos, Breede Shale Fynbos, Kouebokkeveld Shale Fynbos, Breede Sand Fynbos, Leipoldtville Sand Fynbos, Breede Alluvium Fynbos, Kouebokkeveld Alluvium Fynbos |
Description | It occurs in seasonally damp sandy flats, 150-1000 m. Mature individuals are killed by fires, and only seeds survive. Seeds are released after ripening, and is stored in surface leaf-litter. It is dioecious, with insect-pollinated male and female flowers occurring on separate plants. It has a generation length of 15 to 20 years linked to natural fire return intervals. |
Threats |
| This species' habitat has been severely reduced by cultivation of fruit vineyards, potatoes and other cash crops. It has lost 50-80% of its habitat, and loss continues (5-15%) loss between 1990 and 2014). Remaining subpopulations are now confined in small isolated pockets between agricultural fields where fires are infrequent. These subpopulations are lost on an ongoing basis due to the clearing of road verges and the intensification of cultivation taking place. Loss is ongoing due to expansion fruit orchards, vineyard planting, potato and cash crop cultivation, wetland drainage, alien plant invasion, browsing and overgrazing. Extensive subpopulations that used to occur in the road verges along the main roads have also been lost as a result of governments public works programmes to clear road verges that have taken place on an ongoing basis since 2004. |
Population |
Formerly extensive subpopulations in the Breede River Valley, Witsenberg Vlakte and Koue Bokkeveld have been severely reduced and fragmented by agricultural expansion, with most plants now persisting in small remnants and road verges. A large proportion (30%) of the remaining subpopulation in the Breede River Valley was lost to road verge clearing in 2004. The majority of a large subpopulation of several thousand plants on the Witsenberg Vlakte recorded during Protea Atlas Monitoring between 1995 and 1997 has subsequently been lost to expanding orchards. A total of 283 stands of this plant have been recorded over the past 30 years, of these 114 (41%) have gone extinct, many of these included the larger known stands with the total population declining from an estimated 99199 mature individuals in 1992 to 15465 mature individuals in 2015 (84% decline). Only a handful of large subpopulations remain with the majority concentrated in the Breede River Valley where agricultural and infrastructural development pressure remains extremely high. The only large remaining large subpopulation, with about 1000 mature individuals, is in the northern Koue Bokkeveld. The rate of loss has been extremely high over the past two generations (84%), and is likely to continue resulting in an over 90% loss to the population projected to take place between 1992 and 2037 (three generations).
|
Population trend | Decreasing |
Conservation |
| Only a few subpopulations are currently conserved, one subpopulation of less than 100 plants is conserved in the Groot Winterhoek Nature Reserve, another subpopulaitn of 50 to 100 plants is conserved in the Welbedaght Nature Reserve and a third, the largest remaining extant subpopulation of 1000 plants at Tandfontein in the Northern Koubokkeveld. |
Assessment History |
Taxon assessed |
Status and Criteria |
Citation/Red List version | | Leucadendron chamelaea (Lam.) I.Williams | CR A4c | Raimondo et al. (2009) | | Leucadendron chamelaea (Lam.) I.Williams | Endangered | Hilton-Taylor (1996) | | Leucadendron chamelaea (Lam.) I.Williams | Endangered | Hall et al. (1980) | |
Bibliography |
Goldblatt, P. and Manning, J.C. 2000. Cape Plants: A conspectus of the Cape Flora of South Africa. Strelitzia 9. National Botanical Institute, Cape Town.
Hall, A.V. and Veldhuis, R.N.J. 1985. South Arican red data book: Plants - Fynbos and Karoo biomes. South African National Scientific Programmes Report 117. CSIR, Pretoria.
Hall, A.V., De Winter, M., De Winter, B. and Van Oosterhout, S.A.M. 1980. Threatened plants of southern Africa. South African National Scienctific Programmes Report 45. CSIR, Pretoria.
Hilton-Taylor, C. 1996. Red data list of southern African plants. Strelitzia 4. South African National Botanical Institute, Pretoria.
Manning, J.C. and Goldblatt, P. 2012. Plants of the Greater Cape Floristic Region 1: The Core Cape Flora. Strelitzia 29. South African National Biodiversity Institute, Pretoria.
Raimondo, D., von Staden, L., Foden, W., Victor, J.E., Helme, N.A., Turner, R.C., Kamundi, D.A. and Manyama, P.A. 2009. Red List of South African Plants. Strelitzia 25. South African National Biodiversity Institute, Pretoria.
Rebelo, T. 2001. Sasol Proteas: A field guide to the proteas of southern Africa. (2nd ed.). Fernwood Press, Vlaeberg, Cape Town.
|
Citation |
| Rebelo, A.G., Mtshali, H., Raimondo, D., Koopman, R. & Helme, N.A. 2020. Leucadendron chamelaea (Lam.) I.Williams. National Assessment: Red List of South African Plants version . Accessed on 2025/05/14 |
Comment on this assessment
