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Scientific Name | Conophytum caroli Lavis |
Higher Classification | Dicotyledons |
Family | AIZOACEAE |
Synonyms | Conophytum singulare G.D.Rowley, Ophthalmophyllum australe L.Bolus, Ophthalmophyllum caroli (Lavis) Tischer |
National Status |
Status and Criteria | Critically Endangered A4d |
Assessment Date | 2021/11/16 |
Assessor(s) | A.J. Young, P.G. Desmet, I. Ebrahim, D. Guo, A. Harrower, L. Jabar, L. Knoetze, C. Rodgerson, P.C.V. Van Wyk & N.N. Mhlongo |
Justification | This succulent is endemic to the Western and Northern Cape provinces of South Africa with an extent of occurrence (EOO) of 901 km2 and area of occupancy (AOO) of 20 km2. The population is experiencing rapid decline due to the illegal ornamental succulent plant trade, with collection likely to increase as there has been a dramatic increase in the volume of plants targeted since 2019. The continued threat of illegal collection is regarded as very high for this particular species given its proximity to human habitation a future decline of up to 90% of the population is likely within the next 10 years. Climate change is also highly likely to impact the population although there is uncertainty of the response given the expected resilience of this taxon. This species therefore qualifies as Critically Endangered under criterion A4. |
Distribution |
Endemism | South African endemic |
Provincial distribution | Northern Cape, Western Cape |
Range | This species is endemic to a small part of the Western Cape and Northern Cape provinces of South Africa where it occupies a restricted geographic range. The subpopulations lie on the western boundary of Bushmanland, an area that has generally been poorly explored. |
Habitat and Ecology |
Major system | Terrestrial |
Major habitats | Platbakkies Succulent Shrubland, Namaqualand Blomveld |
Description | This species is endemic to the Namaqualand Hardeveld bioregion of the Succulent Karoo biome and experiences winter rainfall. The plants are typically semi-submerged into soft soils, often in patches of calcrete. This species has a generation length of 30 years. It is expected to be sensitive to the impacts of climate change as it does not disperse and while adapted to arid conditions, is dependent on limited seasonal rainfall. Species in the genus are sensitive to long periods of drought. Drought related mortality has been observed for other closely related taxa within the genus. |
Threats |
| This species is currently threatened by illegal collection for the international trade in ornamental succulents. This is likely to increase in future as there has been a dramatic increase in the number of species and volume of plants targeted since 2019. One of the two largest subpopulations has been subject to illegal collection and the other large subpopulation lies very close to human habitation and is likely to be targeted in the near future. Despite having a cryptic semi-subterranean habit poachers are using brooms to expose plants.
Anthropogenic climate change is a long-term threat to this species. While it is not possible to model the response of this species to climate change due to its restricted distribution, the average loss to climate change for 15 more widely distributed Conophytum species occurring within the same region is used as an indication of likely impact to this species. Climate models for the likely emission scenarios where emissions stay at present day levels (RCP 2.6) (Hausfather and Peters 2020) and worst case scenarios where emissions continue to increase during the 21st century (RCP 8.5) indicate that there will be a loss of suitable bioclimatic envelope of between 72% and 99% by 2080 for Conophytum taxa within the region. However, as this taxon possesses certain morphological traits likely to afford resilience to xerophytic conditions it is expected to have a level of resilience to climate change and the expected population loss is reduced by 20% to 5%. Species in this genus have limited dispersal ability and migration to suitable habitats elsewhere is regarded as highly unlikely. |
Population |
Two of the three disjunct subpopulations consist of approx. 500-750 individuals each, a third subpopulation is much larger (approx. 2,500). The highly cryptic, semi-subterranean, nature of this species may result in an underestimation of both the number of subpopulations and mature individuals. The population is declining rapidly due to illegal collection for the ornamental succulent plant trade. A minimum of 1,175 plants have been removed from the wild between 2019 and the end of 2021 based on confiscation records, with many more have likely been removed but not intercepted by law enforcers.
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Population trend | Decreasing |
Assessment History |
Taxon assessed |
Status and Criteria |
Citation/Red List version | | Conophytum caroli Lavis | VU D1+2 | 2017.1 | | Conophytum caroli Lavis | Rare | Raimondo et al. (2009) | | Conophytum caroli Lavis | Not Threatened | Hilton-Taylor (1996) | | Ophthalmophyllum australe L.Bolus | Indeterminate | Hall et al. (1980) | |
Bibliography |
Hammer, S. 2002. Dumpling and his wife: New view of the genus Conophytum. EAE Creative Colour, Norwich.
Hammer, S.A. 1993. The genus Conophytum: A conograph. Succulent Plant Publications, Pretoria.
Hausfather, Z. and Peters, G.P. 2020. Emissions - the 'business as usual' story is misleading. Nature 577(618-620).
Opel, M.R. 2004. The rediscovery of Crassula alcicornis. Haseltonia 10:38-40.
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Citation |
| Young, A.J., Desmet, P.G., Ebrahim, I., Guo, D., Harrower, A., Jabar, L., Knoetze, L., Rodgerson, C., Van Wyk, P.C.V. & Mhlongo, N.N. 2021. Conophytum caroli Lavis. National Assessment: Red List of South African Plants version . Accessed on 2024/12/07 |
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