Trochetiopsis erythroxylon

– Extinct in the Wild

Taxonomy

Kingdom:

PLANTAE

Phylum:

TRACHEOPHYTA

Class:

MAGNOLIOPSIDA

Order:

MALVALES

Family:

STERCULIACEAE

Scientific Name:

Trochetiopsis erythroxylon

Species Authority:

(Forst.f.) Marais

Common Name/s:

English

—

REDWOOD

Assessment Information

Red List Category & Criteria:

EW ver 3.1 (2001)

Year Assessed:

2003

Assessor/s:

Cairns-Wicks, R.

Evaluator/s:

Cronk, Q. & Clubbe, C. (South Atlantic Island Plants Red List Authority)

History:

1978	-	Endangered as Trochetia erythroxylon (Lucas and Synge 1978)
1997	-	Endangered (Walter and Gillett 1998)
1998	-	Extinct in the Wild (Oldfield et al. 1998)

Geographic Range

Countries:

Regionally extinct:

Saint Helena

Population

Population:

The Redwood soon became heavily exploited for its excellent timber and its bark which, like that of the Ebony, was used for tanning hides, after the settlement of the Island and had already become extremely rare by 1718.
Further losses of Redwoods were likely when flax plantations were established in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. By the mid 20th century only one redwood survived in Peak Gut. This single tree is the source of all the Redwoods we know today.

Habitat and Ecology

Habitat and Ecology:

The Redwood grew at mid elevations (500–750 m) in what historically was moist woodland within the range of both cabbage tree and moist gumwood woodlands. Formerly abundant under the Central Ridge and in Gullies on the Central Ridge.

System:

Terrestrial

List of Habitats:

1.6	Forest - Subtropical/Tropical Moist Lowland
6	Rocky areas (eg. inland cliffs, mountain peaks)

Threats

Threats:

Inbreeding depression and a depauperate gene pool are manifest in the poor growth and high mortality of cultivated specimens.

List of Threats:

1.1.4	Habitat Loss/Degradation - Agriculture - Livestock (past)
1.3.3.2	Habitat Loss/Degradation - Extraction - Wood - Selective logging (past)

Conservation Actions

Conservation Actions:

The hybrid of cultivated forms of this species and T. ebenus is extremely vigorous and may provide the only chance of survival for this part of the gene pool.
The Draft Recovery Action Plan for T. erythroxylon puts forward three recovery plan objectives, the aim of these objectives is to re-establish a viable population in nature. The objectives are:

1. to maintain all existing stock in local and international collections;
2. to maintain a programme of cross-pollinations that minimises inbreeding; and
3. to manage all planting programmes.

List of Conservation Actions:

5.7.1	Species-based actions - Ex situ conservation actions - Captive breeding/Artificial propagation (in place, needed)
5.7.2	Species-based actions - Ex situ conservation actions - Genome resource bank (in place, needed)

Bibliography

Bibliography:

Cairns-Wicks, R. Draft Recovery Action Plan for Trochetiopsis erythroxylon (Sterculiaceae)

Cronk, Q.C.B. 2000. The Endemic Flora of St. Helena. Anthony Nelson Publishers, Oswestry UK.

IUCN. 2003. 2003 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. www.iucnredlist.org. Downloaded on 18 November 2003.

Lucas, G.L.l. and Synge, H. (compilers) 1978. The IUCN Plant Red Data Book. IUCN, Morges, Switzerland.

Oldfield, S., Lusty, C. and MacKinven, A. (compilers) 1998. The World List of Threatened Trees. World Conservation Press, Cambridge, UK.

Percy, D.M. and Cronk, Q.C.B. 1997. Conservation in relation to mating system in Nesohedyotis arborea (Rubiaceae), a rare endemic tree from St. Helena. Biological Conservation 80(2): 135-146.

Royal Botanic Gardens Kew and International Institute for Environment and Development. 1993. Report on sustainable environmental development strategy and action plan for St Helena. Vol. 3. Status of the endemic flora and preliminary recovery programmes.

Seal, U.S., Maunder, M., Pearce-Kelly, P., Mace, G. and Clark, D. 1993. Conservation assessment and management plan. St. Helena Island. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.

Citation:	Cairns-Wicks, R. 2003. Trochetiopsis erythroxylon. In: IUCN 2007. 2007 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 30 August 2008.
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