Nesiota elliptica

– Extinct

Taxonomy

Kingdom:	PLANTAE
Phylum:	TRACHEOPHYTA
Class:	MAGNOLIOPSIDA
Order:	RHAMNALES
Family:	RHAMNACEAE
Scientific Name:	Nesiota elliptica
Species Authority:	(Roxb.) Hook.f.
Common Name/s:	OLIVE (Eng) ST HELENA OLIVE (Eng)

Assessment Information

Red List Category & Criteria:

EX ver 3.1 (2001)

Year Assessed:

2004

Assessor/s:

Cairns-Wicks, R.

Evaluator/s:

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

Justification:

The last known tree surviving in the wild died in 1994 and the only known plant still in cultivation died in December 2003. No other live material (plants, seeds or tissues) remains in local or international collections.

History:

1998	-	Extinct in the Wild (Oldfield et al. 1998)
2003	-	Extinct in the Wild (IUCN 2003)

Geographic Range

Range Description:

Previously known from localised subpopulations on the highest parts of the eastern central ridge. N. elliptica became noticeably rare in the nineteenth century, when the subpopulation was recorded as consisting of only 12 to 15 trees on the northern side of Diana's Peak, after a time this subpopulation was thought to be extinct. In 1977 a single tree was discovered on a precipitous cliff near Diana's Peak, this was reported to have died in 1994. The last remaining plant in cultivation died in December 2003. The genus is monotypic.

Countries:

Regionally extinct:

Saint Helena

Habitat and Ecology

Habitat and Ecology:	A small tree, that was known to be pollinated by an endemic syrphid fly, which also visits other endemic trees.
System:	Terrestrial

Threats

Threats:

The threat to this species was loss of habitat through felling for timber and to make way for plantations.
N. elliptica also has a self-incompatibility mechanism (99% self-incompatible), making successful propagation difficult. Pests and systemic fungal infections that are carried through to seed are other threats that are affecting the survival of N. elliptica.

List of Threats:

1.1.4	Habitat Loss/Degradation - Agriculture - Livestock (past)
9.2	Intrinsic factors - Poor recruitment/reproduction/regeneration (past)

Conservation Actions

Conservation Actions:

The Draft Recovery Action Plan for this species set out a number of objectives to encourage the long-term persistence of the Olive, these objectives were:
1. To maintain and encourage the growth of the Olive at Pounceys
2. To carry out pollinations when the tree is in flower
3. To establish seed in micropropagation at the RBG Kew

List of Conservation Actions:

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

Bibliography

Bibliography:

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

Holland, M., Cronk, Q., MacDonald, D. and Holland, M. 1986. The Endemic Flora of St. Helena. The Government of St. Helena, St Helena.

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

Jackson, A. 1991. Project Popeye – Saving the St Helena Olive. Preliminary report to the World Wide Fund for Nature. WWF Project No. 162/89. Wakehurst Place, RBG, Kew.

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

Citation:	Cairns-Wicks, R. 2004. Nesiota elliptica. In: IUCN 2007. 2007 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 06 July 2008.
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