Cyanea superba

– Extinct in the Wild

Taxonomy

Kingdom:	PLANTAE
Phylum:	TRACHEOPHYTA
Class:	MAGNOLIOPSIDA
Order:	CAMPANULALES
Family:	CAMPANULACEAE
Scientific Name:	Cyanea superba
Species Authority:	(Cham.) A.Gray
Infra-specific Taxa Assessed:	See Cyanea superba ssp. regina See Cyanea superba ssp. superba

Assessment Information

Red List Category & Criteria:

EW ver 3.1 (2001)

Year Assessed:

2003

Assessor/s:

Bruegmann, M.M. & Caraway, V.

Evaluator/s:

Maunder, M. (Plant Conservation Committee) & Hilton-Taylor, C. (Red List Programme Office)

Justification:

Cyanea superba was endemic to the island of O'ahu, Hawaii. It was known from the northern Waianae Mountains and the southern Koolau Mountains. Only the Waianae subspecies superba was known to be extant. More than 60 plants in two subpopulations were known in the 1970s. The subspecies (and species) then declined down to only one subpopulation containing about five plants. But those too have now finally gone. The major threats to the species and its habitats were alien plants, feral pigs, slugs and fire.

History:

1998

Critically Endangered (Oldfield et al. 1998)

Geographic Range

Range Description:

Cyanea superba was endemic to the island of O'ahu, Hawaii. It was known from the northern Waianae Mountains and the southern Koolau Mountains. The subspecies regina was historically present in the southern Koolau Mountains, but has not been collected since 1932. After its collection in 1870, there were no further documented sightings of Cyanea superba ssp. superba until its rediscovery in the Waianae Mountains in 1971.

Countries:

Regionally extinct:

United States (Hawaiian Is.)

Habitat and Ecology

Habitat and Ecology:

Grew in the understorey of lowland forest (535–700 m).

System:

Terrestrial

List of Habitats:

1.6	Forest - Subtropical/Tropical Moist Lowland

Threats

Threats:

The major threats to the species and its habitats included invasive alien plants, predation by feral pigs, and rats and slugs. Other major threats included wildfires generated by activities in the nearby military firing range. The restricted range of the species also made it very vulnerable to small local disturbances, and hence the last few individuals were easily destroyed.

List of Threats:

1.7	Habitat Loss/Degradation - Fires (past)
2.1	Invasive alien species (directly affecting the species) - Competitors (past)
2.2	Invasive alien species (directly affecting the species) - Predators (past)

Conservation Actions

Conservation Actions:

Protective measures and planting were being carried out at Pahole as part of a Recovery Plan. The taxon is listed under the US Endangered Species Act. Plants are still extant in botanic gardens.

List of Conservation Actions:

5.7.1

Species-based actions - Ex situ conservation actions - Captive breeding/Artificial propagation (in place)

Bibliography

Bibliography:

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

NatureServe. 2003. NatureServe Explorer: An online encyclopedia of life [web application]. Version 1.8. NatureServe, Arlington, Virginia. (Accessed: October 20, 2003).

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

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Pacific Region. 1997. Draft recovery plan for Oahu plants. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Portland, Oregon.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 2003. Rare plant database. Unpublished.

Wagner, W., Herbst, D. and Sohmer S. 1999. Manual of the Flowering Plants of Hawaii. Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum Special Publication 91: 1-1918.

Citation:	Bruegmann, M.M. & Caraway, V. 2003. Cyanea superba. In: IUCN 2007. 2007 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 28 August 2008.
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