Taxonomy
Red List Status -
Near Threatened (NT) , assessed in 03/07/2017Protected species -
in Southern Province , in Northern Province
Limited to four widely disjunct locations near the summits of mountains. One population occurs above a mine and most threats come from bushfires impacting lower parts of these mountains. While the area of occupancy (44 km²) and the extent of occurrence (5,388 km²) are within the threshold for endangered, subpopulations are not directly threatened. Hence, this species is assessed as Near Threatened (NT) in recognition of the fact that a change could indicate an assessment of Endangered under the B criteria.
Geographical area
This species is only known from five high peaks in four locations on Grande Terre (1000 to 1,400 m asl). The main localities are at Mont Mou, Mé Maoya, Mt. Nakada and Mont Nékandi. The extent of occurrence is estimated to be about 5,388 km2 with an area of occupancy of about 44 km2. Records from low altitude areas such as Koumac (Valle de la Rade) and the Ile de Pins represent atypical locations and need further investigation.
Population
Some subpopulations (Mé Maoya) are rather abundant, others are reported to host around 100 mature trees.
Habitat
Restricted to high altitude montane tropical rainforest, with Araucaria (on Mont Mou) and many other different angiosperms.
Threats
This species does not seem directly threatened thanks to its altitudinal habitat. One subpopulation is located close to a nickel mine (Camp des Sapins) but the mining is not likely to occur at the altitude where this species occurs. Fires are also a plausible threat impacting lower parts of these massifs. Predicted increases in average annual temperature, changes in rainfall patterns and other manifestations of climate change could decrease the area of suitable habitat for this species.
Conservation
This species is legally protected in province Sud and province Nord. Only one of the locations (Mont Mou) is a within a protected area. Mining is not prohibited in this area.
Bibliography
Farjon, A., Bachman, S., Gardner, M.F., Luscombe, D., Reynolds, C. and Thomas, P. 2006. Conservation Assessments of Data Deficient (DD) Conifers Using Herbarium and Geographical Information System (GIS) data..
Morat, P.; Jaffré, T.; Tronchet, F.; Munzinger, J.; Pillon, Y.; Veillon, J.-M. and Chalopin, M. 2012. Le référentiel taxonomique Florical et les caractéristiques de la flore vasculaire indigène de la Nouvelle-Calédonie [The taxonomic database « FLORICAL » and characteristics of the indigenous flora of New Caledonia]. Adansonia sér 3(34) , p.177-219.
de Laubenfels, D.J. 1972. Flore de la Nouvelle-Calédonie et dépendances..
Munzinger J., Morat Ph., Jaffré T., Gâteblé G., Pillon Y., Rouhan G., Bruy, D., Veillon J.-M., & M. Chalopin 2020. FLORICAL: Checklist of the vascular indigenous flora of New Caledonia [continuously updated].
Endemia.nc 2016. Faune et Flore de Nouvelle-Calédonie.
Jaffré, T., Munzinger, J. & Lowry, P.P. 2010. Threats to the conifer species found on New Caledonia’s ultramafic massifs and proposals for urgently needed measures to improve their protection.. Biodiversity and Conservation (19) , p.1485-1502.
Farjon, A. 2001. World Checklist and Bibliography of Conifers. 2nd edition..
Experts
Assessor(s): Amice, R., Cazé, H., Dumontet, V., Fleurot, D., Garnier, D., Héquet, V., Lagrange, A., Lannuzel, G., McCoy, S., Suprin, B., Veillon, J.
Reviewer(s): Thomas, P., Munzinger, J., Jaffré, T., Gardner, M.
Contributor(s): Gueugnier, C., Butaud, J.
Facilitator(s): Maura, J., Tanguy, V.