Tectaria vieillardii is an endemic terrestrial fern from New Caledonia, where it has only been recorded from the Koumac area (Koumac caves and Tchabel) in the north of Grande Terre. It grows in low elevation dry tropical forest on volcano-sedimentary substrates up to 50 m asl. Its extent of occurrence (EOO) and area of occupancy (AOO) are both 4 km² and the number of locations is estimated to be one. This species is heavily threatened by habitat degradation, caused by bushfires and Rusa Deer (Rusa timorensis). There have been only two observations of single individuals near the Koumac caves, and the species has not been seen at Tchabel since 1966. Therefore, T. vieillardii is listed as Critically Endangered (CR), under criteria B1ab(iii,v)+2ab(iii,v); C2a(i,ii); D.

Geographical area

T. vieillardii is endemic to New Caledonia, where it is only known from the Koumac area (Koumac caves and Tchabel), in the north of Grande Terre.

Population

There have been only two observations of single individuals near the Koumac caves since 1966, indicating that this species is very rare.

Habitat

This terrestrial or saxicolous fern grows in low elevation dry tropical forest on volcano-sedimentary substrate, up to 50 m asl.

Threats

This species is heavily threatened by habitat degradation, caused by bushfires and rusa deer (Rusa timorensis).

Conservation

T. vieillardii is not protected by legislation in New Caledonia and does not occur in any protected areas. This species would benefit from ex situ and in situ emergency conservation actions. It is strongly recommended to monitor and preserve known populations in delimited areas, and to inform the local authority responsible for the coordination of the firefighting effort about the presence of the species in the concerned areas. Finally, prospection is urgently needed in the Koumac area (mostly at Tchabel, where is has not been seen since 1966) in order to confirm the presence of the species and better estimate the size and the state of the population.

Bibliography

Munzinger J., Morat Ph., Jaffré T., Gâteblé G., Pillon Y., Rouhan G., Bruy, D., Veillon J.-M., & M. Chalopin. 2019. FLORICAL: Checklist of the vascular indigenous flora of New Caledonia..

Dong, S.-Y. 2019. A taxonomic revision of Tectaria (Tectariaceae) from New Caledonia.

Brownlie G. 1969. Flore de la Nouvelle-Calédonie et Dépendances, Volume 03 : Pteridophytae.

Endemia.nc 2016. Faune et Flore de Nouvelle-Calédonie.

Experts

Assessor(s): Amice, R., Butin, J., Cazé, H., Fleurot, D., Garnier, D., Héquet, V., Perrie, L., Suprin, B., Vandrot, H.

Reviewer(s): Rouhan, G.

Facilitator(s): Warimavute, G., Meyer, S.