Olax hypoleuca var. microphylla is endemic to New caledonia, where it is restricted to the northwest of Grande Terre and the Bélep Islands. This tree or shrub is found in gallery forests or shrubland on ultramafic substrate between 20 and 400 m asl. Known from five locations, its extent of occurrence (EOO) and area of occupancy (AOO) are 503 and 24 km², respectively. The main threats are mining activities and uncontrolled bushfires. Therefore, O. hypoleuca var. microphylla is listed as Endangered (EN) under criteria B1ab(ii,iii,v)+B2ab(ii,iii,v).

Geographical area

O. hypoleuca var. microphylla is endemic to New Caledonia, where it is restricted to the northwest of Grande Terre, as well as Art island (Bélep Islands)

Population

Population size is unknown.

Habitat

O. hypoleuca var. microphylla occurs in gallery forests or shrubland on ultramafic substrate between 20 and 400 m asl.

Threats

The main threats are mining activities at Poum (SLN) and uncontrolled bushfires. The latter may have caused some formerly known subpopulations to disappear.

Conservation

O. hypoleuca var. microphylla is not protected by any legislation in New Caledonia and does not occur in any protected areas. This taxon would benefit from ex situ and in situ emergency conservation actions. It is 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 taxon in the concerned areas. It would also be advised to run multiplication tests in order to assist future planting operations. Finally, prospection is urgently needed to find formerly known subpopulations (Art Island, Taom, Kaala, Poum), better estimate the size of the population and understand potential threats.

Bibliography

Lannuzel, G.; Gâteblé, G.; Fogliani, B. 2017. Etude des Espèces Rares et Menacées des sites miniers de la SMT.

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

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.

Experts

Assessor(s): Amice, R., Barrière, R., Butin, J., Fleurot, D., Lagrange, A., Lannuzel, G., Letocart, I., Suprin, B.

Reviewer(s): Veillon, J.

Contributor(s): Russ, L.

Facilitator(s): Warimavute, G., Tanguy, V.