Taxonomy
Asplenium tenuiculum
Red List Status -
Endangered (EN) , assessed in 30/10/2019
Asplenium tenuiculum is an endemic epiphytic or saxicolous fern from New Caledonia, where it is only known from Mts. Koghis and the northeast of Grande Terre. It grows in dense humid forest on ultramafic or volcano-sedimentary substrate between 400 and 600 m asl. The main threat to this species is habitat degradation by invasive species. Its extent of occurrence (EOO) and area of occupancy (AOO) are 987 and 20 km², respectively, and the number of locations is estimated to be four. Therefore, A. tenuiculum is listed as Endangered (EN) under criteria B1ab(iii)+2ab(iii).
Geographical area
A. tenuiculum is endemic to New Caledonia, where it is only known from Mts. Koghis and the northeast of Grande Terre..
Population
Population size is unknown, but field observation indicate that subpopulations are rather small.
Habitat
This epiphytic or saxicolous fern grows in humid forest on volcano-sedimentary or ultramafic substrate from 400 to 600 m asl.
Threats
The main threat to this species is habitat degradation, caused by invasive species, mainly rusa deer (Rusa timorensis).
Conservation
A. tenuiculum is not protected by legislation in New Caledonia, but it occurs in two protected areas: Vallée de la Thy and Montagne des sources natural reserves. Prospection is strongly recommanded on Grande Terre to improve knowledge on its distribution and threat status. Besides, a taxonomic study is necessary to clarifiy its relationship to A. tenerum, which it is very close to (Xu et al. 2019).
Bibliography
Xu, K.-W. et al. 2019. A global plastid phylogeny of the fern genus Asplenium (Aspleniaceae). Cladistics(36(1)) , p.22-71.
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..
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.