Indigofera oblongifolia | UAE National Red List of Vascular Plants

Taxa
Indigofera oblongifolia | Forssk.
Publication
UAE National Red List of Vascular Plants
Location
Countries in Assessment
United Arab Emirates
Country ISO code(s)
ARE
Does the assessment cover a marine EEZ area(s)?
Off
Scope (Assessment)
National
Taxon
Taxonomic Group
Plants
Taxonomic Group Level 2
Flowering Plants
Assessed taxon level
Species
Taxon distribution as listed in assessment
This species occurs along the eastern coast of the UAE (Jongbloed et al. 2003, MEW 2010). The estimated EOO for this species is 887 km<sup>2</sup>. Globally, this species occurs from western tropical Africa to the Arabian Peninsula and the Indian subcontinent (Board of Trustees, RBG Kew 2019).
Habitats and Ecology
Ecological system type
Terrestrial system
No
Freshwater system
No
Marine system
No
Habitat
Habitat details as listed in assessment
This species is a perennial shrub which is found growing in sand and gravel plains (Mahmoud et al. 2018), in addition to disturbed areas such as abandoned fields and roadsides (Jongbloed et al. 2003, MEW 2010). It is described as being a xerohalophyte: a salt-tolerant desert growing species (Ghazanfar and Fisher 1998, Böer and Saenger 2006). This plant has woody stems and can grow up to 1.0 m in height, producing red flowers streaked with yellow between February and April (Jongbloed et al. 2003). Indigofera oblongifolia is also a crop wild relative of indigo, Indigofera tinctoria (Kameswara Rao 2010).
Is there a map available in assessment?
Yes
Assessed status
Asessment status in full
Near Threatened
Assessment status abreviation
NT
Assessment status criteria
B1b(iii)
Assessment rationale/justification
This species occurs in protected areas and is also able to persist in disturbed areas. It is salt-tolerant and seems to persist in unfavourable conditions, despite being described as rare. It has a restricted distribution with an estimated extent of occurrence (EOO) of 887 km<sup>2</sup>. In addition, it is thought to be experiencing an ongoing decline of extent and quality of habitat due to coastal development. The number of threat-based locations within which this species occurs is currently unclear. Therefore, it is assessed as Near Threatened.
About the assessment
Assessment year
2019
Assessors/contributors/reviewers listed
UAE National Red List Workshop
Affliation of assessor(s)/contributors/reviewers listed on assessment
Government
IGO
Assessor affiliation specific
Government|IGO
Criteria system
Criteria system specifics
IUCN v3.1 + Regional Guidelines v4.0
Criteria system used
IUCN
Criteria Citation
IUCN. 2012. IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria: Version 3.1, Second edition. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK. iv + 32pp pp. And IUCN. 2012. Guidelines for Application of IUCN Red List Criteria at Regional and National Levels: Version 4.0. Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK: IUCN. iii + 41pp.
Endemism
Endemic to region
Not_assigned
Endemism Notes
Is an endemic?: Not_assigned
Conservation
Threats listed in assessment
This species may have been negatively impacted by ongoing development along the east coast of the UAE.
Conservation Measures

Conservation measures:
Conservation measures notes:
Required conservation measures:

Further information
History
There was less coastal development occurring in 1996 compared to now, and so it is deemed that it would have been Least Concern in 1996.
Scientific Name Kingdom Phylum Class Order Family Genus
Indigofera oblongifolia Plantae Tracheophyta Magnoliopsida Fabales Fabaceae Indigofera