Taxon name
Valerianella szovitsiana
Fisch. & C.A.Mey.
Uploaded by
National Red List Database
Taxonomic information
Scientific name
Valerianella szovitsiana
Fisch. & C.A.Mey.
Assessed taxon level
Species
Higher level taxonomic groupings
Plants
Flowering Plants
Species authority
Fisch. & C.A.Mey.
Taxonomic notes and synonyms listed
Christenhusz et al. (2018) placed this species in genus Valeriana (as Valeriana szovitsiana (Fisch. & C.A.Mey.) Christenh. & Byng. Whilst accepted by Plants of the World online (Board of Trustees, RBG Kew 2019), we retain the species in Valerianella pending wider review.
Location and scope
Specific locality or subnational name or regional name
United Arab Emirates (the)
Scope (of the Assessment)
National
Countries included within the scope of the assessment
United Arab Emirates (the)
Does the assessment cover a marine EEZ area(s)?
Not_assigned
Conservation Status
Assessed as
Data Deficient
Criteria system used
IUCN
(see Assessment details)
Assessment rationale/justification
The species occurs in the Ru'us al Jibal in Oman close to the border with the UAE, and is reported to be known from a collection (RBG Kew) from the UAE. However, there is no information available on population size and trend in the UAE, and confirmation of presence in the country requires confirmation, and so it is currently considered Data Deficient for the UAE National Red List.
Assessment details
Assessors/contributors/reviewers listed
UAE National Red List Workshop
Criteria system used
IUCN
Reference for methods given
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.
Further information
Endemism (according to assessment)
Endemic to region
Not assigned
Taxon distribution as listed in assessment
The presence of this species in the UAE is not yet confirmed, although presence in parts of the Ru'us al-Jibal close to Oman is possible as suitable habitat occurs at similar elevations (G.R. Feulner pers. comm. 2019), and S. Ghazanfar (pers. comm. 2019) reports that there is a specimen at held at RBG Kew from the UAE. Feulner (2011) recorded the species from a site in the Ru'us al-Jibal of Oman (Awshaq basin and As-Sayh/As-Saye plain) to the northeast of the Sahasa plain, on slopes beside the open upper reaches of a wadi below Jebel Harim and Ra's Mintera (G.R. Feulner pers. comm. 2019). Other records found from the area are: (1) Patzelt et al. (2014; rocky limestone plateau; 1,450 m, northern Oman: Musandam, Jebel Harim, Sahil Al Sahosa (Sahasa plain)), and (2) <a href=""http://data.rbge.org.uk/herb/E00903483"">RBGE Herbarium</a> (coll. A. Patzelt, 2014, 1,433 m, silty area on Sahasa plateau, Jebel Harim area). The global range of this species is from Egypt (Sinai), through the Arabian Peninsula (although not recorded for the UAE), to Iran and Pakistan and north to Central Asia (Board of Trustees, RBG Kew 2019).
Is there a map available in assessment?
Not possible
Habitat and systems
Ecological system type
Habitat
Habitat details as listed in assessment
The altitude of the unconfirmed Kew record from the UAE is not known. In Oman, this small annual species has been found in the Ru'us al-Jibal from silty and rocky areas of a high-elevation plateau (Patzelt et al. 2014) and the open upper reaches of a wadi, on a gentle, stony slope among other annuals (Feulner 2011, G.R. Feulner pers. comm. 2019).
Threats and conservation measures listed
Threats listed in assessment
It is not known whether the species is edible, but pressure from grazing goats exists in the areas concerned (both the known localities in the Ru'us al-Jibal of Oman and the potential habitat in adjacent parts of the UAE), so grazing could be a factor limiting current records (G.R. Feulner pers. comm. 2019). Global climate change, if it results in decreasing rainfall patterns and/or higher temperatures, could also impact the species.
Publication
Allen, D.J., Westrip, J.R.S., Puttick, A., Harding, K.A., Hilton-Taylor, C. and Ali, H. 2021. UAE National Red List of Vascular Plants. Technical Report. Ministry of Climate Change and Environment, United Arab Emirates, Dubai.
