Uploaded by
National Red List Database
Taxonomic information
Assessed taxon level
Species
Higher level taxonomic groupings
Plants
Flowering Plants
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
Least Concern
Criteria system used
IUCN
(see Assessment details)
Assessment rationale/justification
This species is generally widespread throughout the Hajar Mountains and in in-land sand and desert areas, in addition to in coastal sand dunes. It is generally considered to be common. Therefore, it is assessed as Least Concern.
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
Within the UAE, it is described as widespread across the Hajar Mountain range (MEW 2010). It is known to occur within Al Ain, Dubai, Shwayb, Madam and Dhaid (Karim and Dakheel 2006). Globally, the native range of this species encompasses the Canary Islands, Mauritania, the Mediterranean, northeast tropical Africa, the Arabian Peninsula and Iran (Board of Trustees, RBG Kew 2019).
Is there a map available in assessment?
Yes
Habitat and systems
Ecological system type
Habitat
Habitat details as listed in assessment
This annual herb species has been recorded as growing within coastal sand dunes (Karim and Dakheel 2006, Brown et al. 2007, Mahmoud et al. 2018). The species has a well-developed extensive underground root system to deal with this arid habit (Batanouny 2001). It is a moderately salt-tolerant plant and is graze-able (Karim and Dakheel 2006). The plant itself can reach 20 cm in height and has leaves covered in fine, silky hairs (Kairm and Dakheel 2006). It produces oblong, brown seeds and white-green flowers between February to May (Karim and Dakheel 2006). As an annual, Plantago albicans germinates following winter rains and then becomes abundant within its habitat (Ghazanfar and Fisher 1998). This plant is also described as an important contributor to biomass in dune and stabilised sand environments (Ghazanfar and Fisher 1998).
Threats and conservation measures listed
Threats listed in assessment
As this species is can be grazed, it may be impacted by this is parts of its range (Karim and Dakheel 2006). However, it is not clear to what extent this affects the species and whether it has an overall negative impact on the plant.
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.
