Taxon name
Eragrostis ciliaris
(L.) R.Br.
Uploaded by
National Red List Database
Taxonomic information
Scientific name
Eragrostis ciliaris
(L.) R.Br.
Assessed taxon level
Species
Higher level taxonomic groupings
Plants
Flowering Plants
Species authority
(L.) R.Br.
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 is a small grass often considered 'rare' but is easily overlooked and probably under-represented in botanical surveys. It has been considered a weed globally (Randall 2012) and many of the records in the UAE are associated with cultivated and disturbed areas. It is thought to be widespread along the western slopes of the Hajar Mountains (Feulner 2016), with fewer records from the Ru'us al-Jibal and from the eastern side of the Mountains. This species is relatively widespread in the eastern UAE, and although data are lacking on the population size and trend, the species is assessed as Least Concern as it is thought unlikely that it will approach the thresholds for a threatened category.
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
In the UAE, the species is common on gravel plains and wadi terraces of the western slopes of the Hajar Mountains (Feulner 2016). There are records of this species in Abu Dhabi Emirate (Brown and Sakkir 2004), and from the buffer zone of Wadi Wurayah National Park (park HQ area, and from disused wadi fields at low elevations in the Ru'us al-Jibal; Feulner 2016), although it is uncertain if the Ru'us al-Jibal localities mentioned by Feulner (2011) are within the UAE. Although it is a weed of cultivated crops and is likely to be more widespread than the available records suggest, the UAE native plant working group considered it to be native to the country. The native range of this species is the tropical and subtropical Old World, across almost all of Africa, east through the Arabian Peninsula to southeast Asia; very widely introduced to the Americas and to parts of Europe (Board of Trustees, RBG Kew 2018).
Is there a map available in assessment?
Incomplete
Habitat and systems
Ecological system type
Habitat
Habitat details as listed in assessment
This annual plant can be found in plantations, gardens and sandy locations by roadsides (MEW 2010) and disused fields in wadis (Feulner 2011).
Threats and conservation measures listed
Threats listed in assessment
Grazing by livestock may impact the species in parts of its range.
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.
