Rumex rothschildianus, an endemic-to-Israel species, on the verge of global extinction

Abstract

Rumex rothschildianus is a small dioecious annual, a sole member of a unique section in the genus Rumex. This very rare species is restricted to the light soils of the Sharon coastal plain in Israel. Here, this endemic sorrel was recorded from only 12sites. Until thirty years ago, it still existed in nine of these 12 localities. Several visits to each of these sites between 1995 and 1999 revealed that it is surviving today only in three of them. Only in one of these three sites a considerable population of several hundred individuals was found. The other two populations contain a few dozen plants each. Hence, there is a great danger that under the heavy urbanization of the coastal plain in Israel this sorrel will soon be extinct. If so, it will be the first endemic-to-Israel plant species which will be lost, and thus will be globally extinct. Immediate conservation measures should be taken to protect this very rare sorrel.