The narrow endemic Scrophularia valdesii Ortega-Olivencia & Devesa (Scrophulariaceae) in the Iberian Peninsula: an evaluation of its conservation status

Abstract

The aim of this study is to determine the conservation status of Scrophularia valdesii Ortega-Olivencia & Devesa, a threatened narrow endemism of the Duero Basin (central-western Spain and north-eastern Portugal, Lusitan Duriensean biogeographical sector), by using the IUCN (2001) IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria: version 3.1. IUCN Species Survival Commision. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK. The species is listed as threatened in several Spanish compilatory works on threatened flora, such as `The Spanish Red List of Vascular Flora' and the `Atlas and Red Book of Threatened Vascular Flora of Spain', although it does not figure as such in any Portuguese document. Here we report detailed studies of its distribution, and assess its current conservation status with respect to this, the sizes of its populations, and the threats it faces. Our estimation of the size of the Iberian populations was based on our own census data from those sites at which we found the species. All censuses were performed by direct counting of all potentially reproductive individuals. Fourteen populations were found, and the total members thought to exist are 161, with a highly fragmented distribution on the Spanish–Portuguese border along the valley of the River Duero. Exhaustive bibliographical and field surveys were carried out and herbarium specimens housed in several herbaria were revised in order to determine the Extent of Occurrence and the Area of Occupancy. Based on our data, the species is classifiable as Critically Endangered and Endangered in Portugal and Spain, respectively. The risk of local population extinction is high due to its typically small local population sizes and suitable conservation strategies should be developed in order to preserve the species.