How to save Acacia tortilis & Primula boveana

From extinction?

Introduction Acacia tortilis Primula boveana Conservation References

Extinction generallyoExtinction of a particular animal or plant

species occurs when there are no more individuals of that species alive anywhere in the world.

oThe rapid loss of species we are seeing today is estimated by experts to be between 1000 and 10,000 times higher than the expected natural extinction rate.

Classification of species according to extinction o It is made by The IUCN Red List of

Threatened Species™. • Extinct

(EX) • Critically

Endangered (CR) • Endangered

(EN) • Near Threatened (NT)

Plants are essential organismsoThe loss of plant species reduces both

the efficiency of ecosystem functions.

oPlants also provide important ecosystem services.

oHowever, it is predicted that as many as two thirds of the world’s plant species are in danger of extinction in nature during the course of the 21st century.

Factors affect plants

(1) Habitat loss and fragmentation(2) Introduction of exotic species(3) Climate change(4) Overexploitation(5) Pollution

How conserve plants ?oFour essential steps are needed:

• assessment of the biological status. • diagnosis of the causes of decline.• prescription of management strategies that

will balance the decline.• implementation of management practices

and further monitoring of the species or the ecosystem of interest.

IndividuallyoPeople can contribute in saving

endangered plants by different ways.

Globallyo The conservation of biological

diversity. o the sustainable use of the

components of biological diversity.

o the fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising out of the utilization of genetic resources.

International Union for Conservation of Nature

Plant Conservation Alliance

oIt is also known as umbrella thorn due to its umbrella like structure.

- Kingdom: Plantae - Phylum: Tracheophyta - Class: Magnoliopsida - Order: Fabales - Family: Fabaceae - Genus: Acacia - Species: tortilis

Taxonomy

oIt is native in many countries including Egypt.

Distribution

oIn Egypt, this species is recognized in Nile valley, oases of the western desert, eastern desert, Red sea coastal region, Gebel Elba and Sinai.

Habitat oA. tortilis is drought resistant, can

tolerate strong salinity and seasonal waterlogging.

oSouth Sinai is characterized by an arid to extremely arid climate.

oThe rainfall data revealed the occurrence of many periods of rainy years alternating with droughty ones, with a general trend toward more aridity.

oThe annual rainfall varies between 30 and 60 mm, most of which falls during the winter and spring months.

Botanic descriptionoA. tortilis is small

to medium-sized evergreen tree grows up to 21 m tall. oSpines paired, 2 types-long, straight and white, or short, brownish and hooked; they range from 1.2 to 8 cm in length.

oLeaves are compound and the leaflets (6-22 pairs) are very small.

oPods variable, indehiscent, spirally twisted or rarely almost straight.

oWherever it grows, it plays an important role in human, animal and other plant species lives.

Uses

Seed as food

Leaves and Fruits as fodder

Flowers as forageWood as fuel Bark as dyestuff

Gum as food additive

oLeaves, bark, gum, roots, pods and seeds are used medicinally against a wide variety of diseases, wounds and burns.

Plant part DiseasePolysaccharide

isolated from Gum exudates

Diabetes mellitus

Stem barkFungal  & Infectious

diseasesBark tannins Diarrhoea

Wood Dry coughRoot Cough and Diphtheria

Root bark malaria

Aqueous extract Hyper cholesterol & inflammation

Methanol extractLeishmania and

parasitic disease

ThreatsoA. tortilis subspecies raddiana became

threatened due to unmanaged human activities.

oIn addition to seed predation by bruchid beetle (Bruchidius albosparsus).

“Risk assessment mapping of Acacia tortilis subspecies raddiana growing in South Sinai, Egypt, using integrated

field survey, remote sensing and GIS”Tarek A. Seleem, Raafat H. Abd El-Wahab , Mohamed S. Zaghloul, Abd

El-Raouf A. Moustafa and Ayman E. Abd El-Hamid. (Int.J.Curr.Microbiol.App.Sci (2013) 2(5): 378-395)

ConservationoThe formulation of management strategy

to manage different activities of local Bedouinso In situ propagation of A. tortilis to overcome the high demand for its wood

oEmphasizing the importance of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) before construction of any projects.

oAcacia tree seeds accumulate nonprotein amino acids as secondary compounds.

oThat nonprotein amino acids may have multiple roles, including adaptation to physical and water stress and insect toxicity.

“Seed viability and germination success of Acacia tortilis

along land-use and aridity gradients in the Eastern Sahara”

Gidske Lekns Andersen, Knut Krzywinski, Ha akon K. Gjessing & Richard Holton Pierce…(Ecology and Evolution, December 2015)

o Ingestion by ruminant herbivores diminishes infestation levels and enhances/promotes seed viability and germination.

oThe consequence for acacia conservation is to acknowledge the positive effect of domestic animals in an ecosystem where wild herbivores are increasingly rare.

oOvergrazing represents an environmental hazard whereby livestock excessively feeds on pasture. • Effects• Soil erosion • Loss of valuable

species• Food shortage • Death of people and livestock

• Solutions• Having the stockpiled in the rainy season.• Maintaining and managing proper

pasture residuals in the grazing area.

Taxonomy- Kingdom: Plantae

- Phylum: Tracheophyta - Class: Magnoliopsida - Order: Primulales - Family: Primulaceae - Genus: Primula - Species: boveana

DistributionoNative to Sinai in Egypt. oEndemic to the high mountain area of the

St. Katherine Protectorate (SKP) in southern Sinai.

“Reproductive and germination ecology of Sinai primrose, primula boveana decne. ex duby

Karim Omar and Ibrahim Elgamal, Journal of Global Biosciences , Vol. 3(4), 2014, pp. 694-707

Sad Abu

Hebeik

Kahf Elghol

aElgaba

l Elahm

arShaq Mousa

Shak Elgrage

nia

oThere are nine very small but clearly separate subpopulations, but only seven of them contain between three and 65 mature individuals.

oDuring the last 10 years these subpopulations have shown large changes in the total number of individuals, cover and density.

oBetween 2008 to 2010 (345 to 360 mature individuals). But after that (2012-2014), it may be that the species undergoes extreme fluctuations.

o In 1991, the species was distributed in more than 12 subpopulations including Gabal St. Katherine and Elgalt Elazrak. But these subpopulations disappeared in the period between 2001 and 2007.

oAreas including Shaq Elgragenia that were recently recorded as one of the main sites for P. boveana were not found in the past (2005 to 2008).

oThe Kahf Elghola subpopulation was the main site for P. boveana in the past with 30 mature individuals recorded there in 2009.

Why…?

Habitat o Primula boveana (Sinai primrose) is a

perennial with stems up to 60 cm long. o It bears several

whorls of long-tubed, golden-yellow, scented flowers in late spring, and reproduction is by seed in late summer.

oThe arid climate has a mean annual rainfall of about 37.5 mm.

o It was observed that Shaq Mousa contains the highest values in most variables (Population size, mature individuals, density, abundance and cover).

o It belongs to rocky habitat (mountain peaks) and is restricted to montane wadis fed by melted snow.

Botanic distributionoA number of species, including those of Primula, demonstrate distyly with two different flower morphs among individuals in a population.

oThe Sinai's primrose starts flower budding in March, while sheds seeds in July and August.

oThese seeds have strong innate dormancy that they germinate only in presence of light and the germination ratio is enhanced by increasing chilling.

Use and TradeoThe species is not commercially or

traditionally used in Sinai, but it has been collected for pharmacological testing by various scientific research centers. So why conserve…?!

It is endemic !!

ThreatsoThe sharp decline in population size,

number of total individuals, number of mature individuals and habitat may come as a result of climate change.

oApart from climate change, the most important human impacts are reduction in water availability.

oAbout four million people from 51 nationalities visited SKP from 2003 to 2014 with an average of 335,000 people per year.

oWhen habitats of a rare and/or endemic species are damaged and/or fragmented, its members will become vulnerable to extinction at a faster rate than other species.

Deterioration of Primula boveana population in ten years.

oThe subpopulations have very low genetic variation amongst individuals within them, and gene flow between them must be extremely low or actually zero.

oThis may contribute to low fitness of individuals, reduces the viability or adaptability of populations in changing environments, and in extreme cases causes the extinction of species.

ConservationoThere are urgent needs to work fast in

two directions to keep this species safe:I. Ex-situ conservation, through• seed bank

II. In-situ conservation, through

• rehabilitation

• artificial propagation

• restoration • fenced

enclosures

oIt’s important to carry out a wide range of educational and awareness activities in universities and scientific research centers about the sensitivity of this important threatened species.

oThere is a need for a careful management of water resources in the region.

oRestoring gene flow among small populations can contribute to ‘‘genetic rescue’’.

oPrimula boveana is insect pollinated, and so pollinator movements and behavior are determinant factors of pollen dispersal.

Suggested solutionoI think it may be helpful to conserve P.

boveana by using the biotechnology.

oUsing Leaf Fragment Technique.