National Recovery Plan for the Christmas Island Spleenwort Asplenium listeri
A.3 Conservation StatusA.3 Conservation Status
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A.3 Conservation Status
Current listing:
Listed under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act) as Critically Endangered on 23 July 2002.
This listing decision was partly based on the species being known from a single location with limited extent and area. Although there are reports of new populations, the limited available information indicates continued eligibility for listing: the number of known individuals is less than 300; the distribution remains very restricted (including extent of occurrence, area of occupancy and extent of habitat); and the distribution is presumed vulnerable to stochastic disturbance events, as two of the four new locations are outside the national park.
In addition a decline could be inferred from the inability to relocate vaguely defined points for early collections (there are no data to indicate the rate of any decline). Alternatively, it may be speculated that low population numbers reflect a recently evolved species (likely to be a variant of Asplenium polyodon) that has adapted to a relatively specialised habitat, with potential over time to extend its range. However, certainty would require more research. In the absence of such certainty, the precautionary principle requires recovery actions to be based on a possible decline and a ‘no-regrets’ policy.