Conservation status of three endemic plants of the Selvagens Islands (Northern Atlantic Ocean): Argyranthemum thalassophilum, Asparagus nesiotes subsp. nesiotes and Euphorbia anachoreta

Argyranthemum thalassophilum, Asparagus nesiotes subsp. nesiotes and Euphorbia anachoreta are three threatened taxa that are endemic to the Selvagens Islands, a very isolated archipelago of small islands in the Atlantic Ocean. As a part of a conservation project for the three taxa, we conducted fieldwork that included detailed censuses and identification of threatening factors, which ultimately allowed the assessment of their IUCN Red List status. The three species should be categorized as Endangered under the criterion D, as for all the cases there are fewer than 250 mature individuals (79, 119, and 58 for Argyranthemum thalassophilum, Asparagus nesiotes subsp. nesiotes and Euphorbia anachoreta, respectively). In spite of the fact that A. thalassophilum does not show the lowest census size, this taxon should be regarded as the most threatened because it is the only one showing no regeneration (i.e. a total lack of seedings and/or juveniles).
RV and JL-P are in the “Plant Biodiversity and Biosystematics” group of Generalitat de Catalunya (Ajuts a Grups de Recerca Consolidats 2014-SGR514-GREB and 2017-SGR1116)