Ephedra strobilacea LC Taxonomic Authority: Bunge  Global Assessment  Regional Assessment Region: Global  Endemic to region Synonyms Common Names strobilacea (Ghahr.) Freitag & M.Maier-Stolte

Upper Level Taxonomy Kingdom: PLANTAE Phylum: TRACHEOPHYTA Class: GNETOPSIDA Order: EPHEDRALES Family: EPHEDRACEAE Lower Level Taxonomy Rank: Infra- rank name:  Hybrid Subpopulation: Authority:

General Information Distribution Central Asia to (Irano-Turanian).

Range Size Elevation Biogeographic Realm Area of Occupancy: Upper limit: 2500  Afrotropical Extent of Occurrence: Lower limit: 700  Antarctic Map Status: Depth  Australasian Upper limit:  Neotropical Lower limit:  Oceanian Depth Zones  Palearctic  Shallow photic  Bathyl  Hadal  Indomalayan  Photic  Abyssal  Nearctic Population Population size is not known, sometimes reported as abundant.

Total Population Size Minimum Population Size: Maximum Population Size: Habitat and Ecology Grows in arid, desert areas on sandy slopes. Seeds are likely to be wind-dispersed. Flowers April - May.

System Movement pattern Crop Wild Relative  Terrestrial  Freshwater  Nomadic  Congregatory/Dispersive  Is the species a wild relative of a crop?  Marine  Migratory  Altitudinally migrant

Growth From Definition Shrub - size unkno Perennial shrub (any size), also termed a Phanerophyte if >1m or a Chamaephyte if <1m Growth From Definition

Threats There are no major threats known at present.

Past Present Future 13 None  Conservation Measures There are no known collections in ex situ conservation such as botanic gardens or seed banks. The range of the species overlaps some protected areas. Further surveys across the range are suggested to better understand the status of populations.

In Place Needed 3 Research actions  3.2 Population numbers and range  3.5 Threats  3.6 Uses and harvest levels  3.9 Trends/Monitoring  4 Habitat and site-based actions  4.4 Protected areas  5 Species-based actions  5.7 Ex situ conservation actions  5.7.2 Genome resource bank 

Countries of Occurrence

PRESENCE ORIGIN Year Breeding Non- Passage Possibly ExtinctPresence Native Introduced Re- Vagrant Origin Round Season breeding migrant extinct uncertain Introduced uncertain only season only Afghanistan    Iran, Islamic Republic of    Tajikistan    Turkmenistan      

General Habitats Score Description Major Importance 6 Rocky areas (eg. inland cliffs, mountain peaks)1Unset Suitable 8 Desert 1UnsetSuitable 8.2 Desert - Temperate1Unset Suitable

Ecosystem Services  Insufficient Information available  Species provides no ecosystem services Species Utilisation  Species is not utilised at all

Purpose / Type of Use Subsistence National International 3. Medicine - human and veterinary  The stems of most members of this genus contain the alkaloid ephedrine and are valuable in the treatment of asthma and many other complaints of the respiratory system ( for a Future 2010).

Trend in the level of wild offtake/harvest in relation to total wild population numbers over the last five years: Unknown Trend in the amount of offtake/harvest produced through domestication/cultivation over the last five years: Unknown CITES status: Not listed

Livelihood Value  There is no information for this species regarding its livelihood value.

IUCN Red Listing Red List Assessment:(using 2001 IUCN system) Least Concern (LC)

Red List Criteria: Date Last Seen (only for EX, EW or Possibly EX species): Is the species Possibly Extinct?  Possibly Extinct Candidate?  Rationale for the Red List Assessment Wide ranging species with no major threats identified at present. The collection of samples of this species for ex situ conservation is encouraged as well as further surveys to better understand the present status of populations. Reason(s) for Change in Red List Category from the Previous Assessment:  Genuine Change  Nongenuine Change  No Change  Genuine (recent)  New information  Taxonomy  Same category  Genuine (since first assessment)  Knowledge of Criteria  Criteria Revisio and criteria  Incorrect data used  Other  Same category but previously change in criteria Current Population Trend: Stable Date of Assessment: 20/09/2010 Name(s) of the Assessor(s): A.Bell & S.Bachman Evaluator(s): Notes:

% population decline in the past: Time period over which the past decline has been measured for applying Criterion A or C1 (in years or generations): % population decline in the future: Time period over which the future decline has been measured for applying Criterion A or C1 (in years or generations): Number of Locations: Severely Fragmented: Number of Mature Individuals:

Bibliography Plants for a Future, 1996-2010, Plants For A Future, Earth, Plants, People., , , RBG Kew, 2009, World Checklist of Selected Plant Families, , Published on the Internet; http://www.kew.org/wcsp/,