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Nepenthes Khasiana The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™ ISSN 2307-8235 (online) IUCN 2008: T48992883A49009685 Nepenthes khasiana Assessment by: Ved, D., Saha, D., Haridasan, K. & Ravikumar, K. View on www.iucnredlist.org Citation: Ved, D., Saha, D., Haridasan, K. & Ravikumar, K. 2015. Nepenthes khasiana. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2015: e.T48992883A49009685. http://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2015-2.RLTS.T48992883A49009685.en Copyright: © 2015 International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources Reproduction of this publication for educational or other non-commercial purposes is authorized without prior written permission from the copyright holder provided the source is fully acknowledged. Reproduction of this publication for resale, reposting or other commercial purposes is prohibited without prior written permission from the copyright holder. For further details see Terms of Use. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™ is produced and managed by the IUCN Global Species Programme, the IUCN Species Survival Commission (SSC) and The IUCN Red List Partnership. The IUCN Red List Partners are: BirdLife International; Botanic Gardens Conservation International; Conservation International; Microsoft; NatureServe; Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew; Sapienza University of Rome; Texas A&M University; Wildscreen; and Zoological Society of London. If you see any errors or have any questions or suggestions on what is shown in this document, please provide us with feedback so that we can correct or extend the information provided. THE IUCN RED LIST OF THREATENED SPECIES™ Taxonomy Kingdom Phylum Class Order Family Plantae Tracheophyta Magnoliopsida Nepenthales Nepenthaceae Taxon Name: Nepenthes khasiana Hook.f. Taxonomic Source(s): Hooker, J.D. 1873. Nepenthaceae. A. de Candolle Prodromus Systematis Naturalis Regni Vegetabilis 17: 90–105. Taxonomic Notes: Nepenthes khasiana, the only representative of the genus Nepenthes in India, belongs to monotypic family Nepenthaceae (Mandal and Mukherjee 2011). Assessment Information Red List Category & Criteria: Endangered B2ab(iii) ver 3.1 Year Published: 2015 Date Assessed: July 16, 2014 Justification: This is the only Nepenthes species in India and is part of the monotypic family Nepentheceae. This species is collected for its botanical curiosity and uniqueness and is traded for its ornamental value and also for medicinal properties. This has put tremendous pressure on the species. It has been brought under Appendix I of CITES and Negative List of Exports of the Government of India. The population is severely fragmented due to human habitation, construction of roads and urbanization, and there are four locations. The area of occupancy (AOO) is estimated as 250 km2. Therefore, the species is assessed as Endangered. Geographic Range Range Description: This species is endemic to the small state of Meghalaya in India (Mao and Kharbuli 2002). The species has a very localised distribution and is rare in the wild. Isolated subpopulations are known to occur in the Jarain area of the Jaintia Hills (Choudhury 2000) and the Baghmara area of the Garo Hills adjacent to the Khasi Hills region of Meghalaya. Nevertheless, Nepenthes khasiana exhibits considerable genetic © The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: Nepenthes khasiana – published in 2015. 1 http://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2015-2.RLTS.T48992883A49009685.en diversity. Country Occurrence: Native: India (Meghalaya) © The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: Nepenthes khasiana – published in 2015. 2 http://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2015-2.RLTS.T48992883A49009685.en Population Fragmented subpopulations are recorded from Belpara, Balpakram, Baghmara and Nokrek in Garo hills and Sutnga of Jaintia hills in Meghalaya. Isolated populations are known to occur in the Jarain area of the Jaintia Hills and the Baghmara area of the Garo Hills adjacent to the Khasi Hills region of Meghalaya. In the CAMP workshop organised at Guwahati in 2003, it was collectively agreed by experts that 40% of the wild population from the natural habitat in Meghalaya had declined over the past 30 years. Current Population Trend: Decreasing Habitat and Ecology (see Appendix for additional information) Nepenthes khasiana, the only representative of the genus Nepenthes in India, belongs to monotypic family Nepenthaceae (Mandal and Mukherjee 2011). This species is found in subtropical, humid, sub- humid and highland areas. Nepenthes khasiana is a scandent insectivorous shrub of the tropical and subtropical climatic regions. It grows in association with Licuala peltata, Calamus erectus, Lithocarpus dealbata and fern species like Alsophila gigentea, Dicranopteris lanigera, D. splendens, Thelypteris lakhimpurensis and other species (Singh et al. 2011). It has a generation length of 10 years. Systems: Terrestrial Use and Trade (see Appendix for additional information) This species is intensively exploited by the Garo tribal inhabitants for their medicinal use and as source of income for their daily basic needs. Primary collectors are members of local community. They collect plants from the nearby area and sell them to nearby markets for a cheap price. The powder of the roots and pitcher is applied in skin diseases, and juice from unopened pitchers is used in eye-drops against eye diseases. The fluid is used as ear drops in ear problem. The pitcher with the juice and crushed insects is administered to cholera patients. It is also potentially used to treat diabetes (Shil et al. 2010). The whole plant is traded under the name "Tiew rako". This species also collected from the wild and kept at home as ornamental plant (Mukerjee et al. 1984). The species is cultivated worldwide (C. Clarke pers. comm. 2014). Threats (see Appendix for additional information) This species is threatened by over exploitation, loss of habitat and coal mining (Prasad and Jeeva 2009). The factors responsible for the habitat loss are human population growth coupled with unsustainable patterns of consumption, increasing production of waste and pollutants, deforestation, urban development, developmental projects, road laying, forest fire, jhum cultivation and poor seed germination ability. Habitat destruction, decimation of species and fragmentation of large contiguous subpopulations into isolated small and scattered ones have rendered them increasingly vulnerable to inbreeding depression, high infant mortality and susceptibility to environmental stochasticity (Mandal and Mukherjee 2011, Verma et al. 2014). Conservation Actions (see Appendix for additional information) This species is confined to a very small area and is under various threats. It needs immediate attention for conservation. There is a need of effective conservation efforts such as trade regulation and © The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: Nepenthes khasiana – published in 2015. 3 http://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2015-2.RLTS.T48992883A49009685.en sustainable collection. The pitcher plant sanctuary of Jarain, Jaintia hills, Meghalaya established in 1974 needs more focused attention for the conservation of Nepenthes kahsiana (Rodgers and Gupta 1989). The natural habitat of the species is disturbed by coal mining, limestone mining, stone quarrying and forest fires. Conservation strategy needs more attention towards managing disturbance to the natural habitat of the species (Singh et al. 2011). The species is cultivated worldwide but the gene pool in the cultivated plants is exceedingly small. This species is listed on CITES Appendix I and as a result no new material from India has entered horticulture for decades. Therefore, if the gene pool of cultivated plants cannot be increased, effective protection and conservation within the native range of the species is vital (C. Clarke pers. comm. 2014). Credits Assessor(s): Ved, D., Saha, D., Haridasan, K. & Ravikumar, K. Reviewer(s): Clarke, C.M. Contributor(s): Marak, T., Sarmah, A., Gogoi, P., Barooah, C., Ahmed, A.A., Jameer, N., Yaden, A., Pala, K., Gogoi, P., Dutta, P., Rai, P., Ghate, U., Bujarbarua, P., Bora, P., Mathur, D., Barik, S. & Islam, M. Facilitators(s) and Anu, V., Mao, A.A. & Borthakur, S. Compiler(s): © The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: Nepenthes khasiana – published in 2015. 4 http://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2015-2.RLTS.T48992883A49009685.en Bibliography Bourke, G. 2010. A new conservation initiative: the Rare Nepenthes Collection project. Captive Exotics Newsletter 1(2): 5–6. Choudhury, A. 2000. Range extension of Nepenthes khasiana in the Jaintia Hills, Meghalaya. Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society 97(1): 166–167. Devi, N.R. 2004. Reproductive biology of endemic and endangered insectivorous Indian species Nepenthes khasiana Hk. f. North Eastern Hill University. IUCN. 2015. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2015.2. Available at: www.iucnredlist.org. (Accessed: 23 June 2015). Mandal, B and Mukherjee, A. 2011. Nepenthes khasiana: the pitcher plant needs attention for conservation. Current Science 100(6). Mao, A.A. and Kharbuli, P. 2002. Distribution and status of Nepenthes khasiana Hook. f.—a rare endemic pitcher plant of Meghalaya, India. Phytotaxonomy 2: 77–83. Mukerjee, A., Dam, D.P. and Dam, N. 1984. Pitcher plant—an ornamental climber of Meghalaya. Ind. Hort. 1: 6–18. Prasad, M.N.V. and Jeeva, S. 2009. Coal mining and its leachate are potential threats to Nepenthes khasiana Hook. f. (Nepenthaceae) that preys on insects - an endemic plant in North Eastern India. Biological Diversity and Conservation 2(3): 29–33. Rodgers, W.A. and Gupta, S.
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