IUCN R ed L ist assessment of the C ape V erde endemic flora: towards a g lobal s trategy for p lant c onservation in M acaronesia

We review the conservation status and threats to the endemic vascular flora of the C ape V erde islands, mostly based on the past two decades of collecting, literature review and herbarium specimens. The application of IUCN R ed L ist criteria and categories using RAMAS software reveals that 78% of the endemic plants are threatened (29.3% C ritically E ndangered, 41.3% E ndangered, 7.6% V ulnerable). Most of these endemics have a limited geographical range, and half of them have A reas of O ccupancy and E xtents of O ccurrence of < 20 and 200 km 2 , respectively. Our data show that, over the last two decades, the C ape V erde vascular plants have become more threatened and their conservation status has declined, mostly as a consequence of the increase in exotic species, habitat degradation and human disturbance. This paper presents the first comprehensive IUCN R ed L ist data review for the plants endemic to C ape V erde, thus providing an important step towards the recognition and conservation of its threatened endemic flora at the national and global level. It also fills a knowledge gap, as it represents the first thorough assessment of the conservation status of the entire endemic flora of a M acaronesian archipelago.