Press Release

Rediscovered plant lost for two centuries could be lost again within ten years says finder

The chance rediscovery of a plant - a type of sedge not seen for over 200 years and feared extinct - has delighted botanists working on the remote South Atlantic island of St Helena – a UK Overseas Territory and a noted global extinction hotspot.
 
Although the plant has been plucked from the pages of extinction, competition from non-native species, including a recently-colonised African grass sweeping across the island, could consign the sedge to the extinction roll-call for good. The plant’s discoverer, Dr Phil Lambdon, has stated that without action to remove the threats from invasive plants, the sedge could be lost within a decade.

RSPB-employed staff working on the island found the plant – one of the world’s smallest sedges. Dr Dave Simpson of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (RBG Kew) an expert in sedges verified the identification in London.

The tiny plant, named by its rediscoverers as the ‘neglected tuft sedge’ was found in a remote, western part of the island, known as High Hill. Prior to its rediscovery, it was last seen in 1806, nine years before Napoleon was exiled on the island for six years after his defeat at the Battle of Waterloo.

Dr Phil Lambdon, one of the botanists who made the chance discovery, said: “At the back of every botanist’s mind is the dream that one day you’ll discover a new plant or rediscover a long-lost one.

“Before I arrived on the island, I’d studied the historic herbarium specimens at RBG Kew, which were collected by the English Explorer William Burchell on the island in the early 1800s, but I didn’t believe at that time that I’d actually see the living plant. We have since made more discoveries of the neglected sedge and we estimate there could be around 4000 plants. Although that sounds like a lot you could still fit the entire world population in a sports bag!”

The plant’s Latin name is: Bulbostylis neglecta. Dr Lambdon added: “We liked the fact that the sedge was christened neglecta; it seemed appropriate for a plant that hadn’t been seen for two centuries.”

Dr Lambdon is working for the South Atlantic Invasive Species project, which is funded by the European Union and managed by the RSPB, on behalf of the St Helena Government, and supported by RBG Kew.

Claire Miller manages the South Atlantic Invasive Species project. She said:  “St Helena’s wildlife has been ravaged by species introduced to the island. Goats, gorse, grasses, and cage birds have all been liberated on the island where they have wreaked havoc with the native species.

"St Helena is a noted extinction hotspot, driven largely by non-native species, and the native birds have suffered more here than many other islands. Of eight species of bird confined to the island, seven have become extinct since the island’s discovery in 1502.

“The rediscovery of the sedge does give some renewed hope that other extinct species may be still be lurking in isolated spots on St Helena. For example, it is not completely beyond possibility that one of the nocturnal seabirds may yet be discovered still nesting in burrows in remote parts of the island. We wonder whether this island has given up all its wildlife secrets.”

Colin Clubbe, who heads up RBG Kew’s work on St Helena said: “When we are losing plant species around the world at such an alarming rate, this exciting discovery gives us hope that species can cling on and that recovery of species is a very real possibility. It also highlights why botanical survey remains a very important conservation tool.

“As well as making sure this small population of plants is conserved in the wild, we will try to collect seeds to be banked at Kew’s Millennium Seed Bank for safe keeping and repatriation to St Helena. If we are successful, the seeds will join seeds from almost 22,000 other wild flowering plant species already conserved in the Seed Bank.”

Dr Corinda Essex, Chief Development Officer with the St Helena government, said: “It is very exciting that a further example of St Helena's unique and vulnerable biodiversity has been re-discovered as a result of the European Union-funded activities on the island. Such a find is particularly opportune at a time when St Helena is embarking upon tourism development and ecotourism is one of the niche markets to be targeted. St Helena has few other valuable natural resources, so its comparatively high number of endemic plant species is one of its key possessions.”

Mr Ladislav Miko is Director of Directorate for "Protecting the natural Environment" in the Environment General Directorate of the European Commission" (DG ENV, Directorate B).

Mr Miko, who has a special responsibility for the EU’s Overseas Countries and Territories, said: “The Commission recognises the unique biological importance of the OCTs as an integral component of Europe's rich natural heritage. The recent discovery of the sedge on St Helena and its vulnerability with regards to biological invasions highlights the need to include the OCTs in a possible future EU Framework on invasive alien species currently under preparation.”

ends

For further information and to arrange an interview, please contact:
Grahame Madge, RSPB press officer, on 01767 681577.
Out of hours, please telephone: 07702 196902 (mobile)

For more information about RBG Kew and Kew’s work in the UK Overseas Territories please contact Bronwyn Friedlander, Senior Press Officer, on 0208 332 5605. For out of hours press enquires please call 020 8332 5000 and a duty press officer will be contacted. 

Photographs:
Photographs are available to download free of charge from the RSPB Images website. To download images, click on the hyperlink below and please enter the username and password when prompted.
Hyperlink:
http://www.rspb-images.com/respages/storysetsignon.aspx?key=04b30908-bc76-4427-be17-eb0ae7e1fd4f
User Name:  gm_st helena sedge
Password:  gm_st helena sedge
Please note these pictures are only to be used in conjunction with the St Helena story.
Broadcast-quality radio interviews:
To arrange an ISDN broadcast-quality radio interview with an RSPB spokesman please contact Grahame Madge at the RSPB press office.

Images of Burchell's historic specimen's are available to download from http://www.kew.org/press/images/sedge.htm. Contact the RBG Kew press office for a user name and password.

Editor's notes:
1). St Helena is a noted extinction hotspot. Of the 22 species of bird known to have nested regularly on the island since its discovery in 1502, seven species confined to the island have become globally extinct including: two seabirds, a dove, a cuckoo, a hoopoe and two moorhen-like birds. A further five seabirds now no longer nest on the island, but still nest on other islands in the Atlantic. Of the remaining ten species of bird, only one land bird remains: the St Helena plover, known locally as the wirebird. This plover is listed as Critically Endangered, meaning the bird is facing an extremely high risk of extinction.

2) There are six species of plant, not seen for at least 100 years on the island, that are classified as extinct. A recent extinction includes the St Helena olive (Nesiota elliptica). The last individual died in 2004. St Helena has 54 native plant species, 49 of which are endemic to the island. Islands such as St Helena often have unique flora because the plant life has evolved in isolation.

3) RBG Kew's past successes in St Helena include the rediscoveries of the ‘extinct’ species St Helena ebony (Trochetiopsis ebenus) in 1980 and St Helena boxwood (Mellissia begoniifolia) in early 1998. In addition to wild populations on the island, both species are also conserved ex situ as plants and seed at Kew. The wreath that is laid at the Cenotaph by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office on Remembrance Sunday is made by staff at RBG Kew and features St Helena ebony and St Helena boxwood.
 
4) Kew's Millennium Seed Bank is the largest wild plant seed bank in the world. By 2010, RBG Kew and its partners will have collected and conserved seed from 10 per cent of the world's wild flowering plant species (c.30, 000 species). The aim is to conserve 25% by 2020, however the project currently has no secured funding post 2010. Funds are being actively sought in order to continue to develop this vital work. For further information please visit www.kew.org/msbp.

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