Assessment Notes

Justification

This is a rare shell-like species with very small populations on bushes of the northern coastal Olearia furfuracea. Its estimated population size is 450. No population decline is currently known, but monitoring is recommended. It therefore qualifies as Vulnerable D1.

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Taxonomic notes

Anthracophyllum pallidum was described in 1993 and is a rarely recorded shell-like species with pinkish gills growing on Olearia furfuracea. The genus has a largely tropical distribution. Other similar but common species have occasionally been misidentified as this species, specifically Campanella and Gymnopus.

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Geographic range

This species has only been recorded from northern North Island, New Zealand. There are three known sites: one close to Auckland, another on the small and uninhabited Noises Island in the Hauraki Gulf, and one in the Gisborne Region.

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Population and Trends

Shell-like species growing at eye-level on living trees attract attention and are regularly reported. This species is known from just three records in three sites and has not been seen since 1998 despite targeted surveying. It appears to be genuinely rare. Considering its high detectability and specific host requirements, 50 sites is considered to be a reasonable estimate to account for unknown sites. Each site would be expected to have three functional individuals, each representing three mature individuals. This results in a total population size estimated as 450. There is insufficient information to be able to determine a population trend with any confidence.

Population Trend: unknown

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Habitat and Ecology

The species appears to be specifically associated with dead and living attached branches of Olearia furfuracea which is a coastal shrub of the northern half of the North Island of New Zealand.

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Threats

Of the three known sites one has legal protection but occurs in an area subject to Kauri die-back, with potential changes to habitat, and a tourist destination close to the major centre of Auckland. Another site on the small and uninhabited Noises Island in the Hauraki Gulf would appear relatively secure, and the final site in the Gisborne Region occurs in a small patch of native bush surrounded by intensive farming.

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Conservation Actions

Research is needed into this species' nutritional mode. Although the host species is not threatened, it has a restricted distribution, so habitat protection in the known sites would be beneficial.

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Use and Trade

This species is not utilised.

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Source and Citation

Cooper, J.A. 2019. Anthracophyllum pallidum. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2019: e.T154700089A154708649. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2019-3.RLTS.T154700089A154708649.en .Accessed on 31 January 2022

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• Country occurrence