The "Cap de Creus conch" (Erodium foetidum) is a unique being, a small endemic and threatened plant that only survives, making spring possible, in two isolated corners of the planet: the Gulf of Lion, in France, and the Cap de Creus, in Girona.
The Catalan Society of Sciences for the Conservation of Biodiversity (BioSciCat) carried out a battery of studies to better understand the biology, ecology and trend of its only Iberian population. In order to draft the Recovery Plan for this species, listed as "endangered" in the Catalogue of Threatened Flora of Catalonia and in the Spanish Catalogue of Threatened Species.
The objective is to characterize the populations present in the three known localities, as well as to prospect possible new populations in habitats conducive to Cap de Creus, to provide relevant data that allow the conservation status of this endemism to be evaluated.
The work carried out on the only Iberian population of Erodium foetidum subsp. foetidum , have made it possible to advance in the knowledge of their biology, discover 3 new subpopulations, and advance in their ex situ conservation through the preservation of their seeds in gene banks.
Despite this, studies have found that this endemic plant of the south of France and the NE of the Iberian Peninsula, currently "Endangered" in the National Catalogue of Threatened Species, has lost 1/3 of its population in 10 years, making it difficult to adapt to global warming due to its geographical cantonment. The results obtained provide a knowledge base to develop the mandatory conservation strategy for the species (Recovery Plan).
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Characterization of populations of the endangered endemic species, “Erodium foetidum (L.) LHér.”