Moluccella bucharica, Otostegia Bukharskaya Assessment by: Khabibullaev, B., Shomurodov, Kh. & Omar, K

Threats
(see Appendix for additional information)
As a result of climate change, the wild population of this species could be in extreme danger in the
relatively near future. In addition, the mountainous areas where the species grows are used by the local
population throughout the year as pastures for livestock. Livestock grazing leads to severe damage to
Moluccella bucharica branches and the destruction of young individuals. Large-scale road construction
and geological prospecting also have a negative impact on the coenopopulation of this species. In 2005,
part of the Moluccella bucharica subpopulation was translocated as a result of a rail transfer from the
area where the species grows (Tojibaev et al. 2019). The seeds of Moluccella bucharica (85%) are
damaged by pests. The constant use of it by the local population as a fuel also has a serious negative
impact on the species' population.
In general, this species is severely threatened by both natural (aridity of the area and climate change)
and human factors (disorderly and unmanaged human construction). All these factors are pushing
Moluccella bucharica to the brink of extinction.
Conservation Actions
(see Appendix for additional information)
Moluccella bucharica is included in the Red Book of the Republic of Uzbekistan (Red Data Book 2019).
However, the area where it is distributed is not part of a reserve.
The following actions are recommended to protect the species and its habitats from further decline:
• Protection of the species' sites from habitat loss and fragmentation, random cutting and overgrazing.
• The creation of protected areas to ensure complete regeneration of the species, ecosystems and to
restore the quality of wild environments.
• Rising of public awareness.
• Ex situ conservation: artificial propagation, re-introduction, seed collections.
• Monitoring and surveillance of the existing populations and sites.
• Estimation of population sizes and study of their dynamics, trends, biology and ecology.