''Agathis silbae'' is a species of

conifer Conifers () are a group of conifer cone, cone-bearing Spermatophyte, seed plants, a subset of gymnosperms. Scientifically, they make up the phylum, division Pinophyta (), also known as Coniferophyta () or Coniferae. The division contains a sin ...

in the family

Araucariaceae Araucariaceae is a Family (biology), family of conifers with three living Genus, genera, ''Araucaria'', ''Agathis'', and ''Wollemia''. While the family's native distribution is now largely confined to the Southern Hemisphere, except for a few spe ...

. It is found only on the island of

Espiritu Santo Espiritu Santo (, ; ) is the largest island in the nation of Vanuatu, with an area of and a population of around 40,000 according to the 2009 census. Geography The island belongs to the archipelago of the New Hebrides in the Pacific region ...

Vanuatu Vanuatu ( or ; ), officially the Republic of Vanuatu (; ), is an island country in Melanesia located in the South Pacific Ocean. The archipelago, which is of volcanic origin, is east of northern Australia, northeast of New Caledonia, east o ...

.''Agathis silbae'' de Laub.
''

Plants of the World Online Plants of the World Online (POWO) is an online taxonomic database published by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. History Following the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew launched Plants of the World Online i ...

''. Retrieved 7 January 2024. The species is the Cumberland Peninsula and Mount Tabwemasana, also known as Santo Peak, on the west coast of Espiritu Santo, from 450 to 760 meters elevation. It is a large emergent tree in lower montain rainforest on the wetter western and northwestern slopes of Espiritu Santo's central mountain range, with an average annual rainfall of about 4,500 mm. Associated trees include '' Calophyllum neo-ebudicum,

Cryptocarya turbinata ''Cryptocarya turbinata'' is a species of flowering plant in the laurel family, Lauraceae. It is a tree native to Fiji, Niue, the Samoan Islands, Tonga, and Vanuatu Vanuatu ( or ; ), officially the Republic of Vanuatu (; ), is an island co ...

Dysoxylum ''Dysoxylum'' is a genus of rainforest trees and shrubs in the flowering plant family Meliaceae. About 34 species are recognised in the genus, distributed from India and southern China, through southeast Asia to New Guinea, Solomon Islands, and A ...

'' sp., ''

Myristica ''Myristica'' is a genus of trees in the family Myristicaceae. There are over 150 species, distributed in Asia and the western Pacific as far as Vanuatu. The type species of the genus, and the most economically important member, is ''Myristica f ...

'' sp., and ''

Podocarpus ''Podocarpus'' () is a genus of conifers, the most numerous and widely distributed of the podocarp family, the Podocarpaceae. ''Podocarpus'' species are evergreen shrubs or trees, usually from tall, known to reach at times. The cones have ...

'' sp. The species is threatened by

habitat loss Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss or habitat reduction) occurs when a natural habitat is no longer able to support its native species. The organisms once living there have either moved elsewhere, or are dead, leading to a decrease ...

, and is assessed as near-threatened. It has estimated

extent of occurrence Extent may refer to: Computing * Extent (file systems), a contiguous region of computer storage medium reserved for a file * Extent File System, a discontinued file system implementation named after the contiguous region * Extent, a chunk of st ...

(EOO) of about 2,000 km² and an estimated

area of occupancy Area is the measure of a region's size on a surface. The area of a plane region or ''plane area'' refers to the area of a shape or planar lamina, while ''surface area'' refers to the area of an open surface or the boundary of a three-dimen ...

(AOO) of more than 10 km² and less than 100 km². The species was described in 1987, and is named after New York botanist John Silba. The species is accepted by

. The Forestry Department in Vanuatu recognise it as a synonym of ''

Agathis macrophylla ''Agathis macrophylla'' known as Pacific kauri, is a Pinophyta, coniferous tree native to the islands of the southwestern Pacific Ocean in tropical humid lowlands and lower montane regions, notably in Fiji, Vanuatu, and the Santa Cruz Islands. Th ...

''.'Plant Nazis' hunt for outlawed trees
''New Zealand Herald'', 14 October 2012

References

silbae Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Endemic flora of Vanuatu Plants described in 1987 Taxa named by David John de Laubenfels {{conifer-stub