Restricted to the higher elevations of New Caledonia. The major threat is wildfire; some subpopulations have been effected by trail construction to facilitate tourism.
Distribution
This species is restricted to the higher parts of the southern massif on New Caledonia at 950-1350 m
The total population is estimated to be more than 10,000 individuals in several locations. This species is slow growing and there is little regeneration in most subpopulations.
Habitat and Ecology
Mainly limited to higher altitude maquis the higher ridges and plateaus of the southern ultramafic massif. Mean annual precipitation is above 2300 mm amd mean anual temperature is 18.3°C (Larter et al., 2017). Cones are not serotinous - this species is susceptible to fire and droughts associated with El Niño events (Ladd et al., 2013).
Human Uses
The timber of this species has been used in the past. Essential oils from this species and C sulcata have shown to have antifungal properties (Waikedre et al., 2012).
Conservation Status
Global Status
Near Threatened
Global Rationale
This species has a restricted distribution with an estimated extent of occurrence of only 257 km2 and there is continuing decline in the extent and quality of the habitat. However, as the species is not severely fragmented and it is known from more than ten locations, it is listed as Near Threatened: it almost qualifies for a threatened listing under criterion B1ab(iii).
Global threats
The major threat is wildfire; some subpopulations have been effected by trail construction to facilitate tourism.
Conservation Actions
Most subpopulations are protected in Montagne des Sources and Mt. Humboldt Botanical Reserve
References and further reading
Jaffré, T., Munzinger, J. and Lowry, P.P. 2010. Threats to the conifer species found on New Caledonia's ultramafic massifs and proposals for urgently needed measures to improve their protection. Biodiversity and Conservation 19: 1485-1502: DOI 10.1007/s10531-010-9780-6.
Ladd, P.G., Midgley, J.J. and Nield, A.P., 2013. Serotiny in southern hemisphere conifers. Australian Journal of Botany, 61(6), pp.486-496.
Larter, M., Pfautsch, S., Domec, J.C., Trueba, S., Nagalingum, N. and Delzon, S., 2017. Aridity drove the evolution of extreme embolism resistance and the radiation of conifer genus Callitris. New Phytologist.
Waikedre, J., Vitturo, C.I., Molina, A., Theodoro, P.N.E.T., do Rosário Rodrigues Silva, M., Espindola, L.S., Maciuk, A. and Fournet, A., 2012. Antifungal activity of the essential oils of Callitris neocaledonica and C. sulcata heartwood (Cupressaceae). Chemistry & biodiversity, 9(3), pp.644-653