PRELIMINARY IUCN RED LIST ASSESSMENT OF SILENE L. SPECIES IN THE NURATAU AND KUHISTAN BOTANICAL- EOGRAPHICAL DISTRICTS: HERBARIUM RECORDS, RANGE METRICS, AND SAMPLING BIAS

Of the 28 Silene L. species recorded in the Nuratau and Kuhistan districts, 21 (75%) met the range-based thresholds for threatened categories (CR, EN, VU) under IUCN Criterion B at the regional level; 12 of these were last collected before 1975. The assessment used 320 unique collection events dated 1869–2025, following approaches similar to ConR and GeoCAT. For each species, extent of occurrence (EOO; convex hull), area of occupancy (AOO; 2 × 2 km grid), and the number of locations approximated using a 10 km grid were calculated. Categories were downlisted by one level for widespread Palaearctic species in accordance with the IUCN regional guidelines. Two taxa (S. schmalhausenii and S. latifolia subsp. alba) are known from a single location. The Nuratau endemic S. nuratavica (EOO = 8 km²) and the subendemic S. pugionifolia (EOO = 175 km²) were provisionally assigned to EN and have not been recollected since 1971. Conversely, S. paranadena, listed in the Red Data Book of Uzbekistan, was recorded from 26 locations and approached NT under Criterion B. Collection effort was uneven: 53% of dated events occurred during 1925–1960, and ten collectors accounted for 52% of all events. These findings indicate that rapid herbarium-based assessment can help prioritise conservation in poorly documented Central Asian mountain regions, but field verification remains essential.