This research was supported by Consejo Nacional de Ciencia, Tecnolog?a e Innovaci?n Tecnol?gica-CONCYTEC, under Grant 382-2019-FONDECYT-DE; Fondo Nacional de Desarrollo Cient?fico, Tecnol?gico y de Innovaci?n Tecnol?gica [382-2019-FONDECYT]; We thank the ?Servicio Nacional Forestal y de Fauna Silvestre? and the ?Servicio Nacional de ?reas Naturales Protegidas por el Estado? for providing authorizations for research under R.D.G. No. 037-2017-SERFOR/DGGSPFFS and R.D. 009-2018-SERNANP-DGANP, respectively. Likewise, we are grateful to Wendy Carolay Navarro Romo, Ciro Ricardo Paredes Huam?n (Negrito) and Jimy Ronie Llacuachaqui Rodr?guez (Timys) for contributing to field work and making it so much fun.

Polylepis forests are one of the most threatened high Andean ecosystems, with 15 species and eight subspecies being categorized as critically endangered, vulnerable or near threatened by IUCN. However, their conservation status is poorly evaluated and could be outdated. As a case study, we evaluated Polylepis flavipila, a species endemic to the Peruvian central Andes, that is categorized as Vulnerable in Peru and is not mentioned in the Global Threatened Species Red List. We used two methods to categorize P. flavipila: (1) a species-level assessment using criteria proposed by IUCN and (2) a population-level assessment of four forests using the more specific criteria proposed by Navarro and collaborators. We recorded 350 relicts of P. flavipila forests as identified from herbariums and other sources. Forest cover was reduced 53% over 45 years as evaluated using satellite images from 1975 ...