8 research outputs found
Threatened and uncommon plants of New Zealand
A reappraisal of the conservation status
of the indigenous New Zealand vascular plant flora
is presented. The list comprises 792 taxa (34% of
New Zealandâs total indigenous vascular flora) in the
following categories: Extinct 4 taxa, Acutely Threatened
122 taxa (comprising 47 taxa Nationally Critical,
54 Nationally Endangered, 21 Nationally
Vulnerable), Chronically Threatened 96 taxa (comprising
Serious Decline 26 taxa, Gradual Decline 70
taxa), At Risk 499 taxa (comprising Sparse 126 taxa,
Range Restricted 373 taxa), Non-resident Native 26
taxa (comprising Vagrant 16 taxa, Colonist 10 taxa),
and Data Deficient 45 taxa. A further 208 plants are
listed as Taxonomically Indeterminate, being those
which might warrant further conservation attention
once their taxonomic status is clarified. A further 31
named taxa and 18 rated as Taxonomically Indeterminate,
and previously considered to be threatened
and/or uncommon, are removed from this updated
listing. A concordance of plant names is provided.
The lists presented use a new threat classification
system developed by the New Zealand Department
of Conservation for sole use within this country. This
paper represents the first time the entire known
indigenous vascular flora has been assessed from a
conservation perspective since the mid 1970s.
A brief analysis of the patterns of rarity exhibited by
the taxa listed is presented