Vulnerable plants

A taxon is considered vulnerable when it faces high risk of extinction in the wild. Categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as vulnerable species, these plants were defined by a set of criteria (A to E).


Species under vulnerable category were observed to have population size reduction of greater than or equal 50% over the last 10 years or three generations and are known to exist in no more than ten locations. The category can also be defined by continuing decline in numbers of mature individuals which are estimated to number less than 1000 mature individuals. 


Vulnerable plants are characterized by an acute restriction in its area of or in the number of locations. In that case, species will be prone to the effects of human activities within a very short period of time in an unforeseeable future, and is thus capable of becoming Critically Endangered or even Extinct in a very short period.

Threats to a Flowering PLant

Residential & Commercial Development

Human settlements or other non-agricultural land uses with a defined and relatively compact area pose threats to critically  endangered plants. The first threat that falls into this category is Housing and Urban Areas. These areas are human cities, towns, and settlements including  non-housing development typically integrated with housing. Development  on housing and urban areas causes habitat degradation in riverine,  estuary and coastal areas. Commercial and Industrial Areas is the second type of threat under this category. These areas are  factories and other commercial centres, including shipyards and airports  which signify development yet pose threats. Residential and Commercial  Development threats also include Tourism and Recreation Areas.  This threat focuses on how tourism and recreation sites, with a  substantial footprint, have also been affecting the habitat of  critically endangered plants. 

Agriculture & Aquaculture

Agriculture and aquaculture create threats from farming and ranching as a result of agricultural expansion and intensification,  including silviculture, mariculture and aquaculture. Also, the impacts  of any fencing around farmed areas pose direct threats. The threats are  focused on the direct conversion of land to agricultural use.  In terms of agriculture, direct threats are classified into Annual and  Perennial Non-Timber Crops; Wood and Pulp Plantations; and Livestock  Farming and Ranching. Annual and Perrenial Non-Timber Crops include  Shifting Agriculture; Small-holder Farming; Agro-Industry Farming; and  Scale Unknown/Unrecorded. Meanwhile, Wood and Pulp Plantations are  divided into Small-holder Plantation; Agro-Industry Plantation and Scale  Unknown/Unrecorded. Livestock Farming and Ranching, on the other hand,  includes Nomadic Grazing, Small-holder Grazing, Ranching or Farming;  Agro-industry Grazing, Ranching or Farming; and Scale  Unknown/Unrecorded. In addition, Marine and Freshwater Aquaculture also pose direct threats. These threats include Subsistence/Artisanal, Industrial and Scale Unknown/Unrecorded aquaculture.  

Energy Production & Mining

The threats from the production of non-biological resources are classified under Energy Production and Mining. This category of  direct threats are further classified into Oil and Gas Drilling; Mining  and Quarrying; and Renewable Energy. Oil and Gas Drilling refers to the  exploration, development and production of petroleum and other liquid  hydrocarbons which are typically produced through oil wells, deep sea  natural gas drilling, hydraulic fracking and others. Meanwhile, the exploration, development and production of minerals and rocks are collectively termed under Mining and Quarrying. These minerals and  rocks are usually from coal strip mines, alluvial gold panning, gold  mines, rock quarries, sand/salt mines, coral mining, deep sea nodules,  guano harvesting and dredging outside of shipping lanes. The third  classification of direct threat under Energy Production and Mining is Renewable Energy.  The renewable energy are explored, developed and produced through  geothermal power, solar farms, wind farms, tidal farms and others. 

Transportation & Service Corridors

This  category of direct threats refers to the threats from long narrow  transport corridors and the vehicles that use them including associated  wildlife mortality. This class includes transportation corridors outside  of human settlements and industrial developments. Transportation and  Service Corridors are classified into Roads and Railroads; Utility and  Service Lines; Shipping Lanes; and Flight Paths. Roads and Railroads are  surface transport on roadways and dedicated tracks. This type of roads  include highways, secondary roads, primitive roads, logging roads,  bridges and causeways, road kill, fencing associated with roads,  freight/passenger/mining railroads and others. Meanwhile, transport of  energy and resources are classified under Utility and Service Lines.  These lines include electrical and phone wires, aqueducts, oil and gas  pipelines, electrocution of wildlife and others. The next classification  is Shipping Lanes which focuses on the transport on and in freshwater  and ocean waterways. Finally, air and space transport are also included  under the Flight Paths category.  

Biological Resource Use

Biological  Resource Use threats are from consumptive use of “wild” biological  resources including both deliberate and unintentional harvesting  effects. The first category is Hunting and Collecting Terrestrial  Animals. This category refers to the killing or trapping of terrestrial  wild animals or animal products for commercial, recreation, subsistence,  research or cultural purposes or even for control/persecution reasons.  These acts include accidental mortality or bycatch. The second category  that falls under this class of direct threat is Gathering Terrestrial  Plants. This category focuses on plants, and other non-animal  terrestrial species. Logging and Wood Harvesting, which refers to the  harvesting trees and other woody vegetation, and Fishing and Harvesting  Aquatic Resources, which primarily focus on the harvesting from aquatic  environment, are also included in this class of threat. These activities  may be done for intentional use or persecution/control, due to either  small or large scale unintentional effects or even with unknown  motivation. 

Human Intrusions & Disturbance

Human  activities can alter, destroy and disturb habitats and species  associated with non-consumptive uses of biological resources. These  threats are classified into Human Intrusion and Disturbance. The human  activities are further categorized into Recreational Activities; War,  Civil Unrest and Military Exercises; and, Work and Other Activities.  Recreational Activities refer to the specific activities by human for  recreational reasons. This activity may be spending time in nature or  traveling in vehicles outside of established transport corridors. On the  other hand, the actions by formal or paramilitary forces without a  permanent footprint are included in the War, Civil Unrest and Military  Exercises category. The category focuses on military activities that  have a large impact on the natural habitats but are not permanently  restricted to a single area. Other than recreation or military  activities, human activities are categorized under Work and Other  Activities. 

Threats to Flowering Plants

Natural System Modifications

Natural  System Modifications pose threats from actions that convert or degrade  habitat in service of “managing” natural or semi-natural systems, often  to improve human welfare. Natural processes that belong to this category  includes Fire and Fire Suppression; Dams and Water Management/Use; and  other Ecosystem Modifications. In terms of Fire and Fire Suppression,  the focus is on the human activities that lead to either not enough fire  or too much fire in the ecosystem. Increase and Suppression in Fire  Frequency/Intensity as well as those with unknown or unrecorded trend  are the focus of this category. With Dams and Water Management/Use, the  focus in on the changing water flow patterns from their natural range of  variation that lead to either not enough or too much water in the  ecosystem. The Abstraction of Surface and Ground Water may be done for  domestic, commercial, agricultural or unknown use in either small or  large dams as well as on those with unknown size.  

Invasive & Other Problematic Species, Genes & Diseases

The  ecosystem itself contain direct threats. These threats are classified  under Invasive and other Problematic Species, Genes and Diseases.  Invasive Non-native/Alien Species/Diseases are harmful species,  unspecified or named, which are not originally found within the  ecosystem and may directly or indirectly introduced and spread into it  by human activities. Problematic Native Species/Diseases, on the  contrary, are harmful species, unspecified or named, which are  originally found within the ecosystem but have become “out-of-balance”  or “released” directly or indirectly due to human activities. There are  also threat from human altered or transported organisms or genes which  are categorized into Introduced Genetic Material. The Problematic  Species/Diseases may also have unknown origin as they may have been  deliberately or accidentally introduced. The Viral/Prion-induced  Diseases and those of Unknown Cause are also included in the categories  of this threat. These species/genes/diseases have or are predicted to  have harmful effects on biodiversity following their introduction,  spread and increase in abundance. 

Pollution

Pollution  are threats from the introduction of exotic and/or excess materials  introduced to the environment. The first category, Domestic and Urban  Waste Water, refers to the water-borne sewage and non-point runoff from  housing and urban areas that include nutrients, toxic chemicals and/or  sediments. Industrial and Military Effluents, on the other hand, refers  to the water-borne pollutants such as oil spills, seepage from mining  and other examples of industrial pollution which are unrecorded.  Thirdly, the Agricultural and Forestry effluents category are also  classified as water-borne pollutants from agricultural, silvicultural  and aquaculture systems that include nutrients, toxic chemicals and/or  sediments which have effects on the sites where they are applied.  Garbage and Solid Waste, which refers to rubbish and other solid  materials including those that entangle wildlife, is also included in  the list. Atmospheric pollutants like acid rain, smog and ozone are  classified under Air-Borne Pollutants while light, thermal and noise  pollution are classified as Excess Energy.  

Geological Events

This  classification of threat refers to the threats from catastrophic  geological events. These geological events may led to loss of resilience  making the species vulnerable to disturbance. Some of these geological  events include volcanic events, which may include volcanic eruptions,  emissions of volcanic gasses and others. Also, earthquakes and tsunamis  are also under this classification of threat. Avalanches/landslides  including mudslides and other associated events are also considered  direct threats. These events may be part of natural phenomena in the  ecosystem but they pose threat if the species or habitat is damaged.  Occurrence of such geological events endangers not only the habitat but  also the lives of the organisms. 

Climate Change and Severe Weather

The  next classification of threat is Climate Change and Severe Weather.  These are threats from long-climatic changes which may be linked to  global warming and other severe climatic/weather events that are outside  of the natural range of variation, or potentially can wipe out a  vulnerable species or habitat. Habitat Shifting and Alteration is the  first category under this threat. This category focuses on the major  changes in habitat composition and location as the effects of climate  change. Droughts, which refers to the period in which rainfall falls  below the normal range of variation, is the second category under this  class. As drought degrades the ecosystem, it is likely to cause species  mortality and thus considered a great threat. Extreme temperatures, such  in the occurrence of heat waves, cold spells, oceanic temperature  changes and disappearance of glaciers, are also considered category of  this threat. Furthermore, storms and flooding and other impacts of  climate change are likewise threats.

Other Options

All  threats which are not identified in the above classifications of direct  threats are classified under Other Options. The movement in the  ecosystem is still subjected to observation and exploration which opens  for new discoveries and invention. While change is believed to be the  only permanent thing, discoveries are likewise continuous. For as long  as there is life in the ecosystem, there will always a threat to it.  Therefore, the classifications of threat above may not be enough to  cover everything. This Other Options classification gives room to new  and emerging threats as this option allows for these new threats to be  recorded.  

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