The broad threats affecting the most flora species are habitat loss and fragmentation and inherent risks associated with the small size of many of these plant populations. The impacts associated with climate and severe weather have also been identified as a frequent factor in the risk of extinction of flora species in Queensland.
A range of pressures put species at threat of extinction within Queensland. The threats that impact the greatest number of threatened flora species are:
- habitat loss and fragmentation
- restricted populations and/or low population viability
- adverse fire regimes
- invasive and problematic plants such as weeds
- harm from human activities such as the illegal collection of plants
Information on threats was derived from the Queensland Government's Threatened Species Prioritisation Framework internal database. The database includes information on threats for each species, collected from experts, literature and recovery documents. The summary data shows the number of species facing each high-level threat. Climate change also is expected to have both direct and indirect impacts on Queensland flora species.
As one of the key threats is adverse fire regimes, actively engaging and working cooperatively with First Nations People to introduce a traditional fire management approach may contribute to significantly reducing this threat.
