The Plant team selected 113 target species that met either rarity or vulnerability criteria. Of these, 67 are primary targets. More than half of the exceptionally high number of primary plant targets are either:
species, subspecies or varieties endemic to this ecoregion or parts of it known to be important centers of endemism for the flora of Eastern North America; or,
species that have significantly disjunct populations from those of Northern Canada or the Rocky Mountains because of climatic and ecological conditions that have persisted after the glacial retreat, such as in the alpine habitats of the Chic-Chocs Mountain Range in the Gaspé Peninsula.
Nineteen percent of the species have at least a minimum of ten secured locations but 47% of the species were still in urgent need of both protection and inventory efforts. Moreover, 34% are still vulnerable to extinction due to low population sizes. More than 200 plant occurrences fell within portfolio matrix forest blocks. While not tabulated it is certain that many more are nested within small-scale ecosystems that were selected for the portfolio.