Pine Bolete (Boletus pinophilus)
Key Details
| Taxonomic Groups: | Fungus or lichen > fungus > Fungus |
| Red List Status: | Near Threatened (Not Relevant) [NT(nr)] |
| D5 Status: | Included in the baseline Red List Index for England (Wilkins, Wilson & Brown, 2022) |
| Section 41 Status: | (not listed) |
| Taxa Included Synonym: | (none) |
| UKSI Recommended Name: | Boletus pinophilus |
| UKSI Recommended Authority: | Pilát & Dermek |
| UKSI Recommended Qualifier: | (none specified) |
| Red List Citation: | Ainsworth et al., 2013 |
| Notes on taxonomy/listing: | (none) |
Criteria
| Question 1: | Does species need conservation or recovery in England? |
| Response: | Yes |
| Justification: | Redlisted as Near Threatened (2013) - Widely distributed in pine plantations, but very few records with Fagales (see species comment) |
| Question 2: | Does recovery/ conservation depend on species-specific actions? |
| Response: | Yes |
| Justification: | Without evidence of the current national status of this species it will be very difficult to assess if there are any other species-specific actions required for its conservation; or if it is need of conservation at all. |
| Question 3: | At a landscape scale, would the species benefit from untargeted habitat management to increase habitat mosaics, structural diversity, or particular successional stages? |
| Response: | No |
| Justification: | There is no evidence that an increase in the structural diversity of the habitat will directly benefit this species. |
Species Assessment
| Current step on the Species Recovery Curve (SRC): | 1. Taxonomy established |
| Recovery potential/expectation: | Low - Policy conflict (detail in comments) |
| National Monitoring Resource: | Opportunistic - insufficient |
| Species Comments: | This species is traditionally considered a pine-associate of Scottish pinewoods. There is an IUCN recognised redlist for GB, but that is over 10 years old and due for review. The recovery potential is low because of policies around nitrogen deposition, which has a negative effect on mycorrhizal species like this. There are some English records with Fagales, if proven then reversing habitat fragmentation and improving habitat management will also be key to improving the conservation of this species. |
Key Actions
Key Action 1
Proposed Action: A program of sequencing all English specimens not found with Pine. This study should also include morphometric analysis to confirm/disprove whether this species associates with trees considered native to England.
Action targets: 1. Taxonomy established
Action type: Scientific research
Duration: 1 year
Scale of Implementation: Not applicable
High priority sites: N/A
Comments: This species is usually associated with Pinus in Scotland. It appears in English Pine plantations, so is not considered native. There are however records of it not associating with Pinus in England, and these may be a another, or cryptic species native to England. Sequencing of voucher specimens should resolve this taxonomy.
Key Action 2
Proposed Action: If Action 1 confirms this as a true species, an assessment of the necessary national species records should be made according to IUCN guidelines to provide a recognised redlist status criteria for this species.
Action targets: 2. Biological status assessment exists
Action type: Status survey/review
Duration: 1 year
Scale of Implementation: National
High priority sites: N/A
Comments: As the IUCN recognised assessment for this species is out of date, this action should be prioritised.
Key Action 3
Proposed Action: Research into inoculation of saplings with mycorrhiza of this species
Action targets: 5. Remedial action identified
Action type: Scientific research
Duration: >10 years
Scale of Implementation: National
High priority sites: N/A
Comments: tree inoculation should be trialled. Successful inoculation would allow for rapid colonisation of new sites
Acknowledgment:
Data used on this website are adapted from Threatened species recovery actions 2025 baseline (JP065): Technical report and spreadsheet user guide (Natural England, 2025). Available here.