Blackening Chanterelle (Cantharellus melanoxeros)
Key Details
| Taxonomic Groups: | Fungus or lichen > fungus > Fungus |
| Red List Status: | (Not Relevant) [(not listed)(nr)] |
| D5 Status: | |
| Section 41 Status: | (not listed) |
| Taxa Included Synonym: | (none) |
| UKSI Recommended Name: | Craterellus melanoxeros |
| UKSI Recommended Authority: | (Desm.) Pérez-De-Greg. |
| UKSI Recommended Qualifier: | (none specified) |
| Red List Citation: | (not listed) |
| Notes on taxonomy/listing: | (none) |
Criteria
| Question 1: | Does species need conservation or recovery in England? |
| Response: | Yes |
| Justification: | Assessed as Vulnerable (2006) and as Endangered (2015). - Restricted to South and West, with a core population in the New Forest |
| 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): | 2. Biological status assessment exists |
| Recovery potential/expectation: | Low - Combination or other (detail in comments) |
| National Monitoring Resource: | Opportunistic - insufficient |
| Species Comments: | Associated with mature Beech and Oak woods, but also conifer plantations. Widely distributed but apparently fragmented and rare here (and rare + declining across Europe). Low recovery potential a combination of appearing to be naturally rare as well as sensitive to atmospheric nitrogen deposition which would need (inter)national policy changes to address. |
Key Actions
Key Action 1
Proposed Action: 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 no IUCN recognised assessment exists for this species, this action should be prioritised. A redlist assessment is likely to uncover more information and data on this species that will influence future recovery efforts
Key Action 2
Proposed Action: A national citizen science survey (using the LAFF model) could be targeted at foragers as well as amateur mycologists. Foragers are more likely to be targeting other chanterelle species in the correct habitat and could be asked to collect/report potential C.friesii specimens.
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:
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.