Starry Breck-Lichen (Buellia asterella)
Key Details
| Taxonomic Groups: | Fungus or lichen > lichen > Lichen |
| Red List Status: | Critically Endangered (Not Relevant) [CR(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: | Buellia asterella |
| UKSI Recommended Authority: | Poelt & Sulzer |
| UKSI Recommended Qualifier: | (none specified) |
| Red List Citation: | Woods & Coppins, 2012 |
| Notes on taxonomy/listing: | (none) |
Criteria
| Question 1: | Does species need conservation or recovery in England? |
| Response: | Yes |
| Justification: | Critically Endangered, and likely extinct in England (and GB) but awaiting eDNA analysis, and potential to translocate is being investigated. |
| Question 2: | Does recovery/ conservation depend on species-specific actions? |
| Response: | Yes |
| Justification: | Likely extinct, but if refound will need targeted work to recover and reintroduce. There are few recent historic sites (all in Breckland). Requires specific conditions/niche. |
| 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: | This species would not benefit from untargeted management |
Species Assessment
| Current step on the Species Recovery Curve (SRC): | 6. Recovery solutions trialled |
| Recovery potential/expectation: | Low - Extinction debt |
| National Monitoring Resource: | Opportunistic - insufficient |
| Species Comments: | Quite probably extinct in England/GB and therefore likely to require translocation efforts using continental material. Possible that material will be found with eDNA analysis although seems a long shot. |
Key Actions
Key Action 1
Proposed Action: Survey the habitat created by Elveden estates and NWT at three former sites - Deadman's Grave, Little Heath Barnham and Weeting Heath
Action targets: 3. National Monitoring Plan agreed and implemented
Action type: Targeted monitoring
Duration: 1 year
Scale of Implementation: ≤ 5 sites
High priority sites: Deadman's Grave, Little Heath Barnham, Weeting Heath
Comments: Sites have not been surveyed for this (or any) lichen species following management work targeted at recovery of this species (and others).
Key Action 2
Proposed Action: Establish translocation feasibility and develop protocol as required.
Action targets: 5. Remedial action identified
Action type: (Re-)introduction
Duration: 6-10 years
Scale of Implementation: ≤ 5 sites
High priority sites: Deadman's Grave, Little Heath Barnham, Weeting Heath, Thetford Heath
Comments:
Key Action 3
Proposed Action: Trial techniques for in vitro cultivation of this species.
Action targets: 6. Recovery solutions trialled
Action type: Scientific research
Duration: 6-10 years
Scale of Implementation: National
High priority sites:
Comments: Especially relevant to species too rare to ethically collect from the wild such as B. asterella. This action could be bundled with other crustose terricolous lichens.
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.