Reindeer Lichen (Cladonia mediterranea)
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: | Cladonia mediterranea |
| UKSI Recommended Authority: | P.A. Duvign. & Abbayes |
| 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. Very limited distribution, known only from The Lizard (Cornwall) and The New Forest and very rare in the latter. |
| Question 2: | Does recovery/ conservation depend on species-specific actions? |
| Response: | Yes |
| Justification: | Specific management required for this very restricted sp. The larger Lizard population is suffering from under-management resulting in over-shading and increased wild fire threat. |
| 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: | Yes |
| Justification: | Improving the general management of heathland is required. Thrives best under moderately hard grazing that reduces the threat of damaging wild fires or overshading by dwarf shrubs. |
Species Assessment
| Current step on the Species Recovery Curve (SRC): | 5. Remedial action identified |
| Recovery potential/expectation: | Medium-high |
| National Monitoring Resource: | Opportunistic - insufficient |
| Species Comments: | Recovery solutions are currently being trialled on the Lizard heaths. |
Key Actions
Key Action 1
Proposed Action: Assess results of the grazing and prescribed burning trials being carried out 2023/24.
Action targets: 6. Recovery solutions trialled
Action type: Targeted monitoring
Duration: 1 year
Scale of Implementation: ≤ 5 sites
High priority sites: Lizard Heaths
Comments: Part of ongoing project covering numerous rare Lizard specialist species
Key Action 2
Proposed Action: Review management at extant sites in light of trials (A1), with a view to find alternative methods to burning where possible, to create the conditions required for the species.
Action targets: 7. Best approach adopted at appropriate scales
Action type: Habitat management
Duration: 6-10 years
Scale of Implementation: ≤ 5 sites
High priority sites: Lizard heaths
Comments: Part of ongoing project covering numerous rare Lizard specialist species
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.