Pseudocyphellaria aurata
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: | Crocodia aurata |
| UKSI Recommended Authority: | (Ach.) Link |
| 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: | Only known from coastal heathland on the Isles of Scilly. |
| Question 2: | Does recovery/ conservation depend on species-specific actions? |
| Response: | Yes |
| Justification: | Given the extreme vulnerability of this tiny population, monitoring is essential to assess response to management and to trigger emergency action e.g., translocation if needed. |
| 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: | Likely to benefit from management of coastal heathland that maintains open sward structure and controls invasive species e.g. Hottentot Fig. |
Species Assessment
| Current step on the Species Recovery Curve (SRC): | 4. Autecology and pressures understood |
| Recovery potential/expectation: | Medium-high |
| National Monitoring Resource: | Opportunistic - insufficient |
| Species Comments: | Only known in England from the Isles of Scilly |
Key Actions
Key Action 1
Proposed Action: Targeted control of invasive species (e.g. Hottentot Fig), threatening the species at specific locations.
Action targets: 7. Best approach adopted at appropriate scales
Action type: Pressure mitigation
Duration: 3-5 years
Scale of Implementation: 1 site
High priority sites:
Comments:
Key Action 2
Proposed Action: Monitoring of the population and responses to management.
Action targets: 7. Best approach adopted at appropriate scales
Action type: Targeted monitoring
Duration: >10 years
Scale of Implementation: 1 site
High priority sites: Isles of Scilly
Comments: Given the extreme vulnerability of this tiny population monitoring is essential to assess response to management and to trigger emergency action e.g., translocation if needed.
Key Action 3
Proposed Action: Investigate translocation feasibility and develop a protocol if considered possible.
Action targets: 5. Remedial action identified
Action type: (Re-)introduction
Duration: 6-10 years
Scale of Implementation: 1 site
High priority sites: Isles of Scilly
Comments: Given vulnerability of the population need to consider viability of translocation and how it would be done, especially as foliose Lobarion lichens can be transplanted with some success.
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.