Pyrenula acutispora
Key Details
| Taxonomic Groups: | Fungus or lichen > lichen > Lichen |
| 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: | Pyrenula acutispora |
| UKSI Recommended Authority: | Kalb & Hafellner |
| 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, currently, from 1 site in England, threats known on site. |
| Question 2: | Does recovery/ conservation depend on species-specific actions? |
| Response: | Yes |
| Justification: | Small population at one site. Whilst habitat management is crucial to ensure favourable conditions to the extant population, monitoring and survey is important to respond quickly to identify declines, and other targeted interventions may be required. |
| 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: | Unlikely, due to rarity and association with smooth bark e.g. hazel in undisturbed old growth woodland which is limited in the area. |
Species Assessment
| Current step on the Species Recovery Curve (SRC): | 2. Biological status assessment exists |
| Recovery potential/expectation: | Low - Relict or natural rarity |
| National Monitoring Resource: | Opportunistic - insufficient |
| Species Comments: | One English site. Stronger populations in Scotland and Wales. A scarce species of temperate rainforest (BLS, 2025). |
Key Actions
Key Action 1
Proposed Action: Review suitability of current habitat management at the site; assess threats and identify remedial actions as required.
Action targets: 5. Remedial action identified
Action type: Other (specify in comments)
Duration: 1 year
Scale of Implementation: 1 site
High priority sites: Seatoller
Comments: Need to establish threats and remedial action if required e.g. lack of grazing is a threat in Wales.
Key Action 2
Proposed Action: Advise on sustainable management of the Atlantic Hazel stands for this species at Seatoller, Borrowdale Lake District.
Action targets: 6. Recovery solutions trialled
Action type: Advice & support
Duration: 1 year
Scale of Implementation: 1 site
High priority sites: Seatoller, Borrowdale
Comments: The habitat appears somewhat under grazed for Atlantic Hazel wood conservation, but there is pressure to reduced grazing further. The conflicting assessments require resolving.
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.