Bembidion fluviatile
Key Details
| Taxonomic Groups: | Invertebrate > insect - beetle (Coleoptera) > Ground beetle |
| 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: | Bembidion fluviatile |
| UKSI Recommended Authority: | Dejean, 1831 |
| UKSI Recommended Qualifier: | (none specified) |
| Red List Citation: | Telfer, 2016 |
| Notes on taxonomy/listing: | (none) |
Criteria
| Question 1: | Does species need conservation or recovery in England? |
| Response: | Yes |
| Justification: | Largely found in England with some records in Wales and southern Scotland. Rare and very localised with some evidence of a decline in England. Associated with relatively isolated and often ephemeral habitat patches and thus potentially vulnerable to climate change effects and extinction. |
| Question 2: | Does recovery/ conservation depend on species-specific actions? |
| Response: | Yes |
| Justification: | A habitat-specialist of relatively small, relatively isolated, early-successional, and often ephemeral, habitat patches which could expose it to an increased extinction risk. Dependent on specific habitat requirements which are unlikely to be sufficiently managed by broader habitat management methods. Targeted management and site protection are 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: | This species would not benefit from untargeted management |
Species Assessment
| Current step on the Species Recovery Curve (SRC): | 7. Best approach adopted at appropriate scales |
| Recovery potential/expectation: | Low - Climate change |
| National Monitoring Resource: | Opportunistic - insufficient |
| Species Comments: | As with some other Bembidion species this beetle is likely to be largely restricted to in-channel river habitats where exposed sediments and good water quality are important. Changes in hydrology and flooding regimes resulting from climate change are likely to limit or reduce habitat suitability. |
Key Actions
Key Action 1
Proposed Action: Review historical and current management at existing locations and undertake literature reviews to characterise the range of micro-habitats within which it is found, especially the nature and availability of bare, exposed river bank sediments. The reviews should help identify the management requirements of optimal riverine habitats, as well as the pressures from climate change which might result in further declines such as increased frequency and duration of flooding events.
Action targets: 4. Autecology and pressures understood
Action type: Scientific research
Duration: 2 years
Scale of Implementation: ≤ 10 sites
High priority sites: Recent records are from the Rivers Ribble, Monnow and Wye, with records in the 1990s from the River Trent near Sawley and on the River Lune near Hornby, Lancashire.
Comments: Actions 1 and 2 are related.
Key Action 2
Proposed Action: Depending on the results of the autecological study and site management reviews, undertake measures to maintain or improve existing habitat conditions at key locations. This might require the restoration and maintenance of bare, open river bank substrates by restoring natural flooding regimes which could require modifying or removing artificial flood management structures and perhaps also by introducing moderate grazing/trampling of river margins by livestock to help maintain open conditions.
Action targets: 7. Best approach adopted at appropriate scales
Action type: Habitat management
Duration: >10 years
Scale of Implementation: ≤ 10 sites
High priority sites: Rivers Ribble, Monnow and Wye, with records in the 1990s from the River Trent near Sawley and on the River Lune near Hornby, Lancashire.
Comments:
Key Action 3
Proposed Action: Undertake additional work to increase habitat extent and quality where possible, which might require restoring natural river channel alignment and shallow river bank profiles.
Action targets: 7. Best approach adopted at appropriate scales
Action type: Habitat management
Duration: >10 years
Scale of Implementation: ≤ 10 sites
High priority sites: Rivers Ribble, Monnow and Wye, with records in the 1990s from the River Trent near Sawley and on the River Lune near Hornby, Lancashire.
Comments:
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.