Nebria nivalis
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: | Nebria nivalis |
| UKSI Recommended Authority: | (Paykull, 1790) |
| 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: | A montane species found on high mountain summits; in England known only from two hectads in Cumberland on the basis of pre-1980 records from Scafell Pike and more recent records from Crossfell. It is widespread in Scotland and although known from only 25 hectads post-1980, is likely to be a very under-recorded species. |
| Question 2: | Does recovery/ conservation depend on species-specific actions? |
| Response: | Yes |
| Justification: | Only recorded from two hectads and not since the 1980s. Possibly extinct in England. |
| 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): | 4. Autecology and pressures understood |
| Recovery potential/expectation: | Low - Climate change |
| National Monitoring Resource: | Opportunistic - insufficient |
| Species Comments: | Typically found under stones and running amongst boulders, at the summits but also on the upper slopes of mountains. Populations are probably small and completely isolated. Potential habitat with a suitable microclimate may be shrinking under climate change, particularly if the species is dependent on summer snow-patches |
Key Actions
Key Action 1
Proposed Action: Survey the summits of Scafell Pike and Crossfell for the species, to include range of probably montane sites as it is likely an under-recorded species.
Action targets: 3. National Monitoring Plan agreed and implemented
Action type: Status survey/review
Duration: 2 years
Scale of Implementation: ≤ 5 sites
High priority sites: Scafell Pike and Crossfell
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.