Pardosa paludicola
Key Details
| Taxonomic Groups: | Invertebrate > spider (Araneae) > Spider |
| Red List Status: | Endangered (Not Relevant) [EN(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: | Pardosa paludicola |
| UKSI Recommended Authority: | (Clerck, 1757) |
| UKSI Recommended Qualifier: | (none specified) |
| Red List Citation: | Harvey et al., 2017 |
| Notes on taxonomy/listing: | (none) |
Criteria
| Question 1: | Does species need conservation or recovery in England? |
| Response: | Yes |
| Justification: | EN, criteria: B2ab(ii,iv): confined to the S half of England with most records S of the Thames/Bristol Channel line. Still some evidence of decline but recent new sites in Sussex may improve threat status. |
| Question 2: | Does recovery/ conservation depend on species-specific actions? |
| Response: | Yes |
| Justification: | Much less frequent than its apparently preferred habitat |
| 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): | 2. Biological status assessment exists |
| Recovery potential/expectation: | Unknown |
| National Monitoring Resource: | Opportunistic - insufficient |
| Species Comments: | Usually found in long, damp grassland, on a variety of soils including fen peat and arable reversions (recent Sussex and Hants. sites). Can be very numerous but declines in the absence of any grazing/cutting. |
Key Actions
Key Action 1
Proposed Action: Targeted survey of all recorded sites and similar nearby habitat using standardised methodology to assess current status (and establish baseline for national monitoring programme)
Action targets: 2. Biological status assessment exists
Action type: Status survey/review
Duration: 2 years
Scale of Implementation: ≤ 10 sites
High priority sites:
Comments: Particular emphasis on 'lost' sites including Shapwick Heath, Somerset, where it has not been recorded since 1982 despite some recent targeted search.
Key Action 2
Proposed Action: Autecological study to identify microhabitat requirements, understand the species success on arable reversion grasslands, and inform management at all sites.
Action targets: 4. Autecology and pressures understood
Action type: Scientific research
Duration: 3-5 years
Scale of Implementation: ≤ 5 sites
High priority sites: Butcherlands, E Sussex; Woodwalton Fen, Cambs.
Comments: Focus on contrasting and reliable sites
Key Action 3
Proposed Action: Maintain/introduce scrub control at all former sites to retain open grassland
Action targets: 7. Best approach adopted at appropriate scales
Action type: Habitat management
Duration: Unknown
Scale of Implementation: ≤ 10 sites
High priority sites:
Comments: Liaise with site managers
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.