Channelled Crystalwort (Riccia canaliculata)
Key Details
| Taxonomic Groups: | Non-vascular plant (incl. chromists) > liverwort > Liverwort |
| Red List Status: | Vulnerable (Not Relevant) [VU(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: | Riccia canaliculata |
| UKSI Recommended Authority: | Hoffm. |
| UKSI Recommended Qualifier: | (none specified) |
| Red List Citation: | Callaghan, 2023 |
| Notes on taxonomy/listing: | (none) |
Criteria
| Question 1: | Does species need conservation or recovery in England? |
| Response: | Yes |
| Justification: | At risk of extinction in England due to small population size |
| Question 2: | Does recovery/ conservation depend on species-specific actions? |
| Response: | Yes |
| Justification: | Reintroduction potential to historic regions needs to be assessed |
| 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: | The species has a restricted distribution and so is unlikely to benefit from untargeted actions |
Species Assessment
| Current step on the Species Recovery Curve (SRC): | 6. Recovery solutions trialled |
| Recovery potential/expectation: | Medium-high |
| National Monitoring Resource: | Opportunistic - insufficient |
| Species Comments: | GB RL criteria: D1. Temperate European species. |
Key Actions
Key Action 1
Proposed Action: Develop and implement national monitoring plan to ensure comprehensive and up-to-date information is available on range size, population size, occupied sites and threatening factors in England
Action targets: 3. National Monitoring Plan agreed and implemented
Action type: Targeted monitoring
Duration: 1 year
Scale of Implementation: 1 site
High priority sites: Brown Moss SSSI
Comments: A species with low recovery potential where the main aim is to maintain/protect populations
Key Action 2
Proposed Action: Assess feasibility and develop a plan for reintroduction to Cheshire and Sussex
Action targets: 6. Recovery solutions trialled
Action type: (Re-)introduction
Duration: 1 year
Scale of Implementation: ≤ 5 sites
High priority sites:
Comments: Presently limited to a single site in Shropshire. Formerly occupied at least two further sites in Cheshire and Sussex. There is no potential for reintroduction to the historic sites, but suitable sites likely occur within those regions, where reintroduction could potentially occur using plants directly translocated from Brown Moss SSSI.
Key Action 3
Proposed Action: Undertake research to better understand the habitat requirements of the species, in particular to define its favourable hydrological niche
Action targets: 4. Autecology and pressures understood
Action type: Scientific research
Duration: 3-5 years
Scale of Implementation: 1 site
High priority sites: Brown Moss SSSI
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.