Lesser Smoothcap (Atrichum angustatum)
Key Details
| Taxonomic Groups: | Non-vascular plant (incl. chromists) > moss > Moss |
| Red List Status: | Critically Endangered (Not Relevant) [CR(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: | Atrichum angustatum |
| UKSI Recommended Authority: | (Brid.) Bruch & Schimp. |
| 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 to historic sites is 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: | 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): | 2. Biological status assessment exists |
| Recovery potential/expectation: | Unknown |
| National Monitoring Resource: | Opportunistic - insufficient |
| Species Comments: | GB RL criteria: D1. Temperate European species. |
Key Actions
Key Action 1
Proposed Action: Undertake a comprehensive survey of sites in SE England
Action targets: 2. Biological status assessment exists
Action type: Status survey/review
Duration: 3-5 years
Scale of Implementation: ≤ 20 sites
High priority sites:
Comments: Twenty four historic sites were assessed and many were searched in SE England during 2015 to 2019, which located two small populations (Angley Wood and Tilgate Forest). Most of the sites were not comprehensively searched. Comprehensive species-specific surveys of sites that continue to provide suitable habitat are required by suitably skilled bryologists to adequately understand the current status of the species, and should not be limited to sites that happen to have historic records.
Key Action 2
Proposed Action: Undertake species distribution modelling to understand the vulnerability of the species to projected climate change over the next 50 years
Action targets: 4. Autecology and pressures understood
Action type: Scientific research
Duration: 1 year
Scale of Implementation: National
High priority sites:
Comments: Reasons for the large decline of this species are highly uncertain, as much seemingly suitable habitat persists within its core range but recent surveys have largely been unsuccessful. The potential influence of climate change should therefore be investigated.
Key Action 3
Proposed Action: Undertake improvements to rides through habitat management at Angley Wood to benefit the needs of this species
Action targets: 7. Best approach adopted at appropriate scales
Action type: Habitat management
Duration: 1 year
Scale of Implementation: 1 site
High priority sites: Angley Wood
Comments: The population in Angley Wood is dependent on periodic scraping and re-grading of a woodland ride. When visited in 2021, suitable management had not been undertaken and the species was close to extinction.
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.