An Eyebright (Euphrasia vigursii)
Key Details
| Taxonomic Groups: | Vascular plant > flowering plant > Herbaceous plant |
| 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: | Euphrasia vigursii |
| UKSI Recommended Authority: | Davey |
| UKSI Recommended Qualifier: | (none specified) |
| Red List Citation: | in Stroh et al., 2014 |
| Notes on taxonomy/listing: | (none) |
Criteria
| Question 1: | Does species need conservation or recovery in England? |
| Response: | Yes |
| Justification: | EN in GB & England. |
| Question 2: | Does recovery/ conservation depend on species-specific actions? |
| Response: | Yes |
| Justification: | About 25 populations, largely in Cornwall (notably along the north Cornish coast), with four populations surviving in Devon post-2000. Endemic to Devon & Cornwall. |
| 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: | Yes |
| Justification: | Support (with technical guidance) management of suitable coastal cliff slope, heathland & commonland habitat is likely to benefit species. |
Species Assessment
| Current step on the Species Recovery Curve (SRC): | 5. Remedial action identified |
| Recovery potential/expectation: | Medium-high |
| National Monitoring Resource: | Opportunistic - insufficient |
| Species Comments: | Populations highly susceptible to changes in grazing pressure, & can fluctuate wildly. One Dartmoor population (Lydford High Down) declined from a maximum of 21,000 plants in 2002 to 100-200 by 2015 due to declines in grazing pressures. Works to increase cover of dwarf shrub communities (heather & gorse dominated) should avoid impacting populations of species characteristic of short, commonland grassland. |
Key Actions
Key Action 1
Proposed Action: Monitor a sample of populations in stronghold areas, and all populations in non-stronghold/vulnerable areas, every <5 years. Assess population size & review condition of microhabitats in which it grows, determining impacts of changing grazing patterns where appropriate. Review future management based on findings.
Action targets: 3. National Monitoring Plan agreed and implemented
Action type: Status survey/review
Duration: 6-10 years
Scale of Implementation: ≤ 20 sites
High priority sites: All sites away from stronghold along north Cornish coast between Hayle & Perranporth
Comments:
Key Action 2
Proposed Action: Ensure effective grazing regimes (of correct stock) of heathland and acid commonland, to ensure that sites remain well-grazed, with abundant microsites for seedling establishment.
Action targets: 6. Recovery solutions trialled
Action type: Habitat management
Duration: >10 years
Scale of Implementation: ≤ 20 sites
High priority sites: All.
Comments: Species favours short open mildly acid grassland, with high levels of grazing. Some sites are undergrazed & suffering from growth of dwarf shrubs & trees/bushes. Conversely, heavy sheep grazing may not be ideal for species (though heavy pony / cattle grazing likely to be highly beneficial)
Key Action 3
Proposed Action: Promote the short turf favoured by E. vigursii & associated species in suitable habitats for this species
Action targets: 5. Remedial action identified
Action type: Landscape/catchment/marine management
Duration: Unknown
Scale of Implementation: ≤ 20 sites
High priority sites: Dartmoor SSSIs
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.