Field Gentian (Gentianella campestris)
Key Details
| Taxonomic Groups: | Vascular plant > flowering plant > Herbaceous plant |
| 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: | Gentianella campestris |
| UKSI Recommended Authority: | (L.) Börner |
| 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 England; a localised plant present in around 370 sites in England (based on the number of post-2000 100m grid cell records in the BSBI's database) that has suffered a dramatic decline since the 1950s, largely due to the loss of heathlands and acid grasslands. Also susceptible to drought and so may decline further with climate change |
| Question 2: | Does recovery/ conservation depend on species-specific actions? |
| Response: | Yes |
| Justification: | This is short-lived species of open, short turf that does not form a persistent seedbank. As a consequence it can disappear quickly if grazing is lost. |
| 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: | Dependent on the creation of open, disturbed microsites within otherwise closed communities. There is potential to 'rescue' populations by reintroducing grazing and/or encouraging dispersal from nearby sites at landscape scale |
Species Assessment
| Current step on the Species Recovery Curve (SRC): | 4. Autecology and pressures understood |
| Recovery potential/expectation: | Medium-high |
| National Monitoring Resource: | Combination - insufficient |
| Species Comments: | It is very difficult to census such a widespread species which has an erratic appearance |
Key Actions
Key Action 1
Proposed Action: Undertake a sample survey to identify key sites and assess the condition of populations and threats
Action targets: 3. National Monitoring Plan agreed and implemented
Action type: Status survey/review
Duration: 2 years
Scale of Implementation: ≤ 100 sites
High priority sites:
Comments:
Key Action 2
Proposed Action: Based on the outcome of Action 1, maintain or reinstate late autumn and winter grazing ay key sites
Action targets: 4. Autecology and pressures understood
Action type: Habitat management
Duration: 3-5 years
Scale of Implementation: ≤ 100 sites
High priority sites:
Comments:
Key Action 3
Proposed Action: Research and explore translocation options.
Action targets: 6. Recovery solutions trialled
Action type: Ex situ conservation
Duration: >10 years
Scale of Implementation: ≤ 10 sites
High priority sites:
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.