Marsh Stitchwort (Stellaria palustris)
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: | Stellaria palustris |
| UKSI Recommended Authority: | Ehrh. ex Hoffm. |
| 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: | Assessed as VU in England by Stroh et al. (2014) due to a >30% decline in AOO. Recent losses are largely due to eutrophication of wetlands and lack of grazing in many fen/wetland complexes. |
| Question 2: | Does recovery/ conservation depend on species-specific actions? |
| Response: | Yes |
| Justification: | Landscape measures will help some populations whereas some will also require site specific management |
| 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: | The reinstatement of cattle grazing or hay meadow cutting at degraded sites should benefit marsh stitchwort and a range of other species. Sites that are periodically flooded will additionally require improvements to water quality and a reduction of nutrient inputs from surrounding land uses. |
Species Assessment
| Current step on the Species Recovery Curve (SRC): | 4. Autecology and pressures understood |
| Recovery potential/expectation: | Medium-high |
| National Monitoring Resource: | Opportunistic - sufficient |
| Species Comments: |
Key Actions
Key Action 1
Proposed Action: The reinstatement of cattle grazing or hay meadow cutting at degraded sites should benefit marsh stitchwort and a range of other species. Sites that are periodically flooded will additionally require improvements to water quality and a reduction of nutrient inputs from surrounding landuses.
Action targets: 5. Remedial action identified
Action type: Habitat management
Duration: 3-5 years
Scale of Implementation: ≤ 20 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.