Wood Bitter-vetch (Vicia orobus)
Key Details
| Taxonomic Groups: | Vascular plant > flowering plant > Herbaceous plant |
| Red List Status: | Near Threatened (Not Relevant) [NT(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: | Vicia orobus |
| UKSI Recommended Authority: | DC. |
| 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: | VU in England; restricted to around 24 monads in Cornwall, Somerset and Cumbria |
| Question 2: | Does recovery/ conservation depend on species-specific actions? |
| Response: | Yes |
| Justification: | This species has undergone a marked decline throughout its British range due to agricultural improvements of hay meadows and pastures. In England it is now very rare but very little is known about its distribution, habitats and threats. |
| 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: | Alongside targeted actions, grassland management (e.g. not v high (esp. by deer) or v low grazing, appropriate meadow management) would likely help. |
Species Assessment
| Current step on the Species Recovery Curve (SRC): | 3. National Monitoring Plan agreed and implemented |
| Recovery potential/expectation: | Medium-high |
| National Monitoring Resource: | Opportunistic - insufficient |
| Species Comments: | Whilst Welsh and Scottish populations have been well surveyed in recent years, very little is known about English populations which are restricted to Cornwall, Somerset and Cumbria. |
Key Actions
Key Action 1
Proposed Action: Undertake a survey of English sites to gain a better understanding of its distribution and habitats and why it has declined.
Action targets: 3. National Monitoring Plan agreed and implemented
Action type: Status survey/review
Duration: 2 years
Scale of Implementation: ≤ 50 sites
High priority sites:
Comments:
Key Action 2
Proposed Action: Undertake a study of what is known about its ecological requirements and assess its restoration potential and methods for recovery in England.
Action targets: 4. Autecology and pressures understood
Action type: Scientific research
Duration: 1 year
Scale of Implementation: Not applicable
High priority sites:
Comments:
Key Action 3
Proposed Action: Investigate potential impacts of genetic erosion and reduced fitness on small populations, exploring possibility of reinforcements.
Action targets: 4. Autecology and pressures understood
Action type: Scientific research
Duration: 1 year
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.