Rare Spring-sedge (Carex ericetorum)
Key Details
| Taxonomic Groups: | Vascular plant > flowering plant > Sedge |
| 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: | Carex ericetorum |
| UKSI Recommended Authority: | Pollich |
| 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, entire British population occurs in England where it is very localised, occurring in c.40 of 64 historic sites, mainly on limestone in northern England and calcareous sands in East Anglia |
| Question 2: | Does recovery/ conservation depend on species-specific actions? |
| Response: | Yes |
| Justification: | Relies on the maintenance of short, open turf on infertile calcareous soils and disappears if ungrazed and/or fertility increases |
| 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: | This species would not benefit from untargeted management |
Species Assessment
| Current step on the Species Recovery Curve (SRC): | 4. Autecology and pressures understood |
| Recovery potential/expectation: | Medium-high |
| National Monitoring Resource: | Combination - sufficient |
| Species Comments: | Populations were surveyed 2008-2015 with the exception of East Anglian sites with no access due to Stone Curlews; overall changes and threats now well understood |
Key Actions
Key Action 1
Proposed Action: Identify sites where populations are in poor condition and reinstate autumn/winter grazing to restore short turf conditions required by this species (often this species may persist in long turf without flowering)
Action targets: 5. Remedial action identified
Action type: Habitat management
Duration: 3-5 years
Scale of Implementation: ≤ 20 sites
High priority sites: Risby Black Ditches, Hetchell Crag, Devil's Dyke
Comments:
Key Action 2
Proposed Action: Survey East Anglian sites with 'no access' due to Stone Curlews. These represent some of the most important British populations but full assessments have not been carried out for many years
Action targets: 3. National Monitoring Plan agreed and implemented
Action type: Status survey/review
Duration: 2 years
Scale of Implementation: ≤ 5 sites
High priority sites: Lakenheath Warren, Foxhole Heath, Bodney Warren
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.