Three-nerved Sedge (Carex trinervis)
Key Details
| Taxonomic Groups: | Vascular plant > flowering plant > Sedge |
| Red List Status: | Extinct (globally) (Not Relevant) [EX(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 trinervis |
| UKSI Recommended Authority: | Degl. |
| UKSI Recommended Qualifier: | (none specified) |
| Red List Citation: | in Stroh et al., 2014 |
| Notes on taxonomy/listing: | Doubt exists over the identity of the only British record. |
Criteria
| Question 1: | Does species need conservation or recovery in England? |
| Response: | No |
| Justification: | This species has been regionally extinct in England since 1869 when it was recorded in Ormesby, Norfolk. This remains the only British record but the specimens were close to C. nigra with which C. trinervis hybridises and so the determination is not 100% certain. Consequently, there does not seem to be a strong case to re-establish it in England. |
| Question 2: | Does recovery/ conservation depend on species-specific actions? |
| Response: | No |
| Justification: | Only recorded at a single site where doubt over the identity of the location and taxon exists. |
| 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: | Carex trinervis is part of a guild of regionally extinct species associated with open coastal sand (Euphorbia peplis, Achillea maritima, Carex trinervis). Work to restore this habitat for wildlife, likely by addressing access pressures and enhancing natural dynamism would likely benefit this guild of species and may allow recruitment from elsewhere in Northern Europe |
Species Assessment
Not relevant as no Key Actions defined.
Key Actions
No Key Actions Defined
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.