True Fox-sedge (Carex vulpina)
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 vulpina |
| UKSI Recommended Authority: | L. |
| 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 due to a 47% decline on Area of Occupancy (Stroh et al., 2014) which was reflected in the long-term trend revealed in Plant Atlas 2020 (Stroh et al., 2023). |
| Question 2: | Does recovery/ conservation depend on species-specific actions? |
| Response: | Yes |
| Justification: | C. vulpina occurs in wetland habitats (ditches, streams, flood meadows, ponds, etc.) in lowland landscapes that are vulnerable to changes in management or adjacent land uses such as agriculture. It therefore relies on the maintenance of water-levels and open conditions. |
| 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 creation of large-scale wetlands within core areas that restore winter flooding levels could allow this species to colonise new areas (e.g. River Ray catchment in Oxfordshire). The restoration of ghost ponds may also benefit the species in and near core areas |
Species Assessment
| Current step on the Species Recovery Curve (SRC): | 5. Remedial action identified |
| Recovery potential/expectation: | Medium-high |
| National Monitoring Resource: | Opportunistic - sufficient |
| Species Comments: |
Key Actions
Key Action 1
Proposed Action: Ensure that the current water level regimes are maintained in flood meadows and ditches of core populations in Kent, Oxfordshire and Yorkshire.
Action targets: 7. Best approach adopted at appropriate scales
Action type: Landscape/catchment/marine management
Duration: >10 years
Scale of Implementation: ≤ 20 sites
High priority sites:
Comments:
Key Action 2
Proposed Action: Implement a programme of ghost pond and ditch restoration in and near core areas
Action targets: 6. Recovery solutions trialled
Action type: Habitat Creation
Duration: 3-5 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.