Beaked beardless moss  (Weissia rostellata)

Learn about the scientific name of this species and how it fits into the tree of life at Nature Navigator.

Threats

A number of factors pose threats to this species, including the maintenance of permanently high water levels at occupied sites, drainage of damp pasture land (4), fertiliser use and other agricultural improvements that reduce the amount of bare patches (3). Other threats include eutrophication of water bodies, and the spread of the introduced invasive plant, New Zealand pygmy weed, Crassula helmsii (4), which blankets mud, removing suitable habitat, and scrub invasion (4).

Conservation

Beaked beardless moss is a UK Biodiversity Action Plan priority species, and as such, it has a Species Action Plan to guide its conservation. It is also included in English Nature's Species Recovery Programme, which has part-funded survey work on this moss in conjunction with Plantlife, the wild plant conservation charity (4). Several populations occur within Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs), and so receive a degree of protection (3).

The UK Biodiversity Action Plan for this species is available at UK BAP.
There may be further information about this species available via the National Biodiversity Network Gateway.
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