Assessment Notes

Justification

The saprotrophic Bovista limosa is a characteristic boreal and arctic species with special habitat requirements. It has a scattered but stable distribution in northern Eurasia and in North America. The estimated number of localities in Fennoscandia is around 1,000 (known sites approx. 150) and the total number of localities globally is more than 1,500. Thus the population size is suspected to be very large. The population is not considered to be declining in Fennoscandia, without any particular threats. Therefore, this species is assessed as Least Concern.

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Taxonomic notes

Here we only consider the northern species, which was recognised by Larsson et al. (2009) as a species (Bovista limosa) distinct from the southern species (B. pusilla).

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Geographic range

It is a mainly nothern Eurasian species, present in Fennoscandia and in the northern part of the Russian Federation (Rebriev and Gorbunova 2007, Rebriev and Dvadnenko 2017, Volobuev et al. 2019, Rebriev et al. 2020, Rebiev 2021). Thus its distribution is boreal-arctic. Outside of Eurasia it is present in Greenland and some (ca. 5) confirmed localities are from North America (GBIF 2021)

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Population and Trends

The saprotrophic Bovista limosa is a characteristic boreal and arctic species with special habitat requirements. It has a scattered but stable distribution in northern Eurasia and in North America. The estimated number of localities in Fennoscandia is around 1,000 (known sites approx. 150) and the total number of localities globally more than 1,500. Hence, the population size is almost certain to exceed 20,000 mature individuals per Dahlberg and Mueller (2011) calculations. The population is not thought to be declining in Fennoscandia and without any particular threats.

Population Trend: Stable

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Habitat and Ecology

This is a saprotrophic species. According to Jeppson (2018) it is a species of open habitats on calcareous soil with sparse vegetation of low herbs, mosses and lichens, sometimes in temporarily wet habitats. It can also be found on anthropogenically altered ground, e.g. road verges, old car parks, and abandoned sport fields.

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Threats

The majority of the known global population is currently in Fennoscandia where it is mainly growing in stable, and not threatened habitats. However, careful monitoring is required as overgrowth can be detrimental to this species (M. Jeppson pers. comm.).

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Conservation Actions

The most efficient way to preserve this species into the future would be conservation of some of its habitats. Population genetics studies on the physical extent of genets (and how many ramets per genet) would allow for improved estimates of the number of mature individuals. Its subpopulations in arctic/alpine sites in Fennoscandia should be regularly monitored to detect changes in vegetation caused by climate changes, as overgrowth is highly detrimental to this species (M. Jeppson pers. comm.).

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Use and Trade

The species is not used.

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Source and Citation

Perini, C., Svetasheva, T., Brandrud, T.-E. & Krisai-Greilhuber, I. 2025. Bovista limosa. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2025: e.T246019039A246019627. Accessed on 22 November 2025.

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• Country occurrence