Carex bigelowii

This record represents the broad treatment of Carex bigelowii, per FNA (vol. 23, 2002) which includes Carex lugens (= C. bigelowii ssp. lugens) as a subspecies of C. bigelowii. Kartesz's (1994) C. bigelowii is equivalent to FNA's C. bigelowii ssp. bigelowii.

Carex bigelowii is a circumboreal species complex occurring in northern North America from Alaska, United States and British Columbia, Yukon, and Saskatchewan east to Newfoundland Island and New Brunswick, Canada and New York west to Maine and disjunct in New Mexico in the United States as well as Europe and Asia. There are over 2000 estimated occurrences, which face threats from development, recreational activities, invasive species, and climate change. Little is known about trends, but with a large range extent and large number of occurrences, abundant habitat, broad habitat preferences, and no obvious intrinsic vulnerabilities, this species is considered secure.

Carex bigelowii is a circumboreal species complex occurring in northern North America from Alaska, United States and British Columbia, Yukon, and Saskatchewan east to Newfoundland Island and New Brunswick, Canada and New York west to Maine and disjunct in New Mexico in the United States as well as Europe and Asia (FNA 2002). Range extent was estimated to be over 50 million square kilometers using herbarium specimens, photo-based observations, and NatureServe Network occurrence data documented between 1984 and 2025 (GBIF 2025, iNaturalist 2025, NatureServe 2025, RARECAT 2025, SEINet 2025). See individual entries for distribution details about the two subspecies occurring in North America.

By applying a 1 km separation distance to herbarium specimens and photo-based observations documented between 1984 and 2025, it is estimated that there are over 2000 occurrences rangewide (GBIF 2025, iNaturalist 2025, RARECAT 2025, SEINet 2025).

Although threats are not widely documented, this taxon is threatened by development, recreational activities (including ski slope and trail installation as well trampling by hikers), invasive species, climate change, and other threats in some places, though there is insufficient data, including anecdotal accounts, to understand scope and severity of threats for this species (NatureServe 2025). However, their overall impact is likely negligible given the species' broad range, large number of occurrences, tolerance of light disturbance, and affinity for typically abundant habitats, as well as no obvious intrinsic vulnerabilities.