Woodland and scrub communities in the British National Vegetation Classification system

UK plant community type

This article gives an overview of the woodland and scrub communities in the British National Vegetation Classification system.

Introduction

The woodland and scrub communities of the NVC were described in Volume 1 of British Plant Communities, first published in 1991.

In total, 25 woodland/scrub communities have been identified, consisting of 19 woodland communities, four communities classed as scrub and 2 as underscrub.

The woodland communities consist of:

Six mixed deciduous or oak/birch woodland communities, which between them are found throughout Britain
Three Beech woodland communities, found mainly in southern England
A Yew woodland community, almost completely restricted to southeast England (community W13)
A Scots Pine woodland community, restricted to Scotland
A Juniper woodland community (community W19)
Seven wet woodland communities, characterised by the presence of alder, birch and willows (communities W1, W2, W3, W4, W5, W6 and W7).
Communities of arctic-alpine willows

The scrub communities consist of:

Communities consisting of shrubs such as hawthorn, blackthorn and elder
Gorse and broom scrub

The underscrub communities consist of bramble and bracken underscrub.

A further scrub community, SD18, dominated by Sea Buckthorn, is classified among the sand-dune communities.

List of woodland and scrub communities

The following is a list of the communities that make up this category:

The British National Vegetation Classification

Volume 1

Woodlands and scrub	W1 W2 W3 W4 W5 W6 W7 W8 W9 W10 W11 W12 W13 W14 W15 W16 W17 W18 W19 W20 W21 W22 W23 W24 W25

Volume 2

Mires	M1 M2 M3 M4 M5 M6 M7 M8 M9 M10 M11 M12 M13 M14 M15 M16 M17 M18 M19 M20 M21 M22 M23 M24 M25 M26 M27 M28 M29 M30 M31 M32 M33 M34 M35 M36 M37 M38
Heaths	H1 H2 H3 H4 H5 H6 H7 H8 H9 H10 H11 H12 H13 H14 H15 H16 H17 H18 H19 H20 H21 H22

Volume 3

Mesotrophic grasslands	MG1 MG2 MG3 MG4 MG5 MG6 MG7 MG8 MG9 MG10 MG11 MG12 MG13
Calcicolous grasslands	CG1 CG2 CG3 CG4 CG5 CG6 CG7 CG8 CG9 CG10 CG11 CG12 CG13 CG14
Calcifugous grasslands and montane communities	U1 U2 U3 U4 U5 U6 U7 U8 U9 U10 U11 U12 U13 U14 U15 U16 U17 U18 U19 U20 U21

Volume 4

Aquatic communities	A1 A2 A3 A4 A5 A6 A7 A8 A9 A10 A11 A12 A13 A14 A15 A16 A17 A18 A19 A20 A21 A22 A23 A24
Swamps and tall-herb fens	S1 S2 S3 S4 S5 S6 S7 S8 S9 S10 S11 S12 S13 S14 S15 S16 S17 S18 S19 S20 S21 S22 S23 S24 S25 S26 S27 S28

Volume 5

Salt-marshes	SM1 SM2 SM3 SM4 SM5 SM6 SM7 SM8 SM9 SM10 SM11 SM12 SM13 SM14 SM15 SM16 SM17 SM18 SM19 SM20 SM21 SM22 SM23 SM24 SM25 SM26 SM27 SM28
Shingle, strandline and sand-dunes	SD1 SD2 SD3 SD4 SD5 SD6 SD7 SD8 SD9 SD10 SD11 SD12 SD13 SD14 SD15 SD16 SD17 SD18 SD19
Maritime cliff communities	MC1 MC2 MC3 MC4 MC5 MC6 MC7 MC8 MC9 MC10 MC11 MC12
Vegetation of open habitats	OV1 OV2 OV3 OV4 OV5 OV6 OV7 OV8 OV9 OV10 OV11 OV12 OV13 OV14 OV15 OV16 OV17 OV18 OV19 OV20 OV21 OV22 OV23 OV24 OV25 OV26 OV27 OV28 OV29 OV30 OV31 OV32 OV33 OV34 OV35 OV36 OV37 OV38 OV39 OV40 OV41 OV42

References

Handbook

National Vegetation Classification: Users' handbook - JNCC Open Data by JS Rodwell · 2006

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