For the U.S. national vegetation classification, see United States National Vegetation Classification Standard

United States National Vegetation Classification Standard

The National Vegetation Classification Standard or NVCS is a scheme for classifying the vegetation of the United States.The non-profit group NatureServe maintains the NVCS for the U.S. government.-External links:...

.

The British National Vegetation Classification or NVC is a system of classifying natural

Nature

Nature, in the broadest sense, is equivalent to the natural world, physical world, or material world. "Nature" refers to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general...

 habitat

Habitat (ecology)

A habitat is an ecological or environmental area that is inhabited by a particular species of animal, plant or other type of organism...

 types in Great Britain

Great Britain

Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...

 according to the vegetation

Vegetation

Vegetation is a general term for the plant life of a region; it refers to the ground cover provided by plants. It is a general term, without specific reference to particular taxa, life forms, structure, spatial extent, or any other specific botanical or geographic characteristics. It is broader...

 they contain.

A large scientific meeting of ecologists, botanists, and other related professionals in the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 resulted in the publication of a compendium of five books (British Plant Communities ;ISBN 0-521-79716-0) by Cambridge University Press

Cambridge University Press

Cambridge University Press is the publishing business of the University of Cambridge. Granted letters patent by Henry VIII in 1534, it is the world's oldest publishing house, and the second largest university press in the world...

 which detail the incidence of plant species in twelve major habitat types in the British natural environment

Natural environment

The natural environment encompasses all living and non-living things occurring naturally on Earth or some region thereof. It is an environment that encompasses the interaction of all living species....

. They are the first systematic and comprehensive account of the vegetation

Vegetation

Vegetation is a general term for the plant life of a region; it refers to the ground cover provided by plants. It is a general term, without specific reference to particular taxa, life forms, structure, spatial extent, or any other specific botanical or geographic characteristics. It is broader...

 types of the country. They cover all natural, semi-natural and major artificial habitats in Great Britain (not Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...

) and represent fifteen years of research by leading plant ecologists

Ecology

Ecology is the scientific study of the relations that living organisms have with respect to each other and their natural environment. Variables of interest to ecologists include the composition, distribution, amount , number, and changing states of organisms within and among ecosystems...

.

From the data collated from the books, commercial software products have been developed to help to classify vegetation identified into one of the many habitat types found in Great Britain – these include Match and Tablefit.

Terminology used in connection with the British National Vegetation Classification

The following is a list of terms used in connection with the British National Vegetation Classification, together with their meanings:

Communities, subcommunities and variants

• A community is the fundamental unit of categorisation for vegetation.

• A subcommunity is a distinct recognisable subdivision of a community.

• A variant is a further subdivision of a subcommunity.

Constant species

• A constant species in a community is a species that is always present in any given stand of vegetation belonging to that community.

For a list of the constant species, and the NVC communities in which they are present, see List of constant species in the British National Vegetation Classification.

Rare species

• A rare species is a species which is associated with a particular community and is rare nationally.

The sources used by the authors of British Plant Communities for assessing rarity were as follows.

a) for vascular plant

Vascular plant

Vascular plants are those plants that have lignified tissues for conducting water, minerals, and photosynthetic products through the plant. Vascular plants include the clubmosses, Equisetum, ferns, gymnosperms and angiosperms...

s, two sources were used:

• Perring, F. H. and S. M. Walters (1962) Atlas of the British Flora
  Atlas of the British Flora
  The Atlas of the British Flora is a book by Franklyn H. Perring and S. Max Walters, published by the Botanical Society of the British Isles.It was first published in 1962, with a second edition published in 1976, and a third in 1982....
  
   - a species was regarded as rare if it was given an "A" rating in this work (these were plants which Perring & Walters judged to be sufficiently rare to merit a special search in order to ensure all records were included in the atlas).
• Any species included on lists compiled by the Nature Conservancy Council
  Nature Conservancy Council
  The Nature Conservancy Council was a United Kingdom government agency responsible for designating and managing National Nature Reserves and other nature conservation areas in Great Britain between 1973 and 1991 ....
  
   of plants found in less than 100 hectads.

b) for bryophyte

Bryophyte

Bryophyte is a traditional name used to refer to all embryophytes that do not have true vascular tissue and are therefore called 'non-vascular plants'. Some bryophytes do have specialized tissues for the transport of water; however since these do not contain lignin, they are not considered to be...

s, the source used was Corley, M. F. V. and M. O. Hill (1981) Distribution of bryophytes in the British Isles. This lists the species and the vice-counties in which they are recorded; presence in under 20 vice-counties was the criterion used for selection as rare.

c) for lichen

Lichen

Lichens are composite organisms consisting of a symbiotic organism composed of a fungus with a photosynthetic partner , usually either a green alga or cyanobacterium...

s, no source was available, and the authors used their own selection of species.

For a list of these rare species, and the NVC communities in which they are present, see List of rare species in the British National Vegetation Classification.

Communities by category

In total there are 286 communities in the British National Vegetation Classification. They are grouped into the following major categories:

• Woodland and scrub communities
  Woodland and scrub communities in the British National Vegetation Classification system
  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...
  
   (25 communities, prefixed with the letter "W" — 19 classed as woodland, four as scrub and two as 'underscrub')
• Mires
  Mires in the British National Vegetation Classification system
  This article gives an overview of the mire communities in the British National Vegetation Classification system.-Introduction:The mire communities of the NVC were described in Volume 2 of British Plant Communities, first published in 1991, along with the heath communities.In total, 38 mire...
  
   (38 communities, prefixed "M")
• Heaths
  Heaths in the British National Vegetation Classification system
  This article gives an overview of the heath communities in the British National Vegetation Classification system.-Introduction:The heath communities of the NVC were described, along with the mire communities, in Volume 2 of British Plant Communities, first published in 1991.In total, 22 heath...
  
   (22 communities, prefixed "H")
• Mesotrophic grasslands
  Mesotrophic grasslands in the British National Vegetation Classification system
  This article gives an overview of the mesotrophic grassland communities in the British National Vegetation Classification system.-Introduction:The mesotrophic grassland communities of the NVC were described in Volume 3 of British Plant Communities, first published in 1992, along with the...
  
   (13 communities, prefixed "MG")
• Calcicolous grasslands
  Calcicolous grasslands in the British National Vegetation Classification system
  This article gives an overview of the calcicolous grassland communities in the British National Vegetation Classification system.-Introduction:The calcicolous grassland communities of the NVC were described in Volume 3 of British Plant Communities, first published in 1992, along with the...
  
   (14 communities, prefixed "CG")
• Calcifugous grasslands and montane communities (21 communities, prefixed "U")
• Aquatic communities
  Aquatic communities in the British National Vegetation Classification system
  This article gives an overview of the aquatic communities in the British National Vegetation Classification system.-Introduction:The aquatic communities of the NVC were described in Volume 4 of British Plant Communities, first published in 1995, along with the swamps and tall-herb fens.In total, 24...
  
   (24 communities, prefixed "A")
• Swamps and tall-herb fens
  Swamps and tall-herb fens in the British National Vegetation Classification system
  This article gives an overview of the swamp and tall-herb fen communities in the British National Vegetation Classification system.-Introduction:The swamp and tall-herb fen communities of the NVC were described in Volume 4 of British Plant Communities, first published in 1995, along with the...
  
   (28 communities, prefixed "S")
• Salt-marsh communities
  Salt-marsh communities in the British National Vegetation Classification system
  This article gives an overview of the salt-marsh communities in the British National Vegetation Classification system.-Introduction:The salt-marsh communities of the NVC were described in Volume 5 of British Plant Communities, first published in 2000, along with the other maritime communities and...
  
   (28 communities, prefixed "SM")
• Shingle, strandline and sand-dune communities (19 communities, prefixed "SD" — one shingle, two strandline and 16 sand-dune communities)
• Maritime cliff communities
  Maritime cliff communities in the British National Vegetation Classification system
  This article gives an overview of the maritime cliff communities in the British National Vegetation Classification system.-Introduction:The maritime cliff communities of the NVC were described in Volume 5 of British Plant Communities, first published in 2000, along with the other maritime...
  
   (12 communities, prefixed "MC")
• Vegetation of open habitats
  Vegetation of open habitats in the British National Vegetation Classification system
  This article gives an overview of the plant communities formed by vegetation of open habitats in the British National Vegetation Classification system.-Introduction:...
  
   (42 communities, prefixed "OV")

A full list of these communities, grouped into the above categories, can be found at List of plant communities in the British National Vegetation Classification.