Maritime cliff communities in the British National Vegetation Classification system
Encyclopedia
This article gives an overview of the maritime
cliff
communities in the British National Vegetation Classification
system.
) and vegetation of open habitats
.
In total, 12 maritime cliff communities have been identified.
The maritime cliff communities consist of three subgroups:
Sea
A sea generally refers to a large body of salt water, but the term is used in other contexts as well. Most commonly, it means a large expanse of saline water connected with an ocean, and is commonly used as a synonym for ocean...
cliff
Cliff
In geography and geology, a cliff is a significant vertical, or near vertical, rock exposure. Cliffs are formed as erosion landforms due to the processes of erosion and weathering that produce them. Cliffs are common on coasts, in mountainous areas, escarpments and along rivers. Cliffs are usually...
communities in the British National Vegetation Classification
British National Vegetation Classification
The British National Vegetation Classification or NVC is a system of classifying natural habitat types in Great Britain according to the vegetation they contain....
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 communities (those of shingle strand-line and sand-dunes and saltmarshesSalt-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...
) and 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:...
.
In total, 12 maritime cliff communities have been identified.
The maritime cliff communities consist of three subgroups:
- five maritime cliff crevice and ledge communities (MC1British NVC community MC1British NVC community MC1 is one of the maritime cliff communities in the British National Vegetation Classification system. It is one of five communities categorised as maritime cliff crevice and ledge communities.This community is found locally in coastal areas of western and southern Britain...
, MC2British NVC community MC2British NVC community MC2 is one of the maritime cliff communities in the British National Vegetation Classification system. It is one of five communities categorised as maritime cliff crevice and ledge communities.This community is confined to Scotland...
, MC3British NVC community MC3British NVC community MC3 is one of the maritime cliff communities in the British National Vegetation Classification system. It is one of five communities categorised as maritime cliff crevice and ledge communities.This community is confined to Scotland...
, MC4 and MC5) - five maritime grassland communities of sea-cliffs (MC8, MC9, MC10British NVC community MC10British NVC community MC10 is one of the maritime cliff communities in the British National Vegetation Classification system. It is one of five communities categorised as maritime sea-cliff grasslands....
, MC11 and MC12) - two communities associated with sea-bird cliffs (MC6British NVC community MC6British NVC community MC6 is one of the maritime cliff communities in the British National Vegetation Classification system. It is one of two communities associated with sea-bird cliffs.This community is found in a number of coastal areas...
and MC7)
List of maritime cliff communities
The following is a list of the communities that make up this category:- MC1 Crithmum maritimum - Spergularia rupicola maritime rock-crevice community Crithmo-Spergularietum rupicolae Géhu 1964
- MC2 Armeria maritima - Ligusticum scoticum maritime rock-crevice community
- MC3 Rhodiola rosea - Armeria maritima maritime cliff-ledge community
- MC4 Brassica oleracea maritime cliff-ledge communityBritish NVC community MC4 (Brassica oleracea maritime cliff-ledge community)British NVC community MC4 is one of the maritime cliff communities in the British National Vegetation Classification system. It is one of five communities categorised as maritime cliff crevice and ledge communities.This community is found locally on the south coast of England...
- MC5 Armeria maritima - Cerastium diffusum ssp. diffusum maritime therophyte community
- MC6 Atriplex prostrata - Beta vulgaris ssp. maritima sea-bird cliff community Atriplici-Betetum maritimae J.-M. & J. Géhu 1969
- MC7 Stellaria media - Rumex acetosa sea-bird cliff communityBritish NVC community MC7 (Stellaria media - Rumex acetosa sea-bird cliff community)British NVC community MC7 is one of the maritime cliff communities in the British National Vegetation Classification system. It is one of two communities associated with sea-bird cliffs....
- MC8 Festuca rubra - Armeria maritima maritime grassland
- MC9 Festuca rubra - Holcus lanatus maritime grassland
- MC10 Festuca rubra - Plantago spp. maritime grassland
- MC11 Festuca rubra - Daucus carota ssp. gummifer maritime grassland
- MC12 Festuca rubra - Hyacinthoides non-scripta maritime bluebell communityBritish NVC community MC12 (Festuca rubra - Hyacinthoides non-scripta maritime bluebell community)British NVC community MC12 is one of the maritime cliff communities in the British National Vegetation Classification system. It is one of five communities categorised as maritime sea-cliff grasslands.This community is found locally in western coastal areas of Britain...