Woodland and scrub communities in the British National Vegetation Classification system
Encyclopedia
This article gives an overview of the woodland
and scrub communities in the British National Vegetation Classification
system.
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:
The scrub communities consist of:
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.
Woodland
Ecologically, a woodland is a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunlight and limited shade. Woodlands may support an understory of shrubs and herbaceous plants including grasses. Woodland may form a transition to shrubland under drier conditions or during early stages of...
and scrub 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 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 oakOakAn oak is a tree or shrub in the genus Quercus , of which about 600 species exist. "Oak" may also appear in the names of species in related genera, notably Lithocarpus...
/birchBirchBirch is a tree or shrub of the genus Betula , in the family Betulaceae, closely related to the beech/oak family, Fagaceae. The Betula genus contains 30–60 known taxa...
woodland communities, which between them are found throughout BritainUnited KingdomThe 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... - Three BeechBeechBeech is a genus of ten species of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to temperate Europe, Asia and North America.-Habit:...
woodland communities, found mainly in southern EnglandEnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental... - A YewTaxus baccataTaxus baccata is a conifer native to western, central and southern Europe, northwest Africa, northern Iran and southwest Asia. It is the tree originally known as yew, though with other related trees becoming known, it may be now known as the English yew, or European yew.-Description:It is a small-...
woodland community, almost completely restricted to southeast EnglandEnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
(community W13) - A Scots PineScots PinePinus sylvestris, commonly known as the Scots Pine, is a species of pine native to Europe and Asia, ranging from Scotland, Ireland and Portugal in the west, east to eastern Siberia, south to the Caucasus Mountains, and as far north as well inside the Arctic Circle in Scandinavia...
woodland community, restricted to ScotlandScotlandScotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the... - A JuniperJuniperJunipers are coniferous plants in the genus Juniperus of the cypress family Cupressaceae. Depending on taxonomic viewpoint, there are between 50-67 species of juniper, widely distributed throughout the northern hemisphere, from the Arctic, south to tropical Africa in the Old World, and to the...
woodland community (community W19) - Seven wet woodland communities, characterised by the presence of alderAlderAlder is the common name of a genus of flowering plants belonging to the birch family . The genus comprises about 30 species of monoecious trees and shrubs, few reaching large size, distributed throughout the North Temperate Zone and in the Americas along the Andes southwards to...
, birchBirchBirch is a tree or shrub of the genus Betula , in the family Betulaceae, closely related to the beech/oak family, Fagaceae. The Betula genus contains 30–60 known taxa...
and willowWillowWillows, sallows, and osiers form the genus Salix, around 400 species of deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist soils in cold and temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere...
s (communities W1, W2, W3, W4, W5, W6 and W7British NVC community W7NVC community W7 is one of the woodland communities in the British National Vegetation Classification system; it is one of seven woodland communities in the NVC classed as "wet woodlands".-Community composition:...
). - Communities of arctic-alpine willowWillowWillows, sallows, and osiers form the genus Salix, around 400 species of deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist soils in cold and temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere...
s
The scrub communities consist of:
- Communities consisting of shrubs such as hawthornCrataegusCrataegus , commonly called hawthorn or thornapple, is a large genus of shrubs and trees in the rose family, Rosaceae, native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere in Europe, Asia and North America. The name hawthorn was originally applied to the species native to northern Europe,...
, blackthornBlackthornPrunus spinosa is a species of Prunus native to Europe, western Asia, and locally in northwest Africa. It is also locally naturalised in New Zealand and eastern North America....
and elderElderberrySambucus is a genus of between 5 and 30 species of shrubs or small trees in the moschatel family, Adoxaceae. It was formerly placed in the honeysuckle family, Caprifoliaceae, but was reclassified due to genetic evidence... - GorseGorseGorse, furze, furse or whin is a genus of about 20 plant species of thorny evergreen shrubs in the subfamily Faboideae of the pea family Fabaceae, native to western Europe and northwest Africa, with the majority of species in Iberia.Gorse is closely related to the brooms, and like them, has green...
and broomBroom (shrub)Brooms are a group of evergreen, semi-evergreen, and deciduous shrubs in the subfamily Faboideae of the legume family Fabaceae, mainly in the three genera Chamaecytisus, Cytisus and Genista, but also in many other small genera . All genera in this group are from the tribe Genisteae...
scrub
The underscrub communities consist of bramble
Bramble
Brambles are thorny plants of the genus Rubus, in the rose family . Bramble fruit is the fruit of any such plant, including the blackberry and raspberry. The word comes from Germanic *bram-bezi, whence also German Brombeere , Dutch Braam and French framboise...
and bracken
Bracken
Bracken are several species of large, coarse ferns of the genus Pteridium. Ferns are vascular plants that have alternating generations, large plants that produce spores and small plants that produce sex cells . Brackens are in the family Dennstaedtiaceae, which are noted for their large, highly...
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:- W1 Salix cinerea - Galium palustre woodlandBritish NVC community W1 (Salix cinerea - Galium palustre woodland)NVC community W1 is one of the woodland communities in the British National Vegetation Classification system; it is one of seven woodland communities in the NVC classed as "wet woodlands"....
- W2 Salix cinerea - Betula pubescens - Phragmites australis woodlandBritish NVC community W2 (Salix cinerea - Betula pubescens - Phragmites australis woodland)NVC community W2 is one of the woodland communities in the British National Vegetation Classification system. It is one of seven woodland communities in the NVC classed as "wet woodlands".This is a fairly locally distributed community...
- W3 Salix pentandra - Carex rostrata woodlandBritish NVC community W3 (Salix pentandra - Carex rostrata woodland)NVC community W3 is one of the woodland communities in the British National Vegetation Classification system.It is one of seven woodland communities in the NVC classed as "wet woodlands"....
- W4 Betula pubescens - Molinia caerulea woodland
- W5 Alnus glutinosa - Carex paniculata woodland
- W6 Alnus glutinosa - Urtica dioica woodland
- W7 Alnus glutinosa - Fraxinus excelsior - Lysimachia nemorum woodland
- W8 Fraxinus excelsior - Acer campestre - Mercurialis perennis woodland
- W9 Fraxinus excelsior - Sorbus aucuparia - Mercurialis perennis woodland
- W10 Quercus robur - Pteridium aquilinum - Rubus fruticosus woodland
- W11 Quercus petraea - Betula pubescens - Oxalis acetosella woodland
- W12 Fagus sylvatica - Mercurialis perennis woodland
- W13 Taxus baccata woodlandBritish NVC community W13 (Taxus baccata woodland)NVC community W13 , also known as Yew woodland, is one of the woodland communities in the British National Vegetation Classification system; it is the only Yew woodland community in the NVC....
- W14 Fagus sylvatica - Rubus fruticosus woodland
- W15 Fagus sylvatica - Deschampsia flexuosa woodland
- W16 Quercus spp. - Betula spp. - Deschampsia flexuosa woodland
- W17 Quercus petraea - Betula pubescens - Dicranum majus woodland
- W18 Pinus sylvestris - Hylocomium splendens woodland
- W19 Juniperus communis ssp. communis - Oxalis acetosella woodland
- W20 Salix lapponum - Luzula sylvatica scrub
- W21 Crataegus monogyna - Hedera helix scrub
- W22 Prunus spinosa - Rubus fruticosus scrub
- W23 Ulex europaeus - Rubus fruticosus scrub
- W24 Rubus fruticosus - Holcus lanatus underscrub
- W25 Pteridium aquilinum - Rubus fruticosus underscrub