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 communities have been identified.
The heath communities consist of six separate subgroups:
- five lowland dry heath communities, all with distinct, largely non-overlapping distributions in England and Wales (H1, H2, H6, and )
- three localised communities, with non-overlapping ranges in southern England, which are considered transitional between the above and the wetter communities classified in the NVC as mires (H3, H4 and H5)
- two maritime heath communities, found exclusively on the coasts of northern and western Britain; one (H7) is more widespread than the other ()
- four submontane heaths from upland areas in northern and western Britain; two of these ( and ) are widespread, whereas the other two ( and ) are more localised (confined to Scotland, and Scotland and the Lake District, respectively)
- two sub-alpine communities, considered transitional between the previous and next groupings - , which is widespread in northern and western Britain), and , which is confined to Scotland
- six montane heath communities with lichens and mosses, all of which are confined either to Scotland (, , , and ) or to Scotland and the Lake District ()
List of heath communities[]
The following is a list of the communities that make up this category:
- H1 Calluna vulgaris - Festuca ovina heath
- H2 Calluna vulgaris - Ulex minor heath
- H3 Ulex minor - Agrostis curtisii heath
- H4 Ulex gallii - Agrostis curtisii heath
- H5 Erica vagans - Schoenus nigricans heath
- H6 Erica vagans - Ulex europaeus heath
- H7 Calluna vulgaris - Scilla verna heath
Sources[]
- Rodwell, J. S. (1988) British Plant Communities Volume 2 - Mires and heaths ISBN 0-521-62720-6 pages vii, 347 - 358
Categories:
- British National Vegetation Classification heath communities
- Heaths of the United Kingdom