Woodland and Scrub Communities in The British National Vegetation Classification System - Introduction

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.

Read more about this topic:  Woodland And Scrub Communities In The British National Vegetation Classification System

Famous quotes containing the word introduction:

    “Such is oftenest the young man’s introduction to the forest, and the most original part of himself. He goes thither at first as a hunter and fisher, until at last, if he has the seeds of a better life in him, he distinguishes his proper objects, as a poet or naturalist it may be, and leaves the gun and fish-pole behind. The mass of men are still and always young in this respect.”
    —Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)

    “The role of the stepmother is the most difficult of all, because you can’t ever just be. You’re constantly being tested—by the children, the neighbors, your husband, the relatives, old friends who knew the children’s parents in their first marriage, and by yourself.”
    —Anonymous Stepparent. Making It as a Stepparent, by Claire Berman, introduction (1980, repr. 1986)

    “We used chamber-pots a good deal.... My mother ... loved to repeat: “When did the queen reign over China?” This whimsical and harmless scatological pun was my first introduction to the wonderful world of verbal transformations, and also a first perception that a joke need not be funny to give pleasure.”
    —Angela Carter (1940–1992)