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 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
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.

List of woodland and scrub communities

The following is a list of the communities that make up this category:

Introduction

List of woodland and scrub communities

See also