The UK National Vegetation Classification

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Abstract
The UK National Vegetation Classification (hereafter UK NVC) was a state-funded survey of the vegetation types of all natural, semi-natural and major artificial habitats in England, Scotland and Wales. Floristic data (vascular plants, bryophytes and macrolichens) were available from over 33,000 georeferenced plots in 80% of the 10 km x 10 km National Grid from the 1960s-1980 and were analyzed using multivariate techniques, the resulting groups being interpreted in relation to climatic regions, soil types and biotic influences. Five published volumes of British Plant Communities comprise modular accounts of 293 plant communities with details of floristics and structure, habitat relations, zonation and succession and distribution, together with constancy tables and maps. Text and software keys help identify the vegetation types, a manual for using the classification is available as hard copy and online and an extensive training programme disseminated survey skills and guidance for applying the classification. The UK NVC quickly became the standard framework for vegetation description among all statutory agencies, NGOs, industry, consultancies and academics and, though it was commissioned as just a tool for inventory and mapping of vegetation resources and a framework for ecological research, it has found multifarious applications for environmental impact assessment, monitoring, landscape design, interpretation and education. Subsequent survey has identified gaps in geographic and ecological coverage and yielded many compatible new data. The UK NVC provides the interpretive frame for implementing European nature protection policies in the UK and it is compatible with wider phytosociological frames for European vegetation.