Habitats

The following photos are examples of habitats defined using National Vegetation Classification (NVC). As examples they cannot be used as a substitute for the official guides to classify vegetation elsewhere. I hope however they are useful illustrations of the the vegetation that can be found in some NVC comunities.

I highly recommend that anyone interested in pursuing this topic consults the following books:

British Plant Communities (Volumes 1-5)

Plants and Habitats

Abbreviations

CG = Calcarious grassland vegetation (typically found on alkaline soils)
H = Heath vegetation
M = Mire vegetation
MG = Mesotrophic grassland vegetation (typically found on PH neutral soils)
U = Upland vegetation (typically found on acidic soils and dominated by grasses or sedges)
S = Swamp vegetation (emergent from standing water)

Click the photos to enlarge them. Many have notes on to help with their interpretation.

Calcareous grasslands

CG11Sheep’s fescue, Common bent & Wild thyme with Alpine lady’s mantle	CG10 Fescue (Sheep’s or Red) and wild thyme

Heaths

H10  Heather with Bell heather	H12 Heather with Bilberry
H13  Heather with Lichen	H18  Bilberry with Wavy hair grass
H21a Heather & Bilberry with Small-red sphagnum	H22 Bilberry & Small-red sphagnum often with Cloudberry

Mires

M3 Common cotton grass bog pool	M4 Bottle sedge & Sphagnum
M6/M23	M6 Star sedge & Sphagnum
M10 Spike rush & Brown mosses	M11- M38 Mosaic
M11Sedges & Yellow saxifrage	M15Cross-leaved heath & Deer grass often with Matt grass, Purple moor grass, Heather & Common hair moss
M17Common cotton grass & Tormentil with Small-red sphagnum & Heathers	M19Heather & Hare’s-tail cotton grass with Small-red sphagnum
M37 Brown moss dominated spring	M38Brown moss dominated spring with alpine species
MxSedge mire with brown mosses

Mesotrophic grassland

MG1False oat-grass dominated grassland	MG3Northern hay-meadow: mixed grasses with wood cranesbill
MG5Crested dog’s tail grass and common knapweed	MG6Rye grass and crested dog’s tail grass with herbs such as creeping buttercup

Swamps

S9 Bottle sedge swamp	S10Horsetail swamp
S12 Bulrush swamp

Uplands (Grass and sedge dominated vegetation)

U2Wavy hair grass dominated grassland	U4cMixed grasses such as fescues and sweet vernal grass with heath bedstraw, herbs and sedges.
U4e Viviparous fescue & Heath bedstraw with Alpine lady’s mantle	U5aMatt grass & Heath bedstraw
U6aHeath rush & Viviparous fescue	U7Matt grass & Stiff sedge
U8Stiff sedge & Alpine haircap moss	U10Stiff sedge & Wooly fringe moss
U8/U10	U12Dwarf willow & Wooly fringe moss with Liverworts