Phase 2 NVC
ECOSA have extensive experience in carrying out Phase 2 National Vegetation Classification (NVC) surveys, which is a means of classifying natural habitat types in Britain according to the vegetation they contain.
Phase 2 NVC surveys allow an evaluation and assessment of habitats present and the identification of priority habitats. ECOSA believe that accurate NVC data is of upmost importance as this information can be used to carry out an ecological assessment and to inform and an appropriate mitigation strategy.
For further details on the NVC system, the legal protection of vegetation and survey methods, please see links below.
NVC System
The NVC system is a means of classifying natural habitat types in Britain according to the vegetation they contain. The NVC is based on a compendium of five books by Cambridge University Press which detail the incidence of plant species in five major habitat types in the United Kingdom's natural environment. These books are the first systematic and comprehensive account of the vegetation types of this country. They cover all natural, semi-natural and major artificial habitats in Great Britain (but not Northern Ireland), representing fifteen years of research by leading plant ecologists.
Protection Under UK Legislation
The legislative provisions in Great Britain for the protection of wild plants are contained primarily in the Wildlife and Countryside Act, 1981, Section 13. The legislation for plant protection extends to land, including land covered by water, and territorial waters. The legislation prohibits any person from intentionally (in Scotland, also recklessly) picking, uprooting or destroying wild plants which are listed on the appropriate Schedule. The legislation also prohibits the uprooting of wild plants not listed on the Schedule, unless the uprooting is carried out by the owner or occupier of the land on which the plant is growing, or by someone having their permission to do so, or unless the action is authorised in writing by the appropriate local authority, although such authorisation does not confer a right of entry to the land.
A list of protected plant species can be found at the following website link: http://www.jncc.gov.uk/page-1816
Survey Timing and Methods
Vegetation surveys should be carried out during the summer months (April – August).
The relative abundance of each species is recorded using a quadrat and the percentage vegetation cover is visually estimated. This allows the vegetation to be identified to its British National Vegetation Classification (NVC) community.
Links
