Description of NVC types & floristic tables

NVC survey data & distribution maps>>>

Description of NVC types

Full descriptions of each of the NVC communities and sub-communities are contained within the published NVC volumes. They include summary information on the general species composition and appearance (physiognomy), the associated habitat, and zonation and successional characteristics. In addition, a detailed floristic table is provided, along with information on the geographic distribution. Brief descriptions (and some other information) are available for certain NVC communities/sub-communities via the following links:

• Mires and heaths
• Upland types
• Woodland types (includes updated distribution maps for woodland communities)

NVC floristic tables

Each community/sub-community within the NVC is uniquely defined by a particular combination of frequency and abundance values for the species found in the samples grouped within it. This information is summarised in a standardised tabular format, i.e. a ‘floristic table’.

Each floristic table includes all of the vascular plants, bryophytes and macro-lichens that occur within the type with a frequency of 5% or more in any one of the sub-communities (or for vegetation types with no sub-communities within the community as a whole). The species are arranged in blocks to indicate their pattern of occurrence through the community, as explained in the NVC Users' Handbook and main NVC Volumes. 

A spreadsheet containing much of the information in the NVC floristic tables is available via this download: ‘NVC floristic tables’