NVC survey data & distribution maps
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NVC survey data
The published
volumes of the NVC are based on a total of about 35,000 samples or
relevés. In most cases these comprise a list of species and their
abundances from a single square quadrat, together with infomation
on the locality, soil, etc. (see diagram right). For woodland
stands, however, a sample summarises data from three nested
quadrats, each covering a separate layer (i.e. field layer, tall
field layer, canopy and shrub layer).
Since the time of original publication, many thousands more
NVC samples have been made. Some have associated site maps that
show the extent of particular NVC communities/sub-communities. The
country conservation agencies and others have significant data
holdings coded using the NVC. Some of the more extensive NVC
surveys have been collated or summarised, for example:
- Sand Dune Vegetation Survey of Great Britain
(see Dargie 1993, Dargie 1995, Dargie 2000, Radley 1994);
- Coastal Vegetated Shingle Structures of Great
Britain (see Sneddon and Randall 1993);
- NVC Review of Scottish Grassland Surveys (see
Cooper and MacKintosh 1996);
- Review/experience of woodland NVC data (see
Hall 1997, Goldberg 2003);
- Lowland Grassland Survey of Wales (see
Stevens et al. 2007);
- Lowland Heathland in Wales (see Sherry
2007).
Although some of this data has been encoded in
various types of database or spreadsheet software, much has not and
NVC information remains widely dispersed in numerous locations that
are not linked electronically. There is no centralised database of
all NVC samples or surveys undertaken.
Distribution
maps of NVC types
Information on the distribution of woodland NVC types is
available via the following download: '
Woodland NVC
types' (see example to right)