This article gives an overview of the
aquatic communities in the
British National Vegetation Classification system.
Introduction
The aquatic communities of the NVC were described in Volume 4 of ''
British Plant Communities
''British Plant Communities'' is a five-volume work, edited by John S. Rodwell and published by Cambridge University Press, which describes the plant communities which comprise the British National Vegetation Classification.
Its coverage incl ...
'', first published in 1995, along with the
swamps and tall-herb fens.
In total, 24 aquatic communities have been identified.
The aquatic communities fall into the following six groups:
* four communities of the water surface and sub-surface, in which
duckweed
Lemnoideae is a subfamily of flowering aquatic plants, known as duckweeds, water lentils, or water lenses. They float on or just beneath the surface of still or slow-moving bodies of fresh water and wetlands. Also known as bayroot, they arose ...
s and/or
Frogbit are the constant species; these communities (
A1,
A2,
A3 and
A4) are found in moderately-rich to
eutrophic
Eutrophication is the process by which an entire body of water, or parts of it, becomes progressively enriched with minerals and nutrients, particularly nitrogen and phosphorus. It has also been defined as "nutrient-induced increase in phytoplan ...
standing waters
* eight free-floating or rooted and submerged, pondweed communities (
A5,
A6,
A11,
A12,
A13,
A14,
A15 and
A21)
* six communities in which rooted water-lilies and pondweeds with floating leaves are the constant species (
A7,
A8,
A9,
A10,
A19 and
A20)
* three communities in which
water-crowfoot
''Ranunculus'' is a large genus of about almost 1700 to more than 1800 species of flowering plants in the family Ranunculaceae. Members of the genus are known as buttercups, spearworts and water crowfoots.
The genus is distributed in Europe, ...
s and/or
starwort Starwort is a common name for several plants and may refer to:
*'' Aster''
*''Spergula arvensis''
*''Stellaria
''Stellaria'' is a genus of about 190 species of flowering plants in the family Caryophyllaceae, with a cosmopolitan distribution. C ...
s are the constant species (
A16,
A17 and
A18 A18 or A-18 is a three-character acronym that may refer to:
* A18 road (disambiguation), in several countries
* A-18 Shrike, a Curtiss Model 76A twin radial engine monoplane service test aircraft of the mid-1930s
* Aero A.18, a Czech fighter aircra ...
)
* two hairgrass and quillwort communities (
A22 and
A23)
* a single community characterised by free-floating vegetation found in impoverished base-poor standing waters (
A24
A24 is an American independent entertainment company that specializes in film and television production, as well as film distribution. It is based in New York City.
A24 was founded in 2012 by Daniel Katz, David Fenkel and John Hodges. Pr ...
).
List of aquatic communities
The following is a list of the communities that make up this category:
* A1 ''Lemna gibba'' community ''Lemnetum gibbae'' Miyawaki & J. Tx. 1960
* A2 ''Lemna minor'' community ''Lemnetum minoris'' Soó 1947
* A3 ''Spirodela polyrhiza - Hydrocharis morsus-ranae'' community
* A4 ''Hydrocharis morsus-ranae - Stratiotes aloides'' community
* A5 ''Ceratophyllum demersum'' community ''Certaophylletum demersi'' Hild 1956
* A6 ''Ceratophyllum submersum'' community ''Certaophylletum submersi'' Den Hartog & Segal 1964
* A7 ''Nymphaea alba'' community ''Nymphaeetum albae'' Oberdorfer & Mitarb. 1967
* A8 ''Nuphar lutea'' community
*
A9 ''Potamogeton natans'' community
* A10 ''Polygonum amphibium'' community
* A11 ''Potamogeton pectinatus - Myriophyllum spicatum'' community
* A12 ''Potamogeton pectinatus'' community
* A13 ''Potamogeton perfoliatus - Myriophyllum alterniflorum'' community
* A14 ''Myriophyllum alterniflorum'' community ''Myriophylletum alterniflori''
* A15 ''Elodea canadensis'' community
* A16 ''Callitriche stagnalis'' community
* A17 ''Ranunculus penicillatus'' ssp. ''pseudofluitans'' community
*
A18 A18 or A-18 is a three-character acronym that may refer to:
* A18 road (disambiguation), in several countries
* A-18 Shrike, a Curtiss Model 76A twin radial engine monoplane service test aircraft of the mid-1930s
* Aero A.18, a Czech fighter aircra ...
''Ranunculus fluitans'' community ''Ranunculetum fluitantis'' Allorge 1922
* A19 ''Ranunculus aquatilis'' community ''Ranunculetum aquatilis'' Géhu 1961
* A20 ''Ranunculus peltatus'' community ''Ranunculetum peltati'' Sauer 1947
* A21 ''Ranunculus baudotii'' community ''Ranunculetum baudotii'' Br.-Bl. 1952
* A22 ''Littorella uniflora - Lobelia dortmanna'' community
* A23 ''Isoetes lacustris/setacea'' community
* A24 ''Juncus bulbosus'' community.
{{NVC