The mesotrophic

grassland A grassland is an area where the vegetation is dominated by grasses (Poaceae). However, sedge (Cyperaceae) and rush (Juncaceae) can also be found along with variable proportions of legumes, like clover, and other herbs. Grasslands occur natur ...

communities A community is a Level of analysis, social unit (a group of living things) with commonality such as place (geography), place, Norm (social), norms, religion, values, Convention (norm), customs, or Identity (social science), identity. Communiti ...

in the

British National Vegetation Classification __NOTOC__ The British National Vegetation Classification or NVC is a system of classifying natural habitat types in Great Britain according to the vegetation they contain. A large scientific meeting of ecologists, botanists, and other related pr ...

system were described in Volume 3 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 1992, along with the calcicolous grassland communities and the calcifugous grasslands and montane communities. In total, 13 mesotrophic grassland communities have been identified: * two communities in which

False Oat-grass ''Arrhenatherum elatius'', with the common names bulbous oat grass, false oat-grass, tall oat-grass, tall meadow oat, onion couch and tuber oat-grass, is a species of perennial grass, native to Europe, western Asia, and northern Africa. This bun ...

is the characteristic grass species (one of these, community MG1, is widespread throughout

Britain Britain most often refers to: * The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands * Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...

; the other,

MG2 MG, Mg, or mg and variants may refer to: Organizations * MG Cars, an automotive marque of the now defunct MG Car Company * MG Motor, a present-day car manufacturing company * MG JW Automobile, a Pakistani automobile manufacturer * Champion Air (I ...

, is confined to northern

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

). * four communities of well-drained permanent pastures and meadows, two of which ( MG5 and

MG6 __NOTOC__ British NVC community MG6 (''Lolium perenne - Cynosurus cristatus'' grassland) is one of the mesotrophic grassland communities in the British National Vegetation Classification system. It is one of four such communities associated with ...

) are widespread and the other two (

MG3 The MG 3 is a German general-purpose machine gun chambered for the 7.62×51mm NATO cartridge. The weapon's design is derived from the World War II era MG 42 ''Einheitsmaschinengewehr'' (Universal machine gun) that fired the 7.92×57mm Mauser r ...

and MG4) more localised * a single community ( MG7) covering a variety of widespread types of

Perennial Rye-grass ''Lolium perenne'', common name perennial ryegrass, English ryegrass, winter ryegrass, or ray grass, is a grass from the family Poaceae. It is native to Europe, Asia and northern Africa, but is widely cultivated and naturalised around the world. ...

long-term ley * three widespread communities associated with poorly drained permanent pastures ( MG8, MG9, MG10) * three grass-dominated inundation communities, one of which,

MG13 The MG 13 (shortened from German Maschinengewehr 13) is a German light machine gun developed by converting the Dreyse Model 1918 heavy water-cooled machine gun into an air-cooled version. History Dreyse Model 1918 Machinegun: In 1907 Louis Schmeis ...

, is widespread, the other two, MG11 and MG12, more localised

List of mesotrophic grassland communities

The following is a list of the communities that make up this category: * MG1 ''Arrhenatherum elatius'' grassland ''Arrhenatheretum elatioris'' Br.-Bl. 1919 * MG2 ''Arrhenatherum elatius - Filipendula ulmaria'' tall-herb grassland ''Filipendulo-Arrhenatheretum elatioris'' Shimwell 1968a * MG3 ''Anthoxanthum odoratum - Geranium sylvaticum'' grassland * MG4 ''Alopecurus pratensis - Sanguisorba officinalis'' grassland * MG5 ''Cynosurus cristatus - Centaurea nigra'' grassland ''Centaureo-Cynosuretum cristati'' Br.-Bl. & Tx 1952 * MG6 ''Lolium perenne - Cynosurus cristatus'' grassland ''Lolio-Cynosuretum cristati'' (Br.-Bl. & De Leeuw 1936) R. Tx 1937 * MG7 ''Lolium perenne'' leys and related grasslands Lolio-Plantaginion Sissingh 1969 p.p. * MG8 ''Cynosurus cristatus - Caltha palustris'' grassland * MG9 ''Holcus lanatus - Deschampsia cespitosa'' grassland * MG10 ''Holcus lanatus - Juncus effusus'' rush-pasture ''Holco-Juncetum effusi'' Page 1980 * MG11 ''Festuca rubra - Agrostis stolonifera - Potentilla anserina'' grassland * MG12 ''Festuca arundinacea'' grassland ''Potentillo-Festucetum arundinaceae'' Nordhagen 1940 * MG13 ''Agrostis stolonifera - Alopecurus geniculatus'' grassland {{NVC