This article gives an overview of the

heath A heath () is a shrubland habitat found mainly on free-draining infertile, acidic soils and characterised by open, low-growing woody vegetation. Moorland is generally related to high-ground heaths with—especially in Great Britain—a cooler ...

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.

Introduction

The heath communities of the NVC were described, along with the mire communities, in Volume 2 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 1991. In total, 22 heath communities have been identified. The heath communities consist of six separate subgroups: * five lowland dry heath communities, all with distinct, largely non-overlapping distributions in

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 ...

and

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

( H1, H2, H6, H8 and H9) * three localised communities, with non-overlapping ranges in southern England, which are considered transitional between the above and the wetter communities classified in the NVC as mires ( H3, H4 and H5) * two maritime heath communities, found exclusively on the coasts of northern and western Britain; one ( H7) is more widespread than the other ( H11) * four submontane heaths from upland areas in northern and western Britain; two of these ( H10 and H12) are widespread, whereas the other two ( H16 and H21) are more localised (confined to

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

, and Scotland and the

Lake District The Lake District, also known as the Lakes or Lakeland, is a mountainous region in North West England. A popular holiday destination, it is famous for its lakes, forests, and mountains (or ''fells''), and its associations with William Wordswor ...

, respectively) * two sub-alpine communities, considered transitional between the previous and next groupings - H18, which is widespread in northern and western Britain), and H22, which is confined to Scotland * six

montane Montane ecosystems are found on the slopes of mountains. The alpine climate in these regions strongly affects the ecosystem because temperatures fall as elevation increases, causing the ecosystem to stratify. This stratification is a crucial f ...

heath communities with

lichen A lichen ( , ) is a composite organism that arises from algae or cyanobacteria living among filaments of multiple fungi species in a mutualistic relationship.mosse Mosse may refer to: Ethnic Groups * Mossé of Burkina Faso Medicine * Bartholomew Mosse (1712-1759), Irish surgeon and founder of the Rotunda Hospital * Markus Mosse (1808-1865), German physician Literature * Hans Lachmann-Mosse (1885-1944), Germ ...

s, all of which are confined either to Scotland ( H13, H14, H15, H17 and H20) or to Scotland and the Lake District ( H19)

List of heath communities

Sources

* Rodwell, J. S. (1988) ''British Plant Communities Volume 2 - Mires and heaths'' pages vii, 347 - 358 {{DEFAULTSORT:Heaths In The British National Vegetation Classification System Heaths of the United Kingdom