Calcicolous grasslands in the British National Vegetation Classification system

This article gives an overview of the calcicolous grassland communities in the British National Vegetation Classification system.

Introduction

The calcicolous grassland communities of the NVC were described in Volume 3 of British Plant Communities, first published in 1992, along with the mesotrophic grassland communities and the calcifugous grasslands and montane communities.

In total, 14 calcicolous grassland communities have been identified.

All but two of the calcicolous grassland communities fall into two broad groups:

The lowlands group comprises two subgroups:

The upland group comprises the following subgroups:

The remaining two communities (CG8 and CG9) are characterised by the presence of Blue Moor-grass (Sesleria caerulea), both of which are localised in northern England and do not fall neatly into either of the two groups described above.

List of calcicolous grassland communities

The following is a list of the communities that make up this category: