Swamps and tall-herb fens in the British National Vegetation Classification system

This article gives an overview of the swamp and tall-herb fen communities in the British National Vegetation Classification system.

Introduction

The swamp and tall-herb fen communities of the NVC were described in Volume 4 of British Plant Communities, first published in 1995, along with the aquatic communities.

In total, 28 swamp and tall-herb fen communities have been identified.

The swamp and tall-herb fen communities consist of three separate subgroups:

• twenty-one swamp communities, characterised by being species-poor, each dominated by an often tall or bulky monocotyledon species, with little or nothing in the way of an understorey: S1, S2, S3, S4, S5, S6, S7, S8, S9, S10, S11, S12, S13, S14, S15, S16, S17, S18, S19, S20 and S29
• two communities termed "water-margin vegetation": S22 and S23
• five tall-herb fen communities, which have a more species-rich understorey than the swamps: S24, S25, S26, S27 and S28

List of swamp and tall-herb fen communities

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

• S1 Carex elata sedge-swamp Caricetum elatae Koch 1926
• S2 Cladium mariscus swamp and sedge-beds Cladietum marisci Zobrist 1933 emend. Pfeiffer 1961
• S3 Carex paniculata swamp Caricetum paniculatae Wangerin 1916
• S4 Phragmites australis swamp and reed-beds Phragmitetum australis (Gams 1927) Schmale 1939
• S5 Glyceria maxima swamp Glycerietum maximae (Nowinski 1928) Hueck 1931 emend. Krausch 1965
• S6 Carex riparia swamp Caricetum ripariae Soó 1928
• S7 Carex acutiformis swamp Caricetum acutiformis Sauer 1937
• S8 Scirpus lacustris ssp. lacustris swamp Scirpetum lacustris (Allorge 1922) Chouard 1924
• S9 Carex rostrata swamp Caricetum rostratae Rübel 1912
• S10 Equisetum fluviatile swamp Equisetetum fluviatile Steffen 1931 emend. Wilczek 1935
• S11 Carex vesicaria swamp Caricetum vesicariae Br.-Bl. & Denis 1926
• S12 Typha latifolia swamp Typhetum latifoliae Soó 1927
• S13 Typha angustifolia swamp Typhetum angustifoliae Soó 1927
• S14 Sparganium erectum swamp Sparganietum erecti Roll 1938
• S15 Acorus calamus swamp Acoretum calami Schulz 1941
• S16 Sagittaria sagittifolia swamp
• S17 Carex pseudocyperus swamp
• S18 Carex otrubae swamp Caricetum otrubae Mirza 1978
• S19 Eleocharis palustris swamp Eleocharitetum palustris Schennikow 1919
• S20 Scirpus lacustris ssp. tabernaemontani swamp Scirpetum tabernaemontani Passarge 1964
• S21 Scirpus maritimus swamp Scirpetum maritimi (Br.-Bl. 1931) R.Tx. 1937
• S22 Glyceria fluitans water-margin vegetation Glycerietum fluitantis Wilczek 1935
• S23 Other water-margin vegetation Glycerio-Sparganion Br.-Bl. & Sissingh apud Boer 1942 emend. Segal
• S24 Phragmites australis - Peucedanum palustre tall-herb fen Peucedano-Phragmitetum australis Wheeler 1978 emend.
• S25 Phragmites australis - Eupatorium cannabinum tall-herb fen
• S26 Phragmites australis - Urtica dioica tall-herb fen
• S27 Carex rostrata - Potentilla palustris tall-herb fen Potentillo-Caricetum rostratae Wheeler 1980a
• S28 Phalaris arundinacea tall-herb fen Phalaridetum arundinaceae Libbert 1931