The calcicolous grassland communities of 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 ...

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 mesotrophic grassland communities and the calcifugous grasslands and montane communities.

History

In total, 14 calcicolous grassland communities have been identified. All but two of the calcicolous grassland communities fall into two broad groups: * seven communities which group loosely together under an umbrella of "chalk grassland" and which are found on calcareous soils in the comparatively dry climatic conditions of the lowlands of southern and eastern

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

(and also in northern and southern coastal areas of

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

). * five upland calcicole communities, distributed in areas of wetter climate through the uplands of Wales, northern England and

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. The lowlands group comprises two subgroups: * three short-sward communities associated with heavy grazing: a widespread community ( CG2) that is regarded as "typical" chalk grassland, though it also occurs widely on limestone, and its "south-west coastal" ( CG1) and "eastern" ( CG7) counterparts * four communities of rank, tussocky grassland associated with low levels of grazing ( CG3, CG4, CG5 and CG6) The upland group comprises the following subgroups: * a widespread short-sward community associated with heavy grazing, CG10 * two localised communities characterised by the presence of Alpine Lady's-mantle (''Alchemilla alpina''), CG11 and CG12 * two localised communities characterised by the presence of Mountain Avens (''Dryas octopetala''), CG13 and CG14 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 communities

The following is a list of the communities that make up this category: * CG1 ''Festuca ovina – Carlina vulgaris'' grassland * CG2 ''Festuca ovina – Avenula pratensis'' grassland * CG3 ''Bromus erectus'' grassland * CG4 ''Brachypodium pinnatum'' grassland * CG5 ''Bromus erectus – Brachypodium pinnatum'' grassland * CG6 ''Avenula pubescens'' grassland * CG7 ''Festuca ovina – Hieracium pilosella – Thymus praecox/pulegioides'' grassland * CG8 ''Sesleria albicans – Scabiosa columbaria'' grassland * CG9 ''Sesleria albicans – Galium sterneri'' grassland * CG10 ''Festuca ovina – Agrostis capillaris – Thymus praecox'' grassland * CG11 ''Festuca ovina – Agrostis capillaris – Alchemilla alpina'' grass-heath * CG12 ''Festuca ovina – Alchemilla alpina – Silene acaulis'' dwarf-herb community * CG13 ''Dryas octopetala – Carex flacca'' heath * CG14 ''Dryas octopetala – Silene acaulis'' ledge community {{NVC