Mesotrophic grasslands in the British National Vegetation Classification system

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

Introduction

The mesotrophic grassland communities of the NVC were described in Volume 3 of British Plant Communities, 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.

The mesotrophic grassland communities consist of:

• two communities in which False Oat-grass is the characteristic grass species (one of these, community MG1, is widespread throughout Britain; the other, MG2, is confined to northern England).
• four communities of well-drained permanent pastures and meadows, two of which (MG5 and MG6) are widespread and the other two (MG3 and MG4) more localised
• a single community (MG7) covering a variety of widespread types of Perennial Rye-grass long-term ley
• three widespread communities associated with poorly-drained permanent pastures (MG8, MG9, MG10)
• three grass-dominated inundation communities, one of which, MG13, is widespread, the other two, MG11 and MG12, more localised

List of mesotrophic......

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