NVC community W9 is one of the woodland

Woodland and scrub communities in the British National Vegetation Classification system

This article gives an overview of the woodland and scrub communities in the British National Vegetation Classification system.-Introduction:The woodland and scrub communities of the NVC were described in Volume 1 of British Plant Communities, first published in 1991.In total, 25 woodland/scrub...

 communities in the British National Vegetation Classification

British National Vegetation Classification

The British National Vegetation Classification or NVC is a system of classifying natural habitat types in Great Britain according to the vegetation they contain....

 system. It is one of the six communities falling in the "mixed deciduous and oak/birch woodlands" group.

This is a community of northern and western Britain, particularly widespread in Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

 and Wales

Wales

Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...

. There are two subcommunities.

Community composition

Ten constant species are found in this community:

• Ash
  European Ash
  Fraxinus excelsior , is a species of Fraxinus native to most of Europe with the exception of northern Scandinavia and southern Iberia, and also southwestern Asia from northern Turkey east to the Caucasus and Alborz mountains...
  
   (Fraxinus excelsior)
• Hazel
  Hazel
  The hazels are a genus of deciduous trees and large shrubs native to the temperate northern hemisphere. The genus is usually placed in the birch family Betulaceae, though some botanists split the hazels into a separate family Corylaceae.They have simple, rounded leaves with double-serrate margins...
  
   (Corylus avellana)
• Male Fern (Dryopteris filix-mas)
• Dog's-mercury (Mercurialis perennis)
• Wood-sorrel (Oxalis acetosella)
• Common Dog-violet (Viola riviniana)
• Common Feather-moss (Eurhynchium praelongum)
• Common Striated Feather-moss (Eurhynchium striatum)
• Hart's-tongue Thyme-moss (Plagiomnium undulatum)
• Common Tamarisk-moss (Thuidium tamariscinum)

The following rare species are also associated with the community:

• Baneberry (Actaea spicata)
• Lesser Hairy-brome (Bromus benekenii)
• Northern Hawk's-beard (Crepis mollis)
• Yellow Star-of-Bethlehem (Gagea lutea)
• Whorled Solomon's-seal (Polygonatum verticillatum)

Distribution

This community is widespread throughout upland areas in northern and western Britain, where is replaces community W8

British NVC community W8

NVC community W8 is one of the woodland communities in the British National Vegetation Classification system. It is one of the six communities falling in the "mixed deciduous and oak/birch woodlands" group.This is a widely distributed community...

. It is particularly well-represented in Scotland and Wales, and the far northern counties of England. It has also been recorded at a single site in Devon.

Subcommunities

There are two subcommunities:

• the so-called "typical" subcommunity
• the Crepis paludosa subcommunity