British woodland types in a European context

Abstract

British woods have never been thoroughly classified in terms of the main groupings of European vegetation, although a number of partial attempts have been made and a few associations have been described. This deficiency should be remedied by the forthcoming National Vegetation Classification, but meanwhile it seems worth considering where the stand types described in Chapter 8 fall within the main woodland classes, orders and alliances of Continental Classifications. Unfortunately, this is far from straightforward. Not only do the major groupings and the relationships between them vary from one author to another, but some British woods of more oceanic districts should probably be regarded as distinct Alliances and Sub-Alliances, which have not yet been properly described. The main groupings of Oberdorfer et al (1967) for West Germany, to which the work of most other authors having a bearing on British woodlands can be related, seem to provide a reasonable path through the maze, and have largely been accepted here. Professor Frank Klötzli’s (1970) little-known but valuable account of British mixed deciduous woods beyond the beech and hornbeam zones has been the major source of guidance. No attempt has been made at a comprehensive review of continental woodland classifications, but the works of Oberdorfer (1957; 1970), Westhof and den Held (1969) and Ellenberg and Klötzli (1972) have been consulted.