A large scientific meeting of ecologists, botanists, and other related professionals in the United Kingdom resulted in the publication of a compendium of five books: British Plant Communities, edited by John S. Rodwell, which detail the incidence of plant species in twelve major habitat types in the British natural environment.
They cover all natural, semi-natural and major artificial habitats in Great Britain (not Northern Ireland) and represent fifteen years of research by leading plant ecologists.
From the data collated from the books, commercial software products have been developed to help to classify vegetation identified into one of the many habitat types found in Great Britain – these include MATCH, TABLEFIT and MAVIS.
[2][3] The following are lists of terms used in connection with the British National Vegetation Classification, together with their meanings.
They are grouped into the following major categories: A full list of these communities, grouped into the above categories, can be found at List of plant communities in the British National Vegetation Classification.