Terrestrial Phase 1 Habitat Survey
Cynefinoedd Cymru: Gorchudd cynefin Cyfnod i digidol
Habitats of Wales Phase 1 Data, 1979-1997 Lowlands and Uplands
Phase 1 Survey; Upland Vegetation Survey
Phase 1 Habitat Survey of Wales 1979-1997
This dataset holds comprehensive habitat cover data for the whole of Wales derived from a programme of field recording that was begun by the Wales Field Unit (WFU) of the Nature Conservancy Council (NCC) in 1979 and continued by the Countryside Council for Wales (CCW) after restructuring in 1991. The purpose of this data capture was to inform site selection, casework and policy decisions. The lowland survey was particularly used to locate grassland sites suitable for more in-depth survey for notification purposes. Habitat extent data has been derived to inform the Local Biodiversity Action Plan process. The digitisation was carried out, in the first instance, for the drafting of maps for open country and registered common land as required by the CROW Act 2000. For reporting purposes during the lowland phase of the surveys, Wales was divided up into 15 different areas based on the Nature Conservancy Council's (NCC) Areas of Search (AoS). The dataset is unique, in that it holds full census field survey habitat data for the whole of terrestrial Wales. It has been used widely for research, advice and planning both within and outside CCW. The majority of the fieldwork was carried out 'in house' by closely co-ordinated teams of trained surveyors. Every effort was made to ensure consistency of habitat mapping. A check on surveyor accuracy during the early stages of the Phase 1 Survey revealed comparatively high repeatability levels (Kerry, S. M., Rimes, C. A., Smith, S. L. N., Williams, A. M. 1994. An assessment of errors in Phase 1 habitat survey in Wales. CCW report no. 94/4/1, Countryside Council for Wales, Bangor; Stevens, J.P., Blackstock, T.H., Howe, E.A., Stevens, D.P., 2004. Repeatability of Phase 1 habitat survey. J. Environ. Manage. 73, 53-59), and checks on the Upland Vegetation Survey data were carried out between 1994-1996 (Yeo, M.J.M., Blackstock, T.H., 2002. A vegetation analysis of the pastoral land scapes of upland Wales, UK. J. Veg. Sci. 13, 803-816). Digital maps were checked for accuracy at three stages: by contractor (Cynefin Environmental), and by CCW (C. Burrows, L. Howe, J. Stevens, J. Rothwell). 1km square table: the data were input and checked by a contractor (C. Copp) and re-checked by CCW (C. Burrows and J. Stevens). For a detailed overview of the background, methods and outputs of the Survey see Blackstock, T. H., Howe, E. A., Stevens, J. P., Burrows, C. R., Jones, P. S. 2010. Habitats of Wales. A comprehensive field survey 1979 -1997. University of Wales Press, Cardiff.
dataset
https://datamap.gov.wales/layergroups/geonode:nrw_terrestrial_phase_1_habitat_survey
name: Download Data
name: Web Mapping Service
24715
https://naturalresources.wales
eng
OGP
urn:ogc:def:crs:EPSG::BNG
With such a vast dataset (approximately 481,000 polygons and 434,000 points), it is inevitable that some transcription errors remain. Users detecting significant differences between the digital data and the habitat maps from which they were derived are encouraged to report these to Jonathan Rothwell (from NRW) quoting polygon Unique_ID. About 30% of the upland polygons are mixed habitat and therefore should not be used to calculate habitat area. A voronoi version of the vegetation layer has been crested to help address this. The 1 km square dataset is the definitive source of habitat area statistics. Phase 2 Lowland Grassland Survey of Wales (Tir Stent site number SH71/2)
environment
farming
Habitats and biotopes
publication
2023-03-08
Nature conservation
publication
2023-03-08
-5.77774100
-2.60886500
53.51306700
51.24082900
publication
2023-03-08
Wales (WLS)
1979-01-01
1997-12-31
publication
2022-07-29
revision
1997-12-31
notPlanned
Uplands are classified as open upland landscapes coming down as far as the upper limit of enclosure; lowlands and uplands are mutually exclusive. The fieldwork was conducted in two main stages. Most upland areas were surveyed during the first stage (the Upland Vegetation Survey) between 1979 and1989, and areas were assigned to habitat types using the Ratcliffe and Birks classification. The survey methods employed during the initial upland phase are given in more detail in a Wales Field Unit report (Day, A. 1989. Upland vegetation survey 1979–1989. Background, methodology and summary of data collected. NCC report no. W91/2, Nature Conservancy Council, Bangor). Some upland regions were surveyed between 1991 and 1999 using the National Vegetation Classifi cation, and small patches were covered between 1982-1992 using the NCC scheme for SSSI recording or the NCC/RSNC classification (NCC/RSNC Habitat Classification and Description, 1984). Mapping was carried out on foot, using mostly 1:10,000 scale aerial photographs for locating habitat polygons (rarely 1:25,000 during the upland stage). The rest of Wales including all the lowlands and some previously unsurveyed upland areas was covered during the second stage (the lowland phase) between 1987-1997 and habitats assigned to the Phase I classification (Handbook for Phase I habitat survey- a technique for environmental audit, NCC, 1990), with some minor modifications adopted for use in Wales (Supplementary Notes for Phase 1 survey in Wales, Howe E.A. and Blackstock T.H., 1991, CCW, Bangor). Hab itats were recorded field-by-field by using public rights of way and obtaining access permission to look more closely at some fields. Habitats were mapped onto 1:10,000 scale 5 x 5 km master-maps. The minimum size of habitat patch recorded lies predominantly within the range 0.1 – 0.25 ha, although smaller areas were mapped in the in lowlands.
© CNC/NRW All rights Reserved. Contains Ordnance Survey Data. Ordnance Survey Licence number 100019741. Crown Copyright and Database Right Data may be re-used under the terms of the Open Government Licence providing it is done so, acknowledging both the source and copyright of the owners. It is the recipient's responsibility to ensure the data is fit for the intended purpose.
There are no access restrictions on this data. NRW may release, publish or disseminate it freely. The associated target notes do contain personal data which may not be released without permission. There are redacted versions of these sensitive targets note available to the public.
Natural Resources Wales (NRW)
0300 065 3000
enquiries@naturalresourceswales.gov.uk
owner
Countryside Council for Wales (CCW)
0300 065 3000
enquiries@naturalresourceswales.gov.uk
originator
Natural Resources Wales (NRW)
0300 065 3000
enquiries@naturalresourceswales.gov.uk
pointOfContact
2023-03-07