Summarised Botanical Value Map 2023 (England)

The Summarised Botanical Value Map at the monad scale (1 x 1 km grid cells) was created to provide an easily interpretable output which provides a high-level overview of botanical interest across landscape to help inform initial strategic planning. This value map categorised monads as being of Low, Moderate, or High botanical value according to the presence of RST species and/or the estimated proportion of PHPI and AWI species present in each monad when compared with its surrounding area (within an area of land equivalent to a 25 km radius). The map identifies areas likely to be rich in high-quality habitat and is shared under an Open Government Licence (OGL). This work was supported in part by Defra through the Natural Capital and Ecosystem Assessment programme (NCEA). The product contains grouped layers that visualise different fields although from the same, singular underlying spatial data. Descriptions of these visualisation can be found in within the supporting documentation. Why is it important that Natural England publishes this data? After several high-profile cases of tree planting on botanically rich sites, there was a recognised need for robust evidence to inform tree planting activities and ensure that areas of high conservation value are preserved in the landscape. This data can help to guide strategic planning on a landscape scale of tree planting and other nature recovery activities. Lineage The Summarised Botanical Value Map summarises the PHPI heatmap data assigning each monad (1 x 1 km grid cell) as being ‘High’, ‘Moderate’, or ‘Low’ value for plant species and 'High' or 'Low' for RST species. Monads were categorised as having ‘Low’ if no RST plant species were recorded present, with an indication of survey effort carried out within that monad, or as ‘High’ if one or more RST plant species had been recorded present. PHPI species categories were based on the estimated proportion of PHPI species in each monad compared with the total number of PHPI species in the surrounding area. Threshold proportions of 10% and 20% of PHPI species were selected on the grounds that these provided a good distribution between the value categories and most importantly effectively flagged the most important monads as ‘High’ value. Accordingly, where the monad contained less than 10% of the total number of indicators present in the neighbourhood it was classified as being of ‘Low’ value. Where it contained between 10-20% it was classified as being of ‘Moderate’ value, and over 20% as being of ‘High’ value. Datasets used: * BSBI botanical heatmap data - BSBI * OS Grids - OS * ONS Country boundaries - ONS * Common Standards Monitoring guidance - JNCC 2004 * BSBI's Axiophyte list - Walker 2018 * Ancient Woodland Indicators - Glaves et al. 2009 * Plantatt - Hill et al. 2004 Attribution ──────────────┬─────────────────────────────────┬───────────────┬────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── Column Heading│Full Name │Format │Description ──────────────┼─────────────────────────────────┼───────────────┼────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── monad │Monad │Character (6) │Unique 1km OS grid square reference ──────────────┼─────────────────────────────────┼───────────────┼────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── region │Administrative Region │Character (100)│Regional division the monad sits in ──────────────┼─────────────────────────────────┼───────────────┼────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── surveyCov │Survey Coverage │Character (4) │Based on the number of recorder days, either ‘good’ where three or more recorder days recording at least 40 species, or ‘poor survey’ where less than three such recorder days ──────────────┼─────────────────────────────────┼───────────────┼────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── value │Overall Value Category │Character (8) │Overall value category (high, moderate, low) ──────────────┼─────────────────────────────────┼───────────────┼────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── rare │Rare Value Category │Character (8) │Value category for rare species (high, low, NA) ──────────────┼─────────────────────────────────┼───────────────┼────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── scarce │Scarce Value Category │Character (8) │Value category for scarce species (high, low, NA) ──────────────┼─────────────────────────────────┼───────────────┼────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── threatened │Threatened Value Category │Character (8) │Value category for threatened species (high, low, NA) ──────────────┼─────────────────────────────────┼───────────────┼────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── arable │Arable Value Category │Character (8) │Value category for arable habitats (high, moderate, low) ──────────────┼─────────────────────────────────┼───────────────┼────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── boundary │Boundary Value Category │Character (8) │Value category for boundary habitats (high, moderate, low) ──────────────┼─────────────────────────────────┼───────────────┼────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── coastal │Coastal Value Category │Character (8) │Value category for coastal habitats (high, moderate, low) ──────────────┼─────────────────────────────────┼───────────────┼────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── fenMarshSwamp │Fen, Marsh & Swamp Value Category│Character (8) │Value category for fen, marsh & swamp habitats (high, moderate, low) ──────────────┼─────────────────────────────────┼───────────────┼────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── freshwater │Freshwater Value Category │Character (8) │Value category for freshwater habitats (high, moderate, low) ──────────────┼─────────────────────────────────┼───────────────┼────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── heathBog │Heath & Bog Value Category │Character (8) │Value category for heath & bog habitats (high, moderate, low) ──────────────┼─────────────────────────────────┼───────────────┼────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── grassland │Grassland Value Category │Character (8) │Value category for grassland habitats (high, moderate, low) ──────────────┼─────────────────────────────────┼───────────────┼────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── inlandRock │Inland Rock Value Category │Character (8) │Value category for inland rock habitats (high, moderate, low) ──────────────┼─────────────────────────────────┼───────────────┼────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── montane │Montane Value Category │Character (8) │Value category for montane habitats (high, moderate, low) ──────────────┼─────────────────────────────────┼───────────────┼────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── woodland │Woodland Value Category │Character (8) │Value category for woodland habitats (high, moderate, low) ──────────────┴─────────────────────────────────┴───────────────┴────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── Further information and data licensing can be found in the accompanying Technical Report - [Botanical Heatmaps and the Botanical Value Map: Technical Report (NERR110)] Full metadata can be viewed on [environment.data.gov.uk]