e-Digest Statistics about: Land Use and Land Cover
Stock of Broad Habitats
On the basis of the field surveys, estimates of the area occupied by most of the terrestrial and freshwater broad habitats in the UK can be made. Table 12 shows that improved grassland (24.7 per cent) and arable and horticultural (21.7 per cent) broad habitats are the most widespread in the UK. There are variations between countries, for example, in England and Wales the largest proportion of land is arable and horticultural, whilst in Scotland the largest proportion is bog. Coniferous woodland also covers a larger proportion of land in Scotland than anywhere else in the UK. CS2000 does not cover land use in built up (urban) areas.
Using the results of the 1990 countryside survey (CS1990) [7] it is possible to estimate changes in the stock of broad habitats over the last 10 years. Table 13 gives the change and percentage change between the two surveys, and again the pattern varies markedly between countries. In England and Wales, the main statistically significant changes recorded are a 4 per cent increase in the area of Broad leafed Woodland habitat, a 5 per cent increase in built-up rural areas and a 17 per cent loss of Acid Grassland. In Scotland, Broad leafed Woodland increased by 9 per cent and Fen, Marsh and Swamp by 19 per cent. For Great Britain as a whole, an 18 per cent loss of Calcareous Grassland occurred. In Northern Ireland there was a gain in Broad leafed Woodland but a loss of Calcareous Grassland. All these changes, which are net for each country as a whole may conceal significant regional variations to the broad patterns.
Further Information:
- Data Tables:
- 12 Estimated stock of broad habitats in the United Kingdom: 1998 XLS
- 13 Changes in stock of broad habitats in the United Kingdom: 1990-1998 XLS
- Chart 11 SSSI habitats in favourable or recovering condition XLS
- Internet Links:
- e-digest: Countryside Survey 2000
- e-digest: Landscape Features
- e-digest: Protected areas
- e-digest: Forestry
- Countryside Survey 2000
- Centre for Ecology and Hydrology: Land Cover Map (LCM2000)
- References, further reading and links to other resources:
- [7] Barr, C.,, (1993). Countryside Survey 1990: Main Report. Countryside 1990 Series, Volume 2. DETR, London.
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Page last modified: 16 September 2003
Page published: 10 September 2003