Section 4 - Technical guidance
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Information on identifying features, feature detail and condition assessments
This section contains all the definitions and condition assessments that you will need to complete a FEP. They will not all be relevant to the area of land you are surveying.
Features must be recorded in the Environmental Features Data Sheet (Part 2 of the Form) and marked on the FER/FEP map. Not all features need to be listed on the data sheet. For example, arable land should be marked on the map but only needs to be entered in the table if there is a historic feature present as well. Those features that do not need to be entered in the data sheet are identified in their descriptions.
See section 3.2 for detailed guidance on assessing and recording feature condition.
4.1 Additional guidance on surveying habitats
4.1.1 How to assess if a plant species is rare, occasional or frequent
In many of our habitat feature definitions there are references to particular indicator plant species being 'rare', 'occasional' or 'frequent'.
The way to assess this is to walk around the habitat and stop at regular intervals or random points along the way. For most habitats stopping ten times will be enough but for very large blocks of similar vegetation, you may need 20 stops.
Each time you stop, look at the vegetation within a square metre in front of you and take a note of what plant species are there. If you already know roughly what type of habitat you are in, you only need to record the relevant indicator species for that habitat, rather than noting every single species.
- A species is rare if it occurs in one or two stops out of ten.
- It is occasional if it occurs in three or four stops out of ten.
- Frequent species occur in five or more stops out of ten.
You will probably find it easiest to carry out this assessment if you record the information in a table like the one below. Write the species names on the left and tick the box in the relevant column when you find the species.
| Species name | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | No. of stops | Frequency |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Perennial rye-grass | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | 9 | Frequent | |
| White clover | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | 8 | Frequent | ||
| Yorkshire-fog | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | 5 | Frequent | |||||
| Red clover | Y | Y | Y | 3 | Occasional | |||||||
| Crested dog's-tail | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | 6 | Frequent | ||||
| Daisy | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | 5 | Frequent | |||||
| Creeping thistle | Y | Y | Y | 3 | Occasional | |||||||
| Creeping buttercup | Y | Y | Y | Y | 4 | Occasional | ||||||
| Cock's-foot | Y | Y | 2 | Rare | ||||||||
| Common bent | Y | Y | Y | 3 | Occasional | |||||||
| Common sorrel | Y | Y | Y | Y | 4 | Occasional | ||||||
| Dandelion | Y | Y | Y | 3 | Occasional | |||||||
| Rough meadow-grass | Y | Y | Y | Y | 4 | Occasional | ||||||
| Cuckooflower | Y | Y | 2 | Rare | ||||||||
| Meadow buttercup | Y | Y | Y | 3 | Occasional | |||||||
| Selfheal | Y | 1 | Rare | |||||||||
| Timothy | Y | 1 | Rare | |||||||||
| Number of species per stop | 7 | 7 | 4 | 9 | 9 | 6 | 7 | 5 | 6 | 6 |
Using a table like this also helps you decide how many species there are per square metre. This is another important factor in identifying what type of grassland habitat you have.
As you get more experienced at doing this you may find that you no longer need to complete a table, but it will help in the early stages.
Some grassland habitats can be identified if key species are only present in the sward. To meet this criteria these species must not be limited to field edges, corners or small areas within the field.
4.1.2 Assessing cover and sward height
For some of the habitat features, it is necessary to make an estimate of how much ground area individual or groups of plants species cover. To identify grassland type, for example, you need to estimate the total cover of herb species. For this purpose, herbs include all vascular plants, except grasses and indicators of poor condition such as white clover and problem weeds. Sedges and rushes are 'honorary' herbs. Cover should be estimated by looking down on the sward rather than across the top of it. Patchiness across the sward should be averaged out and it will be helpful to estimate cover at stops on a structured walk, as detailed above. In meadows which have grown up prior to cutting it is important to look down through the sward to estimate cover of herbs below the grass canopy. Tall scrub species will have to be assessed by looking across the site. Use a vantage point if there is one, or up to date aerial photography.
For some habitats, an estimate of cover of bare ground is required. This should be estimated in a similar manner to herbs, but must be visible from above without disturbing the sward surface. It does not include rock exposures stones, pebbles and flints.
For all estimates of cover it may help to visualise a square metre area in front of you. An area of ten centimetres x ten centimetres within this constitutes a cover of 1%.
To assess the condition of some habitats, e.g. habitat for breeding waders, you will need to determine the average sward height across the feature. Again this can be done during the structured walk using a ruler or measuring stick. At each stop a measurement should be taken from a random point around your feet. The measurement should be to the undisturbed sward surface.
4.2 Names of plant species used in this handbook
Common English names of plants can sometimes be confusing as they can mean different plants to different people. The plant names used in this handbook have a precise meaning. If you are unsure which species is meant, refer to 'New Flora of the British Isles' by Clive Stace.
4.3 Guidance on how to record information on species
The range of species that HLS can address is potentially great, but the FEP does not need to include very detailed species information. There will be limited scope for gathering species information when you are in the field, but you should ask the farmer about any of the species that are mentioned in the targeting statement.
If there are any records from the farm for any of the species listed as features or feature detail, fill in the name of the species in either the 'feature' or 'feature detail' box in part 2 of the form. Leave the 'condition assessment' box blank. In part 3.4 of the form, fill in who the record is from and from, when, e.g.:
- My record - 2005
- Mr. Thompson (neighbour of applicant who is a keen birder) - 2003, or
- Surrey Wildlife Trust - 1999.
For these species, you only need to record them on the form if there is a recent record for them from on or near the farm as defined in this table:
| Species | On or near the farm | Recent record |
|---|---|---|
| Plants and fungi | On the farm or the adjacent farm | Within last 20 years |
| Breeding birds and seed-eating birds | Within 2 km of the farm | Within last five years |
| Wintering wildfowl | Within 2 km of the farm | Within last five years |
| Mammals | Within 2 km of the farm | Within last ten years |
| Rare reptiles and amphibians | On the farm | Within last 20 years |
| Invertebrates | Within 2 km of the farm | Within last 20 years |
Only record species other than those listed as a 'Feature' if you have evidence that it is particularly rare or threatened and worthy of conservation effort (it may be mentioned in the target statement). Selected 'uncommon' species are listed under 'Feature detail'.
A full list of species that can be recorded in part 2 of the form is listed on our website. If a species is not listed as a Feature or Feature detail, use the appropriate 'uncommon...' features (e.g. 'uncommon bird') to record its presence, then write the name of the species (listing both its common and scientific name, e.g. Chough Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax) in the notes column.
When recording animal species it is recognised that some of these will appear in many fields over the farm. For this reason if you consider the species to be widely distributed over the farm it should only be recorded once and assigned to a single field (ideally the parcel in which the species has most frequently been observed). If however, the animal species is found only on an individual field/limited number of fields on the farm, it should be recorded to the field(s) separately.
Plant species should be recorded against the field numbers in which they are found in part 2 of the FEP. Thus a plant species found in several fields will need to be recorded against every field in which it is found.
- Arable
- Coastal
- Field boundaries
- Grassland
- Heathland and moorland
- Historic environment and landscape
- Limestone pavement
- Natural resource protection
- Scrub, bracken and other tall vegetation
- Species
- Trees, Wood Pasture, Parkland; Woodland and Orchards
- Wetland
Page last modified:
7 December, 2005
Page published: 3 March, 2005