This article gives an overview of the swamp and tall-herb fen communities in the British National Vegetation Classification system.
The swamp and tall-herb fen communities of the NVC were described in Volume 4 of British Plant Communities, first published in 1995, along with the aquatic communities.
In total, 28 swamp and tall-herb fen communities have been identified.
The swamp and tall-herb fen communities consist of three separate subgroups:
twenty-one swamp communities, characterised by being species-poor, each dominated by an often tall or bulky monocotyledon species, with little or nothing in the way of an understorey: S1, S2, S3, S4, S5, S6, S7, S8, S9, S10, S11, S12, S13, S14, S15, S16, S17, S18, S19, S20 and S29
two communities termed "water-margin vegetation": S22 and S23
five tall-herb fen communities, which have a more species-rich understorey than the swamps: S24, S25, S26, S27 and S28
List of swamp and tall-herb fen communities
The following is a list of the communities that make up this category:
S1 Carex elata sedge-swamp Caricetum elatae Koch 1926
S2 Cladium mariscus swamp and sedge-beds Cladietum marisci Zobrist 1933 emend. Pfeiffer 1961
S3 Carex paniculata swamp Caricetum paniculatae Wangerin 1916
S4 Phragmites australis swamp and reed-beds Phragmitetum australis (Gams 1927) Schmale 1939
S5 Glyceria maxima swamp Glycerietum maximae (Nowinski 1928) Hueck 1931 emend. Krausch 1965
S6 Carex riparia swamp Caricetum ripariae Soó 1928
S7 Carex acutiformis swamp Caricetum acutiformis Sauer 1937
S8 Scirpus lacustris ssp. lacustris swamp Scirpetum lacustris (Allorge 1922) Chouard 1924
S9 Carex rostrata swamp Caricetum rostratae Rübel 1912
S10 Equisetum fluviatile swamp Equisetetum fluviatile Steffen 1931 emend. Wilczek 1935
S11 Carex vesicaria swamp Caricetum vesicariae Br.-Bl. & Denis 1926
S12 Typha latifolia swamp Typhetum latifoliae Soó 1927
S13 Typha angustifolia swamp Typhetum angustifoliae Soó 1927
S14 Sparganium erectum swamp Sparganietum erecti Roll 1938
S15 Acorus calamus swamp Acoretum calami Schulz 1941
S16 Sagittaria sagittifolia swamp
S17 Carex pseudocyperus swamp
S18 Carex otrubae swamp Caricetum otrubae Mirza 1978
S19 Eleocharis palustris swamp Eleocharitetum palustris Schennikow 1919
S20 Scirpus lacustris ssp. tabernaemontani swamp Scirpetum tabernaemontani Passarge 1964
S21 Scirpus maritimus swamp Scirpetum maritimi (Br.-Bl. 1931) R.Tx. 1937
S22 Glyceria fluitans water-margin vegetation Glycerietum fluitantis Wilczek 1935
S23 Other water-margin vegetation Glycerio-Sparganion Br.-Bl. & Sissingh apud Boer 1942 emend. Segal
S24 Phragmites australis - Peucedanum palustre tall-herb fen Peucedano-Phragmitetum australis Wheeler 1978 emend.
S25 Phragmites australis - Eupatorium cannabinum tall-herb fen
S26 Phragmites australis - Urtica dioica tall-herb fen
S27 Carex rostrata - Potentilla palustris tall-herb fen Potentillo-Caricetum rostratae Wheeler 1980a
S28 Phalaris arundinacea tall-herb fen Phalaridetum arundinaceae Libbert 1931
