This article gives an overview of the plant communities formed by vegetation of open habitats in the British National Vegetation Classification system.
The open habitat communities of the NVC were described in Volume 5 of British Plant Communities, first published in 2000, along with the three groups of maritime communities (shingle, strandline and sand-dune communities, salt-marsh communities and maritime cliff communities).
In total, 42 open habitat communities have been identified.
The open habitat communities consist of eight separate subgroups:
six arable weed and trackside communities of light, less-fertile acid soils (OV1, OV2, OV3, OV4, OV5 and OV6)eight arable weed and wasteland communities of fertile loams and clays (OV7, OV8, OV9, OV10, OV11, OV12, OV13 and OV14)three arable weed communities of light, limey soils (OV15, OV16 and OV17)six gateway, trackside and courtyard communities (OV18, OV19, OV20, OV21, OV22 and OV23)four tall-herb weed communities (OV24, OV25, OV26 and OV27)five communities typical of periodically inundated habitats (OV28, OV29, OV30, OV32 and OV33)four dwarf-rush communities of ephemeral ponds (OV31, OV34, OV35 and OV36)six communities of crevice, scree and spoil vegetation (OV37, OV38, OV39, OV40, OV41 and OV42)The following is a list of the communities that make up this category:
OV1 Viola arvensis - Aphanes microcarpa communityOV2 Briza minor - Silene gallica communityOV3 Papaver rhoeas - Viola arvensis communityOV4 Chrysanthemum segetum - Spergula arvensis communityOV5 Digitaria ischaemum - Erodium cicutarium communityOV6 Cerastium glomeratum - Fumaria muralis ssp. boraei communityOV7 Veronica persica - Veronica polita communityOV8 Veronica persica - Alopecurus myosuroides communityOV9 Matricaria perforata - Stellaria media communityOV10 Poa annua - Senecio vulgaris communityOV11 Poa annua - Stachys arvensis communityOV12 Poa annua - Myosotis arvensis communityOV13 Stellaria media - Capsella bursa-pastoris communityOV14 Urtica urens - Lamium amplexicaule communityOV15 Anagallis arvensis - Veronica persica communityOV16 Papaver rhoeas - Silene noctiflora communityOV17 Reseda lutea - Polygonum aviculare communityOV18 Polygonum aviculare - Chamomilla suavolens communityOV19 Poa annua - Matricaria perforata communityOV20 Poa annua - Sagina procumbens communityOV21 Poa annua - Plantago major communityOV22 Poa annua - Taraxacum officinale communityOV23 Lolium perenne - Dactylis glomerata communityOV24 Urtica dioica - Galium aparine communityOV25 Urtica dioica - Cirsium arvense communityOV26 Epilobium hirsutum communityOV27 Epilobium angustifolium communityOV28 Agrostis stolonifera - Ranunculus repens communityOV29 Alopecurus geniculatus - Rorippa palustris communityOV30 Bidens tripartita - Polygonum amphibium communityOV31 Rorippa palustris - Filaginella uliginosa communityOV32 Myosotis scorpioides - Ranunculus sceleratus communityOV33 Polygonum lapathifolium - Poa annua communityOV34 Allium schoenoprasum - Plantago maritima communityOV35 Lythrum portula - Ranunculus flammula communityOV36 Lythrum hyssopifolia - Juncus bufonius communityOV37 Festuca ovina - Minuartia verna communityOV38 Gymnocarpium robertianum - Arrhenatherum elatius communityOV39 Asplenium trichomanes - Asplenium ruta-muraria communityOV40 Asplenium viride - Cystopteris fragilis communityOV41 Parietaria diffusa communityOV42 Cymbalaria muralis community