ANÁLISIS ESTADÍSTICO Y BÚSQUEDA BIBLIOGRÁFICA 1 Pruebas empleadas.

There are numerous terrestrial and freshwater habitat classification schemes that have been developed worldwide. While the overall aim of all these classifications is the same, to map the habitats present in a site, their characteristics vary depending on the nature of the vegetation that needs to be classified and on the geographical area of these sites. In this section we will introduce some of the most popular habitat schemes in Europe including Phase 1, the scheme we will be using in this thesis. Moreover, we will also compare these classifications to Phase 1 in order to better explain why we have chosen Phase 1.

These habitat classification schemes are:

• European Nature Information System (EUNIS): This framework was first implemented in the late 1990s by the European Environment Agency and continues to be updated periodically [51]. EUNIS has a database that follows a very com- prehensive classification scheme which records information about species, habitat types and sites. Their data was collected in the framework of NATURA2000 [39]. Moreover, it was also compiled from the literature [51].

In this scheme, the concept of habitat is much broader than in Phase 1. In EUNIS, habitats are defined as: “Plant and animal communities as the characterising elements of the biotic environment, together with abiotic factors operating together at a particular scale”. Table2.1shows the first-tier categories for only the Habitat classes. The EUNIS classification is a hierarchical scheme. It has 11 first-tier classes and four levels. After the fourth tier, the component units are drawn from other classification systems and these are combined in the common framework. Compared to Phase 1, which was designed specifically for habitats in the United Kingdom, the EUNIS classification scheme is a comprehensive pan-European sys- tem which aims to facilitate the collective description and collection of data across Europe through the use of standardised criteria for habitat identification. It covers all types of habitats from natural to artificial and from terrestrial to freshwater and marine. For this reason, this scheme is very useful when comparing species, habitats or sites of different European countries. However, since in our case we are only interested in habitats from the UK, this scheme is not a suitable candidate.

Table 2.1: _{EUNIS Habitat Classification Classes.}

Code Habitat Class

A Marine habitats B Coastal habitats C Inland surface waters D Mires, bogs and fens

E Grasslands and lands dominated by forbs, mosses or lichens F Heathland, scrub and tundra

G Woodland, forest and other wooded land

H Inland unvegetated or sparsely vegetated habitats

I Cultivated agricultural, horticultural and domestic habitats J Constructed, industrial and other artificial habitats

X Habitat complexes

• The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Habitats Classification Scheme: First introduced in 1994 by the IUCN, this world-wide classification scheme is one of the most comprehensive approaches for the evalua- tion of the conservation level of habitats and wildlife. Its main goal is to collect information not only about the species present in an area, but also about their conservation status.

This classification is a hierarchical scheme with eighteen broad classes and two levels. In comparison with Phase 1, this classification collects more information for some particular habitats, such as deserts and marine habitats. As shown in Table 2.2, IUCN’s classification has six different classes devised to categorise marine or aquatic habitats (classes 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 15), while Phase 1 only has three (classes F, G, H). However, IUCN’s scheme fails to collect information about one of the most complex and useful habitats found in rural areas: boundaries. Phase 1 considers five different types of boundaries in its Miscellaneous category (Hedges, Fences, Walls, Dry ditches, Boundaries removed and Earth banks), while IUCN’s classification does not distinguish between them and would consider all of them to be part of the Other category.

• Fossit’s Irish Habitat Classification: Proposed in 2000 by Julie A. Fossit and The Heritage Council, this scheme presents a standard classification for identifying, describing and classifying wildlife habitats in Ireland [69]. It covers natural, semi- natural and artificial habitats. Moreover, it classifies terrestrial and freshwater environments, of inshore marine waters, and of urban and rural areas. As the previous schemes, this classification is hierarchical with eleven broad classes and has three tiers.

Similarly to Phase 1, its various levels can be applied depending on the scale of the project, the details needed and the expertise of the surveyor. However, contrary

Table 2.2: _{IUCN’s Habitat Classification Scheme}

Code Habitat Class

1 Forest 2 Savanna 3 Shrubland 4 Grassland 5 Wetlands 6 Rocky Areas

7 Caves and Subterranean

8 Desert

9 Marine Neritic 10 Marine Oceanic

11 Marine Deep Ocean Floor 12 Marine Intertidal 13 Marine Coastal/Supratidal 14 Artificial - Terrestrial 15 Artificial - Aquatic 16 Introduced Vegetation 17 Other 18 Unknown

Table 2.3: _{Fossil’s Habitat Classification Scheme}

Code Habitat Class

F Freshwater

G Grassland and marsh H Heath and Dense Bracken P Peatlands

W Woodland and Scrub E Exposed Rock

B Cultivated and Built Land

C Coastal

L Litoral S Sublitoral

M Marine Water Body

to Phase 1, Fossit created this classification as a first-step approach for general habitat recording rather than as a basis for detailed study and evaluation [69]. The main aim of this classification was to create a standard scheme, which Ireland lacked until Fossit’s scheme.

As can be seen, this classification has many common classes with Phase 1 (i.e., Woodland and Scrub, Grassland and Marsh, Coastal). However, like previous classifications, it fails to take into account boundaries between habitats.

• Phase 1 Habitat Classification: A standardised classification scheme proposed by the Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC) [102]. It was first introduced

Table 2.4: _{Phase 1 Habitat Classification Classes.}

Code Habitat Class

A Woodland and scrub B Grassland and marsh C Tall herb and fern

D Heathland

E Mires

F Swamp, marginal and inundation

G Open water

H Coastland

I Rock exposure and waste J Miscellaneous

in the 1970s in the United Kingdom and it is specially designed for rapid wildlife mapping over large areas of the countryside. Similarly to all the previous schemes, this classification is hierarchical and it comprises ten categories, shown in Table 2.4. It has four tiers that enable ecologists to select the level of detail necessary on their survey depending on their expertise and the requirements of the project. A more in depth description on the characteristics and the challenges of Phase 1 classification can be found in Section 3.1. Additionally, the whole classification scheme can be found in [102]. In this thesis, we have chosen Phase 1 habitat classification because it is widely used by ecologists and because it was specifically designed to be applied in Great Britain and Ireland. This is very suitable for us because all the images in our ground-taken photograph database are from Great Britain.