General Habitat Categories

The Habitat Monitoring system is based on General Habitat Categories (GHCs). The definitions of the General Habitat Categories are based on the practical experience of the GB Countryside Survey adapted for Europe on the basis of the validation workshops.

There are three types of GHCs:

  1. GHCs based on Life Forms (e.g. CHE, SCH/EVR, FPH/DEC)
  2. GHCs based on Non Life Forms ( e.g. ART, ICE, STO)
  3. A combination of two habitats (e.g. LHE/CHE, BOU/STO, FPH/DEC/CON)

The structure of the General Habitat Categories consists of three levels and an optional fourth level of Life Form qualifiers. The first level consists of six supercategories and is determined by using the diagramme on the right. The second and third level can be derived from the definitions.

For further information on the subdivisions of the supercategories, follow the links in the right menu.

Super Categories
Super Categories