Summarised Botanical Value Map 2021 (England)

Under the Natural Capital and Ecosystem Assessment (NCEA) Pilot, Natural England and the Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland (BSBI) have been working in partnership to use BSBI's vast database of plant records to inform the evidence base for tree-planting activities. Poorly targeted tree planting risks damaging wildlife and carbon-rich habitats, therefore using these data we aim to ensure that areas of high conservation value are preserved in the landscape. The summarised botanical value map provides an easily interpretable output which categorises monads (1 x 1 km grid squares) as being of Low, Moderate or High botanical value according to the presence of Rare, Scarce and Threatened (RST) plant species and/or the proportion of Priority Habitat Positive Indicator (PHPI) species that were recorded within the 1 x 1 km grid square between 1970 and 2021. The PHPI species are a combination of BSBI axiophytes, positive indicators for common standards monitoring and ancient woodland indicators. The dataset includes an overall botanical value, as well as values based on only the presence of RST plant species, and a value for each broad habitat type based on the PHPI species records. By viewing the different attributes, you can gain insights into how valuable a monad is for different habitat types and for plant species of conservation concern, as well as an indication of how well a particular monad has been surveyed. The categories of 'No indicators, poor survey coverage' and 'No indicators, good survey coverage' indicate where no indicator species have been recorded and survey coverage either is above or below a threshold of 3 'recorder days'. A 'recorder day' is defined as being when 40 or more species have been recorded on a single visit and 3 recorder days is assumed sufficient to achieve good survey coverage within a 1 x 1 km grid square. This map is not intended to be used to carry out detailed assessments of individual site suitability for tree planting, for which the RST plant species heatmap at 100 x 100 m resolution and the PHPI heatmaps at 1 x 1 km resolution have been developed by BSBI and Natural England. However, the summarised botanical value map can provide useful insights at a strategic landscape scale, to highlight monads of high value for vascular plants and inform spatial planning and prioritisation, and other land management decision-making. These should be used alongside other environmental datasets and local knowledge to ensure decisions are supported by the appropriate evidence. Please get in contact if you have any queries about the data or appropriate uses at [e-mail]. Process Description: The main data sources were the botanical heatmaps which were developed as part of the NCEA pilot in collaboration with BSBI. BSBI provided summarised counts of Rare, Scarce and Threatened (RST) plant species and Priority Habitat Positive Indicators (PHPIs) present within each 1 x 1 km grid square (monads) between 1970 and 2021, which were then further processed by an automated workflow to subset to England and gap-fill where values were missing, taking into account the influence of survey coverage. To create the summarised botanical value map these heatmap data were then further categorised based on the number of RST plant species or PHPI species present indicating semi-natural habitat of high quality. The number of PHPIs present per monad within each broad habitat heatmap were compared to the total number of PHPIs present within their surrounding area We used a local benchmarking approach to categorise monads based on the proportion of the total PHPIs recorded in the monad. If a monad contained less than 10% of the regional species pool this was deemed as being Poor value, between 10-20% was defined as Moderate value and over 20% was High botanical value, from a vascular plant perspective. Where a monad had no indicator records and survey coverage was poor, it was classified as ‘no indicators, poor survey coverage’. Datasets used: BSBI botanical heatmap data - BSBI OS Grids - OS ONS Country boundaries - ONS Common Standards Monitoring guidance - JNCC 2004 BSBI's Axiophyte list - Walker 2018 Ancient Woodland Indicators - Glaves et al. 2009 Plantatt - Hill et al. 2004 Further information can be found in the technical report at: Botanical Heatmaps and the Botanical Value Map: Technical Report (NERR110) Full metadata can be viewed on data.gov.uk.在自然资本与生态系统评估（Natural Capital and Ecosystem Assessment, NCEA）试点项目框架下，英国自然环境署（Natural England）与不列颠及爱尔兰植物学会（Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland, BSBI）开展合作，依托BSBI庞大的植物记录数据库，为植树造林活动的证据基础提供支撑。针对性不足的植树造林可能会对野生动物及富碳生境造成破坏，因此本项目旨在通过这些数据，确保景观中具有高保护价值的区域得到保护。 本数据集提供的汇总植物价值图可实现直观解读，其将1×1公里网格单元（monad）依据1970年至2021年间该网格内记录的珍稀、濒危及受威胁（Rare, Scarce and Threatened, RST）植物物种，以及优先生境正向指示（Priority Habitat Positive Indicator, PHPI）物种的占比，划分为低、中、高三个植物价值等级。优先生境正向指示（PHPI）物种由BSBI关键植物（axiophytes）、通用标准监测（Common Standards Monitoring）正向指示物种以及古林地指示物种共同组成。 本数据集包含整体植物价值评分，以及仅基于RST植物物种存在情况的价值评分，同时还包含基于PHPI物种记录的各宽泛生境类型对应的价值评分。通过查看不同属性，可了解单个网格单元对不同生境类型以及具有保护意义的植物物种的价值，同时也能得知该网格单元的调查覆盖情况。 ‘无指示物种，调查覆盖度不足’与‘无指示物种，调查覆盖度良好’两类分别代表未记录到指示物种，且调查覆盖度低于或高于3个‘调查日（recorder days）’阈值的网格单元。‘调查日’的定义为单次访问记录到40种及以上植物的情况，且默认3个调查日即可实现1×1公里网格单元内的良好调查覆盖。 本地图不适用于对单个植树造林适宜性的详细评估——针对此类需求，BSBI与英国自然环境署已开发出分辨率为100×100米的RST植物物种热图，以及分辨率为1×1公里的PHPI热图。不过，汇总植物价值图可在战略景观尺度上提供有效参考，用以凸显维管植物（vascular plant）高价值网格单元，为空间规划与优先级划分，以及其他土地管理决策提供依据。上述成果需与其他环境数据集及本地知识结合使用，以确保决策具备恰当的证据支撑。若您对本数据或合理使用方式有任何疑问，请致信[e-mail]。 数据处理流程说明：核心数据源为NCEA试点项目中与BSBI合作开发的植物热图数据。BSBI提供了1970年至2021年间各1×1公里网格单元内记录的RST植物物种与优先生境正向指示（PHPI）物种的汇总计数，随后通过自动化工作流进一步处理：将数据子集限定至英格兰境内，并针对缺失值进行间隙填充，同时考量调查覆盖度的影响。为生成汇总植物价值图，需基于网格内RST植物物种或PHPI物种的数量，对其进行分类以标识高质量半自然生境。我们将各宽泛生境类型下每个网格单元内的PHPI物种数量，与周边区域内记录的总PHPI物种数量进行对比，采用本地基准法，依据网格单元内记录的PHPI物种占区域总物种库的比例进行等级划分：若网格单元内物种占比低于10%，则视为低价值；10%至20%之间为中价值；高于20%则为高植物价值（从维管植物视角出发）。对于未记录任何指示物种且调查覆盖度不足的网格单元，则将其归类为‘无指示物种，调查覆盖度不足’。 所用数据集包括：BSBI植物热图数据、BSBI OS网格数据、OS ONS国家边界数据、ONS通用标准监测指南、JNCC 2004年BSBI关键植物名录、Walker 2018年古林地指示物种、Glaves等人2009年的Plantatt——Hill等人2004年的研究成果。 更多详细信息可参阅技术报告《植物热图与植物价值图：技术报告（NERR110）》，完整元数据可在data.gov.uk查询。