FGS Climatic Site Suitability - Broadleaves

Woodland Creation forms part of the Scottish Rural Development Programme (SRDP) 2014 - 2020. The SRDP delivers Pillar 2 of the EU Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). Utilising some £1,326m of European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development funding, plus Scottish Government match funding, it funds economic, environmental and social measures for the benefit of rural Scotland. The SRDP is co-funded by the European Commission and the Scottish Government and reflects the 6 EU Rural Development Priorities. The programme also reflects the Scottish Government National Policy Framework (NPF).


The aim of the Forestry Grant Scheme woodland creation category is to support the creation of new woodlands that will provide a range of economic, environmental and social benefits which include:

- delivery of the Scottish Government target to extend woodland cover by an additional 100,000 hectares over the period of 2012-2022

- climate change mitigation by tackling greenhouse gas emissions through carbon sequestration

- restoration of lost habitats through developing forest habitat networks

- underpinning a sustainable forest industry by providing a reliable timber supply

- protecting the soil and water environment

- providing community benefits through public access

- enhancing urban areas and improving landscapes

- supporting rural development through local businesses and farm diversification


A fundamental consideration when creating new woodland is whether or not the tree species is appropriate to the site. You should carry out an appropriate site based assessment of soil and vegetation to match species choice with the particular site. Forestry Commission 'Ecological Site Classification' (ESC) decision support system helps guide forest managers and planners to select ecologically suited species to sites. ESC considers: windiness; temperature; moisture; continentality; soil moisture and soil nutrients. This helps to determine suitability of the chosen species to the site and identifies it as: poor; marginal; suitable or very suitable.


In order to be considered for SRDP grant support the overall suitability for your chosen species must be either 'very suitable' or 'suitable'.


As an initial first step in determining suitability, the polygons in this dataset represent the climatic suitability of the chosen tree species to the site. Climatic suitability, based on ESC uses the following climatic site factors:

- Accumulated temperature

- Moisture deficit

- Exposure (Detailed Aspect Method Scoring [DAMS])

- Continentality


NOTE: This datasets does NOT take into account any soils information.


Any application that is identified on the map as being either 'unsuitable' or 'marginal' may still be considered - but only if you clearly demonstrate that the site is 'suitable' for the chosen species of tree (for example where there is localised shelter in an otherwise exposed location).


The woodland creation category has nine options and the associated aims are:


- 'Conifer'

To create conifer woodlands on land that is suitable for timber production and that is accessible for timber transport (including links to suitable public roads). This option is principally aimed at planting Sitka spruce.

- 'Diverse Conifer'

To create conifer woodlands on land that is suitable for timber production and that is accessible for timber transport (including links to suitable public roads). This option is aimed at planting conifer species other than Sitka spruce.


- 'Broadleaves'

To create broadleaved woodlands on land that is suitable for sawn and prime timber and that is accessible for timber transport (including links to suitable public roads).

- 'Native Scots Pine'

To create or expand native pinewood priority habitat (NVC) W18


- 'Native Upland Birch'

The creation of native upland birch woodland of the National Vegetation Classification (NVC) W4: Downy Birch with Purple Moor Grass on shallow peaty soils.


- 'Native Broadleaves'

To create native broadleaved priority woodland habitats of the following National Vegetation Classification (NVC) types:

W6 Alder with Stinging Nettle

W7 Alder-Ash with Yellow Pimpernel

W8 Ash, Field maple with Stinging Nettle

W9 Ash, Rowan with Dogs Mercury

W10 Oak (penduculate) with Bluebell Hyacinth

W11 Oak (sessile), Downy Birch with Bluebell/wild Hyacinth

W16 Oak, Birch

W17 Oak (sessile), Downy Birch with Bilberry/Blaeberry


- 'Native Low Density Broadleaves'

To create specific native woodland or scrub habitats; including areas of ecotones for black grouse, treeline woodlands, juniper and other forms of scrub woodland and wood pasture systems. Normally associated with other woodland habitats in a transitional situation (eg. transition onto open hill: Black Grouse; Montane Scrub).


- 'Small or Farm Woodland'

To create small scale mixed broadleaved and conifer woodlands on farms and other rural land.


- 'Native Broadleaves in Northern & Western Isles'

To create native woodlands that contributes to the Orkney, Shetland or Western Isles woodland strategies.


DATASET ATTRIBUTES:

- Suitability - ie. 'Very Suitable', 'Suitable', 'Marginal', 'Unsuitable' or 'Inland Water'

Default

Alternate title

FCPRODUCT.S_FGS_CLIM_SUIT_BROADLEAVES
Date ()
2014-12-05
Date ()
2016-02-23
Identifier

FCPRODUCT.S_FGS_CLIM_SUIT_BROADLEAVES
Presentation form
mapDigital
 

Forestry Commission Scotland

 -

GIS

 (

Geo-Information Services Delivery Manager

 )

Saughton House, Broomhouse Drive

 ,

Edinburgh

 ,

City of Edinburgh

 ,

EH11 3XD

 ,

United Kingdom
 

Forestry Commission Scotland

 -

G&R

 (

Head of Delivery and Regions

 )

Saughton House, Broomhouse Drive

 ,

Edinburgh

 ,

City of Edinburgh

 ,

EH11 3XD

 ,

United Kingdom
Maintenance and update frequency
notPlanned
Keywords

  • Forest Management

  • Grant Schemes

  • Planning

  • Environment

  • Felling

  • Landscape

  • Woodland

  • Licence

  • Ownership

  • FGS

  • Forestry
GEMET - INSPIRE themes, version 1.0 ()

  • Habitats and biotopes
Access constraints
otherRestrictions
Other constraints

No limitations on public access
Use constraints

Please ensure that the following acknowledgement is displayed on any hard copy: Reproduced by Permission of Ordnance Survey on behalf of HMSO. © Crown copyright and database right [year]. Ordnance Survey Licence number 100021242.
Use constraints
Open Government Licence
Spatial representation type
vector
Denominator
25000
Metadata language
eng (en)
Topic category
  • Farming
  • Biota
  • Economy
  • Environment
Geographic identifier

GB-SCT

Date ()
2007-12-13

N
S
E
W


Reference system identifier

EPSG

 /

OSGB 1936 / British National Grid (EPSG:27700)

 /

7.9
Distribution format

  • ESRI Shapefile

     (

    1.0

     )

  • WMS

     (

    1.3.0

     )

OnLine resource
Forestry Commission Data Download (

WWW:LINK-1.0-http--link

 )

Data download site

OnLine resource
FGS_Climatic_Site_Suitability_Broadleaves (

OGC:WMS

 )
Scope
dataset
Statement

This dataset was constructed using climatic Ecological Site Classification (ESC) factors Accumulated Temperature (AT), Continentality (CT), Exposure (DAMS) and Moisture Deficit (MD) to predict the climatic timber suitability of Productive Broadleaves at a 250x250metre (6.25 hectares) resolution for Great Britain.


The dataset was developed using existing climatic datasets for Great Britain for the period 1961 to 1990. These data, in conjunction with the Sessile Oak ESC model, were used to construct a raster dataset of timber suitability. A limitation of this approach is that Sessile Oak model has been chosen to represent climatic suitability as a general broadleaf species, covering sites potentially also suitable for (Beech, Poplar, Sessile Oak, Silver Birch, Sweet Chestnut, Sycamore, Wild Cherry). Note it is desirable to check the suitability of the specific species with other ESC tools.


Climatic timber suitability in ESC is defined as :


AT * most limiting climatic factor other than AT(i.e. minimum of CT, DAMS or MD)


The timber suitability score is a floating point value between 0 and 1, reclassified to an appropriate value as given in table 1. It can be interpreted as follows:


Table 1: Timber suitability classes

Condition Category Interpretation

Timber suitability >= 0.75 1 Site is climatically very suitable

Timber suitability >=0.6 and < 0.75 2 Site is climatically suitable

Timber suitability >=0.3 and < 0.6 3 Site is climatically marginal

Timber suitability < 0.3 4 Site is climatically unsuitable


When a site is in categories 1 or 2 Productive Broadleaves can be recommended for planting if the associated site investigation also finds the soil properties to be similarly suitable for Productive Broadleaves.


Marginal sites might also be capable of supporting Productive Broadleaves but at a relatively low yield class (<6) assuming suitable soil conditions. Due to risk of failure to achieve objectives those sites are not recommended for planting without significant additional evidence to warrant any planting of Productive Broadleaves.


Unsuitable sites are expected to be unsuitable even if the soil conditions are suitable, because a climatic factor e.g. exposure is so unfavourable. These sites would require significant additional evidence to warrant any planting of Productive Broadleaves.


NOTE:

This dataset is intended for use at any scale up to and including 1:25,000.

Metadata

File identifier
41bd7524-534a-44a1-acc0-5ced0e0f16a8
Metadata language
eng (en)
Resource Type
dataset
Date stamp
2023-06-22
Metadata standard name

UK GEMINI
Metadata standard version

2.2
 

Forestry Commission Scotland

 -

GIS

 (

Geo-Information Services Delivery Manager

 )

Saughton House, Broomhouse Drive

 ,

Edinburgh

 ,

City of Edinburgh

 ,

EH11 3XD

 ,

United Kingdom
 
 

N
S
E
W



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