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| Natural Area Boundaries |
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Natural Areas were identified using information from
a range of sources including geological maps, landscape accounts,
agricultural treatises and recent data on the distribution of habitats
and species, both published and unpublished. Historical studies such
as county floras, where the county was often split up into ecologically
coherent areas, and the land utilisation work by Dudley Stamp were
authoritative sources. We consulted widely both on the boundaries
of Natural Areas and their constituent Character Areas, and we believe
that the boundaries provide a sensible division of England at this
scale. The boundaries rarely coincide with administrative boundaries
as these often bear little relationship to the natural landscape.
There are 97 terrestrial and 23 maritime Natural Areas, covering the
whole of England. However, as one habitat merges into another, or
one soil type grades into another, so the boundaries between Natural
Areas merge. We have accommodated this natural gradation by regarding
the boundaries of Natural Areas as broad transitional zones, with
a minimum width of 1 km. We also recognise that around the coast there
is an overlap between the terrestrial Natural Areas and its adjacent
maritime Natural Area. This reflects the varying influence of maritime
conditions on terrestrial habitats such as salt marsh, where the factors
affecting them may arise from the sea (eg shipping induced erosion)
or from the land (eg cattle grazing and agricultural use). In this
way there is a flexible boundary to ensure that all maritime influenced
habitats can be considered together regardless of how far inland they
may be located.
The boundary data can be downloaded from the GIS section |
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