biology

List of species and habitats of principal importance in England

List of species and habitats of principal importance in England is a biology topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand List of species and habitats of principal importance in England rather than just read about it. In short: England is obliged by UK law to maintain lists of species and habitats of principal importance for biodiversity conservation; the other countries within the UK: Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, have their own laws for this purpose. Public bodies, including local authorities now have a legal duty to have regard to conserving biodiversity in the exercise of their normal functions.

Key takeaways

List of species and habitats of principal importance in England belongs to biology; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect List of species and habitats of principal importance in England to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of List of species and habitats of principal importance in England from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

England is obliged by UK law to maintain lists of species and habitats of principal importance for biodiversity conservation; the other countries within the UK: Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, have their own laws for this purpose. Public bodies, including local authorities now have a legal duty to have regard to conserving biodiversity in the exercise of their normal functions. In England, this obligation derives from the Natural Environment and Rural Communities (NERC) Act 2006.

Selection The species that have been designated to be of "principal importance for the purpose of conserving biodiversity" are those that are most threatened, in greatest decline, or where the UK holds a significant proportion of the world's total population. They mainly derive from lists originally drawn up for the UK Biodiversity Action Plan (UK BAP). Similarly the list of habitats of principal importance in England also derive from the UK Biodiversity Action Plan. Both lists were reviewed in 2007, and the total number of UK BAP habitats increased from 45 to 65, and the number of UK BAP species increased from under 600 to 1,150. From these, the formal list just for England (and laid out below) finally contained 56 of those 65 habitats, and 943 of the original 1,150 UK species.

Legal obligations Section 40 of The Natural Environment and Rural Communities (NERC) Act 2006 places a legal obligation on public bodies in England to have regard to particular living organisms and types of habitat which are of the greatest conservation importance whilst carrying out their functions, whilst also having a general regard for protecting all biodiversity. Section 41 of that same Act of Parliament requires the Secretary of State to maintain and publish statutory lists of these features - a function carried out on his/her behalf by Defra and Natural England. The lists given here are sometimes known as the 'Section 41 lists', or 'priority habitats' and 'priority species' lists. They replace an earlier list which was required under Section 74 of the CRoW Act of 2000, and which was published by Defra two years later, though their contents were at that time identical to the UK BAP priority habitats and species lists.

Significance Awareness of the presence of any principal species or principal habitat identified on these lists is of great importance within the local authority planning process when land is considered for development. Along with legally protected species, statutory and non-statutory sites, knowledge of their presence is required if the impact of future development is to be avoided or mitigated. By fully considering all these features in the decision-making process, the planning authority will have demonstrated that it has discharged its duties to conserve biodiversity.

Habitats of 'principal importance' in England The latest update to the list of Section 41 habitats of principal importance (priority habitats) was published by Natural England in August 2010. The list shows the broad habitat group, followed by name of the habitat of principal importance (as used by original source).

Species of 'principal importance' in England The latest update to the Section 41 list of species of principal importance for the conservation of biodiversity in England (priority species) was published by Natural England in May 2014. It now includes 943 species.

See also List of United Kingdom Biodiversity Action Plan species List of habitats of principal importance in Wales

References

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with List of species and habitats of principal importance in England

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what List of species and habitats of principal importance in England claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In biology, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to List of species and habitats of principal importance in England before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about List of species and habitats of principal importance in England ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of List of species and habitats of principal importance in England

In research: List of species and habitats of principal importance in England appears in biology research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses List of species and habitats of principal importance in England in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: List of species and habitats of principal importance in England is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Biota of England, Conservation in England, Conservation in the United Kingdom, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for List of species and habitats of principal importance in England outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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Frequently asked questions

What is List of species and habitats of principal importance in England in simple terms?

Why does List of species and habitats of principal importance in England matter?

Because it connects several biology ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study List of species and habitats of principal importance in England?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on List of species and habitats of principal importance in England.