Defining habitat attributes and targets

A series of broad habitat attributes have been defined that should normally be part of the conservation objectives or the management plan for all sites where vegetated shingle is an interest feature. There should normally be at least one target specified for each of the attributes. The targets set out here are for guidance only. They should be interpreted in terms of local knowledge of the site, its history and its surroundings. When a target is not applicable to a particular site it should be ignored, but a record of why the decision was taken should be made.

For vegetated shingle the mandatory attributes are:

• habitat extent;
• geomorphological naturalness;
• zonation of vegetation;
• vegetation composition for each vegetation zone;
• negative indicators (negative indicator species and signs of disturbance).

The presence of rare species (vascular plants) is considered to be a discretionary attribute. It will not be appropriate to use these 'quality indicators' on every vegetated shingle site, but where they are part of the reason for notification of the feature they should form an integral part (mandatory) of the condition assessment.