The short answer is none, both of the above surveys refer to the same thing. Read on to find out why.
Many of my clients (and graduate ecologists) have been confused by the jargon used by ecologists or councils. One major source of confusion is the difference between an Extended Phase 1 Habitat Survey and a Preliminary Ecological Appraisal, sometimes just shorted to and Ecological Appraisal’; or incorrectly to ‘Phase 1 Habitat Survey’ (which is incorrect as a Phase 1 Habitat survey is just a plant survey – the extended part refers to protected species aspect).
Extended Phase 1 Habitat Survey and a Preliminary Ecological Appraisal are terms which are used interchangeably for the initial (or ‘baseline) ecology survey for a site; which will take into account habitats and protected species.
So why the confusion?
In my experience, modern wildlife ecology (a relatively new concept in science, historically speaking) is still rife with nomenclature changes and trends which typically proceed new ideas and new industries. Much like the explosion of annoying clickbait news cycle phrases like… Clickbait, or ‘fake news’, or, ‘infodemic’.
Preliminary Ecological Appraisals (PEA – sometimes even PEAR, the extra R for ‘report’) is simply the newer and more ‘trendy’ name for an Extended Phase 1 Habitat Survey.
What other ecological consultancy terms have been put through the trend mincer?
- Nocturnal bat surveys are the same as emergence and re-entry bat surveys.
- Bat scoping and Preliminary Roost Assessments (PRA) are the same thing.
- Precautionary Working Methods (PWM) and Reasonable Avoidance Methods (RAM) are the same thing.
Another that comes to mind, which is less important for a developer to know, is ‘BAP priority habitats’ and ‘BAP priority species’ from the UK Biodiversity Action Plan (UK BAP), which listed important habitats and species that need additional consideration when it came to conservation and developments.
What happened to UK BAP? Get ready for some jargon mincing! The UK BAP was succeeded by the ‘UK Post-2010 Biodiversity Framework‘ in July 2012. This moved most of the BAP species and habitats into Section 41 of the Natural Environment and Rural Communities (NERC) Act 2006. So, you may see in ecology reports ‘NERC priority species/habitats’ or simply ‘priority species/habitats’ – which will mean those listed in the NERC Act. See below for the NERC Act 2006 Priority Habitats, which many council documents will still refer to as ‘BAP Habitats.’
| UK BAP Broad Habitat | UK BAP Priority Habitat | Changes agreed in the 2007 review |
| Terrestrial and freshwater habitats | ||
| Rivers and streams | Rivers (updated 2011) | New priority habitat [including existing Chalk Rivers priority habitat] (scope clarified in 2010) |
| Standing open waters and canals | Oligotrophic and Dystrophic Lakes | New priority habitat |
| Ponds | New priority habitat | |
| Mesotrophic Lakes | No change | |
| Eutrophic Standing Waters | No change | |
| Aquifer Fed Naturally Fluctuating Water Bodies | No change | |
| Arable and horticultural | Arable Field Margins | Revised name (previously ‘Cereal Field Margins’); scope clarified |
| Boundary and Linear Features | Hedgerows | Revised name (previously ‘Ancient and/or Species-Rich Hedgerows’); scope expanded |
| Broadleaved, Mixed and Yew Woodland | Traditional Orchards | New priority habitat |
| Wood-Pasture and Parkland (updated December 2011) | Revised name (previously ‘Lowland Wood-Pasture and Parkland’); scope expanded | |
| Upland Oakwood | No change | |
| Lowland Beech and Yew Woodland | No change | |
| Upland Mixed Ashwoods | No change | |
| Wet Woodland | No change | |
| Lowland Mixed Deciduous Woodland | Formally adopted as priority habitat | |
| Upland Birchwoods | Formally adopted as priority habitat | |
| Coniferous Woodland | Native Pine Woodlands | No change |
| Acid Grassland | Lowland Dry Acid Grassland | No change |
| Calcareous Grassland | Lowland Calcareous Grassland | No change; scope clarified |
| Upland Calcareous Grassland | No change | |
| Neutral Grassland | Lowland Meadows | No change |
| Upland Hay Meadows | No change | |
| Improved Grassland | Coastal and Floodplain Grazing Marsh | No change |
| Dwarf Shrub Heath | Lowland Heathland | No change; scope clarified |
| Upland Heathland | No change | |
| Fen, Marsh and Swamp | Upland Flushes, Fens and Swamps | New priority habitat |
| Purple Moor Grass and Rush Pastures | No change | |
| Lowland Fens | Revised name (previously ‘Fens’) | |
| Reedbeds | No change | |
| Bogs | Lowland Raised Bog | No change |
| Blanket Bog | No change | |
| Montane Habitats | Mountain Heaths and Willow Scrub | New priority habitat |
| Inland Rock | Inland Rock Outcrop and Scree Habitats | New priority habitat |
| Calaminarian Grasslands | New priority habitat | |
| Open Mosaic Habitats on Previously Developed Land (updated July 2010) | New priority habitat (scope clarified in 2010) | |
| Limestone Pavements | No change | |
| Supralittoral Rock | Maritime Cliff and Slopes | No change |
| Supralittoral Sediment | Coastal Vegetated Shingle | No change |
| Machair | No change | |
| Coastal Sand Dunes | No change | |
| Marine Habitats | ||
| Littoral Rock | Intertidal Chalk | Revised name (previously part of ‘Littoral and Sublittoral Chalk’) |
| Intertidal Underboulder Communities | New priority habitat | |
| Sabellaria alveolata reefs | No change | |
| Littoral Sediment | Coastal Saltmarsh | No change |
| Intertidal Mudflats | Revised name (previously ‘Mudflats’) | |
| Seagrass Beds | No change (includes both intertidal and subtidal beds) | |
| Sheltered Muddy Gravels | No change | |
| Peat and Clay Exposures with Piddocks | New priority habitat | |
| Sublittoral rock | Subtidal Chalk | Revised name (previously part of ‘Littoral and Sublittoral Chalk’) |
| Tide-swept Channels | Revised name (previously ‘Tidal Rapids’); scope expanded | |
| Fragile Sponge and Anthozoan Communities on Subtidal Rocky Habitats | New priority habitat | |
| Estuarine Rocky Habitats | New priority habitat | |
| Seamount Communities | New priority habitat | |
| Carbonate Mounds | New priority habitat | |
| Cold-water Coral Reefs | Revised name (previously ‘Lophelia pertusa Reefs’) | |
| Deep-sea Sponge Communities | New priority habitat | |
| Sabellaria spinulosa Reefs | No change | |
| Sublittoral Sediment | Subtidal Sands and Gravels | Revised name (previously ‘Sublittoral Sands and Gravels’) |
| Horse Mussel Beds | Revised name (previously ‘Modiolus modiolus Beds’) | |
| Mud Habitats in Deep Water | No change | |
| File Shell Beds | New priority habitat | |
| Maerl Beds | No change | |
| Serpulid Reefs | No change | |
| Blue Mussel Beds on Sediment | New priority habitat | |
| Saline Lagoons | No change |
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