The Artifacts Classification Scheme used in FieldNotes was developed by Green Man Software Ltd for classifying landscape artifacts commonly encountered in the UK countryside. It incorporates the Hedgerows Classification Scheme developed by Roger Cummins et al. (1992) at the Institute of Terrestrial Ecology (now Centre for Ecology and Hydrology) for hedges and hedge-bottom communities across the UK.
The Artifacts Classification Scheme comprises twelve major (top-level) groups and a variable number of second and lower-level categorisations, describing the diverse range of man-made structures or perturbations (from ancient monuments to modern transport systems) that may impact our natural environment. The classification allows unambiguous and informative formal names to be assigned and helps to place such constructions in a wider environmental context, facilitating (among other things) storage in environmental information systems and production of habitat maps.
A full description of the Artifacts Classification Scheme, and the classification scheme itself, are available on the FieldNotes website.
"Diversity in British Hedgerows"; Roger Cummins, Don French, Bob Bunce, David Howard and Colin Barr. ITE, Banchory. 1992. NERC / ITE Project T02071a1.
Centre for Ecology and Hydrology (http://www.ceh.ac.uk/) - research centre for Ecology and Hydrology.
Landscape Artifacts classification scheme - background, details and latest version of the Artifacts Classification scheme (ACS).