Biodiversity — the Index of Biodiversity Potential (IBP)
Score a stand’s potential to host woodland biodiversity from features you can see on one walk — the Irish CCF protocol (with the Northern Ireland list) or the IBP version for France, Benelux, Catalonia, Spain, Italy or the rest of Europe.
- For
- Consultant foresters and ecologists
- Time
- 9 minutes to read
- Where
- Field app — Biodiversity; web — Results › Biodiversity
- Updated
On this page
The IBP scores the structural and compositional features that species groups depend on — native tree genera, vertical layers, large dead and veteran trees, tree microhabitats, open ground, water, rock, continuity of woodland cover. A high score means the stand could host more; it is linked to some species groups, and only weakly to ground flora. The app says so beside every score.
Which version
| Where the stand is | Recommended version | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Republic of Ireland | IBP — Irish CCF protocol (Black et al. 2023): 9 management + 4 context factors, 0 / 2 / 5 each; woodland indicator plants from the ROI ancient-woodland list | provisional category bands (see below) |
| Northern Ireland | The same protocol scored with the Northern Ireland indicator list — an adaptation, not a published NI protocol | provisional |
| France | IBP FR v3.2: ten factors on one walk, A–G stand (of 35) and H–J context (of 15), with growth conditions (cas 1–4) | National version |
| Belgium · Netherlands · Luxembourg | IBP BENELUX v3.2: the same ten factors, with the Benelux tables | National version |
| Catalonia | IBP-CAT v3.0: ten factors, sheets for Mediterranean, alpine or continental conditions | National version |
| Spain (also fits Catalonia) | IBP ES v3.2: ten factors, growth conditions cas 1–4 | National version |
| Italy | IBP It v3.0: ten factors, sheets per growth condition | National version |
| Elsewhere in Europe, Great Britain included (and fits everywhere) | IBP EUR.MED v3.2, the generic version — the authors say to adapt it per country | provisional |
A national version always wins over EUR.MED. Linear stands (under 15 m wide) are scored per km of length where the version’s document gives the tables (all but Catalonia).
Kit
- A spherical densiometer (canopy openness), a 1.5 m pole or eye for shrub cover, binoculars for microhabitats in the crown.
- The indicator-plant list for the region, and a GIS view of open ground, water, rock and woodland continuity (context factors usually come from maps — confirm on the ground).
Walk and points
The layout generator proposes a walk route through the stand and, for the Irish protocol, 5–10 measurement points in the productive area (Plan a field visit). The IBP v3 versions are read on one walk of the whole stand (under about 5 ha) or a representative part (15–20 minutes per hectare).
Record in the field
- Walk the stand on a cruise route (Stand-wide › Stand walk (cruise) tallies) and tally as you go: large snags, large logs, veteran trees, trees with microhabitats; tick native genera present and the vertical layers.
- Tick woodland indicator plants only where they occur naturally — not planted or underplanted. Species on the list that are also in the stand’s planted mix are flagged for a check.
- At each measurement point (Irish protocol): densiometer canopy openness at the centre; shrub cover at 1.5 m by the chequerboard method at four points 10 m out.
- Context (Context features): open ground (count open zones too — every 500 m of woodland edge is one), water, rock, continuity. Usually from GIS; confirm what you see.
- IBP v3: choose the growth conditions (cas 1–4 in France and Spain; sheets for Mediterranean, alpine or continental in Catalonia and Italy) — they set the size classes.
Read the result
- Irish protocol: management factors as % of maximum and a category from the point totals — of 45: 0–7 poor, 8–17 quite poor, 18–30 average, 31–41 quite good, 42–45 good; context of 20: 0–5 nil, 6–12 quite important, 13–20 very important.
- IBP v3: the stand score of 35 and context of 15, each read in the method’s bands (low → high).
- The radar shows which factors hold the score back. Info lines suggest what would raise it (retain large dead trees, let a shrub layer develop…) — you decide.
- Site context (soil, peat depth, establishment, ground moss, landscape context from map layers) is shown beside the score to help read it — never scored.
Appendix I of the protocol prints the bands as totals and as %, and they disagree; the app uses the totals (and reads the unassigned 31–35 as quite good, as the % column does). Confirm with the protocol’s authors before relying on the category; the % of maximum is reported as a number either way.
- Not built: Switzerland and Germany (drafts only), IBP Italy v3.2, Greece / Bosnia and Herzegovina / North Macedonia, the single-tree score, IBP FR v2.x.
- No species surveys: the IBP is not a count of species. Bird or flora records can be imported as datasets for context.
- England’s Woodland Condition Assessment (a condition grade) is parked: use the official app and bring its results in with Import anything.
Sources: Black, Byrne, Reeves & Moran (2023) The CCF biodiversity protocol, Appendix I; Larrieu & Gonin (CNPF, INRAE Dynafor) IBP v3.x documents per country; Perrin & Daly (2010) Irish Wildlife Manuals 46. Every variant’s thresholds with page references are in the project’s protocol notes.