Note: this article is over 5 years old and Phase 1 Habitat surveys are now outdated due to the addition of UKHabs (more jargon hurrah!).

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