| Level 1 | +Level 2 | +1. Urban | +1.1 Urban fabric, industrial, commercial, public, military and private units | +1.1.1 Urban fabric (predominantly public and private units) | +Level 4 | +MAES Level 2 | +
| 1.1.2 Industrial, commercial and military units | +||||||
| 1.2 Transport infrastructure | +1.2.1 Road networks and associated land | +|||||
| 1.2.2 Railways and associated land | +||||||
| 1.2.3 Port areas and associated land | +||||||
| 1.2.4 Airports and associated land | +||||||
| 1.3 Mineral extraction, dump and construction sites, land without current use | +1.3.1 Mineral extraction sites, dump and construction sites | +|||||
| 1.3.2 Land without current use | +||||||
| + | 1.4 Green urban, sports and leisure facilities | ++ | + | URBAN | +||
| 2. Cropland | +2.1 Arable land | +2.1.1 Arable irrigated and non-irrigated land | ++ | |||
| 2.1.2 Greenhouses | +||||||
| 2.2 Permanent crops | +2.2.1 Vineyards, fruit trees and berry plantations | +|||||
| 2.2.2 Olive groves | +||||||
| 2.3 Heterogeneous agricultural area | +2.3.1 Annual crops associated with permanent crops | +|||||
| 2.3.2 Complex cultivation patterns | +||||||
| 2.3.3 Land principally occupied by agriculture with significant areas of natural vegetation | +||||||
| 2.3.4 Agro-forestry | +||||||
| 3. Woodland and forest | +3.1 Broadleaved forest | +3.1.1 Natural & semi-natural broadleaved forest | ++ | CROPLAND | +||
| 3.1.2 Highly artificial broadleaved plantations | +||||||
| 3.2 Coniferous forest | +3.2.1 Natural & semi-natural coniferous forest | +|||||
| 3.2.2 Highly artificial coniferous plantations | +||||||
| 3.3 Mixed forest | +3.3.1 Natural & semi-natural mixed forest | +|||||
| 3.3.2 Highly artificial mixed plantations | +||||||
| 3.4 Transitional woodland and scrub | ++ | |||||
| 3.5 Lines of trees and scrub | ++ | |||||
| 3.6 Damaged forest | ++ | |||||
| + | + |
| Level 1 | +Level 2 | +Level 3 | +Level 4 | +MAES level 2 | +
| 4. Grassland | +4.1 Managed grassland | ++ | + | GRASSLAND | +
| 4.2 Natural & semi-natural grassland | +4.2.1 Semi-natural grassland | +4.2.1.1 Semi-natural grassland with woody plants (C.C.D. ≥ 30 %) | +||
| 4.2.1.2 Semi-natural grassland without woody plants (C.C.D. < 30%) | +||||
| 4.2.2 Alpine and sub-alpine natural grassland | ++ | |||
| 5. Heathland and scrub | +5.1 Heathland and moorland | ++ | + | HEATHLAND AND SCRUB | +
| 5.2 Alpine scrub land | ++ | + | ||
| 5.3 Sclerophyllous scrubs | ++ | + | ||
| 6. Open spaces with little or no vegetation | +6.1 Sparsely vegetated areas | ++ | + | SPARSELY VEGETATED | +
| 6.2 Beaches, dunes, river banks | +6.2.1 Beaches and dunes | ++ | ||
| 6.2.2 River banks | ++ | |||
| 6.3 Bare rocks, burnt areas, glaciers and perpetual snow | +6.3.1 Bare rocks, outcrops, cliffs and scree | +6.3.1.1 Bare rocks, outcrops, cliffs | +||
| 6.3.1.2 Scree | +||||
| 6.3.2 Burnt areas (except burnt forest) | ++ | |||
| 6.3.3 Glaciers and perpetual snow | +6.3.3.1 Glaciers | +|||
| 7. Wetland | +7.1 Inland wetlands | +7.1.1 Inland marshes | ++ | WETLAND | +
| 7.1.2 Peat bogs | +7.1.2.1 Exploited peat bogs | +|||
| 7.1.2.2 Unexploited peat bogs | +||||
| + | + | |||
| 7.2 Coastal wetlands | +7.2.1 Salt marshes | ++ | MARINE INLETS AND TRANSITIONAL WATERS | +|
| 7.2.2 Salines | ++ | |||
| 7.2.3 Intertidal flats | ++ | |||
| + | + | |||
| 8. Water | +8.1 Water courses | +8.1.1 Natural & semi-natural water courses | ++ | RIVERS AND LAKES | +
| 8.1.2 Highly modified water courses and canals | ++ | |||
| 8.1.3 Seasonally connected water courses (oxbows) | ++ | |||
| 8.2 Lakes and reservoirs | +8.2.1 Natural lakes | ++ | ||
| 8.2.2 Reservoirs | ++ | |||
| 8.2.3 Aquaculture ponds | ++ | |||
| 8.2.4 Standing water bodies of extractive industrial sites | ++ | MARINE INLETS AND TRANSITIONAL WATERS | +||
| 8.3 Transitional waters | +8.3.1 Lagoons | ++ | ||
| 8.3.2 Estuaries | ++ | |||
| 8.3.3 Marine inlets and fjords | ++ | |||
| 8.4 Sea and ocean | +8.4.1 Open sea | ++ | OPEN OCEAN | +|
| 8.4.2 Coastal waters | ++ | COASTAL | +
| Irrigated arable land | +Non-irrigated arable land | +
| Crops irrigated permanently or periodically. Most of the crops cannot be cultivated without an artificial water supply. Use of permanent irrigation infrastructure (irrigation channels, drainage network, irrigation ponds). Includes also rice fields and irrigated fruits trees and vineyards in Mediterranean region. Irrigated arable land is restricted to Mediterranean areas, except clear areas with irrigated permanent infrastructures in other regions (such as Po river valley or Danube plain in Romania). The delimitation of Mediterranean will be based on biogeographic regions cartography. | +All kind of crops like cereals, legumes, fodder crops, root crops and fallow land. Includes flower and tree (nurseries) cultivation and vegetables (e.g. asparagus), whether open field or under plastic sheets. Includes market gardening and aromatic, medicinal and culinary plants. | +
| + | Managed (semi-improved) grassland | +Semi-natural grassland | +
| Land use | +Managed land parcel normally used for hay production | +Normally used for grazing either because it cannot be mowed or because it is located on poor soils (calcareous soils, etc). Normally never used for hay production | +
| Environmental conditions | +Normally located in more humid environments (except humid semi-natural tall herb meadows) and more fertile soils (as at bottoms of river valleys). | +Normally located in poor soils areas (calcareous soils, sands, etc.) In many cases (Mediterranean areas) conditioned by a period of water scarcity (usually summertime). | +
| Degree of management | +Grassland that is more or less frequently mowed and/or managed in other ways. More homogeneous grass coverage. In specific conditions can be irrigated. In the case of grassland with trees they can be also managed (e.g. cut for forage). | +The herbaceous plants are natural but are created and maintained as permanent grasslands by non-intensive activities, such as grazing. Less homogenous grass coverage. | +
| Landscape | +Normally artificially limited by fences, tree lines, small stone walls and other types of structures in order to facilitate its management. Normally small regular parcels. | +Normally larger areas, and normally with no parcel structure. In many cases presence of trees and shrubs due to process on natural vegetation invasion or land abandonment | +
| Location | +Near villages, fertile soils of valleys and accessible areas | +Normally located on slopes or poor soils which limit the production. Located in less accessible areas. | +