Glossary of Geography Related to Ornithology
A
§ Adaptation Modification of living
organism over time that allow them to function better in their environment
§ Agriculture Practice of farming including
cultivation and livestock production
§ Agroforestry Combination of timer
production and agriculture on the same land
§ Association Group of plants with similar growing requirements
B
§ Backburning
Bushfire preventive technique
§ Backwater Area of still water created by and impediment to drainage i.e. sediment bar across an ox-bow lake
§ Biodegradable
Material capable of decomposed e.g. wood
§ Biodiversity
The genetic variety of life forms and their ecosystems
§ Broadleaf
forests Vegetation formation composed principally of trees, including shrub and
bushes understory, where broadleaf species predominated
§ Bushfire Wildlife burning through bushland
C
§ Cable
logging Method of extracting timber or wood using stationary machine system
from felling site to a log landing area. It is also referred to as skyline
logging
§ Canopy
The uppermost level of foliage formed by the branches and leaves of a tree
§ Captive
Carbon Once CO₂ used by the plants it will stored until it decomposed
§ Carbon
Sequestration The process of capturing and storing the atmospheric carbon
dioxide
§ Clearfelling
Removal of all trees from an area for harvesting (logging)
§ Clearing
Process by which vegetation such as trees and bushes permanently removed for
agricultural, urban or industrial developments
§ Cone
Fruit of coniferous trees that contain seeds of the plant
§ Conifers
Cone-bearing seed plants
§ Conservation
Care, protection and management of natural resources
§ Coppice
It is forest crop raised from shoots produced from the cut stumps from the
previous crops
§ Coupe
An area which is felled and regenerated in a particular year
§ Crown
Top of tree
§ Cypress
Pine forest It is a mixed forest where at least one species of pine and one species
of cypress are present
D
§ DBH
Diameter at breast height, standard method of expressing the
diameter of the trunk or bole of a standing tree
§ Deciduous
Plants that shed their leaves annually/ leaves falling off at
maturity
§ Decomposer
An organism that decomposes or breaks down
§ Deforestation
Clearing of forest area
§ Dicotyledons
One of the two sub classes of flowering plants
§ Dieback Death of trees from environmental stresses, such as pest attack, fungal disease, increasing of soil salinity and human induced changes
E
§ ESFM
Ecological Sustainable Forest Management, guiding philosophy for
forest conservation and management
§ Ecosystem
Consists of a community of organisms together with their physical
environment. Contains biotic or living parts as well as abiotic factors or
non-living parts
§ Ecotourism
Ecologically sustainable nature-based tourism
§ Epicormic
Growth It is the growth of new shoots from epicormic buds that lie
dormant beneath the bark until triggered by a fire event. Example Eucalyptus,
Corymbia, Angophora etc.
§ Eucalyptus
Is a genus of plants, over 700 species
§ Exotic Newly introduced species, which is not origin in the newly introduced country
F
§ Farm
forestry Commercial tree growing by farmers on their own land
§ Fauna
The animal life of a region
§ Feller
buncher A type of motorized vehicles used by harvester in logging
§ Feral
animal Belong to domesticated species like cats, horses, pigs, but live
in wild
§ Fire
regime It is the pattern, frequency and intensity of the bushfire and
wildfire that occur in a particular ecosystem over an extended period of time
§ Flitch
A slab of timber cut from a tree trunk, usually from the outside
§ Flora
Plant life in region
§ Forest
A large area covered chiefly with trees and undergrowth
§ Forester
A professional who is involved in the science of managing forests
§ Fuel load Total amount of combustible materials in a defined space
G
§ Genus
A taxonomic category ranking below a family and above a species
and designating a group that are closely related through common decent
§ GIS
Geographic Information System, is a framework for gathering,
mapping and analyzing data
§ Global
warming Is the term used to describe the rise in global surface temperature
due to green-house gas
§ Greenhouse
effect The process by which an atmosphere holds heat around a plant
§ Greenhouse
gas Atmospheric gas that enhance the greenhouse effect, like CO₂,
Methane, CFC, Nitrous Oxide, Ozone and Water vapor
§ Gymnosperms Non-flowering plants. Seeds enclosed in a cone.
H
§ Habitat
The place or environment where plants and animals naturally lives
and grows
§ Harvesting
The process of removal of entire plants or economic parts after
maturity
§ Hazard reduction burning Controlled or prescribed burn
I
§ Integrated
harvesting Removal of more product from a forest at the same time
§ Inventory Make a complete list of product of survey that assesses a resource
J
§ Joint venture in agroforestry Where farmer provides land and routine maintenance and investor or forest provides tree, expertise and marketing opportunities
K
§ Land
capability Ability of a land surface to support natural plant growth/
wildlife habitat or artificial crop growth/ human habitat
§ Leaf
A green organ of a plant above the ground, which helps in the
photosynthesis and gas exchange
§ Leaf
litter Mixture of fallen and dead plant material in the forest
§ Lignin
Organic carbon compound found in the cell wall of plants
§ Lignotuber
The swollen growth at the base of the many trees
§ Log
Landing Area where cutting logs are loading on trucks
§ Logging Process of cutting down trees for wood
M
§ Mallee
A scrubland vegetation primarily composed with woody shrubs and trees
of Eucalyptus genus
§ Monocotyledons
Seeds with single cotyledons
§ Monoculture Cultivation of single crops
N
§ National
Park Use for conservational purposes, created and protected by the
National Government
§ Natural resources Materials that are obtained from the earth naturally without any actions of humankind
O
§ Old
growth forest That has attained great age without significant disturbance and
thereby exhibits unique ecological features and might be classified as climax
community
§ Open
forest All lands with tree canopy density of 10% and more but less than
40%
§ Open
woodland All lands with tree canopy density less than 10%
§ Overmature trees Ceased to grow or no more commercial value
P
§ Parasites
An organism that lives in or on another organism
§ Phloem
Tissues in plants that conduct food made in the leaves to all
other parts of the plant
§ Photosynthesis
The process by which green plants and certain organisms transform
light energy into chemical energy
§ Pine
An evergreen coniferous tree
§ Pinus
radiata A fast growing coniferous tree, also known as Radiate pine
§ Plantation
A forest established by humankind through planting seeds of exotic
and native species
§ Pruning In horticulture, removal of certain parts of
plant, tree and vine that are not requisite to grow or production
§ Pulp
Wood fiber processed to make paper
Q
§ Quota Annual allocation of timber (must meet the specific size and other criteria by the forest
R
§ Radiata
pine Also known as Pinus radiata
§ Rainforest
Is an area of tall evergreen forest with high amount of rainfall
§ Reforestation
The process of replanting an area with trees
§ Regeneration
The process by which some organisms replace or restore lost or
amputated body parts
§ RFAs
Regional Forest Agreements
§ Regrowth
Renewed growth or expansion
§ Remnant
vegetation Bushland
§ Renewable
Natural resources Renewable energy
§ Resource
Material required where stock that can be drawn on. It may be renewable
or non-renewable
§ Restoration
Act of restore something to its original state
§ Root
A part of a vascular plant that is normally underground
§ Rotation
In agricultural, Cycle of harvesting
§ Runoff More water than land can absorb
S
§ Salvage
logging Post fire logging
§ Sawlog
A felled tree trunk suitable for cutting up into timber
§ Seed
Reproductive part of plant from which a new plant can grow
§ Seed
orchard Collection of seed producing trees
§ Selective
logging Cutting down few species of trees while leaving the rest intact or
unharmed
§ Shrub
Woody plants smaller than tree
§ Silviculture
Branch of forestry which deals with the establishment,
development, care and reproduction of stands of timber
§ Skidder
Heavy vehicle used in logging operation
§ Stand
A group of upright trees
§ Stem
Part of plant, which supports leaf, flower and fruit
§ Subtropical
forest Type of rain forest in between tropics and temperate geographic
region
§ SFM
Sustainable Forest Management
§ Sustainable Yield Amount of trees removed from the forest equal to the amount of trees naturally replace by the forest
T
§ Thinning
Removal of some plants or parts of plants, to make room for growth
others
§ Threatened
species Which are vulnerable to endangerment in near future
§ Timber
Wood prepared for using in building and carpentry
§ TCM
Total Catchment Management, Coordinated and integrated management
of natural resources
§ Tree A wooden perennial plant that has wooden trunk and branches that grow from its upper part
U
§ Understorey
A layer of vegetation beneath the main canopy of a forest
§ Urban forestry The care and management pf tree populations in urban settings for the purpose of improving the urban environment
V
§ Value-added
Increased value of forest product as a result of processing which
have higher quality and high monetary value
§ Visual protection Strip of forest where harvesting of forest products is minimized in order to maintain views and visual aspects, usually along roadways and scenic lookouts
W
§ Wilderness
Wild and uncultivated region, as of forest or desert, inhibited by
wild animals
§ Wildlife
corridor Also called Green corridors, which are bridges, tunnels or
sometimes just land off-limits to humans where animals can roam without interference
§ Woodland Just another name for a forest with an open canopy
X
§ Xylem Transport water from root to stems and leaves but it also transport nutrients
Y
§ Yield
An amount produced of an agricultural or industrial products
