Australia’s forests and forestry glossary

Any taxonomic unit in the classification of plants and animals (e.g. a subspecies, species or genus). Plural: taxa.

See Genus, Species, Subspecies.

Forests found in the warmer regions of the northern and southern hemisphere but outside the subtropical and tropical zones, characterised by high levels of precipitation and humidity. Comprises warm-temperate and cool-temperate forests.

See Boreal forest, Subtropical forest, Tropical forest.

Title to land as controlled by legislation.

See Land tenure.

The removal of some trees from a forest stand. Trees remaining after a thinning operation generally grow more rapidly.

See Silvicultural system.

A natural, human-induced or human-exacerbated factor or process that increases the risk to a species of population reduction or extinction, or that creates a significant risk to the persistence or integrity of an ecological community, or that impairs the ecosystem services or functioning of a particular area or site.

See Ecological community, Threatening process.

An ecological community listed in any one of the following categories defined in the Commonwealth Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999: Critically endangered, Endangered or Vulnerable.

See Critically endangered species/ecological community, Ecological community, Endangered species/ecological community, Vulnerable species/ecological community.

A species of native flora or fauna listed in any one of the following categories defined in the Commonwealth Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999: Extinct, Extinct in the wild, Critically endangered, Endangered or Vulnerable.

See Critically endangered species/ecological community, Endangered species/ecological community, Extinct, Extinct in the wild, Vulnerable species/ecological community.

A natural, human-induced or human-exacerbated process that increases the risk to a species of population reduction or extinction, or is a significant risk to the persistence or integrity of an ecological community. Can be identified as a historical, current or future threat in listing or conservation advice of a threatened ecological community or species.

See Ecological community, Key threatening process, Threat.

Wood products, usually square or rectangular in cross-section, milled from logs and that conform to industry grades, standards or specifications.

An Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander group, people or community with traditional ownership of an area of country that has clear boundaries from the country of other groups. Traditional Owners have common social, cultural and spiritual affiliation and responsibility for their land, and usually have rights to access and guide the management of that land.

See Indigenous (of people), Indigenous estate (land or forest).

A process whereby water is lost from plants through evaporation, generally at the leaf surface.

See Phloem, Xylem.

A perennial plant with a self-supporting woody stem or trunk which usually develops woody branches. Also applied to multi-stemmed eucalypt mallees.

See Mallee.

See Crown (tree).

Forests found in regions close to the equator characterised by high regular rainfall, and with a closed canopy of trees.

See Boreal forest, Subtropical forest, Temperate forest.

The degree to which the clarity of water is reduced by suspended solids, silt, sediments or organic matter.