Australia’s forests and forestry glossary

A property of water derived from the level of nutrients, particles and chemicals contained in water. Low levels of these components are associated with high water quality.

The amount of water that flows out of a catchment (drainage basin).

See Catchment.

A natural or artificial water drainage channel. A watercourse may carry surface water flows intermittently or permanently.

The dividing line between two catchments (drainage basins).

See Catchment.

The underground level at which the ground is saturated with water, where the water pressure is equal to atmospheric pressure.

Typically, eucalypt-dominated sclerophyll forest (not dry forest or rainforest) associated with moist (mesic) conditions, and with an understorey (if present) dominated or co-dominated by rainforest species or non-sclerophyll shrubs.

See Dry forest/dry sclerophyll forest, Eucalypt, Rainforest, Sclerophyll, Understorey.

Areas of swamp, marsh, fen, peatland or mangrove, whether natural or artificial, and permanent or temporary, with water that is static or flowing, and fresh, brackish or salt.

Forest wetlands are wetland ecosystems where forests are present.

See Mangrove.

Commodity or product harvested from the wild, including farming of wildlife and feral animals.

See Non-wood forest product (NWFP).

Land that, together with its plant and animal communities, has not been substantially modified by, and is remote from, the influences of European settlement, or is capable of being restored to such a state; is of sufficient size to make its maintenance in such a state feasible; and can provide opportunities for solitude and self-reliant recreation.

See Bushfire.

An area or strip of suitable habitat connecting wildlife populations otherwise separated by human activities.

See Connectivity, Fragmentation.

A plant of a plantation tree species that has grown independently in forest or land adjoining the plantation.

Trees uprooted or broken as a result of severe wind associated with storms; the process of uprooting or breaking trees in this way.

See Disturbance.

The hard, fibrous, underbark component of the stem and/or branches of a tree, often suitable for conversion into products.

Small chips of wood produced from logs for use in fibre products or for conversion to pulp for paper manufacture.

As a National Forest Inventory cover class, native forest in which the tree crowns cover between 20% and 50% of the land area.

See Closed forest, Crown cover, National Forest Inventory, Open forest, Sparse woody vegetation.

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Areas deemed to have outstanding universal value for humankind under an international convention (the World Heritage Convention) to which Australia is a signatory.