| A | B |
|---|
| clear-cutting | Method of timber harvesting in which all trees in a forested area are removed in a single cutting. |
| conservation biology | Multidisciplinary science created to deal with the crisis of maintaining the genes, species, communities, and ecosystems that make up earth's biological diversity. Its goals are to investigate human impacts on biodiversity and to develop practical approaches to preserving biodiversity. |
| controlled burning | Deliberately set, carefully controlled surface fires that reduce flammable litter and decrease the chances of damaging crown fires. |
| crown fire | Extremely hot forest fire that burns ground vegetation and treetops. |
| debt-for-nature swap | Agreement in which a certain amount of foreign debt is canceled in exchange for local currency investments that will improve natural resource management or protect certain areas in the debtor country from harmful development. |
| deforestation | Removal of trees from a forested area without adequate replanting. |
| ecological restoration | Deliberate alteration of a degraded habitat or ecosystem to restore as much of its ecological structure and function as possible. |
| even-aged management | Method of forest management in which trees, sometimes of a single species in a given stand, are maintained at about the same age and size and are harvested all at once. |
| ground fire | Fire that burns decayed leaves or peat deep below the ground surface. |
| instrumental value | "Value of an organism |
| intrinsic (also called inherent) value | Value of an organism, species, ecosystem, or the earth's biodiversity based on its existence, regardless of whether it has any usefulness to us. |
| old-growth forest | Virgin and old, second-growth forests containing trees that are often hundreds, sometimes thousands of years old. Examples include forests of Douglas fir, western hemlock, giant sequoia, and coastal redwoods in the western United States. |
| overgrazing | Destruction of vegetation when too many grazing animals feed too long and exceed the carrying capacity of a rangeland or pasture area. |
| pasture | Managed grassland or enclosed meadow that usually is planted with domesticated grasses or other forage to be grazed by livestock. |
| rangeland | Land that supplies forage or vegetation (grasses, grasslike plants, and shrubs) for grazing and browsing animals and is not intensively managed. |
| reforestation | Renewal of trees and other types of vegetation on land where trees have been removed; can be done naturally by seeds from nearby trees or artificially by planting seeds or seedlings. |
| restoration ecology | Research and scientific study devoted to restoring, repairing, and reconstructing damaged ecosystems. |
| riparian zones | Thin strips and patches of vegetation that surround streams. They are very important habitats and resources for wildlife. |
| second-growth forest | Stands of trees resulting from secondary ecological succession. |
| selective cutting | Cutting of intermediate-aged, mature, or diseased trees in an uneven-aged forest stand, either singly or in small groups. This encourages the growth of younger trees and maintains an uneven-aged stand. |
| strip cutting | A variation of clear-cutting in which a strip of trees is clear-cut along the contour of the land, with the corridor narrow enough to allow natural regeneration within a few years. After regeneration, another strip is cut above the first, and so on. |
| surface fire | Forest fire that burns only undergrowth and leaf litter on the forest floor. |
| tree plantation | Site planted with one or only a few tree species in an even-aged stand. When the stand matures it is usually harvested by clear-cutting and then replanted. These farms normally are used to grow rapidly growing tree species for fuelwood, timber, or pulpwood |
| undergrazing | Reduction of the net primary productivity of grassland vegetation and grass cover from absence of grazing for long periods (at least 5 years). |
| uneven-aged management | Method of forest management in which trees of different species in a given stand are maintained at many ages and sizes to permit continuous natural regeneration. |
| wilderness | Area where the earth and its community of life have not been seriously disturbed by humans and where humans are only temporary visitors. |
