Australia’s forests and forestry glossary

Fire started in accordance with a fire management plan or planned burning program, such as fuel-reduction burning or prescribed burning.

See Backburning, Fuel-reduction burn, Prescribed burning, Prescribed fire, Unplanned fire.

See Vegetation community.

Intensively managed stand of trees of either native or exotic species, created by the regular placement of seedlings or seeds. Commercial plantations are managed for the purpose of commercial wood production.

See Agroforestry, Commercial plantation, Environmental planting, Other forest.

Forest comprising planted trees. For international reporting purposes, the National Forest Inventory categories ‘Commercial plantation’ and ‘Other forest’ (but excluding forests of naturalised exotic species) comprise Australia’s ‘planted forest’.

See Agroforestry, Commercial plantation, National Forest Inventory, Other forest.

A panel product made by gluing together veneers of wood under heat and pressure, commonly used in construction and joinery.

See Rotary peeling, Veneer.

A roundwood product generally treated with preservatives that is used to support transmission lines or as a structural member in pole-frame building construction.

A wood product from durable hardwood or treated softwood species that is used in an upright support role and meeting specifications for a range of functions.

The controlled application of fire under specified environmental conditions to a predetermined area and at a time, intensity and rate of spread required to attain planned resource management objectives.

See Planned fire, Prescribed fire.

Fire started in accordance with a fire management plan or planned burning program, such as fuel-reduction burning.

See Planned fire, Prescribed burning.

Naturally regenerated forest of native tree species, where there are no clearly visible indications of human activities and where ecological processes are not significantly disturbed.

Can describe native forest at any of the four growth stages recognised in Australia: Regeneration, Regrowth, Mature and Senescent.

See Growth stage.

Land held under freehold title and typically under private ownership. It excludes leased Crown land, but includes land held under freehold title with special conditions attached for designated Indigenous communities.

One of six land tenure classes used to classify land in the National Forest Inventory.

See Land tenure, National Forest Inventory.

Forest that is managed under private ownership or under private leasehold arrangements.

Public or private forest managed for the production of wood products, whether plantation or native forest.

See Commercial plantation, Multiple-use public forest, Native forest.

1. Capacity of an ecosystem to grow, produce or yield products.

2. Amount of growth or product yield per unit area per unit time.

3. Potential annual volume growth of trees per unit area at peak mean annual increment in fully stocked forest stands managed under good silvicultural practices.

See Mean annual increment (MAI), Silvicultural system, Stocking.

1. General definition in Article 2, Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD, www.cbd.int): a geographically defined area that is designated or regulated and managed to achieve specific conservation objectives.

2. Definition of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN, www.iucn.org): a clearly defined geographical space, recognised, dedicated and managed, through legal or other effective means, to achieve the long-term conservation of nature with associated ecosystem services and cultural values.

Some protected areas are listed under the Convention on Wetlands of International Importance (Ramsar Convention), or inscribed under the World Heritage Convention.

See CAR reserve system, Formal reserve, Indigenous Protected Area, Informal reserve, Nature conservation reserve, Reserve.

See Management by prescription.

1. The place of origin of a plant or animal.

2. A set of individuals of a plant or animal species that originate from a particular location.

Forest on public land.

See Public land, Publicly managed forest.

Land belonging to the Crown, i.e. a government, but excluding land leased to private individuals or entities.

See Crown land, Leasehold title.

Forest on public land for which management responsibility has been delegated to government agencies. Includes multiple-use public forest, and forest on nature conservation reserves and other Crown land, but excludes forest on Crown land that has been leased to private individuals or entities.

See Crown land, Leasehold forest, Public land.

A product made from wood by chemical or mechanical separation of the fibres, and that is used to make paper.

A log harvested from a plantation or native forest stand that does not meet sawlog quality specifications and is designated to produce pulpwood.

See Pulpwood.

Wood used to manufacture pulp or paper products.

See Pulp.

As a national native forest type used by the National Forest Inventory, forest dominated by broad-leaved tree species, typically in wet or sheltered environments and with a closed canopy. Can include areas with non-rainforest species as emergents (trees emerging above the canopy), but where rainforest species dominate the character of the site.

See Canopy, Native forest type. 

Cutting timber along the grain to reduce larger boards into smaller sections.

Products manufactured from reconstituted wood fibres or flakes, originating from sources such as woodchips, sawdust, wood shavings or sawmill off-cuts. Includes fibreboard (particleboard, medium-density fibreboard, high-density fibreboard and hardboard) and laminated products (but not laminated veneer).

See Fibreboard, Particleboard.

The collection, separation and processing of previously used and recovered wood fibre and wood and paper products for manufacture into raw materials or new products.

Establishment of forest on land that historically contained forest but was converted to some other use, such as agriculture. The Kyoto Protocol and various carbon emission reduction initiatives use specific definitions of reforestation.

See Afforestation, Deforestation, Forest.

1. A native forest growth stage that includes juvenile and sapling stages, where trees are very small and crowns exhibit apical dominance.

2. A native forest growth stage generally taken as less than 20 years since disturbance. One of four growth stages used at the national level to describe the age of trees and stands of trees.

3. New trees arising naturally or with human assistance after harvesting, fire or other causes have removed all or some of the overstorey.

4. The process of managing a forest after disturbance to produce a regenerating forest stand.

See Apical dominance, Disturbance, Growth stage, Mature, Regrowth, Sapling, Senescent.

An agreement between the Australian Government and one of four state governments about the long-term management and use of forests in a region, and that meets the requirements listed in the Commonwealth Regional Forest Agreements Act 2002.

1. A native forest growth stage in which trees generally have well-developed stems with crowns of small branches, and are actively growing in height and diameter but are below mature stand height. Apical dominance is apparent in vigorous trees.

2. A native forest growth stage generally taken as 20–80 years since disturbance. One of four growth stages used at the national level to describe the age of trees and stands of trees.

See Apical dominance, Disturbance, Growth stage, Mature, Regeneration, Senescent.

Practice of acquiring and using data from satellites or aircraft to infer or measure land cover, land use and vegetation attributes. Ground surveys may be used to check the accuracy of interpretation.

Areas of land managed to protect a range of values.

See CAR reserve system, Conservation reserve, Formal reserve, Informal reserve, Nature conservation reserve, Protected area, Protected by prescription.

Of an ecological system, the capacity to absorb and respond to shocks while retaining essentially the same function, structure and feedbacks, and therefore identity.

Measurement of the output quality or detail of an image, usually given as pixel size (the size of the square areas recorded) or ground sample distance (the distance between adjacent pixel centres measured on the ground). Higher resolution means more image detail and smaller pixels; for example, an image with 1 m x 1 m pixels is of higher resolution than an image with 1,000 m x 1,000 m pixels.

Managing a forest so that its ecological function and structure recover towards the condition that existed prior to degradation.

See Degradation.

See Regional Forest Agreement (RFA).

The interface between land and a flowing water body such as a stream or river. Vegetation along watercourses is called riparian vegetation.

See Filter strip.

The control or modification of the natural flow of a river or stream, most commonly by the use of dams.

A method of cutting a thin sheet of wood (veneer) from a log, by spinning the log against a sharp blade of the same length. Rotary-peeled sheets (veneers) are used in the production of plywood and elsewhere.

See Laminated Veneer Lumber (LVL), Peeler log, Veneer.

The planned number of years between regeneration or establishment of a stand of trees, and final harvesting. Rotation length is used in forest management planning to determine sustainable yield.

See Harvesting, Regeneration, Sustainable yield.

Wood in round form, namely logs from the bole and larger branches. Includes sawlogs, pulplogs, poles, piles and posts.

The fees paid to a forest owner for the right to fell and remove timber, originally payable to the Crown but now to any forest owner.

See Stumpage.

Rain that flows across the surface of the ground rather than infiltrating the soil. A major cause of soil erosion by water.

See Filter strip.

A depression or groove worn into a snig track, path or road by machinery or erosion by water. Typically, rutting is reported in terms of rut depth.

See Snig track.

The process by which salinity levels increase, such as in soils and streams when saline groundwater rises towards the surface following the clearing of forested land for use as farm land.

The amount of salt in water or soil.

The harvest of trees that are dead or dying as a result of insect attack, disease, drought, fire or other factors.

See Harvesting.

A native tree (e.g. Santalum spicatum, S. lanceolatum) or exotic tree (e.g. S. album) in the family Santalaceae, which yields fragrant timber and oil.

A young tree beginning to develop branches and increase in height.