A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
ALR - Agricultural Land Reserve. A provincial
land-use zoning initiative established in 1974 to protect
the province's agricultural land base.
Biogeoclimatic Classification System - a hierarchical
classification system of ecosystems that integrates
regional, local and chronological factors and combines
climatic, vegetation and site factors.
Biogeoclimatic Zone - A geographical unit having similar
patterns of energy flow, vegetation and soils as a
result of a broadly homogeneous macroclimate.
Biomass - The dry weight of all organic matter in
a given ecosystem
Blue List - Includes any indigenous
species or subspecies (taxa) considered to be Vulnerable
in British Columbia. Vulnerable taxa are of special
concern B.C.use of characteristics that make them particularly
sensitive to human activities or natural events. Blue-listed
taxa are at risk, but are not Extirpated, Endangered
or Threatened.
Capability Mapping - A habitat interpretation for
a species which describes the greatest potential of
a habitat to support that species. Habitat potential
may not be reflected by the present habitat condition
or successional stage.
Carrying Capacity - The average number of livestock
and/or wildlife that can be sustained on a management
unit, compatible with management objectives for the
unit. It is a function of site characteristics, management
goals, and management intensity.
Classified Areas - Areas based on provincial criteria
and classification systems which will be identified
and mapped according to the Regulations and Field Guides
of the Forest Practices Code: riparian management areas,
lakeshore management areas, and wildlife habitat areas.
These areas, established by a district manager in consultation
with a designated B.C. Environment official, guide
operations on a site-specific basis and require a combination
of forest practices.
Coarse Filter Approach - An approach to maintaining
biodiversity that involves maintaining a diversity
of structures within stands and a diversity of ecosystems
across the landscape. The intent is to meet most of
the habitat requirements of most of the native species.
Critical Wildlife Habitat - Habitat that is vital
to the health and maintenance of one or a variety of
species based on habitat features such as nesting sites,
denning sites, food sources, breeding grounds etc.
Ecosystem - A unit or portion of the landscape consisting
of all the biotic or living organisms (plants, animals
and microbes) in a given area, as well as the abiotic
or non-living components (physical and chemical factors)
of their environment, linked together through nutrient
cycling and energy flow. An ecosystem can be of any
size, i.e. a log, pond, field, forest or even the earth's
biosphere.
Ecosystem Management - The use of an ecological approach
to achieve productive resource management by blending
social, physical, economic and biological needs and
values to provide healthy ecosystems.
Environmentally Sensitive Areas (ESAs) - Areas requiring
special management attention to protect important scenic
values, fish and wildlife resources, historical and
cultural values, and other natural systems or processes.
ESAs for forestry include potentially fragile, unstable
soils that may deteriorate unacceptably after forest
harvesting, and areas of high value to non-timber resources
such as fisheries, wildlife, water, and recreation.
Forest Development Plan - An operational plan guided
by the principles of integrated resource management
(the consideration of timber and non-timber resource
values), which details the logistics of timber harvesting
usually over a period of five years. Methods, schedules,
and responsibilities accessing, harvesting, renewing
and protecting forest resources are set out to enable
site-specific operations to proceed.
Forest Practices Code - The Forest Practices Code
of British Columbia Act (1995) Regulations, and guidebooks
that govern forest practices in British Columbia.
Fine Filter Approach - An approach to maintaining
biodiversity that is directed toward particular habitats
or individual species that might fall through the coarse
filter. These habitats may be critical in some way
and the species threatened or endangered.
Fragmentation - The process of transforming large
continuous forest patches into one or more smaller
patches surrounded by disturbed areas. This occurs
naturally through such agents as fire, landslides,
windthrow and insect attack. In managed forests timber
harvesting and related activities have been the dominant
disturbance agents.
GIS - Geographical Information Systems. Software for
creating and managing spatial data.
GPS - Global Positioning System. A "constellation" of
24 well-spaced satellites that orbit the Earth and
make it possible for people with ground receivers to
pinpoint their geographic location. The location accuracy
is anywhere from 100 to 10 meters for most equipment.
Accuracy can be pinpointed to within one (1) meter
with special military-approved equipment.
LRMP - Land Resource Management Plan. A strategic
level Crown Land plan. The plan covers all of the Crown
Land and resources, including the foreshores of lakes
and rivers within the plan area. In a provincial context,
this plan is an integral part of a land use strategy
for British Columbia.
MOF - Ministry of Forests
Provincial List Status - All rare entities tracked
by the B.C. Conservation Data Centre have been assigned
provincial and global rarity ranks. Most entities also
have a designation on the Ministry of Water, Land and
Air Protection's Red or Blue list. Definitions of the
Ministry's Red and Blue lists, and the relationship
between list status and the CDC provincial rarity rank
("S" rank) are explained below.
Red List - Includes any indigenous species or subspecies
(taxa) considered to be Extirpated, Endangered, or
Threatened in British Columbia. Extirpated taxa no
longer exist in the wild in British Columbia, but do
occur elsewhere. Endangered taxa are facing imminent
extirpation or extinction. Threatened taxa are likely
to B.C.me endangered if limiting factors are not reversed.
Red-listed taxa include those that have been, or are
being, evaluated for these designations.
RIC - Resources Inventory Committee. Established in
1991, RIC is responsible for establishing standards
for natural and cultural resources inventories, including
collection, storage, analysis, interpretation and reporting
of inventory data. The objective of RIC is to develop
a common set of standards and procedures for the provincial
resources inventories.
Riparian Area - The land adjacent to the normal high
water line in a stream, river or lake, extending to
the portion of land that is influenced by the presence
of the adjacent ponded or channeled water. Riparian
areas typically exemplify a rich and diverse vegetative
mosaic reflecting the influence of available surface
water.
Seral Stages - The various communities that together
make up a sere - the characteristic sequence of biotic
communities that successively occupy and replace each
other in a particular environment over time following
disturbance of the original community.
Terrestrial Ecosystem Mapping - Ecosystem mapping
is the stratification of a landscape into map units,
according to a combination of ecological features,
primarily climate, physiography, surface material,
bedrock geology, soil, and vegetation.
TRIM - Terrain Resource Information Management. TRIM
offers a variety of computerized maps displaying land
information about British Columbia. Including: elevation,
rivers, roads, pipelines, powerlines and roads.
UTM - Universal Transverse Mercator grid; a coordinate
system present on most topographic maps, used for quantitative
descriptions of locations.
WLAP - Ministry of Water, Land and
Air Protection, Lands and Parks (now Ministry of Environment)
Watershed - The natural upstream land drainage area
above any point of reference on a stream.
Wildlife Habitat Area (WHA) - Defined in the Forest
Practices Code of British Columbia Act Operational
Planning Regulation as a mapped area of land that the
Deputy Minister of Ministry of Water, Land and Air
Protection, or a person authorized by that deputy minister,
and the chief forester, have determined is necessary
to meet the habitat requirements of one or more species
of identified wildlife.
Wildlife Trees - Dead, decaying, deteriorating or
other designated trees that provide present or future
habitat for the maintenance or enhancement of wildlife.
Winter Range - A range, usually at lower elevation,
used by migratory deer, elk, caribou, moose, etc.,
during the winter months and typically better defined
and smaller than summer range.
Yellow List - Any indigenous species or subspecies
(taxa) which is not at risk in British Columbia. The CDC tracks some
Yellow listed taxa which are vulnerable during times of seasonal concentration
(e.g. breeding colonies).
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