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
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 ect.
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.
MOFR – Ministry
of Forests and Range
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 Environment'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 become endangered
if limiting factors are not reversed. Red–listed taxa include
those that have been, or are being, evaluated for these designations.
Blue List – Includes any indigenous species or subspecies (taxa) considered
to be Vulnerable in British Columbia. Vulnerable taxa are of special
concern because 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.
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).
RISC – Resources
Inventory Standards Committee. Established in 1991,
RISC (formerly 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 RISC 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. See terrain
mapping for more info.
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.
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 Environment, 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. For more information,
see Identified
Wildlife Management Strategy WHAs.
Wildlife Trees – Dead, decaying, deteriorating or other designated trees that
provide present or future habitat for the maintenance or enhancement
of wildlife.
Winter Range – Also called Ungulate 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.
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