Forestry terms

7/29/2019 Forestry terms

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TREE FARM A privately owned orest

woodland in which timber crop product

a major management goal. Many tree a

are ocially recognized by the America

Farm System, an organization sponsore

the American Forestry Council.

TREE SPACING The distance between

which is most oten regulated at the tim

planting or during a harvest or thinningtion. Spacing, like stand density, aects

story vegetation, seed production, grow

and wildlie habitat.

TWO-PASS METHOD A harvest pract

where roundwood and biomass are rec

in separate passes. Biomass removal c

precede or ollow the conventional prod

harvest.

U

UNDERSTORY (a) The layer ormed b

crowns o smaller trees in a orest. (b) T

trees beneath the orest canopy.

UNEVEN-AGED MANAGEMENT A re

eration and management technique tha

moves some trees in all size classes eith

singly, in small groups, or strips in ordemaintain a multi-aged stand.

URBAN RESIDUES Wood and yard w

construction and demolition debris rom

urban source.

V

VALUE-ADDED Payments made by in

to workers, interest, prots, and indirect

ness taxes.

W

WATER BAR A diagonal ditch or hum

trail that diverts surace water runo to

mize soil erosion.

WATER CONTROL Management o w

(both surace and subsurace) to mainta

plant growth, water quality, wildlie haband re control.

FORM RUST A disease resulting in a can-

r swollen area on the limbs or trunks o pine

rom orange spores produced by inected

eaves. Fusiorm rust degrades stem quality

tree value, oten leading to breakage, disg-

ment, and eventual death o the tree.

G

DLING A physical cutting or disruption o

ambial sap fow within a tree. Girdling by

ans, animals, or insects can oten kill a tree.

EN TREE RESERVOIR (GTR) A wooded

that has been intentionally fooded to ben-

migratory ducks and waterowl. GTRs may

anted with a grain crop, such as millet, the

mer beore the winter fooding. The GTR can

n eective, low-cost method o luring water-

into orested tracts.

UP SELECTION (a) The removal o small

ps o trees to regenerate shade-intolerant

in the opening (usually at least acre). (b)

ecic type o selective cutting.

H

TAT (a) An area in which a specic plant

imal can naturally live, grow, and repro-. (b) For wildlie, habitat is the combination

od, water, cover, and space.

DWOODS (DECIDUOUS TREES) Trees

broad, fat leaves as opposed to conierous

eedled trees. Wood hardness varies among

ardwood species, and some are actually

r than some sotwoods.

H-GRADING A harvesting technique that

oves only the biggest and most valuable

rom a stand and provides high returns

e expense o uture growth potential. Poor

ty, shade-loving trees tend to dominate in

e continually high-graded sites.

FUEL Wood and wood waste biomass

essed by grinding or use in a combustor.

IROVEMENT CUT An intermediate cut

WoodlandOwner Notes

NC STATE UNIVERSITY

UnderstandingForestry Terms

A Glossary forPrivate Landowners


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AACRE An area o land measuring 43,560 squareeet. A square 1-acre plot measures 209 eet by 209

eet; a circular acre has a radius o 117.75 eet.

AESTHETICS (a) Sensitivity to or apprecia-

tion o the orests beauty through recognition

o its unique and varied components. (b) Beauty

through an orderly appearance.

ALL-AGED or UNEVEN-AGED MANAGEMENT

The practice o managing a orest by periodically

selecting and harvesting individual trees or groups

o trees rom the stand while preserving its natural

appearance. Most common in hardwood orests.

ALL-AGED or UNEVEN-AGED STAND A orest

stand composed o trees o dierent ages and sizes.

ANNUAL A plant that lives or grows or only

one year or one growing season.

ANNUAL WILDLIFE SEED MIXTURE A mixture

o soybean, millet, cow pea, sorghum, lespedeza,

buckwheat, and other seeds rom which single-

season plants are grown to serve as ood or pro-

tective cover or wildlie. Some mixtures reseed

naturally, while others require reseeding, lightdisking, and ertilization.

BBASAL AREA (a) The cross-sectional area (in

square eet) o a tree trunk at breast height (4.5

eet above the ground). For example, the basal

area o a tree that measures 14 inches in diameter

at breast height is about 1 square oot. (b) The

sum basal areas o the individual trees within 1

acre o orest. For example, a well-stocked pine

stand might have a basal area o 80 to 120 square

eet per acre.

BEDDING Land prepared beore planting in the

orm o small mounds. The prepared land concen-

trates topsoil and elevates the root zone o seed-

lings above temporary standing water. Fertilizer is

oten incorporated into the bedding.

BEST MANAGEMENT PRACTICES Management

practices that maintain and improve the environ-

mental values o orests associated with soils,

water, and biological diversity; primarily used or

the protection o water quality.

BIODIVERSITY The variety o lie orms in a giv-

en area. Diversity can be categorized in terms o the

number o species, the variety in the areas plant

and animal communities, the genetic variability o

the animals, or a combination o these elements.

BIOENERGY Renewable energy produced rom

organic matter through the conversion o complex

carbohydrates. This energy may either be used

directly as uel, processed into liquids or gasses,

or be a residual o the processing or conversion

mechanisms.

BIOFUELS Liquid, solid, or gaseous uels maderom biomass resources, or their processing and

conversion derivatives. Examples include biodies-

el rom vegetable oil, bioethanol rom sugar cane

or wood chips, and biogas rom anaerobic decom-

position o wastes.

BIOMASS Biomass is any organic matter includ-

ing orest and mill residues, agricultural crops and

wastes, wood and wood wastes, animal wastes,

livestock operation residues, aquatic plants, and

municipal and industrial wastes.

Understanding Forestry Terms

A Glossary forPrivate Landowners

In discussing orestland management and everyday orest operations, you will oten hear and

read words and phrases that are unique to the natural resources proessions. You will also

encounter some common terms that have special meanings when applied to orestry. This

publication lists and defnes more than 200 orest resource terms to help you in conversing with

others about orestry matters and in making inormed decisions about your orestland.


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BLOCK An area o land or timber that has been

dened or management purposes. One block may

be composed o stands o dierent species or ages.

BOARD FOOT A unit o wood measuring 144

cubic inches. A 1-inch by 12-inch shelving board

that is 1 oot long is equal to 1 board oot. Boardoot volume is determined by:

length (eet) x width (inches) x thickness (inches)

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BOLE The main trunk o a tree.

BUFFER STRIP A narrow zone or strip o land,

trees, or vegetation bordering an area. Common

examples include visual buers, which screen the

view along roads, and streamside buers, which

are used to protect water quality. Buers may also

be used to prevent the spread o orest pests.

CCANOPY A layer or multiple layers o branches

and oliage at the top or crown o a orests trees.

CAPITAL GAINS Prot on the sale o an asset

such as timber, land, or other property. Reporting

timber sales as capital gains provides certain tax

advantages over reporting revenues as ordinary

income.

CARBON SEQUESTRATION The long-term stor-

age o carbon in the terrestrial biosphere, under-ground, or oceans to reduce the buildup o atmo-

spheric carbon dioxide concentrations.

CELLULOSE A carbohydrate that is the principal

component o the cell secondary walls o trees and

other higher-order plants. It occurs with other com-

ponents such as lignins, hemicellulose, waxes, and

gums to orm long, hollow bers.

CHIP-n-SAW A cutting method used in cutting

lumber rom trees that measure between 6 and

14 inches diameter at breast height. The process

chips o the rounded outer layer o a log beore

sawing the remaining cant or rectangular insidesection into lumber. Chip-n-saw mills provide a

market or trees larger than pulpwood and smaller

than sawtimber.

CHIPS Woody material cut into short, thin wa-

ers. Chips are used as raw material or produc-

tion o paper, berboard, biomass uel, and other

products.

CLEAN CHIPS Chipped wood ree o bark,

needles, leaves, and soil contamination.

CLEANING Release treatment made in or-

est stand not past the sapling stage to ree the

avored trees rom less desirable vegetation that

currently or soon will overtop them.

CLEAR-CUT HARVEST A harvesting and regen-

eration method that removes all trees within agiven area. Clear-cutting is most commonly used

in pine and hardwood orests, which require ull

sunlight to regenerate and grow eciently.

CLIMAX COMMUNITY A relatively stable and

undisturbed plant community that has evolved

through stages and adapted to its environment.

COMPETITION The struggle between trees to

obtain sunlight, nutrients, water, and growing

space. Every part o the treerom the roots to the

crowncompetes or space and ood.

CONSERVATION The protection, improvement,and wise use o natural resources or present and

uture generations.

CONSERVATION RESERVE PROGRAM (CRP) A

ederal program designed to remove highly erod-

ible, marginal armland rom production through

a one-time cost-sharing payment to establish

trees, grass, or other cover. The landowner re-

ceives a 10-year annual rental payment to main-

tain the cover.

CONTROLLED BURN (See Prescribed Burn.)

CORD A stack o round or split wood consistingo 128 cubic eet o wood, bark, and air space. A

standard cord measures 4 eet by 4 eet by 8 eet.

A ace cord or short cord is 4 eet by 8 eet by any

length o wood under 4 eet.

COST-SHARE ASSISTANCE An assistance pro-

gram oered by various state and ederal agencies

that pays a xed rate or percentage o the total

cost necessary to implement some orestry or

agricultural practice.

COURSE WOODY DEBRIS Any piece(s) o dead

woody material (includes trunks, branches, androots) on the ground in orest stands or streams

with the large end diameter oten greater than 5

inches.

COVER (a) Any plant that intercepts rain drops

beore they reach the soil or that holds soil in

place. (b) A hiding place or vegetative shelter

or wildlie rom predators or inclement weather.

CROP TREE Any tree selected to grow to nal

harvest or to a selected size. Crop trees are se-

B L O C K


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E D G E

lected or quality, species, size, timber potential, or

wildlie value.

CROWN The branches and oliage at the top o

a tree.

CROWN-CLASS A tree classication system

based on the trees relative height, oliage density,and ability to intercept light. Crown-class mea-

sures past growth perormance and calls attention

to crop trees that could benet rom uture thin-

ning and harvest operations.

There are our classications:

Dominant Trees Larger-than-average trees

with broad, well-developed crowns. These trees

receive direct sunlight rom all sides and above.

Codominant Trees Average-to-airly large

trees with medium-sized crowns that orm the

orest canopy. These trees receive ull light rom

above but are crowded on the sides.

Intermediate Trees Medium-sized trees

with small crowns below the general level o the

canopy. Intermediate trees receive little direct

light, are poor crop trees, and should be re-

moved during thinning operations.

Suppressed or Overtopped Trees Small

trees that grow below the tree canopy and re-

ceive no direct sunlight rom any direction.

CROWN THINNING Removal o trees rom the

upper level in the canopy in order to avor desired

crop trees whose crowns are at a lower position inthe canopy.

CRUISE A survey o orestland to locate timber

and estimate its quantity by species, products,

size, quality, or other characteristics.

CULL A tree or log o marketable size that is

useless or all but rewood or pulpwood because

o crookedness, rot, injuries, or damage rom dis-

ease or insects.

CUTTING CONTRACT A written, legally bind-

ing document used in the sale o standing timber.

The contract species the provisions covering the

expectations and desires o both buyer and seller.

CUT-TO-LENGTH A harvest system in which

trees are elled, delimbed, and cut to various log

lengths at the stump.

CUTTING CYCLE The planned time interval

between major harvesting operations within the

same standusually within uneven-aged stands.

For example, on a 10-year cutting cycle in a hard-

wood stand, trees are harvested every 10 years.

DDAYLIGHTING A practice in which trees shad-

ing an access road are removed to increase the

sunlight on the roadway and along its periphery.

This relatively inexpensive practice maximizes

orest edge and cover or wildlie and maintainspassable roads year-round.

DECK A pile o logs on a landing. See Landing.

DIAMETER AT BREAST HEIGHT (DBH) The

diameter o a tree measured in inches at breast

heighta standard 4.5 eet above the ground.

DIAMETER-LIMIT CUTTING A selection method

in which all marketable trees above a specied

diameter are harvested. Diameter-limit cutting can

lead to long-term degradation o the stand.

DIRECT or BROADCAST SEEDING (a) Sowing

seed or broad coverage rom the air or on the

ground. (b) Seeding o orest stands, roadways, or

specied plots or wildlie.

DIRTY CHIPS Chipped wood containing bark,

needles, leaves, and soil.

DOWN WOODY DEBRIS Any piece(s) o dead

woody material (includes trunks, branches, and

roots) on the ground in orest stands or streams.

The woody debris can be categorized as course

woody debris or ne woody debris based on its

large-end diameter.

DRUM CHOPPING A site preparation technique

in which logging debris is leveled by a bulldozer

pulling a large drum lled with water. Chopped

areas are oten burned to urther reduce de-

bris and control sprouting beore seedlings are

planted.

EECOLOGY The science or study o the relation-

ships between organisms and their environment.

ECOSYSTEM SERVICES Benets people obtainrom ecosystems. These include provisioning ser-

vices such as ood, water, timber, and ber; regu-

lating services that aect climate, foods, disease,

wastes, and water quality; cultural services that

provide recreational, aesthetic, and spiritual bene-

ts; and supporting services such as soil ormation,

photosynthesis, and nutrient cycling.

EDGE The transition between two dierent types

or ages o vegetation.


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teristics to reduce soil oxidation and soil damage

caused by heavy equipment.

FLAT or STRAIGHT PLANTING Planting trees

directly into the ground without beds or, in some

cases, without rst moving logging debris.

FORAGE Vegetation such as leaves, stems,buds, and some types o bark that can be eaten or

ood and energy.

FORB(S) Any herb other than grass.

FOREST CERTIFICATION The means o protect-

ing orests by promoting environmentally respon-

sible orestry practices. Forests are evaluated ac-

cording to international standards and certied as

well managed by a qualied independent auditor

(or certier). Wood or wood products rom those

orests are then labeled so that consumers can

identiy them.

FOREST DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM (FDP) A

state- and industry-unded cost-sharing program

admin-istered by the North Carolina Division o

Forest Resources. The program pays landowners

or approved tree site preparation and planting

activities.

FOREST HEALTH A measure o the vigor o or-

est ecosystems. Forest health includes biological

diversity; soil, air, and water productivity; natural

disturbances; and thecapacity o the orest to

provide a sustained fow o goods and services or

people.

FOREST MANAGEMENT (a) Proper care and

control o wooded land to maintain health, vigor,

product fow, and other values (soil condition,

water quality, wildlie preservation, and beauty)

in order to accomplish specic objectives. (b) The

practical application o scientic, economic, and

social principles to orest property.

FOREST MANAGEMENT PLAN Written guide-

lines or current and uture management practices

recommended to meet an owners objectives.

FOREST RESIDUE Tops, limbs, bark, oliage, and

other woody materials, let ater a harvest.

FOREST STEWARDSHIP PLAN A written docu-

ment listing activities that enhance or improve

orest resources (wildlie, timber, soil, water, recre-

ation, and aesthetics) on private land over a 5-year

period.

FOREST STEWARDSHIP PROGRAM A coop-

erative, technical-assistance program designed

to encourage multiple resource management on

ENDANGERED or THREATENED SPECIES A

species is endangered when the total number o

remaining members may not be sucient to re-

produce enough ospring to ensure survival o the

species. A threatened species exhibits declining or

dangerously low populations but still has enough

members to maintain or increase numbers.

ENERGY CROPS Crops grown specically or

their uel value. Crops can include corn, sugar-

cane, switchgrass, and trees.

ENVIRONMENT The interaction o climate, soil,

topography, and other plants and animals in any

given area. An organisms environment infuences

its orm, behavior, and survival.

EROSION The wearing away o land or soil by

the action o wind, water, or ice.

EVAPOTRANSPIRATION The evaporation owater rom the soil and the transpiration o water

rom the plants that live in that soil. Approximately

one-quarter o a orests annual rainall returns to

the air through evapotranspiration.

EVEN-AGED MANAGEMENT A orest manage-

ment method in which all trees in an area are

harvested at one time or in several cuttings over

a short time to produce stands that are all the

same age or nearly so. This management method

is commonly applied to shade-intolerant coniers

and hardwoods.

FFEEDSTOCK Raw material used or the genera-

tion o bioenergy and the creation o other bio-

products.

FELLER-BUNCHER A sel-propelled machine

that cuts trees with saw or shears near ground

level and then stacks the trees in piles to await

transport (skidding).

FINE WOODY DEBRIS Any piece(s) o dead

woody material (includes trunks, branches, and

roots) on the ground in orest stands or streams

with the large end less than 5 inches in diameter.

FIREBREAK Any nonfammable barrier used to

slow or stop res. Several types o rebreaks are

mineral soil barriers; barriers o green, slow-burn-

ing vegetation; and mechanically cleared areas.

FLASHBOARD RISER A versatile water control

device used in the coastal plain to manage water

movement. Water levels are physically altered to

control re and maintain benecial soil charac-

E N D A N G E R E D O R T H R E A T E N E D S P E C I E S


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L I B E R A T I O N C U T T I N G

private orest-land. Emphasis is placed on prehar-

vest planning to enhance and protect orest-based

resources. Authorized under the 1990 Farm Bill,

the program is based on national guidelines but is

set by individual states.

FOREST TYPE Groups o tree species commonlygrowing in the same stand because their environ-

mental requirements are similar. North Carolina ex-

amples include pine and mixed hardwood; cypress,

tupelo, and black gum; and oak and hickory.

FORESTRY The science, art, and practice o

managing and using trees, orests, and their as-

sociated resources or human benet.

FORWARDER A vehicle that carries logs com-

pletely o the ground rom stump to road side

landing.

FUEL LOADING A buildup o uels, especiallyeasily ignited, ast-burning uels such as pinestraw.

FUSIFORM RUST A disease resulting in a can-

ker or swollen area on the limbs or trunks o pine

trees rom orange spores produced by inected

oak leaves. Fusiorm rust degrades stem quality

and tree value, oten leading to breakage, disg-

urement, and eventual death o the tree.

GGIRDLING A physical cutting or disruption o

the cambial sap fow within a tree. Girdling byhumans, animals, or insects can oten kill a tree.

GREEN TREE RESERVOIR (GTR) A wooded

area that has been intentionally fooded to ben-

et migratory ducks and waterowl. GTRs may

be planted with a grain crop, such as millet, the

summer beore the winter fooding. The GTR can

be an eective, low-cost method o luring water-

owl into orested tracts.

GROUP SELECTION (a) The removal o small

groups o trees to regenerate shade-intolerant

trees in the opening (usually at least acre). (b)

A specic type o selective cutting.

HHABITAT (a) An area in which a specic plant

or animal can naturally live, grow, and reproduce.

(b) For wildlie, habitat is the combination o

ood, water, cover, and space.

HARDWOODS (DECIDUOUS TREES) Trees with

broad, fat leaves as opposed to conierous or

needled trees. Wood hardness varies among the

hardwood species, and some are actually soter

than some sotwoods.

HIGH-GRADING A harvesting technique that

removes only the biggest and most valuable trees

rom a stand and provides high returns at the

expense o uture growth potential. Poor quality,shade-loving trees tend to dominate in these con-

tinually high-graded sites.

HOG FUEL Wood and wood waste biomass pro-

cessed by grinding or use in a combustor.

IIMPROVEMENT CUT An intermediate cut made

to improve the orm, quality, health, or wildlie

potential o the remaining stand.

INCENTIVE A reward or improving orest

management. Incentives include reimbursemento some expenses but can also take the orm o an

abatement o property or income tax.

JJ-ROOT or L-ROOT An improperly planted seed-

ling that takes a J-shaped conguration in the plant-

ing hole. Such seedlings oten die prematurely,

grow poorly, and are susceptible to windthrow.

KKG AND PILE A site preparation method in which

stumps are pushed up, sheared o, or split apart by

a specially designed blade mounted on a bulldozer.

Debris is then piled or placed in long rows (wind-

rows) so that an area can be bedded or fat planted.

KG BLADE A bulldozer-mounted blade used

in orestry and land-clearing operations. A single

spike splits and shears stumps at their base.

LLANDING A cleared working area in the orest

where trees and logs are transported (skidded) to

be sorted, processed, and loaded on a truck. See

Deck.

LEGUMES Plants that produce organic nitrogen

rom nitrogen gas in the air. These plants, which

typically orm seeds in pods, include soybeans,

peas, alala, lespedeza, and locust.

LIBERATION CUTTING Removal o poor quality

or un-merchantable trees to avor the growth o

desirable trees.


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MIXED STAND A timber stand in which less

than 80 percent o the trees in the main canopy

are o a single species.

MULTIPLE USE The management o land or

orest or more than one purpose, such as wood

production, water quality, wildlie, recreation, aes-thetics, or clean air. (See Stewardship.)

NNATURAL STAND (NATURAL REGENERATION)

A stand o trees grown rom natural seed all or

sprouting.

NEGOTIATED SALE A timber sale in which the

buyer and seller negotiate a price or the standing

timber. The standing timber is either marked or is

in a delineated area.

NONINDUSTRIAL PRIVATE FOREST (NIPF) For-est land that is privately owned by individuals or

corporations other than orest industry.

NUTRIENTS Elements necessary or growth

and reproduction. Primary plant nutrients are

nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium.

OON THE STUMP Standing, uncut timber.

ONE-PASS METHOD A harvest practice where

biomass and conventional roundwood (sawlogs)are harvested and recovered simultaneously.

OUTPUT The value o production by industry

or a specic time period.

OVERSTORY The portion o the trees orming

the uppermost canopy in a orest stand.

PPER-UNIT SALE A timber sale in which the

buyer and seller negotiate a price per unit o har-

vested wood, and the buyer pays or the timberater it is cut and the volume is determined.

PERENNIAL Plants that live or grow or more

than one year. Some resprout rom a root system

or reseed themselves every year.

PERENNIAL WILDLIFE MIXTURE A mixture

o all or some o the ollowing: shrub lespedeza,

partridge pea, cowpea, annual lespedeza, reseed-

ing soybeans, and other perennial plants that are

benecial to wildlie.

LOG RULE or LOG SCALE A table based on a

diagram or mathematical ormula used to esti-

mate volume or product yield rom logs and trees.

Three log rules are used today in North Carolina:

Scribner is the common scale or pine; Doyle is the

common hardwood scale; and the International

1/4" Rule best measures mill output, although it isused less requently than the other log scales.

LOGGING RESIDUES The unused portions o

growing-stock and non-growing-stock trees cut or

killed by logging and let in the woods.

MMARGINAL LAND Land that does not consis-

tently produce a protable crop because o inertil-

ity, drought, or other physical limitations such as

shallow soils.

MARKETING The selling o timber or other

orest resources. Successul sellers seek a satisac-

tory price through competition, skillul negotiation,

knowledge o timber markets, and the aid o a

competent broker or consultant.

MARKING (a) The physical process o selecting

trees to be cut or let during a harvest. (b) delineat-

ing a boundary. Marking is usually done by spray-

ing a spot o bright paint on a prominent part o

the tree.

MAST Fruits or nuts used as a ood source by

wildlie. Sot mast include most ruits with feshy

coverings, such as persimmon, dogwood seed, or

black gum seed. Hard mast reers to nuts such as

acorns and beech, pecan, and hickory nuts.

MATURE TREE A tree that has reached a de-

sired size or age or its intended use. Size, age, or

economic maturity varies depending on the spe-

cies and intended use.

MBF Abbreviation denoting 1,000 board eet.

MBF is a typical unit o trade or dimension lumber

and sawtimber stumpage. (It takes 11 MBF o wood

to build an average 1,900-square-oot house.)

MENSURATION or BIOMETRICS (a) The mea-

surement and calculation o volume, growth, and

development o individual trees or stands and their

timber products. (b) A measurement o orestlands.

MERCHANTABLE HEIGHT The stem length,

normally measured rom the ground to a 10-, 6-, or

4-inch diameter top, above which no other sale-

able product can be cut. Diameter, local markets,

limbs, knots, and other deects collectively infu-

ence merchantable height.

L O G R U L E O R L O G S C A L E


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R O T A T I O N

PEST Any organism that is out o place or

causes stress to a desired organism.

PESTICIDE Any chemical used to kill or control

pests.

PHOSPHATE A chemical compound that aids

root growth and is essential in energy transer. It iscommonly incorporated into beds as triple super

phosphate (TSP) at time o planting.

PLANT or HABITAT DIVERSITY A variety o ood

or cover or wildlie. Variation may occur at one

point in time or over a period o time such as dur-

ing the course o a season. Seasonal diversity o

ood and cover is oten critical to the survival o a

species.

PLANTATION Planted pines or hardwoods, typi-

cally in an ordered conguration such as equally

spaced rows.

POLES or POLETIMBER Trees rom 5 to 7 inches

in diameter at breast height.

PRE-COMMERCIAL THINNING Thinning that

occurs when trees are too young, too small, or

o species undesirable to be used or traditional

timber products.

PREDATOR An animal that preys on and de-

vours other animals.

PREDATOR GUARD A physical barrier used to

keep one animal rom eating another. Usually re-ers to protection devices on nest boxes.

PRESCRIBED or CONTROLLED BURN The use

o re under specic environmental conditions to

achieve orest management objectives. Used to

reduce hazardous uel levels, control unwanted

vegetation, avor desired vegetation, and improve

visibility and wildlie habitat.

PRESENT-USE VALUE (PUV) PROGRAM A

county program that assesses property taxes based

on the lands current use, instead o market value,

as agricultural land, horticultural land, or orestland

based solely on its ability to produce income and

assuming an average level o management.

PRESENT USE VALUATION Property tax relie

classication based on the lands productivity or

agriculture, horticulture, or orestry production,

rather than or market value. Can result in sub-

stantial tax savings in areas where land values

are high. Some restrictions and penalties apply,

including a 3-year rollback provision with interest.

Consult your county tax supervisor or details.

PRESERVATION An attempt to keep orests in

an undisturbed state through the control o inter-

nal and external infuences.

PULPWOOD Wood used in the manuacture o

paper, berboard, or other wood ber products.

Pulpwood-sized trees are usually a minimum o 4inches in diameter.

PURE STAND A timber stand in which at least

75 percent o the trees in the main crown canopy

are o a single species.

RRAPTOR A bird o prey such as an owl, hawk,

osprey, or eagle.

REFORESTATION Reestablishing a orest by

planting or seeding an area rom which orest veg-

etation has been removed.

REGENERATION CUT A cutting strategy in

which old trees are removed while avorable

environmental conditions are maintained or the

establishment o a new stand o seedlings.

REGISTERED LANDS A permit-only hunting

program in which land is registered with and

patrolled by the Wildlie Resources Commission.

Hunters without a permit issued by the landowner

are cited or trespass and prosecuted without need

or the landowner to appear in court or swear out

a warrant.

REPRODUCTION (a) The process by which

young trees grow to become the older trees o the

uture orest. (b) The process o orest replacement

or renewal through natural sprouting or seeding or

by the planting o seedlings or direct seeding.

RESIDUAL STAND Trees let in a stand to grow

until the next harvest. This term can reer to crop

trees or cull trees.

RESIDUES, BIOMASS Byproducts that have sig-

nicant energy potential rom processing all orms

o biomass.

ROOT COLLAR The transition zone between

stem and root at the ground line o a tree or seed-

ling.

ROTATION The number o years required to es-

tablish and grow trees to a specied size, product,

or condition o maturity. A pine rotation may range

rom as short as 20 years or pulpwood to more

than 60 years or sawtimber.


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SSALE, LUMP SUM (BOUNDARY) The sale o

specied timber on a specied area. The volume

may or may not be estimated and published. The

buyer is responsible or determining correct vol-

ume. The seller guarantees ownership and bound-

aries.

SALE, UNIT A timber sales arrangement in

which the buyer pays or orest products removed

in units (measured in cords, MBF, or units o

weight). Determination o units removed rom

the area is veried by mill tally, scale tickets, and

buyers or sellers tally.

SALVAGE CUT The harvesting o dead or dam-

aged trees or o trees in danger o being killed by

insects, disease, fooding, or other actors in order

to save their economic value.

SANITATION CUT Removal o dead and weaker

trees in an overstocked stand to reduce the danger

o natural disasters.

SAPLING A small tree, usually between 2 and 4

inches diameter at breast height.

SAWLOG or SAWTIMBER A log or tree that is

large enough (usually 10 to 12 inches in diameter)

to be sawed into lumber. Minimum log length is

typically 8 eet.

SCARIFYING For soil: The removal o the top

litter layer o an area (usually in strips) or sitepreparation. For seed: The abrasion or weakening

o the seed coat to encourage germination.

SEDIMENTATION The deposition or settling o

soil particles suspended in water.

SEED TREE CUT A harvesting method in which

a ew scattered trees are let in the area to provide

seed or a new orest stand. Selection o seed trees

should be based upon growth rate, orm, seeding

ability, wind rmness, and uture marketability. This

harvesting method produces an even-aged orest.

SEED YEAR A year in which a given speciesproduces a large seed crop over a sizable area.

Some species o trees produce seeds irregularly.

SEEDLING (a) A tree, usually less than 2 inches

diameter at breast height, that has grown rom a

seed rather than rom a sprout. (b) A nursery-grown

tree that has not been transplanted in the nursery.

SELECTIVE CUTTING The periodic removal o

individual trees or groups o trees to improve or

regenerate a stand.

SHADE-INTOLERANT TREES Trees that cannot

thrive in the shade o larger trees.

SHEARING Slicing or cutting trees or stumps at

the ground line. Shearing may be done at harvest

or with a KG blade during site preparation.

SHELTERWOOD CUT Removing trees on theharvest area in a series o two or more cuttings

so new seedlings can grow rom the seed o older

trees. This method produces an even-aged orest.

SHORT-ROTATION WOODY CROPS Fast grow-

ing species, such as willows and poplars, which are

grown specically or the production o energy.

SILVICULTURE The art, science, and practice

o establishing, tending, and reproducing orest

stands o desired characteristics. It is based on

knowledge o species characteristics and environ-

mental requirements.

SITE INDEX A relative measure o orest site

quality based on the height (in eet) o the domi-

nant trees at a specic age (usually 25 or 50 years,

depending on rotation length). Site index inorma-

tion helps estimate uture returns and land pro-

ductivity or timber and wildlie.

SITE PREPARATION Preparing an area o land

or planting, direct seeding, or natural reproduc-

tion by burning, chemical vegetation control, or by

mechanical operations such as disking, bedding,

scariying, windrowing, or raking.

SKIDDER Machinery used to pull logs rom their

stump to a landing. Logs are pulled with a grap-

ple, cable-winch, or clam-bunk.

SLASH (a) Tree tops, branches, bark, or other

residue let on the ground ater logging or other

orestry operations. (b) Tree debris let ater a

natural cata-strophe.

SOFTWOOD (CONIFER) A tree belonging to the

order Conierales. Sotwood trees are usually ev-

ergreen, bear cones, and have needles or scalelike

leaves. They include pine, spruces, rs, and cedars.

SOIL TEXTURE The eel or composition o the

soil (sand, silt, or clay) as determined by the size

o the soil particles.

SOIL TYPE Soils that are alike in all characteris-

tics, including texture o the topsoil. Soil maps and

inormation on site index, erodibility, and other

limiting properties are available rom your county

Soil Conservation Service oces.

S A L E , L U M P S U M ( B O U N D A R Y )


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U R B A N R E S I D U E S

SPECIES A group o related organisms having

common characteristics and capable o interbreed-

ing. Loblolly and Virginia pine are common spe-

cies that can be interbred.

STAND An easily dened area o the orest that

is relatively uniorm in species composition or ageand can be managed as a single unit.

STAND DENSITY The number or mass o trees

occupying a site. Usually measured in basal area

or square eet per acre.

STEWARDSHIP FOREST A privately owned

orest tract that exhibits integrated orest manage-

ment to protect and enhance wildlie, timber, recre-

ation, natural beauty, and soil and water quality.

STOCKING A description o the number o

trees, basal area, or volume per acre in a orest

stand compared with a desired level or balancedhealth and growth. Most oten used in compara-

tive expressions, such as well-stocked, poorly

stocked, or overstocked.

STREAMSIDE MANAGEMENT ZONE (SMZ) An

area adjacent to a stream in which vegetation is

maintained or managed to protect water quality.

The width depends on slope, but 50 eet is the nor-

mal minimum. Trees may be removed rom SMZs

as long as the stream bed is not disrupted and su-

cient vegetation is let to protect water quality.

STUMPAGE The value or volume o a tree or

group o trees as they stand uncut in the woods

(on the stump).

SUCCESSION The natural sequence o plant

community replacement beginning with bare

ground and resulting in a nal, stable community

in which a climax orest is reached. Foresters,

wildlie biologists, and armers constantly battle

ecological succession to try to maintain a particu-

lar vegetative cover.

SUCCESSIONAL DISKING or MOWING A wild-

lie-enhancement practice in which a disk harrow or

rotary mower is used to knock down existing veg-etation every 1 to 3 years to promote the regrowth

o annuals, legumes, orbes, and perennials.

SUSTAINABLE FORESTRY The practice o

meeting the orest resource needs and values o

the present generation without compromising the

similar capability o uture generations.

SUSTAINED YIELD Management o orestland

to produce a relatively constant amount o wood

products, revenue, or wildlie.

TTHINNING A tree removal practice that reduces

tree density and competition between trees in a

stand. Thinning concentrates growth on ewer,

high-quality trees, provides periodic income, and

generally enhances tree vigor. Heavy thinning can

benet wildlie through the increased growth o

ground vegetation.

TIMBER STAND IMPROVEMENT (TSI) Improv-

ing the quality o a orest stand by removing or

deadening undesirable species to achieve desired

stocking and species composition. TSI practices

include applying herbicides, burning, girdling, or

cutting.

TOLERANT SPECIES A species o tree that has

the ability to grow in the shade o other trees and

in competition with them.

TREE FARM A privately owned orest or wood-

land in which timber crop production is a major

management goal. Many tree arms are ocially

recognized by the American Tree Farm System,

an organization sponsored by the American For-

estry Council.

TREE SPACING The distance between trees,

which is most oten regulated at the time o plant-

ing or during a harvest or thinning operation.

Spacing, like stand density, aects understory

vegetation, seed production, growth rate, and

wildlie habitat.

TWO-PASS METHOD A harvest practice where

roundwood and biomass are recovered in separate

passes. Biomass removal can precede or ollow

the conventional product harvest.

UUNDERSTORY (a) The layer ormed by the

crowns o smaller trees in a orest. (b) The trees

beneath the orest canopy.

UNEVEN-AGED MANAGEMENT A regenera-tion and management technique that removes

some trees in all size classes either singly, in

small groups, or strips in order to maintain a

multi-aged stand.

URBAN RESIDUES Wood and yard waste;

construction and demolition debris rom an urban

source.


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VVALUE-ADDED Payments made by industry to

workers, interest, prots, and indirect business

taxes.

WWATER BAR A diagonal ditch or hump in a trail

that diverts surace water runo to minimize soil

erosion.

WATER CONTROL Management o water (both

surace and subsurace) to maintain plant growth,

water quality, wildlie habitat, and re control.

WATER QUALITY Suitability o the water com-

ing rom ground and surace water supplies or

drinking water, recreational uses, and as habitat or

aquatic organisms and other wildlie.

WHOLE TREE CHIPS Wood chips produced by

chipping whole trees, usually in the orest. Thus

the chips contain both bark and wood.

WHOLE TREE HARVESTING Trees are elled

and transported to roadside with branches and top

intact. Processing occurs at the deck or landing.

Prepared by

Mark A. Megalos, Forest Resources Extension Specialist

James B. Kea, Area Specialized Agent, Forest Resources

Revised by

Robert E. Bardon, Forestry Extension Specialist

5,000 copies of this public document were printed at a cost of $1,062, or $.21 per copy.

Distributed in urtherance o the acts o Congress o May 8 and June 30, 1914. North Carolina State University and North Carolina A&T State University commit

themselves to positive action to secure equal opportunity regardless o race, color, creed, national origin, religion, sex, age, veteran status or disability. In addition,

the two Universities welcome all persons without regard to sexual orientation. North Carolina State University, North Carolina A&T State University, U.S. Department

o Agriculture, and local governments cooperating.

11-CALS-2508 (Revised) WON-26

Published by

NORTH CAROLINA COOPERATIVE EXTENSION

WILDLIFE A broad term that includes nondo-

mesticated vertebrates, especially mammals,

birds, and sh.

WINDROW A long, narrow row o vegetation,

debris, and some soil created during site prepara-

tion and clearing operations.

WINDTHROW Trees uprooted by excessive wind.

Shallow-rooted trees are almost always aected.

WOOD PROCESSING RESIDUE The unused por-

tion o materials generated during wood process-

ing or by-products created during the pulping

process.

WOODY BIOMASS The trees and woody plants,

including limbs, tops, needles, leaves, and other

woody parts, grown in a orest, woodland, or

rangeland environment that are the byproducts o

proper orest management.

YYARDING The initial movement o logs rom the

point o elling to a central loading area or landing,

particularly by cable or helicopter.

V A L U E - A D D E D

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