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A

abiotic

Relating to things that are not alive. Used to describe the physical attributes of a land-use system (for example, soil, climate).

acid soil

Soil with a pH of < 7.0.

afforestation

1.     Conversion of bare land into forest land by planting of forest trees.

2.     The planting of a forest crop on land that has not previously, or not recently, carried a forest crop.

agrarian policy

A policy concerned with the land or landed properties.

agricultural system

A system with agricultural outputs and containing all the major components.

agroecological zone

1.     A major area of land that is broadly homogeneous in climatic and edaphic factors, but not necessarily contiguous, where a specific crop exhibits roughly the same biological expression.

2.     Zones of similar agricultural performance as defined by soil and climate.

agroecosystem

The collection of physical, environmental, economic and social factors that affect a cropping enterprise.

agroforestry system

A land-use system in which woody perennials (trees, shrubs, palms, bamboos) are deliberately used on the same land management unit as agricultural crops (woody or not), animals or both, either in some form of spatial arrangement or temporal sequence. In agroforestry systems there are both ecological and economic interactions between the different components.

agronomy

That part of agriculture devoted to the production of crops and the management of the soil on which they are grown. The scientific utilization of agricultural land.

agropastoral system

A land-use system in which crops and livestock (but not trees) are the only components.

agrosilvicultural system

An agroforestry system for the concurrent production of agricultural crops (including woody perennial crops) and forest crops. The forest crops serve in either a productive or a service role. Woody perennial and agricultural crops are chosen first for their productive capacity.

agrosilvipastoral system

Any agroforestry system that includes trees or shrubs and herbaceous food crops and pastures and animals.

alley cropping

An agroforestry intercropping system in which species of shrubs or trees are planted at spacings relatively close within row and wide between row, to leave room for herbaceous cropping between, that is, in the 'alleys' (syn: hedgerow intercropping).

alternative farming

Farming not in the current, conventional manner; for example, not using fertilizers and pesticides, or by using intermediate technology and renewable energy sources.

annual plant

A plant that completes its life cycle within one year.

apiculture

Beekeeping.

aquaculture

Fish farming. In a broad sense, producing any product under water, for example, algae (seaweed), Crustaceae (shrimp).

aquasilvicultural system

An agroforestry system that combines trees with the raising of aquatic animals.

arable land

Refers to land under crops, land under temporary meadows for mowing or pasture, land under market and kitchen gardens (including cultivation under glass) and land temporarily fallow or lying idle. Hence 'arable farming'.

arboretum

A collection of specimen trees, preferably growing close to a nursery, from which seeds and cuttings can easily be gathered.

arboriculture

A general term for the cultivation of trees.

asexual reproduction

Propagation of plants from vegetative parts, such as stems, leaves or roots; or from modified stems such as bulbs, tubers, rhizomes and stolons. This is accomplished without union of gametes (syn: asexual regeneration).

B

bamboo

A vegetation type consisting of woody graminaceous species from the subfamily Bambusoideae. Found as dense thickets or forest in the high-altitude tropics that have only a sparse ground cover of herbs, grasses, mosses and ferns. Sometimes also in the lowlands.

barrier hedge

A hedge planted so as to prevent runoff.

biennial

1.     A plant that ordinarily requires two years, or at least part of two seasons, with a dormant period between growth stages, to complete its life cycle.

2.     A plant that flowers only in the year following that in which it germinates from seed.

biodiversity

The level of abundance of life forms co-existing in a given environment.

biological control

1.     Using living organisms to reduce populations of pest organisms.

2.     Any of a wide variety of substances or methods used in pest control that emphasize the use of living organisms or products derived directly from them.

biomass

Strictly, the quantity of biological matter present on a unit area; may be 'total' or often only 'above-ground'. May be separated into plant and animal mass, or further divided into the mass of standing crop, or the tree portion of a stand, and then into foliage, branch, stem, flowers, and so on.

biotic

The influence of animals and plants on associated plant or animal life as contrasted with climatic influences and edaphic (soil) influences.

block

1.     A set of experimental units under treatment or observation, which have been grouped to minimize environmental effects or initial differences between units in respect of the variables being studied, for example, a set of contiguous or non-contiguous experimental plots initially giving the same experimental response.

2.     In forestry, the primary subdivision and major territorial unit of a forest estate, generally bounded by natural features. It is divided into compartments.

bole

1.     Tree stem once it has grown to substantial thickness, capable of yielding timber or large poles.

2.     The trunk of a tree. It may extend to the top of the tree as in some conifers, or it may be lost in the ramification of the crown, as in deciduous species.

broadleaved

Trees other than conifers that have (usually but not always) flat, broad leaves. Ovules are found in an ovary, and all reproductive organs appear in flowers. They belong to the angiosperm group of plants.

browse

Leaves, small twigs and shoots of shrubs, seedling and sapling trees, and vines available for forage for livestock and wildlife.

browsing

The feeding on the above-ground parts of trees and shrubs (buds, shoots and leaves) by livestock or wild animals.

brush

1.     Undergrowth, often of a thicket and including the small trees and shrubs.

2.     Material such as twigs cut from undergrowth.

buffer zone

An area around a forest, national park, or any other conserved place that provides the local community with products that they would otherwise take from the forest, or that provides an opportunity to produce alternative products.

bund

1.     A barrier on the surface of the soil on sloping land to prevent runoff and soil erosion.

2.     The arrangement of organic material, for example, agricultural waste or soil, in lines along the contours of a slope, to control runoff or erosion.

bush

1.     A general term for low tree–high grass vegetation occurring in semi-arid or seasonally arid regions. Can be further described by the dominant species present, for example, 'acacia bush', 'combretum bush'.

2.     A low, well-branched shrub.

bush fallow

The natural vegetation that arises when land is left uncultivated for some time. Composed of small trees, shrubs, grasses (and sedges) and herbaceous plants. Bush fallow may be grazed or browsed and firewood collected from it before it is returned to cultivation.

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