Glossary

A

Acclimatise

To get used to new conditions or a new climate.

Acclimatization See: Acclimatise

Adapt

Change, usually in response to different conditions, in order to better survive.

Adaptation See: Adapt

Agriculture

The practice or science of farming.

Ancient tree

There is no precise definition but there are three guiding principles: 1) trees which are of interest biologically, aesthetically or culturally because of their age; 2) trees that are in the ancient stage of their life; 3) trees that are old relative to others of the same species.

Ancient woodland

Throughout most of the UK, this is land which has been woodland since at least 1600 AD. Scotland has a slightly differing definition. See also 'Semi-natural ancient woodland' and 'Replanted ancient woodland'.

Angiosperms

Taxonomic name for broadleaves.

Arboretum

A place where trees or shrubs are cultivated for their educational, aesthetic or scientific interest.

Area of outstanding natural beauty (ANOB)

An area of high landscape and scenic quality designated by the Natural England or the Countryside Council for Wales.

Atmosphere

The gases that surround the earth.

B

Bacteria

A group of single-celled organisms, many kinds of which can cause disease.

Bark

The tough outer covering of the trunk or branches of a tree.

Biodiversity

The variety of plant and animal life in the world or in a particular environment.

Biologically

Relating to biology or living things.

Biologist

Someone who studies living things.

Biology

The study of living things.

Birds Directive

A European Union (EU) directive (Directive 79/409/EEC) on the conservation of wild birds, which aims to protect bird species and important bird habitats within the EU.

Bloodstream

Blood circulating (moving) through the body.

Botany

The study of plants, fungi or algae.

British Isles

The UK (England, Scotland, Wales & Northern Ireland), plus the Republic of Ireland, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands.

Broadleaf

A tree with broad flat leaves rather than needles.

Bryophytes

One of the main groups of the plant kingdom, comprising mosses and liverworts.

C

Canopy

The uppermost layer of vegetation in woodland, or the upper foliage and branches of an individual tree.

Carbon dioxide (CO2)

A gas made up of ‘carbon’ and ‘oxygen’, created by animals (including people) through respiration and also by burning carbon based fuels such as oil and petrol. It is absorbed by plants during photosynthesis.

Carr

Woodland in a wet or boggy area, usually containing alder or willow.

Champion tree

A champion tree is the tallest, oldest or largest example of its species in a given region. Champion trees hold a place of significance on the Tree Register of the British Isles (TROBI) and many around Britain have important historical associations.

Characteristics

Things which are typical of a particular person or thing.

Classification

The process of putting things into groups or categories. In biology, this usually refers to the ‘taxonomic’ groups, like ‘kingdoms, classes, families, species, genus’.

Clearfell

Removal of all trees in an area.

Clear-felling

The removal of all the trees in one area in a short space of time.

Coed

The Welsh word for wood.

Community forest

The 'Forests for the Community' initiative was launched in 1989 by the then, Countryside Commission and the Forestry Commission, to promote the vision of forested landscapes on the doorsteps of towns and cities, as places for work and leisure. Twelve Community Forests were established in England.

Concentric

Circles or arcs which share the same centre.

Cone

The hard, dry fruit of a pine or fir tree.

Conifer

A tree which has needles rather than broad leaves and which typically bears cones, for example: yew, pine, fir, spruce. These are the only three native conifers in the UK. Most conifers found here are non native and have been introduced for commercial forestry.

Conservation

The word we use to mean protecting the parts of the environment that we value and want to work towards improving, whether that is numbers of rhinos or restoring ancient woodland by removing the non-native conifers.

Coppice

Trees which are cut back to near ground level every few years and which grow again from the stump or stool. The many straight stems which grow from each stool are used for firewood, tools and other purposes. The word is also used as a verb, meaning to cut coppice trees'.

Coppice rotation

The cycle of cutting back and regrowth in coppiced woodland, usually between 3 and 25 years.

Coppice with standards

A two-storey woodland management system where among the coppice or 'underwood' some trees are left to grow on as larger size timber, these are called 'standards'.

Cultivation

The act of preparing land to grow or growing crops or plants.

D

Deciduous

Trees whose leaves fall off at the end of the growing season- usually in autumn.

Decomposers

Organisms with break down the dead tissues of other plants and animals, so making these nutrients available for other species to use. Decomposers are generally fungi but some bacteria can also perform this role.

Deforestation

The clearance of trees from an area, usually by felling.

Dendrochronologist

Someone who studies tree rings.

Dendrochronology

The science of studying tree rings, to determine a tree’s age and other useful factors.

Dependent

Reliant on something or someone.

Desert

An empty, waterless area of land, with little or no plantlife.

Desertification

When land with lots of plants turns over time into a desert, such as that caused by the removal of large numbers of trees.

Dutch elm disease

Fungal tree disease first introduced to this country in the 1930s, carried by beetles. Since the 1960s it has devastated the elm population of the UK.

E

Ecological See: Ecology

Ecology

The study of how plants and animals relate to each other and their surroundings.

Ecosystem

All the plants and animals in a particular area and how they relate to one another.

Endemic

A species, plant or animal, which is only found in one particular country or area, is said to be ‘endemic’ to that country or area.

Equator

An imaginary line that runs around the middle of the earth at an equal distance from the North and South poles dividing the earth into northern and southern hemispheres.

Evaporates

When a liquid substance turns into a gas, such as when water boils.

Evergeen

A plant which retains its green leaves throughout the year.

Evolution

The process by which different types of animals and plants change genetically over time. These genetic changes are likely to be matched with changes in the physical appearance or behaviour of a species

F

Farming

The growing of crops and the raising of animals to sell for food and other products.

Fertile

An animal or plant that is able to produce young or seed.

Fertilize

Introduce sperm or pollen into an egg or plant so that a new offspring develops.

Field layer

Layer of small non-woody herbaceous plants near the ground, for example: bluebells, daffodils, ferns.

Fodder

Food provided for cattle or other livestock.

Fungus

Organisms, such as mushrooms, that reproduce through spores or vegetative means. This means they do not have leaves, flowers or seeds. Most fungi are decomposers so you will find them growing on dead and decaying matter.

G

Genus

A category used in the classification of animals and plants.

Glade

An open space in a wood.

Great Britain (GB)

England, Scotland and Wales.

Green belt

An area of open land retained round a city or town over which there are wide-ranging planning restrictions upon development.

Grid reference

This is the standard method for locating a point on a map. Imposed upon the map is a coordinate system grid – which is numbered in such a way as to provide a unique way of identifying any given feature.

Gymnosperms

Taxonomic name for conifers.

H

Habitat

Natural environment of a plant or animal.

Habitats Directive

A European Union directive which provides for the protection of important habitats across the EU.

Hierarchical

A system where items (people or things) are grouped in a hierarchy – where things or people are ranked above one another depending on their relationship or status.

Hierarchy

Where things or people are ranked above one another depending on their relationship or status.

High forest

A description of a forest or method of management which leads to a diverse range of structures and ages of trees within the forest. The aim is to create an approximation of the diversity of a 'natural' forest.

Horticultural See: Horticulture

Horticulture

The art or science of cultivating (growing) plants and creating gardens.

Hybridization

Developing a different form, usually through reproduction.

Hybrids

A type of plant or animal whose parents were from two different species- often creating a species which has characteristics of both parents. This can happen in the wild and is a technique used by horticulturalists and animal breeders to create particularly pretty, large or productive species.

I

Ice Ages

Periods of time during which glaciers covered a large part of the earth's surface.

Indicator species

Plant species which are characteristic of ancient woodland; ie found more within ancient woodland than in secondary woodland.

Infertile

Animals or plants which are unable to produce young or seed or land.

Insect

A small animal with six legs and no backbone, such as an ‘ant’ or ‘butterfly’.

Interglacials

The period of time between each Ice Ages, when the earth experiences warmer weather.

Intrinsic

Part of the real and fundamental nature of something.

Introduced species

Usually relating to species that have been brought into a particular country by humans (even unintentionally). An example would be ‘brown rats’ which are thought to have been introduced into the British Isles by ships coming from foreign countries in the 18th century.

Invertebrate

A word used to describe animals that have no backbones.

J

Jungle

A dense tropical forest.

K

Kingdom

A category used in the grouping of living things. Generally, all living things are divided into the following ‘kingdoms’: The plant kingdom, animal kingdom, fungi kingdom, bacteria kingdom, algae kingdom.

L

Limestone pavement

Areas of limestone with little soil or plant cover. They harbour a particular and often rare selection of plants and animals

Local nature reserve (LNR)

A statutory designation of a nature site.

M

Maiden tree

A tree that has not been modified by cutting – it retains its natural crown unless it has been damaged by wind etc.

Mammals

A group of animals that are all ‘warm-blooded’, have hair or fur, produce milk and bear live young.

Mankind

The human race all together.

Medicinal

Something which has, or is thought to have, healing properties or relates to medicine.

Micro-organisms

Organisms that are so small they can only be seen with a microscope.

Mixed woodland

Woodland made up of broadleaved and coniferous trees.

Monolith

A large single upright block of stone.

Mosses

Small green spreading plants that grow in damp places.

Mutation

A change in an organism, resulting in a distinct form, which is often passed onto offspring.

N

National Forest

An initiative of the Countryside Agency to create nearly 500 square kilometres (194 square miles) of forest in Leicestershire, Staffordshire and Derbyshire.

National Nature Reserve (NNR)

A legal government applied designation for nature (or geological) conservation. They are some of the very finest sites in England for wildlife and geology and are of national and often international importance. All NNRs are also SSSIs- they pick the best SSSIs and give them the NNR designation to say they are more special than the rest

National Nature Reserve (NNR)

Areas which represent the best examples of different kinds of countryside or contain unusual communities of plants or animals or important natural features such as rock exposures or gorges. Designated by English Nature, Countryside Council for Wales or Scottish Natural Heritage.

National Scenic Area (NSA)

Scottish designation which is comparable with the AONB designation in England and Wales.

National Tree Week

An annual celebration of trees and tree planting promoted by the Tree Council.

Native species

Species which arrived in naturally (i.e. without human assistance) Britain in prehistoric times after the last Ice Age and before the English Channel formed.

Natura 2000

A list of SACs (Special Areas of Conservation) and SPAs (Special Protected Areas) around the United Kingdom.

Natural regeneration

The growth of trees (or other plants) from seeds, roots or bulbs without cultivation by humans.

Naturalised

The process whereby non-native or cultivated plants or animals have spread into the wild, and are able to sustain themselves in the wild by natural regeneration.

Naturalist

A person who studies animals or plants.

Nomenclature

A system of names used in an art or science. The procedure of assigning names to the kinds and groups of organisms listed in a taxonomic classification, such as the rules of nomenclature in botany.

Nomenclature

A system of names used in an art or science. The procedure of assigning names to the kinds and groups of organisms listed in a taxonomic classification, such as the rules of nomenclature in botany.

Non-intervention

A woodland management style which leaves a wood to grow without active management (e.g. felling, coppicing, path creation).

Non-native species See: Introduced species

Nutrients

A substance which gives nourishment.

O

Organism

An individual animal, plant or other life form.

Oxygen

A colourless, odourless gas that makes up 20 per cent of the Earth’s atmosphere. One of the essential element of life, animals need oxygen to breath and respire.

P

Peat

A soft brown or black type of soil, formed in damp areas usually from decaying plants.

Perennial

A plant that lives for several years.

Plant Kingdom

One of the main groups of living things, as classified by scientists. The others being animals, fungi, algae and bacteria.

Pleistocene

Pleistocene is a period of time from 1.8 million years before present to 10,000 years before the present. The Pleistocene is commonly characterized as an epoch when the Earth entered its most recent phase of widespread glaciation.

Pollard

Tree which is cut at eight to twelve feet above ground level and allowed to grow again from the stump to produce successive crops of wood.

Population

Used to describe a group of a particular species (eg humans) living in a particular area or place.

Precipitation

Any form of water, such as rain, snow, sleet, or hail, that falls to the earth's surface.

Primary woodland

Land that has never been anything other than woodland since the end of the last Ice Age, although it may have been regularly harvested.

Propagate

To grow a new plant from a parent plant.

Q

Quagmire

A soft boggy area of land.

R

Raised bog

Raised bogs develop from valley mires where the rainfall is over 1OOOmm per year. Here peat builds up until it is above the ground water table. The biggest may spread over hundreds of hectares and can be 6-9m higher in the centre than at the edge.

Ramsar Convention

An intergovernmental treaty signed in Ramsar, Iran, in 1971 at The Convention on Wetlands. It provides a framework for national action and international cooperation for the conservation and wise use of wetlands and their resources.

Ramsar Site (RAMS)

A place designated as an international Ramsar site under the Ramsar Convention.

Refuge

A place of safety.

Regeneration

Perpetuation of a species by natural or artificial means.

Replanted ancient woodland

Ancient woodland which has at least once been cleared and replanted with new trees (usually conifers to replace broadleaves). This has generally taken place over the last 200 years.

Reproduce

The method by which animals produce young or plants produce seed.

Retreated

To move forwards and then back again, often used to describe the way ice moves during an interglacial.

Rides

Open trackways cut through woods, originally for the removal of timber, but now often used for access and management.

Rods

The wood taken from coppiced trees and used to make hurdles.

Root

The parts of a tree or plant that are below ground and which collects water and nutrients from the soil.

S

Sap

A liquid which circulates in plants, carrying food to all the different parts.

Scheduled Ancient Monument (SAM)

An archaeological site of importance listed by English Heritage.

Secondary woodland

Woodland formed (or planted) on sites since 1600 AD, which have formerly been farmland, moorland or some other non-woodland area.

Seed dispersal

The way in which seeds get moved around in different directions.

Semi-natural ancient woodland (SNAW)

Woodland dating back to at least 1600 AD comprising mainly native species which appear not to have been planted, but which may well have been managed at some period during history.

Sessile

Without a stalk, eg sessile oak, so called because of its stalkless acorns.

Shelterwood system

A stand is cleared in two or more successive fellings (known as 'regeneration fellings'). The new stand is established between the first and the last regeneration fellings, often by natural regeneration. Although stands are more-or-less even-aged, a two-aged structure is temporarily created during regeneration.

Shrub layer

Formed by woody plants between three and 30 feet tall.

Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI)

A sample of the UK’s best wildlife and geological sites. They have been designated under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 and are a legal conservation designation. SSSIs are the basic building blocks of conservation designations but there are many areas outside of SSSIs which are of the same quality and importance for conservation.

Solution

A mixture formed when a substance is dissolved in a liquid.

Special Protected Area (SPA)

A European designation for important wild bird sites, as defined by the Birds Directive. (See also Birds Directive.)

Species

A species is usually defined as a group of living things, plants or animals, that are able to reproduce together to create viable offspring.

Spinney

A small wood or thicket.

Stand

Trees of one type or species (eg a coppice of alder) grouped together within a woodland.

Standard

A woodland or hedgerow tree having a single stem, and left to grow for several coppice rotations, so as to be suitable for timber.

Stool

Permanent base or stump of a coppiced tree.

Stump

The part of a tree trunk left sticking out of the ground after the rest has fallen or been cut down.

Succession

The gradual alteration of an area of vegetation changing by more or less natural processes, usually involving the arrival and decline of species.

Suction

The force created when the removal of air creates a partial vacuum.

T

Taxa

Plural of ‘taxon’ from the Latin word ‘taxis’ meaning to arrange.

Taxonomic

A system related to the classification of living things.

Taxonomist

Someone who classifies living things or studies the classification of living things. Not to be confused with a taxidermist, who stuff animals for a living!

Taxonomy

The science of classifying living things into different groups: such as kingdoms, classes, families, species and genus.

Taxonomy

The science of classifying things into different groups, like kingdoms, classes, families, species, genus.

Technology

Scientific developments for practical purposes.

Tertiary

Third in order or level (also relates to University Education.)

Theological

Related to the study of God and religion.

Tithe

A small part or tenth of the produce of the land, originally paid as rent to the church.

Tithe map and award

Documents, mostly compiled between 1830 and 1845, recording the ownership, value and use of land within a parish.

Tree preservation Order (TPO)

An order made by a local planning authority which in general makes it an offence to cut down, top, lop, uproot, wilfully damage or wilfully destroy trees without the planning authority's permission.

Tumulus

A mound dating from prehistoric times built over a burial place.

U

UK champion

The tallest, largest and some of the other exceptional specimens of trees that are native to the British Isles.

Understorey

Layer of small trees and shrubs beneath the main tree canopy.

Underwood

An alternative name for an area of coppice trees, particularly in the coppice with standards management system.

United Kingdom (UK)

The name for a group of countries united by an Act of Parliament: Scotland, England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

V

Veteran tree

A veteran tree can be defined as: 'a tree that is of interest biologically, culturally or aesthetically because of its age, size or condition.' Some trees are instantly recognisable as veterans but many are less obvious.

Viable offspring

Used to describe an organism that is capable of breeding with its own species to produce another organism, that is also capable of breeding. Horses and donkeys can breed to produce ‘mules’ but mules, are not considered viable offspring, because mules are infertile – incapable of breeding or producing more mules.

Vital organs

The essential parts of the living body, such as the heart, lungs, liver and kidney in human beings.

W

Water table

Level within the ground below which the pores of soil or rock are saturated with water.

Wet flush

An area of soil in which nutrients accumulate due to water inflow.

Wildwood

The original forest which developed in Britain as the glaciers melted at the end of the last Ice Age.

Windblown (Windthrow)

Damage caused to trees by the wind.

Woodbank

A boundary bank surrounding a wood or subdividing it internally.

Woodland Trust (WT)

The UK's leading woodland conservation charity.

Woods on your doorstep (WOYD)

A Woodland Trust project to create 200 community woodlands across the UK to celebrate the Millennium in 2000.

X

Xenon

An inert gaseous element, present in small amounts in the air.

Y

Yew

An evergreen tree with poisonous red fruit.

Z

Zoology

The scientific study of animals or animal life in a particular area or time.