age class: Any interval into which the age ranges of trees, forests, stands or forest types is divided for classification and use; forest inventories commonly group trees into 20-year age class groups.
Biodiversity Guidebook: A Forest Practices Code guidebook that describes strategies for maintaining or restoring biodiversity.
biological diversity: The diversity of plants, animals and other living organisms in all their forms and levels of organization, including the diversity of genes, species, ecosystems, and the evolutionary and functional processes that link them.
blue-listed species: 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 a lower level of risk than red-listed taxa.
coarse filter: An approach to protecting biological diversity which is habitat driven and relies on habitat representation and connectivity to maintain most species diversity and processes. This is usually used in conjunction with a fine filter approach.
coarse woody debris (CWD): Decaying wood, of a minimum diameter, on the forest floor that provides special micro-climates and breeding habitat for a wide variety of organisms. Size is variable, but larger size pieces are preferable as they provide the greatest longevity and potential for site productivity and wildlife use.
critical wildlife habitat: A feature or area occupied by a species that is recognized as being essential for the maintenance of the species.
diameter at breast height (dbh): A measurement taken at approximately 1.5 m (breast height) and used as the standard for describing the diameter of a tree.
ecosection: An area with minor physiographic and macroclimatic or oceanographic variation.
fine filter: An approach to conservation that works in conjunction with a coarse filter approach. The fine filter is species or site driven and is designated to protect those species and plant communities that are not protected by the ecosystem level measures of the coarse filter.
landscape unit: A planning area, generally up to about 100 000 ha in size, based on topographic or geographic features such as a watershed or series of watersheds.
large woody debris (LWD): Woody debris in a stream, lake or wetland setting, with a diameter of 10 cm or greater and a length of 2 m or greater. LWD is important in these habitats for streambank stability and fish cover.
limiting habitat: A habitat that is scarce relative to the demand for it.
noxious weeds: Any weed designated by the provincial Weed Control Regulation to be a noxious weed, including the seeds of the noxious weed. Typically, they are difficult to control and have significant impacts on agricultural production, forest regeneration and forage for livestock and wildlife. They also threaten the biodiversity of native plant communities.
pesticide: A micro-organism or substance that is represented, sold, used or intended to be used to prevent, destroy, repel or mitigate a pest (e.g., plant, insect, rodent) and includes: a) a plant growth regulator, plant defoliator or plant desiccant; b) a control product under the Pest Control Products Act (Canada), other than a device that is a control product; and c) a substance that is classified as a pesticide by regulation.
plant community: The plant community element, used by the Conservation Data Centre and this document, is based on the plant association concept (V.J. Krajina and students): an abstract unit based on sample plots of climax vegetation that possess similar vegetation structure and native species composition, and occur repeatedly on similar habitats.
potential natural community (PNC): The plant community that would be established by allowing succession to be completed without further human interference.
prescription: For the purposes of this document, a prescription is a set of detailed directions for managing habitat for Identified Wildlife.
properly functioning condition (PFC): The naturally occurring functioning of a habitat unit (from the Riparian Management Area Guidebook).
red-listed species: Taxa being considered for or already designated Extirpated, Endangered or Threatened. Extirpated taxa no longer exist in the wild in British Columbia, but occur elsewhere. Endangered taxa are facing imminent extirpation or extinction. Threatened taxa are likely to become endangered if limiting factors are not reversed.
regionally important wildlife: Native, regularly occurring taxa that are not considered at risk provincially, but are affected by forest practices (includes range practices) and require specific habitat management in order to maintain regional populations.
riparian habitat: The area adjacent to a watercourse, lake, swamp or spring that is influenced by the availability of water and is generally critical for wildlife cover, fish food organisms and stream nutrients.
Riparian Management Area Guidebook: A guidebook that addresses the establishment of Riparian Management Areas (RMAs) under the Forest Practices Code.
seral stages: The stages of ecological succession of a plant community (e.g., from young stage to old stage). The characteristic sequence of biotic communities that successively occupy and replace each other by which some components of the physical environment become altered over time.
structural stage: Structural stage describes the existing dominant stand appearance or physiognomy for a land area. Factors such as disturbance history, stand age, species composition and chance all influence structural stage. Structural stages range from non-vegetated to old forests.
wildlife tree (WT): A tree or group of trees that are identified in an operational plan to provide present or future wildlife habitat. Generally, a standing live or dead tree with special characteristics that provide valuable habitat for the conservation or enhancement of wildlife. Characteristics include large diameter and height for the site, current use by wildlife, declining or dead condition, value as a species, valuable location and relative scarcity.
wildlife tree patch (WTP): An area specifically identified for the retention and recruitment of suitable wildlife trees. It can contain a single wildlife tree or many.
