Abiotic. The non-living components of the environment, such as air, rocks, soil, water, peat, and plant litter.
Abundance. The total number of individuals of a species in an area, population, or community.
Adaptation. Plants in the dry grasslands of the province have adapted their pattern of growth to the variations in the amount of moisture there is in the soil:
Aeolian. Produced by, or carried by wind.
Alien. A species occurring in an area to which it is not native. A plant or animal species introduced very recently, and usually by humans.
Alluvium (Alluvial deposit). Sands, gravels and silts deposited by flowing water.
Alpine. Those parts of mountains that rise above the treeline.
Arctic. Referring to unforested areas that lie mostly north of the Arctic Circle.
Arthropod. A large group of invertebrate animals having segmented bodies and legs, including insects, spiders, mites, scorpions, and crustaceans.
Aspect. The direction towards which a slope faces.
Bedrock. Solid rock exposed or overlain by unconsolidated material.
Biodiversity (Biological diversity). The diversity of plants, animals, and other living organisms in all their forms and levels of organization, including genes, species, ecosystems, and the evolutionary and functional processes that link them.
Biogeoclimatic classification system. A classification system of ecosystemsthat integrates regional, local and chronological factors, and combines climatic, vegetation and site factors.
Biogeoclimatic unit. A part of the biogeoclimatic ecosystem classification system that has unique features of climate, vegetation and soils. Units can be zones, subzones, variants, or sites.
Biogeoclimatic zone. A geographic area having similar patterns of energy flow, vegetation, and soil as a result of a broad, regional climate.
Biotic. The living components of the environment including plants and animals.
Bog. A class of wetland characterized by a thick layer of sphagnum-based peat, which receives its water primarily from direct precipitation. Bogs are acidic and nutrient poor.
Browse. (1) That part of the leaf and twig growth of shrubs and trees that is available for animal consumption. (2) Act of consuming stems and other woody materials.
Bunchgrass. A perennial herbaceous grass lacking rhizomes or stolons, and which has a characteristic growth habit of forming a bunch.
Canopy. The area covered by the aerial portion of vegetation, usually expressed as percent of ground covered.
Canopy closure. The progressive reduction of space between tree or shrub crowns as they spread laterally, increasing canopy cover.
Climate. The average weather conditions of a place over a period of years.
Co-dominant. Two or more species that are dominant in the same plant community.
Colluvium (Colluvial deposit). Materials that accumulate from mass wastage such as downhill movement, mudflows, landslides, and shattering of bedrock from frost action.
Community. Any group of organisms interacting among themselves.
Competition. The influence of one organism on another that results from both drawing on one or more resources that are in short supply.
Coniferous (Conifer). Cone-bearing trees having needles or scale-like leaves, usually evergreen.
Copse. Small thickets of small trees and shrubs.
Corridor. A band of vegetation or strip of land that serves to connect distinct patches of habitat on the landscape, and permits the movement of plant and animal species between what would otherwise be isolated patches.
Cover. (1) The plants or plant parts, living or dead, on the surface of the ground. It includes living plants and litter. (2) Shelter and protection for animals and birds.
Crown land. Land that is owned by the federal or a provincial government. Referred to as federal Crown land when it is owned by Canada, and as provincial Crown land when owned by a province.
Cryptogam. Any plant reproducing sexually without forming seeds. Includes mosses, lichens and ferns.
Deciduous. Perennial plants that normally shed their leaves for some time during the year.
Desert. Very hot ecosystems with insufficient rainfall to support a significant cover of perennial grass on zonal soils.
Dispersal. The scattering of seeds or spores of a plant, or movement of an animal to a new habitat.
Disturbance. A discrete event, either natural or human-induced, that causes a change in the existing condition of an ecological system.
Dominant. Plant species or species groups, which by means of their number, coverage, or size, has considerable influence or control upon the conditions of existence of associated species.
Drumlin. A ridge or oval hill formed by glacial deposits.
Ecological classification. An approach to categorizing and delineating, at different levels of resolution, areas of land and water which have similar characteristic combinations of the physical environment (such as climate, geomorphic processes, geology, soils, and hydrologic function), biological communities (plants, animals, microorganisms, and potential natural communities), and the human dimension (such as social, economic, cultural and infrastructure).
Ecology. The study of the interrelationships of organisms with their environment.
Ecoregion classification. The ecoregion classification system in British Columbia is used to organise land-based and marine ecosystems into discrete geographical units at five different levels. Ecodomains and Ecodivisions are very broad, while Ecoprovinces, Ecoregions and Ecosections, are progressively more detailed. The geographic units describe areas of similar climate, physiography, oceanography, hydrology, vegetation, and wildlife potential.
Ecosystem. An ecosystem is a community of organisms interacting with each other and the non-living world that surrounds them. An ecosystem has both biotic components (plants, animals) and abiotic components (water, sunlight and nutrients from the soil). Within an ecosystem all these elements are interconnected and dependent on one another.
Edaphic. Related to the soil in the area.
Endangered species. Any indigenous species, or sub-species, threatened with imminent extinction throughout all, or most of its range.
Environment. The sum of all external conditions that affect an organism or community and influence its development or existence.
Erosion. Detachment and movement of soil or rock fragments by water, wind, ice, or gravity.
Esker. A winding ridge of sand and gravel deposited by meltwater streams flowing inside retreating glaciers.
Exclosure. An area fenced to keep animals out.
Exotic. An organism or species that is not native to the region in which it is found.
Exposure. Direction of slope with respect to the points of a compass.
Fauna. The animal life of a region.
Fen. Wetland containing more than 15 cm of non-sphagnum peat. Its water comes mainly from groundwater or runoff from adjacent uplands. Vegetation can include sedges, shrubs and mosses.
Fibrous roots. A root system consisting of a large number of small, finely divided, widely spreading roots, but no large taproots. Typified by grass root systems.
Floodplain. A level, low-lying area adjacent to streams that is periodically flooded during the spring freshet or extreme rainfall events.
Flora. (1) The plant species of an area. (2) A list of plant species or a taxonomic manual.
Fluvial. Processes by which sediment is transferred along the stream channel by the force of flowing water.
Fluvial deposit. Materials transported and deposited by streams and rivers. They consist of sorted sands, silts or gravels.
Fluvioglacial deposit. Materials deposited by glacial meltwater either directly from glacier ice or as outwash from beyond the ice margin. They consist of sands and gravels that may be sorted and stratified.
Forage. Grasses, herbs and small shrubs that can be used as feed for livestock or wildlife.
Forb. Any broad-leaved herbaceous plant other than those in the grass, sedge or rush families.
Forest. An area of closely spaced trees that is relatively extensive (i.e., larger than a grove).
Forestland. Land on which the native vegetation is forest.
Fragmented. Small patches of vegetation surrounded by disturbed areas. This occurs naturally through such agents as fire, landslides, wind throw, and insect attack.
Glacial till. Sediments ranging in size from clay particles to boulders that were directly deposited by glaciers.
Glaciolacustrine. Sedimentary deposits formed in lakes as glacial ice was melting. They vary in texture from silt and fine sand to coarser sand and gravel.
Graze. The consumption of standing forage by livestock or wildlife.
Grove. A stand of forest or woodland of small extent, surrounded by lower vegetation or bare soil.
Growing season. That portion of the year when temperature and moisture are favorable for plant growth.
Growth form. The characteristic shape or appearance of an organism.
Gully. A furrow or channel, usually with steep sides, through which water periodically flows.
Habitat. The natural abode of a plant or animal, including all biotic, climatic, and soil factors affecting life.
Herb. Any flowering plant that dies back to the ground surface each year.
Herbaceous. Vegetation lacking persistent woody stems; can refer to grass or grass-like plants or forbs.
Introduced species. A species that is not a part of the original fauna or flora of a region.
Invader. Plant species that are absent, or present in very small numbers, in the undisturbed original vegetation, and which become more abundant and widespread following disturbance.
Kame. A small hill or ridge deposited by retreating glaciers.
Landform. A landscape unit that denotes origin and shape, such as a floodplain, river terrace, or till plain.
Landscape. The fundamental characteristics of a specific geographic area, including its biological composition and physical environment.
Layer. A structural component of a plant community that may be recognized as consisting of plants with approximately uniform and distinctive stature. Often described as a tree layer, shrub layer, or herb layer.
Litter. Organic debris, mainly bark, twigs, and leaves, on the soil surface; essentially freshly fallen or slightly decomposed vegetative material.
Livestock. Domestic animals such as cattle, horses, mules, asses, sheep, and goats.
Loess. Wind deposited sand and silts. A thin mantle of fine soil particles that results from settling of sediments carried by winds associated with deglaciation.
Marsh. An ecosystem dominated by herbaceous plants such as bulrush or cattail, and with the soil saturated for long periods if not permanently, but without surface accumulations of peat.
Meadow. Openings in forests and grasslands of exceptional productivity in arid regions, usually resulting from high water content of the soil.
Microbiotic crust. An association of mosses and lichens that form a crust on the soil surface. (Often used synonymously for cryptogam crust).
Microclimate. The special set of climatic conditions in a particular area caused by closeness to the ground, vegetation influences, aspect, and cold air drainage.
Mineral soil. Soils consisting predominately of inorganic materials and usually containing less than 20% organic matter.
Mixed stand. A stand composed of two or more tree species.
Montane. Pertaining to mountain slopes below the alpine belt.
Moraine (Morainal deposit). Unsorted materials deposited directly from glacier ice. They lie below rock and colluvial slopes and above valley floor areas affected by recent fluvial activity.
Mulch. A layer of dead plant matter (or other material such as rock) that covers the soil surface as a protective layer.
Native species. Species that are part of the original fauna or flora of an area.
Noxious weed. Any plant species so designated by the Weed Control Act of British Columbia.
Organic soil. Soils containing a high proportion (greater than 20%) of organic matter.
Overgrazing. Continued overuse that greater than the capacity of the plant community to recover and results in degradation of an ecosystem.
Overstory. The tallest layer of plants in a community, e.g. trees or tall shrubs.
Overuse. Using an excessive amount of the current year’s growth which, if continued, will result in the deterioration of the plant community.
Parkland. A landscape dominated by openings of grassland mixed with forest.
Pond. A body of water with negligible current that has vegetation extending without interruption from the surrounding elevated land into the water (i.e., lacks a beach).
Prairie. An extensive tract of level or rolling land that was originally treeless and grass covered.
Rain shadow. The region where rainfall is reduced on the lee side of a mountain range,compared with the rainfall on the windward side.
Range. Any land supporting vegetation suitable for wildlife or domestic livestock grazing, including grasslands, woodlands, shrublands and forest lands.
Refugia. A small area in which organisms have survived when most of their former range became uninhabitable due to climatic change or glaciation.
Relic. A remnant or fragment of a flora that remains from a former period when it was more widely distributed.
Riparian. Land adjacent to a stream, river, lake, or wetland containing vegetation that is distinctly different from the vegetation of adjacent upland areas because of the presence of water.
Riparian habitat. Vegetation growing close to a watercourse, lake, wetland, or spring that is important for wildlife cover and for organisms that provide food for fish.
Saline. Refering to soil or water that contains sufficient soluble salts that most plants are unable to grow there.
Savannah. A type of vegetation in which tall, widely spaced plants, especially trees, are scattered individually over land otherwise covered with low growing plants and especially grasses and grass-like plants. Often a transitional type between true grassland and forest.
Semi-arid. Regions or climates where moisture is normally greater than under arid conditions but still limits the production of vegetation.
Shallow open water. Wetlands with a mid-season water depth less than 2 m. They support little or no emergent vegetation. Bottom soils may be mineral or organic.
Shrub. A plant that has persistent, woody stems and a relatively low growth habit, and which generally produces several basal shoots instead of a single stem.
Shrub-carr. A hummocky wet meadow in which shrubs grow on the hummocks while sedges, grasses and forbs grow in the wet depressions between the hummocks.
Shrubland. Any land where shrubs dominate the vegetation.
Shrub-steppe. Grassland in which scattered shrubs form an open overstory above the grass layer and often co-dominate with the main grass species.
Site. An area described or defined by its biotic, climatic, and soil conditions in relation to its capacity to produce vegetation.
Slope. A slant or incline of the land surface, measured in degrees from the horizontal, or in percent (defined as the number of feet or meters change in elevation per 100 of the same units of horizontal distance), and characterized by direction (exposure).
Soil. The naturally occurring, unconsolidated mineral or organic material at the surface that supports plant growth, and is formed by the interactions between climate, living organisms, and relief acting on soil and soil parent material.
Soil erosion. The wearing away of the earth's surface by water, gravity, wind, and ice.
Species composition. The proportions of various plant species in relation to the total on a given area; may be expressed in terms of cover, density, or weight.
Stand. An existing plant community with defined bounds that is relatively uniform in age, composition, structural, and site conditions.
Steppe. Temperate zone vegetation dominated by grasses and occurring in climates where zonal soils are too dry to support trees.
Subalpine. The first distinctive type of vegetation, usually forest, below the alpine tundra, or a plant growing in such a location.
Succession. The progressive replacement of plant communities on a site which leads to the climax or potential natural plant community.
Swale. Depressions on the landscape where water accumulates.
Swamp. A wetland dominated by trees or tall shrubs, which has soils saturated for long periods, if not permanently. The substrate consists of a mix of mineral sediments and organic materials.
Temperate. Climates with regular winter seasons of freezing weather, alternating withsummer seasons that are either hot, or only warm but of long duration.
Terrain. The physical features of a tract of land.
Threatened species. Plant or animal species that likely are to become endangered if factors limiting their survival are not reversed.
Timberline. Any altitudinal or latitudinal limit of forest growth. Where high mountains rise from an arid basal plain there is both a lower and upper timberline.
Topography. The physical features of a geographic area, such as those represented on a map, taken collectively; especially, the relief and contours of the land.
Tundra. Areas where cold temperatures limit tree growth.
Understory. Plants growing beneath the canopy of other plants. Usually refers to grasses, forbs, and low shrubs under a tree or shrub canopy. See Overstory.
Ungulate. A hoofed mammal, including ruminants such as cattle, sheep, deer and elk, but also including horses and swine.
Uplands. Terrain not affected by water tables or surface water, or else affected only for short periods so that riparian vegetation or aquatic processes do not persist.
Vegetation. Plant life considered in mass.
Vegetation type. A plant community with distinguishable characteristics.
Watershed. The total area of land above a given point on a waterway that contributes runoff water to the flow at that point.
Weed. A plant growing where it is unwanted.
Wet meadow. A meadow where the surface remains wet or moist throughout the summer but is rarely inundated. It has mineral soils and is usually characterized by sedges and rushes, grasses and various forbs.
Wetland. A swamp, marsh, or other similar area supporting natural vegetation that is distinct from adjacent upland areas. Its soils are usually saturated or ponded.
Wetland complex. An association of adjacent wetland types such as a shallow open water-marsh-wet meadow complex.
Wildlife. Undomesticated vertebrate animals considered collectively, except fish.
Wildlife habitat. Areas of land and water that support specific wildlife or groups of wildlife.
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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