| GLOSSARY OF TERMS |
The following is an alphabetical listing of some of the major scientific terms (with an explanation of their meaning), used in the Russian Forests and Forestry CD-ROM:
Age groups – an aggregation of age classes which is provided based on age of maturity or age of final felling. There are 5 age groups in Russian forest inventory: young forests; middleaged; immature; mature; and overmature. Areas affected by insects and diseases – plots of forested area or territories of other ecological and production objects of forest management which are characterized of heightened number of pests or heightened concentration of pathogenic organisms that cause a substantial ecological, economic and social damage and require providing the forest pathological monitoring and (or) active forest protection measures. For needle- and leaves-gnawing insects, forested plots are considered as areas affected by insects and diseases if defoliation in such plots exceeds 15%, and special forest protection measures should be implemented if there is a threat of the loss of more than 30% of needles and 50% leaves for deciduous species. Average diameter – root-sum-square average of diameters of trees of a stand (element of forest) measured at breast height, i.e., at 1.3 m from the soil surface (diameter of the average tree of a stand), usually expressed in cm. Average height of a stand (element of forest) – height corresponding to the average tree of a stand (i.e., tree with the average diameter), m. Average increment (average change of growing stock) – yearly change of growing stock of a stand, calculated for the entire period of the stand’s growth, i.e. ZVCP = MA/A, where MA – growing stock of a stand at age A. Barrens - include significant by area old harvested areas, burns and others territories with destroyed forest vegetation which was not restored during the period after the previous forest inventory (i.e. during the period from 10-15(20) years). Basal area – sum of area of cross sections of all living trees constituting a stand (element of forest) measured at breast height, m2 ha-1. Bonitat (site index) – (dimensionless) indicator of productivity of forest stands; it is defined by average age and average height of a stand (element of forest); in Russia, site indexes are denoted by Latin numbers … Ib, Ia, I, II, … , Va, etc. Burned areas or burns - areas on which woody vegetation has been killed by fire. Canopy closure – ratio of total projection of foliage to area occupied by a forest stand. Coarse woody debris (CWD) or aboveground woody detritus - dead aboveground (standing dry trees, dry brunches of live trees, stumps) and on-ground (downed wood, windfall, etc., with more than 1 cm in diameter at the thin end) dead wood. Cutovers (unregenerated harvested areas) - areas on which stands have been clear cut due to final felling or entire sanitary cuts and natural regeneration on those either is absent or its amount and quality do not correspond to requirements on conversion into Forested Areas. Dark coniferous forests - forests dominated by spruce (Picea ssp.), fir (Abies ssp.) and Russian cedar pines (Stone pine - Pinus sibirica and Corean pine - P. karajensis). Dead stands - a forest land cover category, a result of the damage caused by insects and diseases, natural calamity (blowdown, windfall, snowbreak), atmospheric pollution or other natural or anthropogenic impacts (except fire). Degradation [of forest ecosystems] is a process that describes a (as a rule, human-induced) phenomenon, which lowers the current and/or future capacity of the forest to protect the environment and to satisfy human requirements on all benefits [services] of forests for a period more, than a life-span of major forest forming species. Element of forest – homogeneous, single species, even-aged stand, or an analogues part of mixed, uneven-aged, or multi-layer canopy stand. Forest Land(FL) comprises land which is suitable and designated for forest growth. FL is divided into following categories: Forested Areas; Non-Stocked Planted Forests; Forest Plantations and Nurseries; Natural Sparse Forests; and Unforested Areas. Forested Areas include: (1) lands, covered by young stands with the relative stocking 0.4 and more, and stands of other age groups with the relative stocking 0.3 and more; (2) cutovers, burns and other territories of naturally reforesting FL, on which amount and quality of natural regeneration, or young trees, protected under harvest, are corresponding to requirements, developed for conversion of these categories into FA; (3) areas covered by shrubs in regions where tree species cannot grow due to severe natural and geographical conditions, or where special shrub management is provided. Generation [of trees] – a set of trees of the same species in a stand; this set is considered as an elementary stand which is homogeneous with respect to its genesis, history, age, morphology and phytocenology; generation is a structural part that is used for inventory (numerical description) of uneven-aged stands. Gross growth (current increment by total productivity) – change of total production per time unit, as a rule 1 year. Measured in m3 ha-1 year-1. Grassy glades – a forest land cover category which is presented by unregenerated (for a period more than 15 years) small areas within a stand due to any negative impact of the local character. Growing stock - total amount of stem volume (over bark) of all living trees in a stand; expressed in m3 ha-1. Main forest forming species - a category of the Russian forest inventory; main forest forming species include 3 groups: coniferous (basically pine, spruce, fir, larch, Russian cedar pine), hardwood deciduous (oak, beech, horn-beam, ash, etc.), and softwood deciduous (birch, aspen, poplar, etc.) tree species. There are other two groups which are used by Russian forest inventory: other species presented in Russia by small areas, and shrubs, which are accounted for forested areas in territories, where "high" forests cannot grow due to severe climatic conditions (behind the altitudinal and geographical tree line). Modal stands – actual, existing stands (a term of Russian forest inventory). Mortality - the difference between gross and net growth; it could be calculated as natural losses minus wood of living trees stems removed due to any selected cuttings (thinning, gradual and selective final felling). Natural sparse forests include stands with the relative stocking 0.1-0.2, which grow under extreme climatic conditions, where forming the stands with higher relative stocking is impossible. The category was initially introduced in the SFA-1993. The previous SFA indicated all sparse forests together (the minimal limit of relative stocking for young forests has been defined of 0.3). Net Ecosystem Production (NEP) – difference between Net Primary Production and Heterotrophic Respiration. Measured in units of dry matter per time unit (t dm ha-1 year-1) or carbon (t C ha-1 year-1). Net growth (current change of growing stock) – change of growing stock volume of a stand per time unit, as a rule for 1 year. Measured in m3 ha-1 year-1. Net Primary Production (NPP) – amount of organic matter fixed in plant tissues. NPP is defined as difference between Gross Primary Production (Gross Photosynthesis) and Autotrophic Respiration of forest ecosystems. Measured in units of dry matter per time unit (t dm ha-1 year-1) or carbon (t C ha-1 year-1). Light coniferous forests - forests dominated by pine (Pinus sp.) and larch (Larix sp.). Non-Forest Lands (NFL) include lands which are not designated, or which are not suitable for forests or shrubs growth without preliminary melioration or recultivation. Non-stocked plantations (planted forests) are presented by planted or sawed forests of which indicators do not satisfy the requirements for the conversion of unforested area in forested area. Phytomass (living biomass) – amount of organic matter accumulated in live plants of ecosystems by a definite moment of time. Phytomass is measured in mass units of dry matter or carbon per unit area. Species composition – distribution of growing stock volume by tree species which constitute a stand; species composition is represented by a formula expressed as the distribution of growing stock in percent. For example, 7P3B means that from 65% to 74% of growing stock is presented by pine, and from 25% to 34% - by birch. Stocking (relative) – ratio of basal area of an estimated stand to the basal area of the analogues fully-stocked stand [the latter is taken from growth (yield) table of fully-stocked (normal) stands]. State Forest Account (SFA) – a procedure of aggregation of forest inventory data for the entire country by a definite date. Historically, SFA was provided by January 1st of 1961, 1966, 1973, 1978, 1983, 1988, 1993, 1998, 2003. Starting from 2000, SFA for forests managed by state forest authorities is updated annually, although the accuracy of this updating is unknown. Total productivity (of a stand) – sum of growing stock volume which has been produced by a forest stand during the entire period of the stand’s life, i.e. the sum of growing stock volume at age A and sum of mortality for the period before A; measured in m3 ha-1. Unforested areas (UFA) are presented by areas of FL on which at the moment of the inventory tree and shrub vegetation is absent, or which by their relative stocking, canopy closure or amount of regenerated young trees cannot by identified as FA. Primary inventory units of UFA include following categories: (1) burned areas (burns) - areas on which woody vegetation has been killed by fire; (2) dead stands - areas of dead stands as a result of the damage caused by insects or diseases, natural calamity (blowdown, windfall, snowbreak), atmospheric pollution and other natural or anthropogenic impacts; (3) cutovers (unregenerated harvested areas) - areas on which stands have been clear cut due to final felling or entire sanitary cuts, and natural regeneration on those either is absent or its amount and quality do not correspond to requirements on conversion into FA; (4) grassy glades which are presented by small unregenerated areas within a stand caused by any negative impact of the local character; (5) barrens include significant by area old harvested areas, burns and others territories with destroyed forest vegetation which did not restored during the period after the previous forest inventory (the period between two consequent inventories is usually from 10 to 15 (20) years)
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