Edition 2 From Forest to Fjaeldmark Glossary, Abbreviations and Appendices Alyxia buxifolia Edition 2 From Forest to Fjaeldmark (revised – October 2017) 1 Glossary and Abbreviations A and Tasmanian South East (TSE). Macquarie Island is included within the Subantarctic Islands (SAI) Adventitious: describing parts of organisms that Bioregion arise in unusual or irregular positions such as roots growing from a leaf Bioturbation: disturbance and displacement of sediments by living things Adventive: dispersal upon introduction, such as an escape from cultivation Blanket moor: buttongrass moorland that is not restricted to valley flats but also occupies mountains Aeolian: (sediment deposited after) having been slopes, ridges and plateaus; common in cool-wet carried by the wind climates mainly where soils are shallow and peaty on Alluvium: silt, sand, mud etc deposited by flowing infertile substrates such as Precambrian quartzite and water such as rivers when they flood Ordovician conglomerate from sea level to 1000 m Alpine: the parts of the mountain above the tree- Block fields: a continuous spread of rock fragments line but below permanent snow (of boulder dimensions) which mantle the surface of Alpine vegetation: vegetation of alpine areas in high mountain slopes or plateaux which trees are excluded by lack of summer Bog: an area of wet, acidic peat soil dominated by warmth, frost or exposure to strong winds Sphagnum moss or other characteristic graminoid, Anaerobic: biological processes that occur without herb or shrub species oxygen Bolster heath: or cushion heath. Communities Argillaceous substrate: rich in clay minerals dominated by cushion plants (shrub with closely packed leaves forming a raised “cushion-like” mat Ash: an informal subgroup within the genus surface) eucalyptus; in Tasmania members of this group Brackish: a term applied to any water which exhibits include Eucalyptus delegatensis, E. obliqua, salinity intermediate between seawater and fresh E. pauciflora, E. regnans and E. sieberi. water B Bryophytes: in Bryophyta, a division of the plant Back swamps: a marshy area or depression Kingdom comprising liverworts, mosses and occurring in the flood plain, outside the river channel hornworts; non-vascular, simple plants Base rock: or basement rock; bedrock; Buttongrass moorland: vegetation ranging from unweathered rock below the soil; the complex of sedgeland to graminoid-shrubland in which metamorphic and igneous rocks that underlies the Gymnoschoenus sphaerocephalus usually occurs sedimentary deposits with more than 10% cover and Restionaceae species Biome: an ecosystem or habitat grouped or defined are often common; also includes communities (e.g. according to the life form of the dominant plants ‘alkaline pans’) in which Gymnoschoenus is absent and climatic zone but which occur close to vegetation with Gymnoschoenus; buttongrass moorland is most Bioregion: a large area of land defined to contain common on nutrient poor soils in cool, wet climates areas of similar environmental, physical and climatic conditions, with boundaries located to emphasize C disjunctions in biodiversity. The nine mainland Cainozoic: or Cenozoic: the latest era of geologic Tasmanian Bioregions and their accepted time, extending from the beginning of the Tertiary abbreviations are King (KIN), Furneaux (FUR), period (approximately 65 million years ago) to the Tasmanian Northern Slopes (TNS), Ben Lomond present (BEL), Tasmanian West (TWE), Tasmanian Northern Midlands (TNM), Tasmanian Central Calcareous: rich in calcium carbonate Highlands (TCH), Tasmanian Southern Ranges (TSR) Edition 2 From Forest to Fjaeldmark (revised – October 2017) 1 Calcarenites: limestone or dolomite rock with a Conglomerate: coarse-grained sedimentary rock coarse texture due to small sand, coral or shell with individual grains/rocks larger than 2 mm in fragments diameter; water–worn fragments of rocks or pebbles cemented together by another mineral substance Callidendrous: rainforest with an open understorey, rich in fern species and usually tall in lowland Connate: fusion of similar parts of a plant e.g. paired situations but shorter in montane situations leaves at a node, the base of which has become fused to completely encircle the stem Cambrian: a period in the Palaeozoic era of geological time, approximately 590-505 million years Consolidated sand: tightly packed sand that has ago become coherent or firm; forming a solid mass Canopy: the stratum (or layer) formed collectively Coppicing: ability to grow new adventitious shoots by the crowns of adjacent trees or shrubs. It may be from the base of the trunk; usually developing after continuous or discontinuous. The canopy refers to damage to the trunk (e.g. fire or cutting) the dominant stratum. Copse: a little patch; a small woodland Carboniferous: a period of geological time between Crevice: deep fissure in the surface; a long narrow approximately 360 and 286 million years ago, named crack for the thick deposits of coal found in rocks of this age Crown: the totality of the plant's aboveground parts, including stems, leaves, and reproductive structures CARSAG: Comprehensive, Adequate and Representative Scientific Advisory Group, Cryptogam: non-vascular plant, in particular lichen established following the Tasmanian Regional Forest and moss Agreement Cryptogamic crust: layer of cryptogams that grows Climatic effect: the response (of living organisms) to on substrate surfaces, forming a biotic layer climate change (i.e. temperature and precipitation), Culm: the stem bearing leaves or inflorescences which is usually measured seasonally or annually particularly in grasses and sedges Climax vegetation: the final and stable vegetation type in the development of an ecosystem; the result D of succession and in equilibrium with the Depauperate: usually lower species diversity present environment than in similar environments due to various environmental and historic factors Co-dominant (taxon): where two or more taxa contribute equally to the cover of the dominant Devonian: A period of geological time extending stratum from approximately 395-345 million years ago Cold air drainage: where air in relatively high areas Dieback: The progressive death of a tree or shrub, cools faster at night and, being heavier, flows down- usually branch by branch that may be due to any slope into valleys or depressions where it then number of causes, such as drought, salinity, insect or collects fungal attack Colluvial: deposits of weathered material (loose Dominant stratum: the tallest native structural layer sediments) transported by gravity down slopes with a solid crown cover of >5% (i.e. excludes emergent native trees or shrubs where their solid Community (ecological): a collection or association crown cover is < 5%). Also excludes a canopy of of plant species within a designated geographical exotic species, where these occur as the tallest unit, which forms a relatively uniform patch, structural layer distinguishable from neighbouring patches of different vegetation types Dominant taxon: the taxon that contributes proportionately the most cover to the dominant Complex: a group of vegetation communities that stratum occur in intimate association, where it is difficult to discriminate particular components at the given scale DPIWE: Department of Primary Industries, Water of mapping and Environment (now DPIPWE) Edition 2 From Forest to Fjaeldmark (revised – October 2017) 2 DPIPWE: Department of Primary Industries, Parks, Exotic vegetation: (exotic plant species) vegetation Water and Environment (formerly DPIWE); a that is not native vegetation (i.e. does not occur department of the Tasmanian government public naturally in an area without direct or indirect human service intervention) Dry (forest): mainly dominated by eucalypts, with an F understorey generally dominated by hard-leaved Facies: a local type or variant of community that is shrubs, and/or a ground layer dominated by bracken, related to other types or variants, and are not grasses or graminoids considered different enough to be described as a E separate ecological vegetation community Ecological vegetation community: the entity used in FAO: Food and Agriculture Organisation the vegetation mapping classification and Fen: mesophytic or eutrophic wetland where water characterised by floristic and structural features that and nutrients inflow from the surrounding catchment are more or less consistent across its range. It may (minerotrophic); dominated by graminoids; neutral be abbreviated to vegetation community or to alkaline wetland community Fernland: Fern-dominated vegetation including Ecotone: a transitional zone or region separating vegetation dominated by Pteridium esculentum two vegetation communities Fire disclimax: vegetation community that does not Edaphic: pertaining to the soil, especially with reach a climax stage due to disturbance by fire respect to its influence on organisms Fjaeldmark: vegetation community represented by Edge effects: the ecological changes that occur at isolated mats, cushions, or other prostrate forms of the boundaries of a community or ecosystem; these dwarf plants on very exposed stony (almost soil-less) can often be measured as a ratio of “edge” or sites at the highest altitudes boundary relative to its “core” or area. As the edge to area ratio becomes larger, the likelihood of Floret: the reduced flower of a grass together with negative consequences of the edge effect becomes the palea or lemma higher, mainly due to the higher fluctuations