Acre: A standard unit of area measure. One acre equals: 43,560 square feet; 4840 square yards; 10 square chains. 


Advanced regeneration: Natural regeneration that is established prior to a timber harvest.

Adventitious buds: Buds that form in an unusual spot on a tree, usually on the bole.

Age Class: One of the intervals, commonly 10-20 years, into which the age range of trees are divided for classification.

Apical meristem: The growing tip of a tree stem or root. Aspect: The direction towards which a slope faces.

Basal Area: The cross sectional area of the stem of a tree at 4.5 feet above the ground (dbh). The basal area of a stand is the summation of all the trees or classes of trees per unit area of land. Basal area is expressed in square feet per acre. Basal area is directly related to stand volume and density.

Biomass: The total weight of all harvestable vegetation from a stand. This term can also be used to describe a harvest that results in all material being processed into chips.

Board Foot: The volume of solid wood equivalent to a piece 12 inches long, 12 inches wide and 1 inch thick. A measure of standing or felled timber usually related to sawlogs.

Bole: The stem of a tree.

Browse: Buds, leaves, and twigs of seedling and sapling regeneration that are utilized as a food resource by wildlife.

Canopy: The combined cover of individual tree crowns.

Chain: A measurement of horizontal distance, 66 feet. Areas expressed in square chains can immediately be converted to acres by dividing by 10.

Cleaning: The removal of competing vegetation to release desired regeneration for optimal growth.

Clear-cut: A silvicultural method which removes all trees from a designated area at one time for the purpose of creating a new, even-aged stand. This management system is usually used to regenerate shade-intolerant tree species. Variations include patch and strip clear-cutting.

Climax: An association of plants and animals that will prevail in the absence of disturbance.

Co-Dominate: Trees with crowns forming the general level of the forest canopy and receiving full sunlight from above but comparatively little from the sides.

Crop Trees: Trees to be grown to the end of the rotation.

Crown: The branches and twigs of the upper part of a tree.

Cruise: A survey of forest stands to determine the number, size and species of trees, as well as terrain, soil condition, access and any other factors relevant to forest management planning.

Cull: Trees that have no current or potential commercial value.

Diameter at Breast Height (dbh): The diameter of a standing tree measured at 4.5 feet above the ground and expressed in inches.

Epicormic branching: Branches that sprout from adventitious buds on the bole of a tree, usually when it is stressed or is subjected to full sunlight.

Dominant: Trees with well developed crowns which are above the canopy and receive direct sunlight from above and partially from the side.

Even-aged: An age class description of a stand in which the age of the trees is relatively close, usually within 20 years. Stands with two distinct age classes can also be referred to as even-aged.

Even-aged Management: Timber management that produces a stand of trees with relatively little difference in age usually 10-20 years. Even-age silvicultural systems include clear-cut, seed-tree and shelterwood.

Forest Management Plan (FMP): A long range plan designed to identify a landowner’s goals and objectives and the silvicultural methods that will be employed to achieve those goals.

Forest Type: A natural group or association of different species of trees which commonly occur together over a large area. Forest types are defined by one or more of the dominant species of trees in the type. Common commercial types in the northeast are: beech-birch-maple; beech-red maple; mixedwood; spruce-fir; white pine.

Forestry: The art and science of growing and managing forests and forest lands for the continuing use of their resources.

Girdle: To destroy the conductive tissue of a tree in a ring around the bole.

Group Selection: An uneven-aged harvesting method designed to favor intolerant or intermediate species.  Trees are generally removed in groups in areas ranging from 1/20-2 acres in size.

Habitat: The place where a plant or animal can live and maintain itself.  Hardwoods: Broad-leaved trees which lose their leaves in the fall.

Harvest: A silvicultural treatment that is intended to establish regeneration. A harvest is generally a higher level of cutting intensity than a thinning.

High-grading: A liquidation cut in which only the best quality, highest value trees are removed. Cuts of this nature are short sighted and exploitative and result in the degradation of the forest ecosystem.

Hydrologic Class: A measure of a bare soil's runoff characteristics. Group A soil has a high water infiltration rate and a low runoff potential. Group D soil has a very slow rate of water infiltration and is prone to high runoff.

Improvement Cutting: A silvicultural treatment in which poor quality and low value trees are removed to give the best trees more room to grow.

Individual Tree Selection: An uneven-aged harvesting method designed to favor tolerant species. Trees are removed individually to maintain a continuous and uniform crown cover. Also referred to as single tree selection.

Intermediate: Trees whose crowns reach the canopy level but receive little or no direct light from above and none from the sides.

Intermediate Treatments: Harvesting methods employed during even-aged management. The removal of trees from a stand between the time of establishment and the final harvest with the purpose of improving stand growth and/or species composition and/or health.

Intolerant Species: Trees unable to grow and develop in the shade of other species. Landing: Any place where logs are assembled for further transport.

Liquidation Cutting: Removal of all merchantable products from the forest with no regard for stand improvement or regeneration, usually preceding the sale of the land.

Log Rule: A table or formula showing estimated volumes, usually in board feet, for various log diameters and lengths.

Mast: Nuts, berries, and seeds utilized by wildlife as a food resource.

Maturity: Expressed in two ways: 1. Financial maturity occurs when a tree has reached the point where it has maximized value growth from the prospective market place; 2. Biological maturity occurs when a tree has reached the point where the energy costs of maintaining itself exceeds the energy input from photosynthesis. Financial maturity is reached long before biological maturity.

MBF: The abbreviation for one thousand board feet.

Mean Stand Diameter (MSD): The arithmetic mean diameter of the trees in a stand.

Medial Diameter (MDL): This is developed by determining by the sum of each diameter class multiplied by the basal area in that class and then dividing the result by the total basal area. MDL is useful in stands with a high proportion of saplings because it is less influenced by these small trees and more accurately the size of the crop trees.

Mixed Hardwoods: Timber stands characterized by a mixture of hardwood species.

Overmature: A stand of trees that is older than normal rotation age for the type.

Overstory: The upper crown canopy of the forest. The overstory is usually referenced as the larger trees in the stand.

Phloem: Tissue of the inner bark that conducts photosynthate from the leaves down to the roots.

Pioneer: Shade intolerant species that are the first trees to develop in an area after or the abandonment of a field or after a disturbance that covers a fairly large area. Pioneer species include aspen and paper birch.

Pole or Pole Timber: A tree or trees greater than 4.0 inches dbh and less than 10.0 inches dbh.

Pre-commercial Thinning: An intermediate harvesting operation in a young stand that does not generate income.

Prescription: A course of action to effect change in a forest stand (harvest, planting, TSI).

Q-factor: A device used to describe the structure of an uneven aged stand. The q-factor is the ratio of the number of trees in a diameter class divided by the number of trees in the next smaller diameter class. The lower the q-factor, the higher the proportion of large diameter trees.

Regeneration: Renewal of a tree crop by natural or artificial means.

Release: The freeing of well-established seedlings or saplings from surrounding growth.

Residual: Trees that are left to grow in a stand after a silvicultural treatment.

Rotation: The length of time required to grow an even aged crop of trees to a desired age.

Rotation Age: The age at which an even aged stand is considered ready for harvest.

Salvage Cut: The removal of dead, dying and damaged trees after a natural disaster or insect or disease infestation to utilize the wood before it loses all of its commercial value.

Sanitation Cut: The removal of dead, dying or damaged trees to prevent or interrupt the spread of insects or disease.

Sapling: Trees taller than 4.5 feet but less than 5.0 inches dbh.

Sawlog: A log considered suitable in size and quality for producing lumber. Regional standards apply for diameter, length and freedom from defect. Sawlog is also used to refer to a tree that has reached sufficient size to produce a sawlog. Small sawlog trees are 12-16 inches dbh, medium sawlog trees are 17-20 inches dbh, and large sawlog trees are 22 inches dbh or greater.

Sawtimber: Trees that have obtained a minimum diameter at breast height that can be felled and processed into sawlogs. Typical minimum size limits for commercial species in Vermont are 8 inches dbh for softwoods and 12 inches dbh for hardwoods.

Seedlings: Trees that are less than 4.5 feet tall.

Seed Tree: An even-aged silvicultural method in which most of the merchantable trees are removed in the first cut, leaving a few scattered trees of desirable species to serve as a seed source for the new stand. The seed trees are removed after successful regeneration has developed. The seed tree method is a regeneration cut used to create an even-aged stand of shade intolerant species.

Selection method: An uneven-aged silvicultural system where individual trees, or groups of trees, are removed from a stand to ensure a sustained yield from an uneven-aged stand.

Shade tolerance: The ability of trees to reproduce and grow in the shade of other trees. Tolerance ratings are very tolerant, tolerant, intermediate, intolerant, and very intolerant.

Shelterwood: An even-aged silvicultural system in which the mature trees are removed in a series of partial cuts that take place over a small portion of the rotation. The residual trees are left as a seed source and to provide shade and protection for the new seedlings. Three types of cuttings are used in this method: (1) The preparatory cut, in which the least desirable trees are removed to improve the quality and growth of the stand, (2) The seed cut, in which the regeneration is established, (3) The removal cut (or cuts) in which the mature trees are cut to release the regeneration. Variations of this method include the group, irregular, strip, and uniform shelterwood.

Silviculture: Manipulation of the forest ecosystem to achieve specific goals and objectives.

Site Class: A measurement of the quality of the soil in terms of its potential productivity. A site class of 1 indicates that the soil is highly productive and a site class of 4 is considered non-productive, usually due to excessively wet, dry, or thin soil.

Site Index: A measure of the relative productive capacity of an area. Site index is species specific and is based on a comparison of tree age and height.  

Skid Trail: Any path in the woods over which multiple loads of logs are hauled, usually by a skidder or tractor. Primary skid trails are the main pathways that enter the landing.

Skidder: A four wheel drive, tractor-like vehicle, articulated in the middle for maneuverability, with a cable or grapple on the back end designed to bring logs or whole trees to the landing once that they have been felled.

Slope: A relative measure of steepness of the ground.  Slope can be computed by dividing the rise in elevation by the horizontal distance traveled. Slope is usually expressed in percent (rise ft /run) X 100.  Slope can be derived automatically using various forest measurement tools.

Snag: A standing, dead tree.

Softwood: Coniferous trees, usually 'evergreen' (the exception being tamarack), with needles or scale-like leaves.

Stand (Treatment Unit): A community of trees possessing sufficient uniformity in regards to composition, constitution, age, spatial arrangement or condition to be distinguishable from adjacent communities.

Stocking: An indication of the number of trees in a stand as compared to the optimum number of trees required to achieve some management objective, usually improved growth rates or increased timber values.

Stocking Level: Stocking levels are calculated by comparing either the basal area or the number of trees the site could support, if the growth potential of the land was fully utilized, to the basal area or number of trees actually on the site. 

Strip Cut: A timber harvesting operation where all of the merchantable trees are cut within a long narrow strip. An even-aged cutting method usually used to regenerate spruce and fir.

Stumpage: The value of timber as it stands in the woods just before harvest (on the stump). Loggers are usually bid on timber based on its stumpage value.  Stumpage can also be used to refer to standing timber. 

Succession: The orderly and predictable replacement of one plant community by another over time in the absence of disturbance.

Suppressed: Trees with crowns entirely below the general level of the forest canopy that receive no direct sunlight from above or the sides.

Thinning: A silvicultural treatment that reduces stand density to allow the best trees to grow with less competition. There are three kinds of thinning: crown thinning, low thinning, and free thinning.

Timber Stand Improvement (TSI): A non-commercial timber harvest conducted in stands of timber to improve the health, growth rate, and form of the remaining trees.

Tolerant Species: Trees that can grow satisfactorily in the shade of other trees.

Truck Road: A road capable of supporting a trailer truck that hauls logs from the landing to the mill.

Understory: Those plants growing under the main canopy.

Uneven aged: An age class description of a stand of trees that contains more than two distinct age classes and a variety of size classes.

Uneven-aged (All-aged) Management: Timber management that produces a stand composed of a variety of age classes. Harvesting methods used in uneven-aged management include individual tree and group selection.

Vigor: The health and vitality of a tree. Vigor can most accurately be assessed by observations of foliage (density, width and color) and percent live crown.

Volume Table: A table that utilizes tree dbh or log diameters and log length (usually 16 feet) to estimate board foot volumes according to a set of assumptions (“log rules”) about how the log will be processed into boards.

Windthrow: A tree or trees that have been toppled by high winds. A common phenomena along the edge of strip cuts and clear-cuts.

Xylem: Vascular tissue of the outer wood that conducts water and nutrients from the roots to the upper part of the tree.

Yield: Total forest growth over a specified period of time, less mortality, unmarketable fiber and cull.

Yield Table: A species-specific representation of the amount of useable wood fiber a forest can be expected to produce during a single rotation based on site index.