Vegetation Profiles: Glossary
Canopy
A cover of foliage formed either by the community as a whole or by one of its component layers. It may be continuous or discontinuous.
Chenopods
Species belonging to the botanical family Chenopodiaceae.
Cover
The percentage of the ground occupied by perpendicular projection on to it of the whole plants (crown cover) or the leaves only (foliage projective cover) of a vegetation community.
Dominant
Having the greatest proportional representation. The dominant species or stratum within a vegetation community is the one with the greatest biomass. For geographic areas with a mix of vegetation communities, the dominant community is that with the greatest area. Sub-dominant means slightly less than dominant.
Edge Effect
Differential ecological processes acting at a boundary between two different vegetation types. These may include increased disturbance in forest vegetation adjacent to cleared land or alternatively, encroachment of forest into native grassland.
Emergent Species
A plant (usually tree) species which rises above the dominant stratum and makes a minor contribution to cover.
Estimated pre-1750 Vegetation
The extent of native vegetation estimated to have been present before European settlement in Australia. It is sometimes known as pre-clearing or pre-European vegetation. The term "pre-1750" is used because it has an international meaning in assessment and monitoring of environmental issues (e.g. greenhouse). It refers to the time before the industrial revolution (triggered by the invention of the steam engine in 18th century England). The term "estimated" is used to clarify that such data is reconstructed, given the absence of data collected at that time. There are a number of methods used to produce of estimated pre-1750 vegetation data, including the interpretation of aerial photographs taken prior to land clearing in a district, and the extrapolation of existing occurrences of vegetation types across areas of like soil type.
Extreme Sites
Sites where one or more biophysical factors (such as water availability or soil fertility) are near the limits to plant growth for a given MVG.
Extant
Still existing.
Floristic
Relating to the species comprising a vegetation community.
GIS
Geographic Information System. A computer-based system for creating, storing, analysing and managing spatial data and associated attributes.
Growth Form
The general shape and appearance of a plant (e.g. tree, shrub, mallee, tussock grass, forb, etc.).
IBRA Region
A region delineated in the Interim Biogeographic Regionalisation for Australia (IBRA). The Interim Biogeographic Regionalisation for Australia (IBRA) is a framework delineating natural regions or landscape patterns in each State and Territory which reflect biophysical, environmental and vegetation factors. Attributes such as climate, lithology, landform, vegetation, flora and fauna and land use are used to determine boundaries for IBRA regions.
Major Vegetation Group (MVG)
One of 23 dominant native vegetation groups identified in a continental-level classification developed by the Australian Government Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts. Each MVG represents an aggregation of many vegetation types of similar structure and dominant genus.
Major Vegetation Subgroup (MVS)
One of 67 dominant vegetation types identified in a continental-level classification developed by the Australian Government Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts. Each MVS represents an aggregation of many vegetation types of similar structure and dominant genus. The MVS classification is similar to the MVG classification, but also has a basis in typical understorey characteristics, in addition to the woody stratum, and a more detailed assessment of floristic affinities.
Metadata
A written description of a dataset's characteristics, properties and usage limitations.
Montane
Pertaining to mountainous regions below the altitudes where snow falls regularly.
NVIS Information Hierarchy
A nationally agreed nested hierarchy of vegetation descriptions with six levels (as set out in the table below) which underpins the National Vegetation Information System. A wide variety of vegetation datasets, from multiple sources and generated through different methods, can be re-interpreted to fit within the hierarchy. This a key pre-requisite for the full inclusion of such vegetation datasets in the National Vegetation Information System, and for their use within the NVIS to generate products such as the MVGs and MVSs.
| Hierarchical Level | Description | NVIS Structural/Floristic Components Required | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| I | Class | Dominant growth form for the ecologically or structurally dominant stratum | ||
| II | Structural Formation | Dominant growth form, cover and height for the ecologically or structurally dominant stratum | ||
| III | Broad Floristic Formation | Dominant growth form, cover, height and dominant land cover genus for the upper most or the ecologically or structurally dominant stratum | ||
| IV | Sub-Formation | Dominant growth form, cover, height and dominant genus for each of the three traditional strata. (i.e. Upper, Mid and Ground) | ||
| V | Association | Dominant growth form, height, cover and species (3 species) for the three traditional strata. (i.e. Upper, Mid and Ground) | ||
| VI | Sub-Association | Dominant growth form, height, cover and species (5 species) for all layers/sub-strata | ||
Protected area
An area of land (and/or sea) especially dedicated to the protection and maintenance of biological diversity and of natural and associated cultural resources and managed through legal or other effective means. It includes IUCN Classes I to VI.
Rangelands
Extensive grazing lands in the arid and semi-arid zones.
Sclerophyll/Sclerophyllous
Descriptive of the hard, tough, fibrous leaves of a wide range of plant species occurring in the hotter, drier and low fertility environments of Australia. Often used to describe the small-leaved, heathy understorey plants and the eucalypts.
Structural formation
Dominant growth form, cover and height described for the vegetation-Level 2 of the NVIS information hierarchy (ESCAVI 2003).
Stratum
A layer in a plant community produced by the occurrence of an aggregation of plants of the same habit, at approximately the same height.
Structure
The spatial arrangement (vertically and horizontally) of plants within a community.
Total Grazing Pressure
The combined grazing pressure exerted by all stock - domestic and wild, native and feral - on the vegetation, soil and water resources of the rangelands.
Understorey
General term to describe layers in a vegetation community below the overstorey. Refers to the ground layer, but it is also sometimes taken to include the shrub layer, where there is a recognisable tree layer (overstorey) above it.
Vegetation
All plants within a specified area. It is usually considered generally and not taxonomically.
Vegetation Community
An assemblage of plant species which are structurally and floristically similar and form a repeating 'unit' across the landscape.
Vegetation description
A set of attribute values pertaining to a vegetation type and contained in the NVIS Information Hierarchy and supporting database tables.
Vegetation type
A vegetation community that has a floristically uniform structure and composition, often described by its dominant species. In NVIS, a vegetation type is represented by a vegetation description.
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