Glossary	Woods in Your Backyard
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 Acadian Cover Type: The spruce-fir and the northern mixed hardwoods forest cover types overlap in the middle of the state and in parts of eastern Maine. This overlap is referred to by many as the Acadian type.

Aspen-Birch Cover Type: Usually composed of quaking aspen (which is also known as poplar or popple) and paper birch. Both are pioneer species that invade disturbed areas, but don’t grow well in the shade. Other species, like pin cherry and red maple, often grow with aspen and birch.

Azimuth: Measurements, stated in degrees, that are measured clockwise from North on a compass. The largest azimuth is 360 degrees. You can tell the azimuth on a compass by where the numbers on the dial meet the Direction of Travel arrow.

Canopy: The ceiling of the woods created by the foliage.

Competition: Each individual tree in the woods competes for sunlight, water, nutrients, and growing space. Some will do better than others. Not surprisingly, this phenomenon is called competition.

Cover: The place where animals can rest safely. Cover may be a den in a rocky hillside for a red fox, whereas snowshoe hares hide beneath the sheltering branches of evergreen trees and wood frogs find shelter beneath dead leaves on the forest floor. Cover also changes according to season. During the nesting season, many birds need special requirements to raise their young safely.

Deciduous: Refers to trees that lose their leaves in the fall. Usually these are broadleaf trees, but some conifers, like tamarack in Maine, turn yellow and lose their needles in the fall.

Declination: The needle of a compass points to magnetic north, a highly magnetized area north of Hudson’s Bay. The magnetic north pole lies about 1,300 miles from the geographic (true) North Pole. Depending on where you are on the planet, the difference between Magnetic North and True North varies. The difference between the two is the declination. The declination can be set on a compass.

Disturbed area: An area that is altered due to natural and human forces. The actual species of trees and plants that grow on a disturbed area are influenced by many factors.

Edge: Any place where two different natural areas meet. Whether it is a high tide zone and the adjacent shore, a field edge where it meets the woods, or a stream and stream bank, edges are usually home to many species of plants and animals.

Even-aged: Refers to a woodland with trees that are of the same generation and tend to grow older at more or less the same rate, creating a sort of Baby Boom generation.

Figured wood: High quality lumber or veneer with unique decorative grain, such as curly maple and birdseye maple. Figured wood can be worth thousands of dollars when quality is high.

Forest floor: Home to small woodland flowers and bushes, tree seedlings, small mammals, ground nesting birds, insects, amphibians, and many other kinds of life.

Forest cover types: Cover types are groupings of tree species that tend to grow together under the same conditions. Many tree species may grow together in a cover type, but usually two or three species are most common.

Gap: A relatively small opening in the forest canopy created by a tree, or group of trees, that falls or is removed. The gap allows more sunlight into the forest floor. Small trees and seedlings that are moderately shade tolerant and have grown slowly in the shade due to a lack of sunlight, suddenly grow to fill the opening.

Habitat: Wildlife need the same basics. (1) food, (2) water, (3) cover, and (4) space. These four components make up the habitat, or living requirements, of each species. Habitat requirements change from season to season for most species.

Leaf litter: Decaying wood and leaves, known as leaf litter, are home to earthworms, beetles, and microscopic organisms that recycle rotting material back into nutrient rich soil.

Loam: A soil with a fairly even mix of sand, silt, and clay mixed with organic matter. A preferred soil type for many agricultural activities.

Management plan: An assessment by a licensed professional forester of a property for timber, wildlife habitat, and other natural features of interest to the landowner. Includes recommendations. Acts as a decision-making guide for landowners.

Mast: Trees and shrubs that produce fruit, nuts, or seeds eaten by wildlife.

Mineral soil: The underlying soil made up of varying quantities of clay, silt, and sand.

Northern Mixed Hardwoods Cover Type: A cover type made up mostly of deciduous tree species that are also known as broad leaf trees or hardwoods. Colorful fall foliage usually indicates that a woodland is made up of mixed hardwoods. Yellow birch, sugar maple, and American beech are the most common species in this cover type.

Organic soil: Made up of decomposing leaves and other organic matter as well as small invertebrates and other organisms.

Pine-Oak Cover Type: Found in the southern part of Maine, include white pine and red oak and may include red pine and a variety of other oaks that are not usually found in other parts of the state, as well as a variety of other hardwood species.

Pioneer species: Sun loving species that grow fast in newly created openings, but have short lives.

Pure stands: Can be found in any of the cover types. Sometimes this is a result of planting or thinning; sometimes one tree species naturally dominates the site. Pure stands of red pine, white pine, hemlock, and beech are common in some parts of the state.

Riparian area: Edge area between wetlands, streams, pools and adjacent uplands. Typically a 300 foot wide zone. It is important to more kinds of wildlife than any other habitat type in the state.

Shade intolerant: Species that grow well in full sun and don’t grow well in the shade. Tend to be pioneer species.

Shade tolerant: Species that grow well in the shade. Tend to be secondary species that follow pioneer species during the process of succession.

Silviculture: The practice of forestry management that promotes the health of the woods as a whole, rather than focusing on individual trees. Mimics natural processes of birth, growth and death — and tailors these processes to help achieve landowner goals. Historically, it meant the ability to grow trees faster and more efficiently and cut them for profit without damaging water quality or future trees. These origins led to much of the terminology of forestry that includes terms such as “crop trees” and “timber harvests”. Today, good forestry includes balancing the ecological values with economic concerns.

Site: Refers to an area of land and its capacity to grow trees and other vegetation as a function of environmental factors such as climate, soil, drainage, and more.

Snag: A standing dead tree, or part of a tree. Snags are important wildlife habitat. They provide homes for 58 species of wildlife in Maine.

Soil maps: Show different kinds of soil in an area. They are available from the Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) can provide a general idea of what to expect from the soil in specific locations. They are accurate from three to five acres.

Space:  The entire area, or territory, that each animal needs to find food, water, and cover. This varies widely from one species to the next, and also varies seasonally within the same species.

Spruce-Fir Cover Type: Forest cover type that primarily consists of red spruce and balsam fir. It is the most common type in northern and eastern Maine.

Structure: Woodland structure is made up of gaps, edges, creeks, bogs, and ponds that dry up in late summer, as well as the different heights of trees found in the woods. The structure can be very simple if one species of tree is planted at the same time to cover an area, or it can be complex, with small, medium, and large trees combined with a variety of geographic components like rock outcroppings, wetlands, and streams.

Stumpage: The economic value of the standing trees, which varies depending on the species, the condition and size of the tree, and several other factors. Usually refers to the amount a logger will pay for the standing trees “on the stump.” The mill rate (the amount the mill pays) will be higher. Stumpage price reports are available from the Maine Forest Service.

Succession: There are two types of succession. Primary Succession occurs on newly formed soils or rock, often after an environmental phenomenon that had eradicated all vegetation and soil. After a volcanic eruption, for example, primary succession would begin in some places. Secondary succession occurs following the removal of part or all of all the original vegetation that grew in a specific place. An old field growing into a woodland is and example of secondary succession.

Topographic Map: A map that shows geographic features such as elevation, waterways, forested areas, open areas, towns, and roads. Useful in orienteering, planning, and location of property boundaries.

Topsoil: As the organic layer breaks down, it mixes with mineral soil from below to form the nutrient-rich topsoil (the A horizon) beneath the O horizon.

Uneven-aged: The woods may have several different ages of trees as a result of wind and ice storms, patchy woodland fires, thinning of trees by property owners, or small clearings created by cutting down trees. A woodland with three different “age classes” is considered uneven-aged.

Vernal pools: Woodland vernal pools are created by melting snow and rain in the spring and often dry up by late summer and fall. They vary in size from as small as a mud puddle to many acres in size, provide important spring breeding sites for frogs, toads, salamanders, insects, and small mammals. Some vernal pools are home to rare and protected species. Considered living laboratories by wetlands ecologists, they are also studied for their significance to woodlands as a whole.