Definition of Terms

Agro-ecology: As related to agriculture: principles are based on diversification, crop rotation, polyculture, and integration of animals. Is a system designed to emulate nature.

Annual: A plant that completes its life cycle from seedling to mature seed-bearing plant during a single growing season, then dies.

Bare root plants: Dormant plants dug from the nursery, with roots free of soil and then protected against drying out prior to planting.

Biennial: A plant that lives two growing seasons, producing leaves during the first growing season, then flowering and setting seed during the second.

Biomass: The weight of living material, usually expressed as dry weight.

Canopy: The layer formed by leaves and branches of the forest's tallest trees.

Climax: A stable state reached by a plant community in a particular set of climatic and soil conditions.

Coppicing: The cutting of trees or shrubs which regenerate by sprouts or root suckers. Species suited to coppicing include filberts, alder, maple, dogwood, chestnut, and black locust.

Cover crops: After a main crop has been harvested, cover crops are sown to protect the soil from weather, fix nitrogen and, when incorporated in the soil, increase the organic matter content. Cover crops include: annual rye, buckwheat, oats, barley, lupine, vetch, winter peas, and crimson clover.

Ecology: The scientific study of the relations of living things to one another and to their environment.

Ethanol: Alcohol derived from grain or other vegetable matter.

Habitat: A place where an organism usually lives, often characterized by a dominant plant form or physical characteristic.

Hedgerow: Strips of trees, shrubs, and herbaceous plants along field borders. They enhance wildlife, diversify income, conserve water and soil erosion, decrease wind damage.

Herbaceous: A plant with soft tissue that dies back to the ground every year.

Hydric: Wet soil, saturated more than six months of the year.

Insectary plants: A plant that attracts insects.

Legumes: Plants of the Leguminosae family which produce seeds in pods, such as, peas, beans, lentils, clover, alfalfa, acacia, and black locust. Many (but not all) legumes establish a symbiotic relationship with specific bacteria which have the capacity to fix atmospheric nitrogen in the soil.

Lowland: Area approximately 0 to 500' above sea level.

Microclimate: The climate of a specific area within a larger region.

Multiple story: A diverse mixture of trees, shrubs, and ground layer plants.

Naturalize: The ability of some plants, when introduced to a new habitat, to reproduce and become an established part of the environment.

Perennial: A plant whose life expectancy is longer than one or two growing seasons, and which produce fruit and flowers every year.

Permaculture: A design system that finds solutions for sustainable living.
Shelterbelts: A row of trees and shrubs which break the force of the wind and create protected areas behind them. They also provide food and shelter for wildlife.

Sucker: A secondary shoot, rising from the roots, of a certain tree or shrub species, that can grow into a mature individual.

Sustainable: Continuous, enduring, permanent.

Water table: The upper surface of ground water or the level below which the soil is saturated with water.

Wetland: A lowland area, such as a marsh or swamp, that is saturated with moisture, a rich natural habitat for wildlife.

Windbreak: A hedge, row of tree, or fence serving to lessen or break the force of the wind.