CGPSC ACF/FRO key terms

The science of establishing, tending, and harvesting forest crops to meet defined objectives, covering regeneration methods, thinning, and rotation choices. It treats each stand as a managed unit with a planned treatment series.

The process of renewing a forest crop, either naturally from seed or coppice of retained trees, or artificially by sowing and planting. The choice depends on species, site, and desired composition.

A regeneration method where successive fellings remove the old crop in stages, leaving seed-bearing trees to shelter and seed the new crop until it is established. It suits shade-bearers and sites needing protection from frost or weeds.

A silvicultural system in which the entire stand is removed in one operation and the area regenerated artificially or from adjoining seed sources. It simplifies harvesting but risks erosion, nutrient loss, and frost damage on exposed sites.

The felling of a proportion of trees in an immature stand to reduce competition, improve growth of retained stems, and yield intermediate produce. Thinnings are classified by grade, from low thinning of suppressed trees to crown thinning of dominants.

The planned period between establishment of a crop and its final felling, fixed by species, site quality, and management objective. Rotation length drives yield regulation, allowable cut, and the age structure of the whole forest.

A written management document describing a forest division's resources, past treatment, and prescribed operations for a fixed plan period, usually ten years. It is prepared by a working plans officer and sanctioned under forest law before implementation.

A subdivision of a forest division grouping areas with similar composition, silvicultural system, and management objective, so that a single set of prescriptions and yield calculations applies. Working circles form the planning units of a working plan.

Measures of how fully a site is occupied by trees. Density expresses basal area or volume per unit area, while stocking compares actual tree numbers with a normal or reference stand, guiding thinning and regeneration decisions.

The volume or area of timber permitted to be harvested annually or periodically from a management unit without impairing future productivity. It is calculated by methods such as area, volume, or growing stock regulation.

A participatory arrangement in which forest-dependent communities form committees with the forest department to protect and manage degraded forest land in return for a share of usufruct and produce. It was formalised in India by the 1990 guidelines.

Rights of recognised forest-dwelling communities under the Forest Rights Act to use, manage, and conserve forest resources, including collection of minor forest produce and protection of community forest areas. They sit alongside individual rights over land and habitation.

The legal process of enquiring into and recording rights and privileges claimed over forest land proposed for reservation, before notification. Claims are admitted, modified, or rejected by a settlement officer, and the record binds future management.

Two legal classes of forest under the Indian Forest Act. Reserved forest carries the highest protection, with most activities prohibited unless permitted, while protected forest permits certain rights and activities subject to notification and rules.

A region with exceptional numbers of endemic species that has lost a large share of its original vegetation. The Western Ghats and the Himalaya are Indian hotspots, and hotspot status guides conservation priority and funding.

The condition of a species being naturally restricted to a defined geographic area and found nowhere else. Endemic species are especially vulnerable to habitat loss because no other population exists to buffer decline.

Two complementary conservation approaches: in-situ protects species within their natural habitat, as in national parks and biosphere reserves, while ex-situ maintains them outside it, as in zoos, seed banks, and botanical gardens.

The legal designations for conservation areas in India, including national parks, wildlife sanctuaries, conservation reserves, and community reserves, each with different permitted activities and settlement of rights. A core-and-buffer structure is common in tiger reserves.

An area within a tiger reserve notified as inviolate for tiger conservation, where no alteration of the habitat is permitted except as allowed by law. It is delineated with the buffer to form the reserve's core-and-buffer design.

Negative interactions between people and wild animals, such as crop raiding, livestock depredation, and injury, often arising where habitats adjoin settlements. Management uses barriers, compensation, corridors, and community participation.

A stretch of habitat linking otherwise isolated patches, allowing animals to move for food, breeding, and dispersal. Corridors reduce inbreeding and local extinction risk but are frequently fragmented by roads, mines, and settlements.

The breaking up of continuous habitat into smaller, isolated patches by land-use change such as roads, agriculture, and mining. It reduces gene flow, edge effects, and the area available to wide-ranging species.

The altered physical and biological conditions along the boundary between two habitat types, including more light, wind, and invasive species. Edge effects can penetrate deep into fragments and reduce interior habitat quality.

The directional change in species composition of a community over time, from pioneer stages to a relatively stable climax. Primary succession starts on bare substrate, while secondary succession follows disturbance of an existing community.

The maximum population of a species that an area can sustain indefinitely given available food, space, and other resources. Populations may overshoot it temporarily, leading to crash, emigration, or habitat degradation.

The uptake and storage of atmospheric carbon dioxide in biomass, soil, or other sinks. Forests store carbon in wood and soil, making them central to climate mitigation and to schemes rewarding reduced deforestation.

A climate framework that offers incentives to developing countries for reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, and for conserving and sustainably managing forests and enhancing carbon stocks. It requires measurement, reporting, and verification.

The benefits people obtain from ecosystems, grouped as provisioning, regulating, supporting, and cultural services. Examples include timber, water regulation, pollination, and recreation, and they underpin arguments for conserving forests.

A vertical section of soil showing layers called horizons, distinguished by colour, texture, and organic content. Typical horizons are O, A, B, C, and R, and their arrangement indicates soil development and fertility.

Texture is the proportion of sand, silt, and clay particles in soil, while structure is how these particles aggregate into peds. Together they govern water retention, aeration, root penetration, and erodibility.

The detachment and transport of soil particles by water, wind, or gravity, accelerated by vegetation removal and poor land use. Control uses contour bunds, check dams, terracing, and vegetative cover.

Planned treatment of a drainage basin to conserve soil and water, using contour trenches, check dams, afforestation, and land-use regulation. It aims to moderate runoff, recharge groundwater, and sustain local livelihoods.

A contour is a line joining points of equal elevation, and gradient is the rate of rise or fall along a slope. Contour maps and gradient calculations guide road alignment, trenching, and erosion control.

A surveying method measuring horizontal distances with a chain or tape and directions with a compass, used to fix ground features. It is inexpensive and suited to small areas, but accuracy falls in rough or magnetic-disturbed terrain.

A graphical method in which field observations are plotted directly on a drawing board at the station, producing a map without separate field notes. It suits small-scale mapping but is limited by weather and scale.

Non-timber products gathered from forests such as tendu leaves, mahua flowers, honey, and medicinal plants. MFP supports rural livelihoods, and in Chhattisgarh tendu leaf collection and mahua are economically significant.

The leaf of Diospyros melanoxylon, used to wrap bidi, collected as a major state-controlled minor forest produce. Its trade is regulated, and collection rights are important to forest communities in central India.

Forest dominated by Shorea robusta, a commercially and culturally important hardwood of central and eastern India. Sal often regenerates through coppice and seed, and its management shapes working plans in Chhattisgarh.

A patch of vegetation protected by a community for religious or cultural reasons, often preserving old-growth species. Sacred groves serve as refugia for biodiversity and are recognised in conservation planning.

A statutory process that predicts the environmental consequences of a proposed project before approval, including public consultation and an environment management plan. Clearance categories and safeguards depend on the project's scale and location.