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Glossary

Afforestation: Planting trees to establish a new forest.
Ambient air pollution: A complex and dynamic mixture of thousands of specific air pollutants in the outdoor air, which can occur in gaseous or particulate form.
Angiosperms: A plant having its seeds enclosed in an ovary.
Attached dwelling: A single, 2 or 3 storey dwelling, with private open space and/or access to communal open space that is part of a group of dwellings, each of which is attached to another dwelling or other dwellings by 1 or more common walls.

Biogenic emissions

Emissions from natural sources, such as plants and trees.

Bioregion

An area of land that comprises broad landscape patterns that reflect major structural geologies and climate, as well as major floristic and faunal assemblages.

Broad vegetation groups (BVG)

Are a higher-level grouping of regional ecosystems and vegetation communities. BVGs provide an overview of vegetation across both the state and bioregions.

Broadacre production

Includes the following crops:

grains (wheat, oats, barley, triticale, sorghum, maize, rice, plus other grains)
pulses such as chickpeas
oilseeds (canola, peanuts and sunflowers)
irrigated and non-irrigated cotton
pasture crops (lucerne, pasture, cereals and other crops cut for hay and silage).

Bunding

Constructing an embankment or causeway.

Carbon monoxide: Formed through incomplete combustion of fuels containing carbon.
Chlorophyll-a concentration: A measure of phytoplankton biomass in a water body; in coastal waters, it can reflect changes in river nutrient loads. In the Great Barrier Reef Water Quality Guidelines, chlorophyll-a is used as a proxy for dissolved inorganic nitrogen.
Coastal erosion: Caused by waves, tidal currents, channel migration and sediment supply changes, is a natural feature of sandy coasts.
Commercial and industrial waste: Produced by business and commerce and includes waste from schools, restaurants, offices, retail and wholesale businesses and manufacturing industries.
Construction and demolition waste: Non-putrescible (non-rotting) waste arising from construction or demolition activity which may include materials such as brick, timber, concrete and steel.
Contaminated soil: Soil that contains hazardous materials (such as asbestos and hazardous chemicals).
Core areas: Represent remnant vegetation that is further than 100 metres from cleared areas, where there is less chance of weed invasion and feral animals.
Crown-of-thorns starfish: A native coral predator.

Deforestation: The permanent removal of forests or trees from a large area, usually for commercial purposes.
Deposited sediment: Sediment settling to the bottom and filling waterholes.
Detached dwelling: A single dwelling not attached to another dwelling and on an individual lot.
Drainage Division: Divisions that are defined by major landscape features and climatic zones to form broad hydrological regions.
Drought declaration: An official acknowledgment by government that a shire, an area or individual grazing property is affected by poor seasonal conditions.
Dwelling density: The mean population weighted dwelling density of all Census mesh blocks in a region. It is calculated as follows: {The sum for all Census mesh blocks of [(mesh block dwelling count divided by area of mesh block) multiplied by mesh block population count]} divided by the sum of all mesh block population counts.

Ecological connectivity: The connection between ecosystems and habitats that allows wildlife to cross the landscape in search of food, shelter and suitable breeding sites.
Ecological Processes: The physical, chemical and biological processes on which life depends. Ecological processes include decomposition, plant matter production, nutrient cycling, and fluxes of nutrients and energy.
Ecosystem: A community of organisms interacting with one another and with the environment in which they live.
Edge areas: Represent remnant vegetation within 100 metres of cleared land, where ‘edge effects’ are greater and the condition of the remnant vegetation is generally lower.
Effluent: Liquid waste or sewage discharged into a river or the sea.
Endangered: The definition of ‘endangered’ is defined in the Schedule of the Nature Conservation Act 1992 and prescribed in Part 5 - Wildlife and habitat conservation of the Act.
Endangered regional ecosystems: Are those where less than 10% of their pre-clearing extent remains.
Endemic species: Species of flora and fauna that exists only in one geographic region.
Enteric fermentation: Fermentation that takes place in the digestive systems of animals. In particular, animals such as cattle, buffalo, sheep, goats, and camels that have a large ‘fore-stomach’ within which microbial fermentation breaks down food into soluble products that can be utilised by the animal.
Ephemeral stream: A stream that flows only briefly during and following a period of rainfall in the immediate locality.
Estuarine wetlands: Provide nurseries for many commercial fish species’ young and act as a protective buffer for the coastline from storm surges and cyclones.
Evaporation rate: Evaporation is the amount of water which evaporates from an open pan called a Class A evaporation pan. The rate of evaporation depends on factors such as cloudiness, air temperature and wind speed.
Extinct: The definition of ‘extinct’ is defined in the Schedule of the Nature Conservation Act 1992 and prescribed in Part 5 - Wildlife and habitat conservation of the Act.

Floristics: The type, number and distribution of plant species in a particular area.
Forbland: Land that is dominated by an herbaceous plant that is not a grass.
Freshwater wetlands: Improve water quality, provide water for stock and irrigation, and provide habitat for many dependent native species.

Global mean sea level: The average level for the surface of the ocean, shows a long-term trend of permanent sea level rise.
Ground cover: The vegetation (living and dead), biological crusts and stone that are in contact with the soil surface.
Gymnosperms: Seed-producing plants i.e. conifers and cycads.

Halocarbons: Any chemical compound of the element carbon and 1 or more of the halogens (bromine, chlorine, fluorine, iodine).
Heatwave: 3 days or more of high maximum and minimum temperatures that are unusual for that location.
Hot days: Classed as days with maximum temperatures exceeding 35.0°C.
Household waste (municipal solid): Waste that is generated by domestic activities and includes waste collected from households via kerbside services, from public place bins, or self-hauled by residents to council facilities.

Illegal dumping: Defined in Queensland as the unlawful depositing of 200 litres or more of waste.
Industrial combustion: The rapid oxidation of hydrocarbon fuels to generate large quantities of energy for use in industrial heating and melting processes.

Lacustrine: Lacustrine wetlands are large, open, water-dominated systems such as lakes.
Landscape fragmentation: The ‘breaking up’ of large areas of intact native vegetation.

Marine wetlands: Include the area of ocean from the coastline to 6 metres below the lowest astronomical tide.
Mean temperature: The average temperature of the air during a given time period, usually a day, month, or year.
Median lot size data for Queensland: Urban lot registrations (60 m2 to < 2500 m2) for the years ending September 2012 and September 2017. Data is presented only for those parts of Queensland that are covered by the Queensland Treasury residential development profiles.
Mesh Block: The smallest geographical area defined by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). Mesh Blocks form the building blocks for the larger regions of the Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS). All other statistical areas or regions are built up from or approximated by whole Mesh Blocks. They broadly identify land use such as residential, commercial, primary production and parks, etc. As Mesh Blocks are very small they can be combined together to accurately approximate a large range of other statistical regions, for example Queensland Regional Planning areas such as South East Queensland.
Micrometre: One-millionth of a metre. Symbol: μm

Nitrogen dioxide: Produced from high-temperature combustion processes. It is found in motor vehicle emissions and in industrial emissions from fossil fuel combustion (power stations).
Non-remnant vegetation: Vegetation in which the ecologically dominant stratum is composed of grasses and /or other non-woody vegetation.

Of concern regional ecosystems: Are those where between 10% and 30% of their pre-clearing extent remains.
Outstanding Universal Value: Cultural and/or natural significance that is so exceptional as to transcend national boundaries and to be of common importance for present and future generations of all humanity.
Ozone: A major component of photochemical smog. It is not directly emitted to the atmosphere: it forms when oxides of nitrogen (NOx) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) react in sunlight.

Palustrine

Palustrine wetlands include any inland freshwater wetland that lacks flowing water, and is non-tidal. These include inland marshes and swamps, as well as bogs, fens, tundra and floodplains.

Pan evaporation

A measurement that combines or integrates the effects of several climate elements: temperature, humidity, rainfall, drought dispersion, solar radiation, and wind. Evaporation is greatest on hot, windy, dry, sunny days; and is greatly reduced when clouds block the sun and when air is cool, calm, and humid.

Particle pollution

Particles emitted into the atmosphere which range in size from more than 50 micrometres (µm) in diameter to less than 1µm and can impact on health and amenity.

Patch areas

Represent isolated fragments of remnant vegetation less than 100 metres wide, that are most vulnerable to threatening processes and are likely to have impaired ecosystem functioning.

Photochemical smog

Smog formed in the atmosphere when precursor pollutants including nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) undergo reactions in sunlight to form smog, of which ozone is the principal component. The haze caused by photochemical smog can also reduce visibility.

Physico-chemical

The physical and chemical properties of substances.

Point source

A localised and stationary source of pollution.

Precipitation

Falling products of condensation in the atmosphere, as rain, snow, or hail.

Pre-clearing vegetation

The vegetation present before clearing.

Protected areas

Includes the following as listed under the Nature Conservation Act 1992:

national parks
national parks (scientific)
national park (Cape York Aboriginal land)
conservation parks
resources reserve
nature refuges.

Ramsar Convention of wetlands

An international treaty for the conservation and sustainable utilisation of wetlands, recognising the fundamental ecological functions of wetlands and their economic, cultural, scientific, and recreational value.

Reforestation

Planting trees to re-establish a depleted forest.

Refugial waterholes

Enable resistance and resilience of aquatic populations in temporary systems, processes essential for vigour and long term viability, by providing habitat to ride out dry spells.

Regional Ecosystem

Refers to a vegetation community in a bioregion that is consistently associated with a particular combination of geology, landform and soil.

Regional ecosystems ‘no concern at present’ or ‘least concern’

Are those where more than 30% of their pre-clearing extent remain.

Regulated waste

Includes hazardous wastes listed in Schedule 7 of the Environmental Protection Regulation 2008. It includes asbestos, pesticides, a range of waste chemicals and chemical compounds, and other industrial wastes.

Remnant vegetation

Defined under the Vegetation Management Act 1999 and refers to vegetation that is:

an endangered regional ecosystem, or
of concern regional ecosystem, or
least concern regional ecosystem.

Further defined as vegetation that has not been cleared or vegetation that has been cleared but where the dominant canopy has greater than 70% of the height and greater than 50% of the cover relative to the undisturbed height and cover of that stratum and is dominated by species characteristic of the vegetation's undisturbed canopy.

Riparian

Of, relating to, or located on the banks of a river or stream. Rural land Areas that do not meet the criteria used to define Urban land which is that the area supports a ‘dense’ population (>100 km2) of more than 1,000 persons in total and has an identifiable town centre.

Rural Land in Extensive Use

Rural land that has a “minor human population” density i.e. between 1 and 10 km2 and comprises large land parcels used for broadacre agriculture (such as grazing and dryland cropping) and forestry.

Rural Land in Intensive Use

Rural land that has a ‘substantial human population” density i.e. between 10 and 100 km2 and comprises smaller land parcels used for high input agriculture (such as irrigated cropping, horticulture, or intensive animal husbandry), or for decentralised industrial, commercial, or residential activities, built infrastructure or remote settlements.

Rural Land Not Settled

Rural land that has an “inconsequential human population” i.e. < 1 km2 and is used in a manner that minimises human impacts such as National Parks or Conservation Reserves.

Rural Settlement

Rural land that is permanently occupied by a dispersed (i.e. non-urban) human population. It may be used for agricultural, fisheries, mining, or other decentralised commercial/residential/support services.

Scarred trees: Trees that have had bark removed by Indigenous Australians for the creation of bark canoes, shelters, shields and containers, such as coolamons.
Sea surface temperature (SST): Analyses of the temperature of the uppermost metre of the ocean, based on observations from both in-water instruments and satellites.
Semi-arid: Being appreciably dry but not as dry as arid regions.
Stone artefact scatter: Stone artefacts are either flaked or ground into shape, or are made through a combination of these methods. They are manufactured and used by Aboriginal groups across Australia and provide the earliest evidence of human occupation in Australia, extending back 50,000 years.
Storm tide inundation: Coastal flooding by the sea that is caused by an abnormal elevation of the sea level (a storm surge) over normal tide levels.
Sulphur dioxide: Originates mainly from industries such as smelting of mineral ores, oil refining and coal-fired power generation.

Trackable waste: Includes environmentally damaging materials listed in Schedule 11 of the Environmental Protection Regulation 2019. Not all trackable wastes are regulated and not all regulated wastes are trackable.

Very heavy rainfall: Classed as days with at least 30 mm of rain.
Visibility-reducing particles: A build-up of fine airborne particles which can reduce how far we can see through the air.
Volatile Organic compounds: A large group of carbon-based chemicals that easily evaporate at room temperature. Many VOCs are human-made chemicals that are used and produced in the manufacture of paints, adhesives, petroleum products, pharmaceuticals, and refrigerants.
Vulnerable: The definition of ‘vulnerable’ is defined in the Schedule of the Nature Conservation Act 1992 and prescribed in Part 5 - Wildlife and habitat conservation of the Act.

Woody vegetation: Vegetation for which the ecologically dominant stratum is composed of trees or shrubs.

Last updated: 20 September 2021