Agroforestry, the intercropping of woody and non-woody plants, although age-old in practice, has now established itself as a new science. This field of study draws its terminology from a range of scientific disciplines. Whether as scientists or practitioners, those involved need to communicate easily and precisely. There is, therefore, a need to comprehend the range of terms that are in common usage, whether these are derived from agriculture, horticulture, forestry, ecology, soil science or some other cognate discipline. For example, foresters use terms to describe the replanting areas of young transplants as 'beating up', 're-enforcement planting', 'filling' (or 'infilling'), 'gapping' or 'recruiting'. Horticulturists talk about 'pricking out' when they mean transplanting very young seedlings into a seedbox or small container; ecologists have several ways of using the word 'niche', all with different definitions and all useful in describing particular agroforestry situations, and so on
Publication year
1997
Authors
Language
English
Keywords
agroforestry, forestry, terminology
