Glossary
Source: gov.uk (2025-10-30)

Use this glossary to find clear definitions of terms and phrases used throughout this guidance.

Bark stripping

Damage caused by deer scraping off bark with their teeth.

Biodiversity

The variability among living organisms from all sources including, inter alia, terrestrial, marine and other aquatic ecosystems and the ecological complexes of which they are part.

Browsing

The action of herbivores eating leaves, buds and shoots of vegetation above ground level.

Caching

A behaviour whereby an animal stores or hoards food to feed on later, sometimes months later.

Clearcutting or clear-felling

Where most or all trees in an area are harvested at once.

Coppice

Trees that are cut near ground level, causing them to produce many small shoots. These shoots are harvested every few years at a relatively early age for products such as staves, fencing, fuel and charcoal. “Coppice with standards” includes scattered trees that are left to grow as normal (“standards”).

Deer leaps

An escape route for deer allowing them to leave a fenced area but not re-enter, consisting of a ramp up to the fence on the inside

Ecosystem engineers

Species that directly influence ecosystems including by creating novel habitats, or modifying ecological processes

Epicormic growth

The production of new branches from dormant buds in old stems. Stimulation of their growth can occur via change in the root to foliage ratio, which can be caused by ringbarking or severe pruning.

Feral

An animal living in the wild but descended from domesticated individuals.

Fraying

The action of male deer using their antlers to remove the bark of trees or tall plants. Larger species may thrash trees, breaking branches.

Girdling

The removal of a complete band of bark from around the stem or branch of a tree. Interchangeable with ‘ringbarking’.

Gnawing

A general term for nibbling at a hard object but frequently applied to the action of rodents such as volves or beavers using their incisors to bite into and peel away bark or heartwood.

Grazing

The action of herbivores eating plants at ground level.

Non-native

A general term for animal or plant species that is thought to have been introduced by people.

Ringbarking

The removal of a complete band of bark from around the stem or branch of a tree. Interchangeable with ‘girdling’.

Rooting

The use of the snouts, by pigs or wild boar, to dig for roots, bulbs or invertebrates which disturbs the soil and is often a visible sign of pig or wild boar feeding.

Scarification

A technique involving shallow ground cultivation which aims to scrape off the surface vegetation.

Scatter-hoarders

A form of caching behaviour where the animal places small caches (sometimes single food items) in many different locations.

Shelterwood felling

A forestry management method involving the gradual removal of trees over multiple harvests to create favourable conditions for natural regeneration.

Silviculture

The care and cultivation of forest trees.

Structural heterogeneity

Variation in the horizontal and vertical arrangement of vegetation within an area of habitat.

Topiary

In a woodland context, topiary is the repeated browsing of a tree by deer, shaping its growth into a compact, dense, and almost sculpted form that is distinct from its natural structure.

Wind snap

The breaking of a tree stem or branches due to high winds, typically occurring at a weak point in the trunk or canopy.