A CSO Frontier Series Output - What is this?
Table 5.1: Glossary and Acronyms | |
|---|---|
| Term | Description |
| AAU | Agricultural Area Utilised. |
| Agricultural Area Utilised | The Agricultural Area Utilised (AAU) is the combined area under crops, silage, hay, pasture and rough grazing land in use (including fallow land). Areas under roads, tracks, water, bog, marsh, rocks, unused rough grazing land, buildings etc. are excluded. For more information see CSO Farm Structure Survey 2016 Background Notes. |
| Arable land | Land used for growing crops. |
| 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, including diversity within species, between species, and of ecosystems21. |
| Biomass | Material that comes from living organisms. |
| Calaminarian grassland | Calaminarian grasslands are Annex I habitats. It is characterised by the presence of plants that can tolerate high levels of heavy metals. In Ireland, it occurs only in artificial habitats on spoil heaps near old mines11. |
| Calcareous grassland | Calcareous grasslands are Annex I habitats. They are species-rich plant communities on shallow, well-drained calcareous substrates. It is considered a priority habitat if it is an important orchid site11. |
| CAP | Common Agricultural Policy. |
| Catchment | The area of land bounded by watersheds draining into a river, basin or reservoir (EEA definition). |
| CLC | CORINE Land Cover. |
| CLC2012 | CORINE Land Cover dataset for 2012. |
| CLC2018 | CORINE Land Cover dataset for 2018. |
| Complex cultivation patterns (CLC2018) | CORINE Land Cover class defined as: Mosaic of small cultivated land parcels with different cultivation types - annual crops, pasture and/or permanent crops10. |
| Copernicus | Copernicus is the European Union’s earth observation programme. |
| CORINE Land Cover | Ireland’s CORINE Land Cover dataset is produced by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for the European Environment Agency (EEA) using both satellite imagery and other national level data, which included data from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Coillte, and the Forest Service. It is a comprehensive dataset giving full coverage of the country, with broad land cover classes providing a useful overview of the land cover types in Ireland. |
| Croplands | Croplands are mainly used for food productoin, and include intensively managed ecosystems and areas under lower intensity management, supporting semi-natural vegetation as well as food production. Areas with significant coverage of natural vegetation (agricultural mosaics) are also included4. |
| DAFM | Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine. |
| Ecosystem | A dynamic complex of plant, animal and micro-organism communities and their non-living environment interacting as a functional unit21. |
| Ecosystem goods and services | The contributions of ecosystems to benefits used in economic and other human activity1. |
| EPA | Environmental Protection Agency. |
| Eutrophication | A process of pollution whereby a waterbody becomes over-enriched with nutrients, and consequently becomes overgrown in algae and other aquatic plants. Decomposition of the plants then results in a lack of oxygen in the water, affecting the quality of the ecosystem. |
| Fruit tree and berry plantations (CLC2018) | CORINE Land Cover class defined as: Cultivated parcels planted with fruit trees and shrubs, intended for fruit production, including nuts. The planting pattern can be by single or mixed fruit species, both in association with permanently grassy surfaces10. |
| Grassland | Grasslands are areas dominated by grassy vegetation (but including tall forbs, mosses, and lichens)4. |
| Habitat | A habitat is described as the area in which an organism or group of organisms live, and is defined by the living (biotic) and non-living (abiotic) components of the environment3. |
| Hydrophilous tall herb | Hydrophilous tall herb is an Annex I grassland habitat. There are three different plant communities considered to be Hydrophilous tall-herb swamp in Ireland. One is a community that occurs at the margins of waterbodies, the second is an upland community of ungrazed/lightly grazed cliff ledges, and the third is a tall-herb community of woodland borders11. |
| Improved grassland | Grassland managed to maximise yield. Management practices include reseeding, fertiliser application, and grazing or mowing3. |
| Land parcel | The basic unit of the Land Parcel Identification System – usually an individual field. |
| Land Parcel Identification System | The Land Parcel Identification System is a geospatial database which was established under Council Regulation (EC) No 73/2009. Its purpose is to assist farmers and authorities within EU member states with the management of applications and payments under the EU Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). In Ireland, the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) manages the LPIS database. |
| Land principally occupied by agriculture, with significant areas of natural vegetation (CLC2018) | CORINE Land Cover class defined as: Areas principally occupied by agriculture, interspersed with significant natural or semi-natural areas (including forests, shrubs, wetlands, water bodies, mineral outcrops) in a mosaic pattern10. |
| Land take | Conversion of land to artificial surfaces through urbanisation and soil sealing8. |
| Livestock Unit (LSU) | A Livestock Unit (LSU) is a standard measurement unit that allows the aggregation of numbers of livestock across different categories of livestock by assigning weights to different categories. For example, a dairy cow is 1 LSU, while a sheep is 0.1 LSU. For more information see CSO Farm Structure Survey 2016 Background Notes. |
| Lowland hay meadow | Lowland hay meadows are Annex I habitats. Lowland hay meadows in Ireland are semi-natural grasslands that are almost always managed as traditional hay meadows (cut only once a year in late summer or autumn with the hay crop removed)11. |
| LSU | Livestock Unit |
| MAES | MAES is a European project which was part of Target 2 (Action 5) of the EU Biodiversity Strategy to 20209. For more see Mapping and Assessment of Ecosystems and their Services. |
| Molinia meadows | Molinia meadows are Annex I grassland habitats. In Ireland they are fen and grassland communities on nutrient-poor soils that may be managed as traditional hay meadows or as extensive pasture11. |
| Nardus grassland | Species-rich Nardus grasslands are Annex I habitats. They occur on siliceous substrates in upland areas, and generally relies on extensive grazing by sheep to maintain the habitat11. |
| Natura 2000 | Network of Special Areas of Conservation (SACs) and Special Protection Areas (SPAs), see Natura 2000. |
| Natural grassland (CLC2018) | CORINE Land Cover class defined as: grasslands under low to moderate human influence. Low productivity grasslands. Often situated in areas of rough, uneven ground, steep slopes; frequently including rocky areas or patches of other (semi-)natural vegetation10. |
| NHA | Natural Heritage Area |
| Non-irrigated arable land (CLC2018) | CORINE Land Cover class defined as: Cultivated land parcels under rainfed agricultural use for annually harvested non-permanent crops, normally under a crop rotation system, including fallow lands within such crop rotation10. |
| NPWS | National Parks and Wildlife Service |
| Organic farming | Organic farming involves organic production methods which limit or avoid the use of synthetic chemicals including fertilisers, pesticides, additives, and veterinary medicine products. Within the EU, organic farming needs to comply with Regulation 834/2007 of 28 June 2007 on organic production and labelling of organic products. Regulation 889/2008 provides the detailed rules for implementation. The area under organic farming includes certified areas and areas under conversion20. |
| Pastures (CLC2018) | CORINE Land Cover class defined as: Permanent grassland characterized by agricultural use or strong human disturbance. Floral composition dominated by grasses and influenced by human activity. Typically used for grazing - pastures, or mechanical harvesting of grass – meadows10. |
| Pesticide | A chemical substance used in the control of organisms that are considered ‘pests’ and might reduce agricultural yields. Pesticides include fungicides (against fungi), herbicides (against plants), and insecticides (against insects). |
| pNHA | Proposed Natural Heritage Area. |
| Pressure | Human induced process that alters the condition of an ecosystem4. |
| SAC | Special Area of Conservation. |
| Scrub | Vegetation dominated by shrubs, or low woody plants. |
| SEEA-EA | System of Environmental Economic Accounting – Ecosystem Accounting |
| Semi-natural features | In this publication, semi-natural features are components of grasslands and croplands such as field margins, hedgerows, and patches of uncultivated land that are not directly utilised for agriculture. |
| Semi-natural grassland | Semi-natural grasslands are extensively managed, with interventions usually limited to grazing or mowing. Without grazing or mowing, the grasslands would revert to scrub, woodland, or heath3. |
| SPA | Special Protection Area. |
| Temporary grassland | Land used for grazing, hay or silage included as a part of a normal crop rotation, lasting at least one crop year and normally less than 5 years, sown with grass or grass mixtures20. |
1. System of Environmental Economic Accounting - Ecosystem Accounting. (United Nations, 2021).
3. Fossitt, J. A. A Guide to Habitats in Ireland. (Heritage Council, 2000).
4. Maes, J. et al. Mapping and Assessment of Ecosystems and their Services: An analytical framework for mapping and assessment of ecosystem condition in EU. (2018).
8. Maes, J., Teller, A., Erhard, M., Condé, S. & Vallecilo, S. Mapping and Assessment of Ecosystems and their Services: An EU ecosystem assessment. (2020).
9. EU Biodiversity Strategy to 2020. (European Commission, 2011).
10. Updated CLC Illustrated Nomenclature Guidelines. (European Environment Agency, 2019).
11. The Status of EU Protected Habitats and Species in Ireland. Volume 1: Summary Overview. (National Parks and Wildlife Service, 2019).
20. Farrell, C. et al. Applying the System of Environmental Economic Accounting-Ecosystem Accounting (SEEA-EA) framework at catchment scale to develop ecosystem extent and condition accounts. One Ecosystem 6 (2021).
21. Convention on Biological Diversity. (1992).
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