Management terms
Intensive (pigs)
High input systems characteristic of developed countries.
Nomadism
The system in which the livestock and their owners/herders move from location to location throughout the year, with no single, fixed base.
Semiferal (buffaloes)
As in Borneo. The animals are kept as a capital investment, and are captured and/or killed when cash is required.
Semi-intensive (pigs)
Breeding stock are kept on grass; growing/finishing pigs are in pens/houses.
Transhumance
The system in which the livestock and their owners/herders occupy a home base for a substantial portion of the year, and migrate to other locations for the rest of the year.
Village or smallholder agriculture
Small farms or communally owned lands in close proximity to centres of human population. Generally, farming is both arable and livestock.
Wool
composition
true wool: the undercoat of many breeds, but the whole fleece of the Merino; lacks a medulla, and usually tightly crimped.
heterotypes; intermediate between true wool and kemp; medullated in the widest part of the fibre (summer growth); no medulla in the narrower part of the fibre (winter growth).
kemps: fibres with a diameter of approximately 100 micrometres and a wide medulla.
hair.: medullated for the full length of the fibre, and the medulla occupies .80% of the diameter.
processing type
Merino wool: <23 micrometres in diameter
crossbred wool: any wools other than those of Merino quality used in. the manufacture of clothing, furnishings and drapery.
carpet wool: undercoat + heavily medullated heterotypes + kemp; coarser than crossbred wool.
Terrestrial environment (biomes)
Desert biome
Semi-desert: Woody shrubs and grasses. Includes thorntree semidesert in areas that are transitional to forest. Found in dry climates of the tropics, subtropics and mid latitudes. Large annual soil-water deficit. Mean annual precipitation usually 10-25 cm.
Dry desert: Widely scattered desert shrubs with bare ground intervening. Found in dry desert climate in tropical and mid latitudes. Large soil-water deficit. Mean annual precipitation usually <10 cm.
Grassland biome
Middle latitude grassland: This includes the two types defined below.
Tall-grass prairie: Dense growth of tall grasses and herbs. Found in moist subtropical and moist continental climates. Mean temperature of coldest month <10 C; mean temperature of warmest month >l8 C. Mean monthly precipitation >3 cm.
Short grass (steppe): Short sparse grasses. Found in semiarid and subhumid climates of mid-latitude plains. Evaporation exceeds precipitation, on average, throughout the year; no water surplus. Mean annual precipitation usually 25-76 cm.
Forest biome
Coniferous forest = Needleleaf forest defined below.
Mediterranean woodland and scrub: = Sclerophyll forest defined below.
Monsoon forest: Open forest of tropical lands. Many trees are deciduous: shed leaves in the low-sun season. There are dry cool and wet monsoon seasons. Average temperature of every month =>18 C. Rainfall of driest month <6 cm.
Mid-latitude deciduous forest: Broadleaf, deciduous trees which shed leaves in winter. Substantial soil-water surplus. Found in mild, humid (mesothermal) climates and snowy-forest microthermal climates. Average temperature of coldest month <10 C; average of warmest month >l8 C.
Needleleaf forest (Coniferous forest): Needleleaf evergreen trees forming dense forest in high latitudes. Long, very cold winters (except on west coast of continents). Average temperature of coldest month <10 C: average of warmest month >18 C.
Sclerophyll forest (Mediterranean woodland and scrub); Open forest of hard-leaved, evergreen trees. Found in mid-latitude regions with very dry summers and moist winters. Precipitation of the driest month of summer <3 cm. Precipitation of the wettest month of winter is at least three time as much as in the driest month of summer.
Tropical deciduous forest = Monsoon forest defined above.
Tropical rainforest: Tall, smooth-barked, evergreen trees with high crowns. Found in warm, wet, equatorial, tropical climates with a large water surplus. Average temperature of every month =>18 C. Rainfall of driest month =>6 cm.
Tropical scrub forest: Also known as thorn woodland, thorn forest and thorntree semidesert. The trees and shrubs are deciduous, shedding leaves during the dry season. Examples are the caatinga of northheast Brazil and the dornveldt of South Africa.
Savanna biome
Tropical savanna woodland: Scattered trees with grassland. e.g. orchard bush of West Africa.
Found in tropical climates with a long dry season and a short wet season. Average temperature of every month =>l8 C. Annual rainfall exceeds annual evaporation; at least one month has less than 6 cm of rain.
Tundra biome
Arctic tundra: Treeless landscape with sedges, grasses, mosses and flowering herbs. Found in the severely cold climate of the subarctic zone. Mean temperature of the warmest month >0 and <10 C.
Alpine tundra: Similar to arctic tundra. Occurs at high altitudes, above the tree line, and in a wide range of latitudes. Climate similar to that of arctic tundra.
