Forestry Terms - M -
MARGINAL LAND - Land that does not consistently produce a profitable crop because of infertility, drought, or other physical limitations such as shallow soils.
MARKETING - The selling of timber or other forest resources. Successful sellers seek a satisfactory price through competition, skillful negotiation, knowledge of timber markets, and the aid of a competent broker or consultant.
MARKING - (a) The physical process of selecting trees to be cut or left during a harvest. (b) delineating a boundary. Marking is usually done by spraying a spot of bright paint on a prominent part of the tree.
MAST - Fruits or nuts used as a food source by wildlife. Soft mast include most fruits with fleshy coverings, such as persimmon, dogwood seed, or black gum seed. Hard mast refers to nuts such as acorns and beech, pecan, and hickory nuts.
MATURE TREE - A tree that has reached a desired size or age for its intended use. Size, age, or economic maturity varies depending on the species and intended use.
MBF - Abbreviation denoting 1,000 board feet. MBF is a typical
unit of trade for dimension lumber and sawtimber stumpage. (It takes 11 MBF of wood to
build an average 1,900-square-foot house.)
MENSURATION or BIOMETRICS - (a) The measurement and calculation of volume, growth, and development of individual trees or stands and their timber products. (b) A measurement of forestlands.
MERCHANTABLE -Logs exceeding a minimum size and a minimum usable volume that are
suitable for sale.
MERCHANTABLE HEIGHT - The stem length, normally measured from the ground to a 10-, 6-, or 4-inch diameter top, above which no other saleable product can be cut. Diameter, local markets, limbs, knots, and other defects collectively influence merchantable height.
MERCHANTABLE TOP -Smallest utilizable top.
MERIDIAN: See LAND LOCATION (GLO).
MINERAL COMMODITIES: A mineral resource with sufficient value to be individually produced and traded on the open market.
MINERAL RESOURCE: A known or undiscovered concentration of naturally occurring solid, liquid, or gaseous material in or on the Earth's crust in such form and amount that economic extraction of a commodity from the concentration is currently or potentially feasible.
- Identified, Demonstrated: An in-place deposit for which there are physical measurements of size and grade combined with limited extrapolation of geological, geochemical, and geophysical data
- Identified, Inferred: A known deposit for which there are only general quantitative estimates of size and grade. The estimates are based on assumed data from geologic evidence and related mining experience
- Undiscovered, High Potential: As yet undiscovered deposit in a region where the geologic controls necessary for the formation of deposits of a specific type are present and favorable and evidence indicates mineral accumulation
- Undiscovered, Low Potential: As yet undiscovered deposit in a region where the geologic, geochemical, and geophysical characteristics do not indicate a favorable environment or where there is little evidence that the geologic processes necessary for mineralization have occurred
- Undiscovered, Moderate Potential: As yet undiscovered deposit in a region where the geologic controls necessary for the formation of deposits of a specific type are favorable and there is a reasonable chance for mineral accumulation
- Undiscovered, Unknown Potential: A region where the geologic information is insufficient to otherwise categorize potential
MIXED STAND - A timber stand in which less than 80 percent of the trees in the main canopy are of a single species.
MISTLETOE INFECTION RATING: The relative abundance of mistletoe in the crown of a tree or shrub.
MIXING HEIGHT: The height above the surface (m) defining a boundary layer within which pollutants are free to mix.
MORTALITY -Number or sound wood volume of healthy trees that have
died from natural causes during a specified period.
MOSSES AND LICHENS: Mosses are plants growing in tufts or clusters on the ground, decaying wood or on rocks. Lichens are any of the various flowerless plants composed of fungi and algae, commonly growing in flat patches on rocks, trees, etc.
MOST HAZARDOUS PEST: The principal natural agent operating in the vicinity of the sample point which presents the greatest threat to realizing stand goals of stocking, growth and structure.
MULTIPLE USE - The management of land or forest for more than one purpose, such as wood production, water quality, wildlife, recreation, aesthetics, or clean air.
MULTIPLE-USE FORESTRY -Concept of forest management that combines two or more objectives,
such as production of wood orwood-derivative products, forage and browse for domestic
livestock, proper environmental conditions for wildlife, landscape effects, protection
against floods and erosion, recreation, and protection of water supplies.
MULTIPLE-USE MANAGEMENT -Management of land resources with the objective of achieving
optimum yields of products and services from a given area without impairing the productive
capacity of the site.
