E

Ecological classification: an approach to categorizing and delineating, at different levels of resolution, areas of land and water having similar characteristic combinations of the physical environment (such as climate, geomorphic processes, geology, soil and hydrologic function) and biological communities (plants, animals, microorganisms and potential natural communities).

Ecological reserve: Crown land reserved for ecological purposes under the Ecological Reserve Act including areas:

b) that are representative examples of natural ecosystems within the province;

c) where rare or endangered native plants or animals in their natural habitat may be preserved; and

d) that contain unique and rare examples of botanical, zoological or geological phenomena.

Ecological units: areas of land with similar biological, geological and climatic environments.

Economic impact analysis: analytical techniques that estimate the economic effects of management scenarios on income, revenues and employment within specific communities, regions or the province as a whole.

Ecosystem: a functional unit consisting of all the living organisms (plants, animals and microbes) in a given area, and all the non-living physical and chemical factors of their environment, linked together through nutrient cycling and energy flow. An ecosystem can be of any size - a log, pond, field, forest or the earth's biosphere - but it always functions as a whole unit. Ecosystems are commonly described according to the major type of vegetation, for example, forest ecosystem, or range ecosystem.

Ecosystem-based Management: An adaptive approach to managing human activities that seeks to ensure the coexistence of healthy, fully functioning ecosystems and human communities. The intent is to maintain those spatial and temporal characteristics and processes of whole ecosystems such that component species and ecological processes can be sustained and human well-being can be improved.

Ecosystem integrity: the soundness or wholeness of the processes and organisms composing the ecosystem. To maintain ecosystem integrity one must maintain functioning, self-sustaining ecosystems with characteristics similar to the original ones.

Ecosystem management: a strategy or plan to manage ecosystems to provide for all associated organisms, as opposed to a strategy or plan for managing individual species.

Edge: the outer band of a patch that has a microclimate significantly different from the interior of the patch.

Edge/area ratio (cutblock): length of forest edge per cutblock area.

Edge effects: habitat conditions (such as degree of humidity and exposure to light or wind) created at or near the boundary between areas, as, for example, between open areas and adjacent forest.

Endangered species:(see red-listed species)

Environmentally sensitive area (ESA): an area identified during a forest inventory that is sensitive to disturbance and/or is significantly valuable for fisheries, wildlife, water and recreation resources.

Equivalent clearcut area (ECA): the area of a cutblock weighted to estimate an equivalent effect on snow hydrology as the area of a clear-cut unregenerated block. As examples, a ten hectare clear-cut unregenerated block has an ECA of ten hectares; if a fully stocked stand has regenerated to a height of six metres, the block now has an ECA of five hectares. If, instead of being clear-cut the block was selection logged with thirty percent volume removal, the ECA is estimated to be three hectares.

Evaluation accounts: the framework of accounts or categories used to assess the social, environmental and economic implications of alternative land and resource management scenarios. Effectively each account provides analysis and assessment of a range of factors within each account. The factors examined depend their relevance and on the availability of information (see also multiple accounts analysis (MAA)).

Even-aged stand: a stand of trees consisting of one or two age classes (see also uneven-aged stand).

Excursionist: a person who travels at least 80 kilometres from his/her normal place of residence and returns the same day (see also non-resident visitor, resident visitor, tourism, tourist, visitor).

Existence value: the value conferred by the existence of an organism independent of its utility to humans (see also option value, use value).

Existing visual condition: a component of the visual landscape inventory that presents the level of human-made landscape alterations caused by forestry, mining, road construction, utility corridor, and agricultural activities and expressed in terms of the visual quality objective categories.