Glossary
B
| Term name | Description |
|---|---|
| Base-rich grasslands | Base-rich soil is formed from rocks like limestone and old red
sandstone. It is rich in calcium and other ‘bases’ and supports plants
which are ‘lime-loving’. The most common type of base-rich grassland,
usually found on south-facing slopes, is characterised by bent and
fescue grasses and wild thyme. |
| Batholith | Vast plutons of granite and related rocks. Deep melting of the continental crust gives rise to granitic magma. In time this rises as enormous red–hot, gas–rich blobs of semi–molten rock, which eventually gather higher in the crust, but do not reach the surface and cool to become batholiths. |
| Biodiversity | Variation in living things – species, genetic and ecosystems (a contraction of the terms biological and diversity) |
| Biotic | Living/biological (cf. abiotic), usually applied to factors that affect plant growth or animal distribution |
| Boulder tongues | Boulder tongues are often formed from the unstable rock debris which is swept down into corries and glens during an avalanche. |
| BP | Abbreviation for before present – a system of dating early periods – adds 2000 years on to a BC date |
| Braided | Intertwining of the course of streams or rivers over flat, broad valley bottoms |
| Broadleaves | Trees with broad leaves, most often deciduous, for example oak, hazel and rowan. Holly is an evergreen broadleaf |
| Bronze Age | A period of pre–history and stage of culture between the Stone Age and Iron Age, around 3700 years BP until 2800–2500 years BP |
| Browser | An animal that feeds on small branches and twigs of trees and scrub |
| Buffering capacity | This is the ability of soil to deal with toxicities. The level of buffering capacity affects plant root growth. |
| Bulbil | A small bud that grows into individual plantlets, allowing some plants to reproduce vegetatively reproduction |
| By-catch | Non–target fish/animals caught unintentionally |
| British Isles | The British Isles is an archipelago consisting of England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland and includes over 1,000 islands around the coast. |
| Blanket bog | Blanket bogs usually form in upland peat areas above 200m with heavy rainfall and low temperatures. |
