| facultative anaerobes |
bacteria that can live in both oxygen rich and oxygen poor environments |
|
| faecal energy |
energy lost during defecation, heat and undigested food |
|
| faeces |
dung or droppings |
|
| false hooves |
protrusions on the legs of some ungulate species above the fetlock, they are the remnants of fused and reduced leg bones |
|
| fault |
Surface along which a rock mass has been
broken and displaced |
|
| fauna |
all animal life |
|
| fecundity |
the number of offspring or eggs produced |
|
| fecundity(fecund) |
a measure of the fertility of an organism. A highly fertile individual is said to be very fecund. |
|
| feldspar |
Group of minerals consisting of sodium,
calcium and potassium aluminium silicates;
plagioclase is the name given to the sodium,
calcium variety |
|
| felids |
Animals that are classified in the Family Felidae (Lion, cheetah, leopard, caracal, serval, African wild cat, small spotted cat, black footed cat) |
|
| feline immunodeficiency virus (fiv) |
a viral disease affecting felines. It is similar to the HIV strain but with less severe symptoms. |
|
| feloidea |
Feliformia (also Feloidea) is a suborder within the order Carnivora consisting of "cat-like" carnivorans, including cats (large and small), hyenas, mongooses, civets, and related taxa. Feliformia stands in contrast to the other suborder of Carnivora, Caniformia ("dog-like" carnivorans). Both suborders share one characteristic which distinguishes Carnivora from all other mammals: the possession of the four carnassial teeth. |
|
| feral |
wild, escaped from domestication and returned to a wild state |
|
| fermentation |
the break down of food in the rumen or caecum. |
|
| fermentation heat |
energy lost as heat during the fermentation process. |
|
| fertilisation |
the combining of female and male genetic material to reproduce a new individual |
|
| fertility |
the potential to produce offspring |
|
| fibrosity |
fibre content of plant material |
|
| fire break |
a section of land, wide enough to halt the spread of fire. The break may be artificial such as a road, or a strip of vegetation may be back-burnt to produce a temporary fire break |
|
| fire mosaic |
a burning programme where a single fire is started in a random area and is left to burn itself out. This is an attempt to simulate natural (lightning)fires. |
|
| fitness |
the genetic contribution by an individual's descendants to future generations |
|
| flatulence |
gas given off via the rectum |
|
| flavenoids |
the largest group of secondary chemicals (toxins)produced by plants. Includes tannin |
|
| fledgling |
a juvenile bird that is ready to leave its parents nest |
|
| flehmen |
an act performed by many species of mammals whereby an adult male sniffs the vulva and urine of a female to test if she is in oestrus. Some females also perform this ritual |
|
| flight distance |
The distance an animal maintains from a feared presence e.g. a predator; a highly variable distance,depending on the individual's status,the identity and actions of the object,terrain,and time of day. |
|
| flora |
all plant life |
|
| florigen |
The hormone thought to be responsible for
flowering in plants. |
|
| flux |
a flow of energy from a source to a destination |
|
| fold |
Bend in a layer of rock |
|
| folivore |
An animal whose diet consists mostly of leaves and other foliage. |
|
| fomites |
inanimate objects on which pathogens can be conveyed e.g. faeces |
|
| food chain |
the flow of energy from plants to herbivores to carnivores |
|
| food web |
interlocking pattern formed by a series of interconnecting food chains |
|
| foraminifera |
Small marine organisms that usually
have calcareous shells with minute holes;
belong to a subdivision of the Protozoa |
|
| forb |
any herbs other than a grass |
|
| forcipules |
appendages on the first segment on centipedes that convey venom to the tip of the animal's sharp claws |
|
| foregut fermenters |
ruminants. Animals that 'chew the cud' |
|
| foreland basin |
Depression formed on the landward side of the mountain range lying along
the collision zone between oceanic and
continental plates |
|
| formation |
a classification of vegetation based on dominant life forms |
|
| fossil |
an impression left in hard rock of the shape, size and texture of a once living organic organism or part of an organism, plant or animal |
|
| fossil fuel |
coal, oil or natural gas |
|
| fossorial |
adapted to digging / an underground lifestyle |
|
| fractional crystallisation |
See differentiation |
|
| fracture zone |
Linear zone along which many faults
are developed; the zone of fracture extending
from a transform fault across the ocean floor |
|
| free radicle |
a harmful oxygen containing compound |
|
| frugivore |
an animal that eats fruit |
|
| fuel load |
the relative mass of vegetation to be burnt |
|
| fungal |
Indicating to be a type of fungus. |
|
| fungus |
plants that do not contain chlorophyll e.g. , mildew, mould, and mushrooms |
|
| fused segments |
More than one bodypart that has joined to form a single segment of the individuals anatomy Ie.Cephalothorax in aracnids. |
|
| fusiform |
cigar shaped |
|
| fynbos biome |
a very large group of related species (9700) only endemic to the Southern Cape region of South Africa |
|
|