Waterways & Wetlands

Glossary

Aerobic: Characterised by the presence of free or molecular oxygen; requiring such conditions to live.
Alluvium: Fine sediments deposited by floods.
Anaerobic: Characterised by the absence of free oxygen; able to live in such conditions.
Bog: Mire containing acid-loving plants.
Carr: Fen scrub.
Catchment: Area of ground which collects and feeds water to a given waterway or wetland.
Community: Group of plants and/or animals living together under characteristic, recognisable conditions.
Dystrophic: Water of no or extremely low productivity.
Ecology: Study of how living things relate to their environment or surroundings.
Eutrophic: Water of high productivity.
Eutrophication: The process by which a water body becomes more productive over time.
Fen: Mire containing neutral- or alkaline-loving plants.
Flush: Area of soil in which nutrients accumulate due to water inflow or soil movement and breakdown.
Glacial till: Unsorted clays, sands, gravels and stones left by melting glaciers.
Habitat: The recognisable area or type of environment in which an organism normally lives.
Head: The difference in the depth of water at any two points, or the measure of the pressure at the lower point expressed in terms of this difference.
Hydraulics: Study of the behaviour of flowing water.
Hydrogen potential (pH): A measure of the relative acidity or alkalinity of water or soil.
Hydrology: Study of the laws and properties of water.
Leaching: The process by which percolating water removes nutrients from the soil.
Leat: Artificial channel, the main purpose of which is to supply water to another waterway or to water-powered mills.
Macrophyte: Broad leaved plant.
Marsh: Area of mineral-based soil in which the summer water level is close to the surface, but seldom much above it.
Mesotrophic: Water of medium productivity.
Mire: Area of permanently wet peat.
Natural succession: The process by which one community of organisms gives way to another in an orderly series from colonisers to climax.
Oligotrophic: Water of low productivity.
Pan: A hard, distinct soil layer caused by the precipitation of iron or other compounds.
Peat: Soil made up entirely of organic remains.
Piping: Internal erosion of a dam, usually by water seeping along a pipe or up from below.
Productivity: Description of ecosystem in terms of 'biomass' (total mass of living organisms).
Shoaling: Build-up of erosion material in a watercourse.
Silt: Fine sediments deposited in still water.
Spit: A rough unit of measurement used in digging, equal to the length of a spade blade.
Staining: Colouration of water by dissolved substances.
Swamp: Area of mineral soil normally flooded in the growing season and dominated in most cases by emergent macrophyte.
Turbidity: The pollution of water by suspended matter.
Water table: Level below which the soil is waterlogged.
Zonation: The occurrence of communities in distinct geographical areas or zones.