acid - pH value < 7.0.
alkaline - pH value > 7.0.
annual - a plant that completes its life cycle within a single growing season.
aquatic - of or concerning water.
aquifers - a body of permeable rock that is capable of storing significant quantities of water, that is underlain by impermeable material, and through which groundwater moves.
basal buds - buds at the base of the plant.
best management practices - methods, measures, or practices designed to prevent or reduce water pollution. Usually, BMPs are applied as a system of practices rather than a single practice.
biological diversity - an assessment of the number of species present, their relative abundance in an area, and the distribution of individuals among species. Some consider diversity to be an indicator of ecological complexity or quality.
biomass - total dry organic matter at a given time of living organisms of one or more species per unit area or of all the species in the community.
branchpacking - a technique to protect a washed-out streambank using live branches planted sequentially up the slope of the bank at an angle.
broadcast - to spread or apply seed more or less evenly over an entire area.
brushlayering - a technique to stabilize a streambank utilizing live branch cuttings placed in benches in the soil more or less perpendicular to the slope contour.
brushmattressing - a technique to stabilize a streambank by placing a live fascine at the toe or bottom of the slope and staking a layer or Amattress@ of live, dormant branches up the slope.
buffer - an area managed to reduce the impact of adjacent land use.
bunchgrass - grass growing in a bunch or tussock.
canopy - the overhead branches and leaves of streamside vegetation.
coevolve - to evolve jointly as with two closely associated species.
colony forming - group of organisms of the same species living in close proximity to one another.
conservation - the maintenance of environmental quality and resources or a particular balance among the species present in a given area.
contour - outline.
conventional method - traditional techniques to stabilize streambanks such as planting tree or shrub seedlings or saplings, or grass/forb seeds.
cool-season grasses - grasses which are most productive during the cooler months, i.e., spring and fall.
cost-share - programs that partially reimburse landowners for implementing best management practices.
cultivar - clone, race, or product of breeding selected from a population of plants because it has desirable characteristics and is generally more or less genetically uniform.
cultivation - tilling the soil by ploughing, digging, draining and/or smoothing.
debearded - seed lacking long awn or bristlelike hair.
denitrification - the conversion of nitrate or nitrite to gaseous products, chiefly nitrogen (N2) and/or nitrous oxide (N20), by certain types of bacteria. This occurs mainly when oxygen levels are very low or absent.
disk - to turn the soil using a plow having one or more heavy, round, concave, sharpened, freely rotating steel disc angled to cut and turn a furrow.
dominants - the species exerting the greatest influence on a community because of its life form or abundance.
dormant - germination is delayed until seeds are mature, capable of germinating, and external conditions are favorable.
drill - mechanical device for sowing seed in furrowed lines.
droughty - prone towards prolonged periods of dryness.
ecosystem - a discrete unit that consists of living and non-living parts, interacting to form a stable system. Fundamental concepts included the flow of energy via food-chains and food-webs, and the cycling of nutrients throughout the system.
environment - a combination of climatic, physical, chemical, and biotic conditions that may affect the growth and welfare of an organism or group of organisms.
erosion - the wearing away of the land surface by rain, running water, wind, ice, gravity, or other natural or man-made agents.
exotic - an introduced, non-native species.
fallow - cultivated land allowed to lie idle during the growing season.
floodplain - a part of a river valley that is made of unconsolidated, river-borne sediment and is periodically flooded.
forage - woody or herbaceous plant material utilized by animals as food, either by browsing, grazing, or as harvested material.
forbs - broad-leaved herbaceous plants and wildflowers.
germination - to start the growth in a mature, generally dormant, seed, spore, or pollen grain.
groundwater - the water that moves down into the soil and underlying geological strata from the upper soil layers following rainfall. Groundwater is stored in aquifers and may move underground by streams or seepage.
habitat - specific environmental conditions in which organisms thrive in the wild.
hardwoods - broad-leaved trees, most of which are Angiosperms and deciduous.
herbaceous - vegetation that is usually forbs, grasses or leafy plants.
herbage - all species of browse, forbs, and grasses produced in any one area.
herbicide - any chemical substance applied to plants as a means of killing them or inhibiting their growth.
hulled - to remove the outer covering of a fruit or seed.
incentive payments - payments to the landowner to encourage participation in a particular program.
indigenous - native to a particular area.
infertile - lacking the elements necessary for plant growth.
infiltration - the movement of surface water into soil or rock through cracks and pores.
inoculate - bacteria is introduced to a legume to aid in nitrogen fixation.
integrated pest management - the control of agricultural and horticultural pests by using pesticides in such a way as to leave natural predators unharmed, thus integrating the positive features of chemical and biological control methods.
intermittent - ceases to flow in very dry periods.
invasive - tending to spread.
lateral roots - roots that grow sideways.
legume - the fruit or seed of a leguminous plant, such as peas or beans.
litter - an accumulation of dead plant remains an the soil surface.
live fascines - a technique to protect streambanks from washout and seepage utilizing long bundles of live, dormant branches staked in a stairstep formation up a slope (also called wattles).
live staking - methods to stabilize streambanks by using dormant, living woody cuttings of species able to root quickly in a streamside environment (also called willow post method).
microbe - microscopic organisms, such as bacteria, fungi, microscopic algae, protozoa, and viruses.
mitigation - compensation for damage done.
native - those species that occur naturally in an area and have not been introduced, accidentally or otherwise, by humans.
non-point - pollutants discharged over a large area or from a number of small inputs rather than from one distinct identifiable source (point source).
noxious - undesirable, troublesome, difficult to control or eradicate.
nurse crop - annuals or short-lived perennials that provide rapid soil stabilization, and help keep weeds down without competing with the grass/forb seedlings.
nutrient - any element or compound that an organism must take in from its environment either because it cannot produce it at all or fast enough to meet its needs. In aquatic systems, nutrients can also be pollutants especially when they are excessive and contain phosphorus or nitrogen that permits high organic growth.
organic - a substance derived from living organisms or their products and involving carbon-based compounds.
percolation - the downward movement of water through soil, especially through soil that is at or close to saturation.
perennial - a plant that continues growth from year to year.
pesticides - chemicals or biological substances used to deliberately kill unwanted plants or animals.
pioneer - any new arrival in the early stages of succession.
stormwater retention ponds - ponds that hold stormwater allowing sediment and pollutants to settle.
rhizomatous - containing a rootlike stem, growing horizontal below the ground surface. The rhizome is used for food storage.
riparian - anything connected with or immediately adjacent to the banks of a stream or other body of water.
riparian forest buffer - the area from the streambank in the floodplain to, and including, an area of trees, shrubs, and herbaceous vegetation located upslope from the body of water.
saline - pertaining to the level of salt in the soil.
scarification - chemical, mechanical, heat, or moisture treatment of seeds to make the seed coat permeable and improve germination.
sediment - fragmented material that originated from the weathering of rocks and decomposition of organic material that is transported in suspension by water, air, or ice, to be subsequently deposited at a new location.
stratified - exposure of seed to a cold, moist treatment to overcome dormancy and promote germination.
subirrigate - to irrigate below the surface, as by a rise in the water table or by a system of underground porous pipes.
succession - the gradual supplanting of one group of plants by another through stages leading to a potential natural community or climax stage.
tap root - the main descending root of a plant.
till - to prepare the soil for seeding.
tributary - a stream feeding, joining, or flowing into a larger stream.
understory - trees and shrubs of the lower canopy levels in a forest ecosystem.
volatize - to pass off in a vapor.
warm-season grasses - grasses which are most productive during the warmer months, i.e., summer.
washout - to destroy or render useless by the force or action of water.
watershed - a region or land area drained by a single stream, river or drainage network.
wetlands - an area inundated by surface or groundwater at a frequency sufficient to support, and under normal circumstances does support, a prevalence of vegetation typically adapted for life in saturated soils.
