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.