A Glossary of Ecological Terms
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Never,        no never, did Nature say one thing and Wisdom another. – Edmund Burke
The            glossary that follows assumes a definition of ecology--the            study of interactions between organisms and their environment--much            wider than what fits under the field's habitual statistical persona. Ecofeminism            and ecopsychology are mentioned, for example, as are terms from organic            gardening and permaculture. Because the life sciences messily overlap            (that's life), terms from botany, biology, geology, chemistry, meteorology,            and agriculture are included as well.
Although            designed for technical correctness and clarity, this glossary follows            the practice in the Jung and Freud glossaries at this site of letting in a bit of humor here and there:            for levity, for anecdote, and for an occasional thumb in the puritanical            eye that closes itself to any information not dressed up in stiff, Latinized            nomenclature (see the entry for English, Latinized).
 
Abandoned Wells: a hazard      because wells left on vacated lands can channel water contaminated by pesticides      and fertilizer straight down into the water table. Some states in the U.S.      offer incentives for sealing off these unused wells.
Abiotic: non-living.      However, see Animism.
Ablation (Wastage): surface      snow and ice loss from a glacier or covering of ice or snow.
Abrasion: the wearing      away of rock surfaces by small particles moved by air or water. Abrasiveness      also seems to be the one quality currently shared by most political appointees      and prominent heads of state. See Ontogenetic Crippling.
Absorption: the passage      of water and nutrients through cell membranes instead of by direct ingestion.      Also refers to how objects convert the solar radiation they receive into heat.
Abundance: the number      of organisms in a given population.
Abyssal Plain: the ocean      floor beyond the continental shelf.
Acequia: an irrigation ditch or canal.
Acclimation: a reversible      physical change in an adapting organism in response to environmental pressures.
Acclimatization: adaptation      to a different climate.
Acid: a substance with      a pH less than 7 due to prevalent hydrogen ions. Acids tend to be sour and      corrosive. The human stomach contains hydrochloric acid with a pH of 1; battery      acid is stronger, but not by much. Contrast with Basic.
Acid Rain: precipitation      heavy with nitric and sulfuric acid. Most of it is generated by sulfur dioxide      and nitrogen dioxide (air pollution). Its pH is less than 5.6. Results include      fish and plant deaths, corrosion, groundwater pollution, and soil erosion.      Its long-term effects are unknown.
Accretion: the accumulation      of marine sediments at the edges of a continent, building up in some cases      into entire coastal mountain ranges. See Plate Tectonics for more about what      causes accretion.
Acre: 1 acre = 43,560      sqare feet, 208.7 feet on a side, and .405 hectares.
Acre-Foot: the amount      of water it would take to cover an acre of land to a depth of one foot: 325,851      gallons of water. The standard measure of agricultural irrigation.
Actinomycetes: formerly      classified as fungi because of their filaments, the actinomycetales include      many types of soil bacteria. They produce antibiotics, enzymes, and vitamins,      although a few are harmful to humans.
Adiabatic Cooling: when      air masses expand and cool as they push up the side of a mountain.
Adaptation: how living      things change what they do or what they are to survive in a particular environment.      In this the organism is not a passive recipient of external circumstances;      the relationship is interactive. See Evolution.
Adaptive Radiation: the      evolution of many new species from a relative handful of ancestor species.      It often happens after some kind of catastrophe empties a range of ecological      niches simultaneously.
Advection: the horizontal      movement of heat energy. A warm breeze through a relatively cool orchard,      for instance.
Adventitious Root: one      that grows from something other than the main root.
Aeolian Landform: sculpted      by wind through deposition or erosion. Examples include dunes, deflation hollows,      and sand-blasted outcroppings.
Aerobic: chemical reactions      involving oxygen.
Aeroplankton: tiny organisms      living in the atmosphere. Certain small seeds, bacteria, and spores are examples.
Aggradation: a downward      accumulation of stream-carried inorganic matter. Often has the effect of making      the bed of a stream or flood plain rise. Also, a phase of forest biomass accumulation      in the years that follow a harvest.
Agriculture: large-scale      cultivation of the land, with resulting specialization of labor, domestication      of plants and animals, identification with one’s sedentery social group,      and a radical separation from the natural world. The Agricultural (Neolithic)      Revolution began ten thousand years ago in the Fertile Crescent, where extensive      irrigation turned once-fertile croplands into barren salt pans. (By some accounts,      the now-denuded Zagros Mountains in western Iran hosted this revolution. "Zagros" is thought to derive from Zagreus, the Greek son of Zeus who was dismembered      and eaten and later merged with Dionysus.) Modern agriculture largely relies      on keeping ecosystems in perpetually immature states of succession in which      chemically stimulated productivity remains high until the soils are too depleted      to grow anything.
Agribusiness: one that      markets farm products and equipment, including warehousing, seed monopolization,      and fertilizer. The corporatization of farming, resulting in a handful of      very large non-local companies owning and managing--and in some cases ruining--millions      of high-yield acres.
Agricultural Pollution:      pesticides, fertilizers, wastes, erosion dust, runoff from fields, and animal      infections are a few of the varieties. According to the Environmental Protection      Agency, half the water pollution in the U.S. is agricultural. (Most of the      other half is industrial.)
Agroforestry: planting      crops among trees.
Air Pollution: sulfur      oxides and particulates from industrial plants burning fossil fuels are the      current worst forms of air pollution. Auto emissions run a close second. Most      air pollution derives in one form or another from the use of petroleum products,      oil in particular. See Oil below.
Airshed: an area characterized      by air with common qualities. Compare Watershed.
Albedo: the luminosity      shining from a reflective surface. Earthshine is one type. About 1/3 of the      sun’s radiation is reflected back into space, with the remaining 42%      warming the land and air and 23% moving water through the hydrologic cycle.      See Emissivity.
Algae: primarily marine      organisms, single-celled or multicellular, that use chlorophyll to feed, like      plants, but lack the roots, leaves, flowers, etc. of true plants.
Algae Bloom: explosion      of a phytoplankton population, sometimes because of incoming pollutants that      artificially enrich the waters with nutrients. See Eutrophication and Red      Tide.
Alginate: a gelatinous      extract of brown seaweed used to make a number of products, including toothpaste,      beer, various medicines, paper, and frozen foods.
Alkaline: pH over 7;      emits hydroxyl ions. Also called “basic.” It neutralizes the acids      it combines with chemically.
Allele: alternate versions      of a given gene: for eye color, for example, the blue allele vs. the brown      allele.
Allelopathy: the metabolic      impact of one plant on another, whether beneficial or harmful. Example: eucalyptus      tree toxins that inhibit the growth of certain plants.
Allen's Rule: warm-blooded animals (endotherms) from colder climates usually have shorter limbs than do endotherms from warmer climates.
Allochthonous: something      organic imported into an ecosystem from outside of it (e.g., nutrients brought      by streams or blown in on the wind). Contrasts with Autochthonous.
Allogenic: originating      outside a system.
Allopatric: separated,      apart, as with a group of organisms living away from the original group. (There      seems to be quite a bit of research done on organisms separated from their      original group. It would be interesting to see a study on how many researchers      feel separated from their original group.)
Alluvium: sediment transported      by water, usually river or stream water.
Alpha Diversity (Local      Diversity): the variety of organisms in a given habitat or location.
Alpine: above the timberline.      Roughly synonymous with "mountainous."
Alpine Glacier (Mountain      Glacier): a small glacier sitting in a U-shaped mountain valley.
Alternative Fuels: fuels      from sources cleaner than coal or petroleum products: ethanol, methanol, natural      gas, solar, wind, geothermal, biodiesel from vegetable oil, etc.
Alterne: plant communities      that alternately occupy a territory.
Ambient: prevailing natural      conditions studied and recorded outside rather than indoors under microscopes      or other controlled conditions.
Amendment: something      added to fix chemically troubled soil. Potash added to soil poor in potassium,      for example.
Amensalism: a one-sidedly      harmful relationship between dissimilar organisms.
Ammonia: a gaseous compound      of nitrogen and hydrogen (NH3) formed as a byproduct when bacteria decompose      substances high in nitrogen. Compost piles thick with manure often emit ammonia      when hot. Synthetic ammonia is a key component of artificial fertilizers.
Amino Acids: ammonia-carbon      acids that when strung together in long double-bonded chains (peptides) build      proteins. The genetic code inscribed in DNA employs twenty of them.
Amnion: a fluid-filled      sac that safely enfolds a growing mammal, reptile, or bird embryo. The amnion      is thought to have allowed animals to come out of the sea onto land.
Amphibians: newts, frogs,      salamanders: backboned animals that can live in water and on land.
Anabolic: metabolic processes      that build tissues and organs. The opposite of Catabolic.
Anaerobic: chemical reactions      in the absence of oxygen and often initiated by bacteria or archaeans (bacterialike      organisms that live in extreme conditions).
Anagensis: evolutionary      change, but without spilling over into speciation.
Analogue Forestry: a      method for restoring ecosystems, developed from local Sri Lankan home gardens      by the Neo-Synthesis Research Centre (NSRC), that seeks to bring back what      grew there originally. Some key assumptions:
The climax ecosystem        is the stablest and most productive.
Convergent evolution        has provided patterns useful for ecosystems everywhere.
Keystone species        can support these ecosystems.
Humans are integral        to the biologically diverse landscapes designed.
Anapsid: a vertebrate      whose skull contains no side openings behind the eyes. The only living examples      are turtles.
Anemophilous: seed plants      pollinated by the wind.
Angiosperms: flowering      plants that place their seeds in fruits. The monocots have an embryo with      a single cotyledon (seed leaf), three-part flowers, parallel leaf veins, and      adventitious root growth. Dicots have two cotyledons, four- or five-part flowers,      and net leaf vein patterns. Monocots include grasses, orchids, palms, and      cattails, and dicots include oaks, sycamores, and maples. Compare      gymnosperms.
Angle of Incidence: angle      at which the sun's rays hit the Earth.
Angle of Repose: the      steepest angle that slope, rock, or detritus material settles into without      toppling. Builders of flood-prone roads and sliding hillside homes in California      ignore the angle of repose so often that it could be renamed the angle of      depose.
Animals: the animal kingdom      branches into the deuterostomes (mouth and anus develop separately) and the      protostomes. Animals are multicellular and possess mitochondria, a complex      nervous system, and cells protected by a membrane and filled with complex      organelles. 75%      of all the animal species are insects.
Last summer        I saw a timber wolf trotting sedately across an open dune above the water,        and time without number rabbits, squirrels and birds, not feeding but seeming        to enjoy the peculiar delight that beaches provide. I cannot speak for them,        but is it wrong to believe that they may know something akin to the lift        of spirit that is mine when standing on the sands? Is there any reason they        too should not have somewhat the feeling I do there of coming suddenly out        of the mountains into an alpine meadow, or a clearing in dense woods, or        a plain after traversing rugged broken country? --        Sigurd F. Olson
Animism: a derogatory      anthropological term for what most human cultures have believed throughout      prehistory: that the Earth is alive and reactive, as are its many places.      Greeks and Romans once thought a "genius loci" or spirit of place      inhabited every hill, grove, and stream. Such beings still live in all human      mythologies. The modern counterpart is panpsychism, the idea that all things      possess qualities of mindfulness or psyche. With the coming of heavy industry,      such ideas gave way to the financially convenient reduction of the Earth to      the status of a lifeless resource.
Anion: a negatively      charged ion. See Cation.
Anorexia: from an ecopsychological      perspective, a horror of carnality so profound that it seeks to etherealize      the body itself. Tends to be overrepresented in highly industrialized nations.
Annuals: pioneer plants      which grow, flourish, and die in one season. Their seeds often germinate during      the following wet season. See Perennials.
Antemortem: "before      slaughter." The animal examination USDA meat inspectors conduct shortly      before they are butchered (the animals, that is).
Anther: the pollen-producing      tip of a flower's stamen.
Antheridium: the organ      that produces antherozoids--male gametes (sperm cells)--in algae, bryophytes      (mosses, liverworts), and pteridophytes (club mosses, ferns, horsetails).      See Archegonium.
Anthophyte: a flowering      plant or its closest relatives.
Anthropocentric Detour:      deep ecologist George Sessions’ term for the ideological turn of mind      Western civilization has taken, accompanied by occasional opportunities to      return to a less human-centered way of viewing the world (e.g., Maimonides’ belief that the world was good before humans were created, and Spinoza’s      thought that mind is found throughout nature). For many deep ecologists, regarding      the natural world only for what it does for us exhibits a regrettable immaturity.
Anthropocentrism: human      chauvinism, according to John Seed. An example is the belief that the Earth      is merely a stage for human salvation or self-development without any intrinsic      importance of its own.
Anticline: an arch-shaped      fold in layers of rock.
Anticyclone: a high-pressure system that spirals outward clockwise in the      Northern Hemisphere and counterclockwise in the Southern.
Aphelion: the annual point where the Earth is farthest from the sun (152.5      million kilometers). It falls on the 3rd or 4th of July. The opposite of Perihelion.
Aphids: soft-bodied insects      that eat green leaves. Ants corral them and protect them from predators to      milk them of the honeydew they excrete. Most gardeners consider them pests.
Aphytal: the plantless      zone at the bottom of a lake.
Apical Meristem: the      tissue-creating cells at the growing tip of a branch or root.
Aposematism: evolving      a type of protective coloration found to be useful by other species.
Aquaculture: growing      and harvesting fish and shellfish in land-based ponds. Relative protein yields      often exceed those of land cropping by 4-20 times. Ponds attract beneficial      wildlife, cool the surrounding areas, reflect sunlight, draw birds, and make      convenient places for growing rice and other moisture-loving plants. See also      Hydroponics.
Aquiclude: rock formations      impermeable to groundwater.
Aquifer: an underground      layer of sand or rock that contains usable water. Can be unconfined (down      to the first impervious rock layer) or confined (between the first and the      second layers). See Artesian.
Archaea: organisms that      resemble bacteria but also display characteristics found in multicellular      organisms. They were discovered in 1977 and tend, like so many humans of that      era, to favor extreme environments.
Archegonium: a multicellular      female reproductive organ in mosses, ferns, and the majority of gymnosperms.      Normally flask-shaped, it corresponds to the pistil in flowering plants.
Archipelago: volcanically      raised islands that arc near subduction zones where one continental plate      rides over another. See Plate Tectonics.
Arête: a sharp      ridge that divides cirques on a glaciated mountain.
Artesian: water pushed      upward by the hydrostatic pressure of a confined aquifer. Overuse of artesian      wells lowers the water table and sometimes makes nearby land sink (subsidence).
Arthropods: jointed,      backboneless animals--namely, arachnids, insects, and crustaceans--often protected      by a shell or exoskeleton. In evolutionary terms, this type of light armoring      has proved very successful.
Asexual Reproduction:      reproduction without gametes (sperm and egg) in which a single parent creates      a clone of itself, often by budding or dividing itself. The offspring is genetically      identical to the parent. Organisms reproduced asexually until the evolutionary      invention of sex.
Assimilative Capacity:      the amount of pollution a self-cleaning body of water can tolerate.
Atmospheric Deposition:      contamination of land or water by atmospheric pollutants.
Atmosphere, Layers: from      lower to higher:
Troposphere: from        the planet surface to roughly 7-17 kilometers up. It makes up about 75%        of the atmosphere. Weather occurs here, through exchanges of heat. The outer        boundary is called the tropopause.
Stratosphere: reaches        up to about 50 kilometers, where the stratopause is. Includes the ozone        layer.
Mesosphere: 50-85        kilometers up to the mesopause. Meteorites break up here.
Thermosphere: to 640        kilometers up. Auroras appear here. The layer of molecules broken up--ionized--by        particles from the sun is the ionosphere that makes radio work by bouncing        radio waves back to the Earth.
Exosphere: merges        with space.
For the        first time in my life I saw the horizon as a curved line. It was accentuated        by a thin seam of dark blue light--our atmosphere. Obviously this was not        the ocean of air I had been told it was so many times in my life. I was        terrified by its fragile appearance. -- Ulf Merbold, German astronaut
Atoll: a ring-shaped      reef made mostly of coral.
Atomic Mass: the weight      of an atom as expressed in atomic mass units (amus).
Atomic Number: number      of protons in the nucleus of an atom.
Atomic Weight: the weighted average of the masses of naturally occurring isotopes      of a given element.
ATP (adenosine triphosphate): the energy molecule that powers organisms by      fueling the cell's chemical reactions. It does this by surrendering one of      its three phosphate groups while breaking down chemically in the presence      of water (hydrolysis) into ADP. The molecular bonds that hold a phosphorus      atom together with four oxygen atoms carry tremendous energy which the cell      draws on for its biological work. Synthesized from glucose and fatty acids,      ATP performs other functions, such as helping to build the nucleid acids that      store genetic information.
Attenuation: reduction      in light intensity due to a filtering medium (e.g., particles in water, a      forest canopy).
Autecology: the ecology      of an organism or taxonomic group; also, the study of how organisms affects      plants.
Autochthonous: indigenous.      Compare Allochthonous.
Autogenic: originating      from within a system.
Autotroph: an organism      that produces its own food. Autotrophs may be photoautotrophic (fed by using      light) or chemoautotrophic (by using chemical energy). See Heterotroph.
Avulsion: sudden erosion      by storm waves or rapid currents of water.
Axil: the angle that      lies between a leaf stalk and its stem. Site of bud formation in flowering      plants.
Azimuth: the angular      distance clockwise along the horizon between north and the position of a celestial      object. A star hanging exactly over the northern point on the horizon has      an azimuth of 0°, for example, and one located exactly east an azimuth      of 90°. Azimuth is combined with altitude (the distance of an object above      the horizon) to calculate the direction of an object as seen from a specific      earthly location.
Background Extinction      Rate: the natural rate of extinction for a species. Contrasts sharply with      Mass Extinction.
Backscattering: solar      radiation reflected back into space by particles in the atmosphere.
Backshore: the strip of beach above the daily tides but within reach of storm      waves.
Bacteria: single-celled      prokaryotic organisms (prokaryotic means: DNA not enclosed in a cell nucleus),      many microscopic. Early in Earth's history, bacteria gradually altered the      environment to support more complex forms of life (producing oxygen, for instance,      in the atmosphere) even while moving into cells as organelles and decomposing      organic matter into soil nutrients. Hydrothermophile bacteria discovered in      samples drilled from deep in the earth give new support to Thomas Gold's idea      that life originated in hot, high-pressure crevices underground.
Bacteriophage: a virus that infects and eventually kills its bacterial host.      Genetic engineers study phages to learn more about how some implant their      DNA into the host, an invasion somewhat akin to the contamination of research      laboratories by military-industrial sponsorship.
Badlands: rough land      eroded into arid barrenness. Also, a part of South Dakota.
Bajadas: lower mountain      slopes covered with loose sediment, possibly from runoffs. Example: overlapping      alluvial fans rolling along the base of arid peaks.
Baldwin Effect: the hypothesized      passing on of something learned, but not through the discredited Lamarckian      theory of evolution (the inheritance of what previous generations experienced).      Walking upright could be an example, as a band of our ancestors imitated some      forgotten hominid who preferred that style of locomotion and then gave rise      to descendants whose genes favored the behavior. The Baldwin Effect fills      in a gap in how natural selection is thought to work by explaining how learnings      normally invisible to it become innate.
Barchan: a crescent-shaped      dune whose tips point to leeward. Different from a Seif.
Barrier Beach: a long strip formed by sand deposited across the mouth of a      harbor or inlet. They are often duned, and many separate an area of marshland      from the sea.
Barrier Island: a narrow sand island that parallels a shoreline.
Basal Area: a forest's tree density expressed in square feet.
Basal Sliding: the downhill      sliding of a glacier propelled by its weight.
Basalt: a dark, extrusive, igneous rock made of particles so fine they can't      be seen unaided. Formed from mafic (high in heavy elements) magma. See Felsic.
Base Flow: a stream      or river's normal flow volume.
Base Level: the altitude      below which a stream cannot perform vertical erosion. Usually, sea level.
Basement Rock: the ancient granitic and metamorphic rock that constitutes      continental crust and the continental shield.
Basic: alkaline.
Basiphile: a plant that      favors basic soils (those low in acid).
Batholith: a huge mass      of igneous rock, usually granitic, that formed deep underground and only surfaced      through erosion of the overlying mountainous material. Often found near plate      edges (see Plate Tectonics). The Sierra Nevadas are a well-known batholithic      formation.
Bathymetric: scientific-sounding      term for measuring something in deep water.
Bayou: an inlet or outlet,      often marshy. A slough.
Beach Drift: the sideways      movement of beach sediment.
Beaufort Wind Scale: wind speed scale developed in 1806 by Admiral Sir Francis      Beaufort of the Royal Navy. Reaches from 0 (calm) to 12 (hurricane).
Bedding Plane: a layer that indicates a change in the type of sediment (e.g.,      where sand gives way to shale).
Bed Load: stream load material carried along the stream bed without falling      into suspension.
Bedrock: more or less unweathered rock near the surface.
Benthic: organisms living on the sea floor. Littoral benthos occupy the space      from the high-water spring tide mark to 200 meters down. Deep sea benthos      live below that.
Bergmann’s Rule:      warm-blooded animals in cold climates tend to be larger than animals of the      same species living in warm climates.
Bergschrund: a deep crevasse      usually opened by ice at the head of a moving alpine glacier.
Berm: a level, narrow ledge or bench that divides a stream or separates water      from land, as in a canal path.
Biennial: plants that      live two growing seasons; they fruit during the second.
Bight: a small coastal      indentation open to the sea.
Bilateral Symmetry: body      divisibility into mirror-image halves (right and left arms and legs, for example).      Animals with bilateral symmetry display dorsal (top), ventral (bottom), anterior      (front), and posterior (rear) orientations, whereas radial animals like starfish      have only the dorsal and ventral. (Arms, legs, and wings evolved from the      fins of lungfish swimming around over 400 million years ago.)
Biocenose (Biocenosis):      the interacting organisms living together in a habitat. A biotic community.
Biocentric: putting the      natural world, rather than the human world, into the perceived center of the      cosmos. The land is not made for us: we are a part of it.
Biochemical (Biological)      Oxygen Demand (BOD): the amount of oxygen required to dissolve and decompose      organic matter. A water quality measurement often applied to treated sewage.
Bioconcentration (Biomagnification):      the strengthening of a harmful and usually toxic substance as it moves up      the food chain, as with DDT growing 400 times deadlier in seagulls and other      carnivores than when first ingested by marsh animals.
Biocontrol: using natural      means like predators to control pests, like growing ginger to repel snails      and slugs and nasturtiums to ward off aphids, which are also food for ladybugs      and lacewing moths. Goldfish placed in water storage containers eat incoming      mosquitos.
Bioculture: Paul Taylor’s      term for how humans exploit other living things: domesticating animals, force-feeding      livestock, etc.
Biodegradable: reducible      by bacteria as opposed to something that remains in the environment (plastic,      certain inustrial wastes).
Biodiversity: biological      variety of the kind that preserves species and their DNA. R.      H. Whittaker categorized it (1972) as alpha, the number of species in an ecosystem;      beta, the diversity between ecosystems; and gamma, the diversity of entire      regions. Depleted biodiversity leads to population crashes, declines in genetic      variability, and extinctions.
Biodynamic Farming: alternative      farming practice and philosophy introduced in eight lectures in Austria by      Rudolf Steiner in 1924. Three of its techniques: Horn Manure Preparation to      introduce stirred nutrients into the soil, Horn Silica Preparation to nourish      plant growth, and Compost Preparations. Cycles such as those of the moon are      also taken into account in order to build up humus and productivity. Alan      Chadwick combined biodynamic methods with French Intensive procedures in the      late 1960s and founded an experimental farm and garden at UC Santa Cruz. (Word      has it that he was a gifted horticulturalist but highly competitive.)
Biogas: a methane and      carbon dioxide emission due to the breakdown of organic matter by anaerobic      bacteria. Some trap it for use as an alternative fuel source.
Biogeochemical Cycles:      the great loopings and returns of life-giving substances through the environment.      The three most important are the gaseous (e.g., the carbon, oxygen, and nitrogen      cycles), the sedimentary (including the phosphorus, sulfur, calcium, magnesium,      and potassium cycles), and the hydrologic (water vapor to rain to streams      to oceans to vapor). Uninterfered with, these cycles tend to be self-organizing      and self-renewing.
Biological Weathering:      weathering helped along by living things, like plants that break up layers      of rock.
Bioluminescence: light emitted by chemical reactions within living things      (fireflies, glow worms, jellyfish, etc.). Uses: to communicate, escape predators,      attract prey.
Biomass: the total quantity      of living matter in a given area or ecosystem.
Biome: the largest ecological      regions distinguishable by characteristic plants and animals. There are six:      tundra, conifer, deciduous forest, grassland, tropical, and desert. Biomes      are subdivided into associations made up of societies.
Biointensive Method:      an alternative high-yield farming method devised by John      Jeavons . Drawing on traditional Chinese practices, Steiner's biodynamic      farming, and French Intensive, the biointensive approach aims to grow soil      rapidly, cut water consumption, and maintain optimal food production (the      claim is that 100 square feet can feed one person for a year). The keystone:      double-dug raised convex beds a meter or two wide oriented in a north-south      axis for adequate sunlight. Small paths between rows minimize soil compaction      and maximize plant microclimates. Leaves of mature plants just touch ("living      mulch"). Steps for initial bed preparation include:
1. Soak area for two        hours, let dry for two days.
2. Loosen soil 12 inches deep with a spading fork and remove weeds.
3. Water for five minutes and let soil rest a day.
4. Spread compost, water five minutes, let soil rest a day.
5. Double dig to 24 inches; dig, don’t pulverize, and don’t        turn over the upper layer. Dig when moist to avoid wrecking the soil structure.
6. Rake level, water 5 minutes, let rest a day.
7. Compost with a 50% soil mixture.
8. Plant seeds        in beds 2-10 inches high. Space seeds hexagonally.
9. Water.
10. Water lightly daily in late afternoon.
See Double Digging.
Biophilia: love of nature.      Coined by biologist E. O. Wilson. The opposite of necrophilia, the love of dead things.
Biopiracy: the business      practice of patenting seeds and other indigenously grown agricultural products.      Monsanto, a key sponsor of Disneyland and developer of nuclear arms, is forcing      financially strapped farmers in Bangladesh to buy seeds once passed down through      families. POD-NERS has done something comparable in Mexico and has sued Mexican      yellow bean exporters for patent infringement. See also Seed Saving.
Bioregion: a naturally      bounded, ecologically distinct geography: a watershed is one example. Term      coined by Peter Berg and Raymond Dasmann. The largest bioregion is an ecoregion      (example: the Ozark Plateau), the next largest a georegion (river basins,      mountains, watersheds), and the next a local morphoregion. As Berg described      it:
A bioregion        refers both to geographical terrain and a terrain of consciousness--to a        place and the ideas that have developed about how to live in that place...        A bioregion can be determined initially by use of climatology, physiography,        animal and plant geography, natural history and other descriptive natural        sciences. The final boundaries of a bioregion, however, are best described        by the people who have lived within it, through human recognition of the        realities of living-in-place....
Bioregionalism: philosophies,      ecological practices, and politics built around the idea that a place’s      natural features and edges suggest the basis for understanding it and inhabiting      it. Scientifically, this means joining ecology to anthropology through geography:      a seamless interdependency between ecosystem, culture, and region. Most versions      of bioregionalism share the following areas of focus:
Those who actually        live in a bioregion know best how to manage it. Top-down solutions from        far away are to be suspected.
Dwellers begin to        understand a place by reinhabiting it, which means learning all about its        ecosystems and animals, water sources, weather, soil types, waste management,        ecological strengths and traumas, and resources for ecologically gentle        living. The mood that matches this is learning to feel at home there.
Food is best grown        and bought locally.
Local democracy is        based on direct participation and small-group discussion. (As Leopold Kohr        put it, "If something is wrong, then something is too big.")
Developments that        would damage the local environment--shopping malls, tract housing, factories,        etc.--should be firmly and consistently opposed. Locally made products are        preferred over those shipped from a distance or made locally through mass        production both of which transfer capital to outside sources.
Respect for the rights,        needs, customs, privacy, and knowledge of indigenous people living in the        area.
Living sustainably        means ecologically sensible practices such as reuse and recycling, water        and power conservation, and reduction of trash and other wastes.
Biosphere: taken together,      the troposphere, oceans, and land surfaces where things live. Also called      the Ecosphere.
Bioremediation: using      animal microorganisms or plants (phytoremediation) to heal polluted soil or      water.
Biotic: living.
Biotic Community: a self-sustaining      community of living things. An ecosystem.
Biotic Factor: the environmental      influence exerted naturally by living organisms: worms that aerate soil, animals      that enrich it with manure, trees that throw shade, etc.
Biotic Potential: a population's      maximum production rate given ideal surroundings and resources.
Biotope: an environmentally      uniform area. The physical aspect of an ecosystem.
Bioturbation: when organisms      disturb sediments, as with worms on the ocean floor that eat food stuck between      sand particles.
Bird: according to one      source, a vertebrate whose body is covered with feathers. For more on this,      see Pedanticism.
Bisporangiate: a flower's      capacity for producing both megaspores (female spores) and microspores (male      spores). Most flowers are bisporangiate.
Bitumen: asphalt.
Black Body: in theory,      a body that absorbs and emits 100% of the electromagnetic radiation that strikes      it and therefore appears black. Graphite comes close, with all but 3% absorption.
Black Box/White Box:      a research protocol that distinguishes between "black box" approaches      where the researcher manipulates an unknown, and "white box" approaches      where knowledge of how something works determines the methods used to study      it. By and large, ecology confines itself to black box methods by looking      at natural events from the outside, "objectively," whereas deep      ecology, ecopsychology, and other more interactive perspectives strive to      be in touch with the inner workings of nature.
Blowout: a depression      caused by erosive wind.
Blue-Green Algae: the      old term for Cynobacteria.
Board Foot (MBF): a      measure for lumber equivalent to a one-inch thick board one foot long and      one foot wide. Often used to determine the amount of wood cut from a forest.
Bog (Heath, Muskeg):      marshy land covered by shrugs and mosses. Their acidic soils accumulate peat,      the thick, carbonized vegetable tissue decomposed in water. The words "bogeyman" and "heathen" derive from outcasts who inhabited these poorly drained      areas.
Bolson: a mountain-ringed      desert basin lacking any outlet for drainage.
Bolt: the explosion      of seeds from cool-season plants suddenly exposed to warmth.
Bonemeal: an amendment      that adds phosphorus to soils that need it. See Macronutrients.
Boreal: of the northern latitudes.
Boreal Forest (Taiga):      the high to mid-latitude biome characterized by coniferous forests inhabited      by fir, pine, spruce, larch, and cedar standing on previously glaciated land.      Stretches across North America, Europe, and Asia.
Botanical (or Plant-Derived) Pesticide: one derived from plant chemicals (e.g.,      strychnine).
Bottomset Bed: a fine,      horizontal delta deposit of alluvial clay and silt.
Bowen Reaction Series: N. L. Bowen's generally accepted hypothesis that how      rocks crystalize from magma--whether they turn out mafic, intermediate, or      felsic--depends on the magma's composition and temperature.
Brackish Water: water      contaminated by salt, but with a salinity lower than 35 parts per thousand.      See Brine.
Braided Stream: a watery      network of twisting, sediment-bearing channels. Found atop alluvial fans.
Breaker: a wave that      collapses forward near the shoreline as the shoaling sea bottom makes it top-heavy.      It collapses when the ratio of its height to its wavelength passes 1:7.
Breccia: coarse sedimentary rock composed of sharp, angular rock fragments      cemented together. Contrast with Conglomerate.
Brine: seawater with a salinity greater than 35 parts per thousand. Brine      is often made salty by evaporation.
Buffer Prey: a species      targeted by a predator that usually eats a different species. This happens      when the preferred species is depleted or the buffer species is unusually      numerous.
Buffer Strips: lines      of vegetation planted between crops to reduce runoff and erosion.
Bulgur: dried, ground,      sifted, partially debranned, and parboiled (precooked) wheat for whole grain      use.
Bundle: a bioregional      summation of a place. It usually includes a map, information about notable      plants and animals, a historical outline, facts about early dwellers, photographs,      a brief environmental assessment, and in some cases journal entries and artwork.
Bush Fallow: secondary      tropical or subtropical vegetation planted in forests in order to regenerate      the soil between crops. In places like western Sudan, this traditional practice      has been subverted by a Western emphasis on cash-producing monocrops in disregard      of cultural or ecological consequences.
Bushel: a dry volume      measure of fruit and vegetable products equal to four pecks or eight gallons      (2150.42 cubic inches).
Butte: a steep, craggy,      isolated hill with a top less flat than that of a mesa.
Buttons: small broccoli      or cabbage heads grown from seedlings exposed to freezes.
Buys-Ballot's Law: standing      somewhere in the northern hemisphere with your back to the wind locates the      low pressure area driving it on your left. The reverse is true in the southern      hemisphere. See Coriolis Effect.
Bycatch: accidental harvest      of one organism instead of another, like the crustaceans caught in shrimp      trawls and the dolphins trapped instead of tuna.
Calcareous Soil: soil      rich in calcium carbonate (calcite) deposited by weathering of calcareous      rocks and shells. Chalk, limestone, marl, magnesium, and phosphates are often      found in it, making it fertile, if dry or thin. Often seen in deserts.
Calcicole: a plant that      likes high-calcium soil.
Calcification: accumulation      of calcium carbonate in upper soil layers. Frequent in semi-arid areas and      in grasslands.
Calcifuge: a plant that avoids calcareous soils.
Calciphile: a plant confined      to calcareous soils.
Caldera: a circular volcanic      crater larger than the vent.
Caliche: surface soil      particles cemented together by lime (calcium carbonate). Lumps of it can block      water, curtail root growth, and cause iron deficiency in nearby plants.
Calorie: a quantity of energy equal to the amount of heat required to raise      one gram of pure water from 14.5 to 15.5° Celsius under standard atmospheric      pressure.
Calving: breaking off of sheaths of ice from icebergs; a form of Ablation.
Calyx: the sepals (outer      leaves covering the bud) of a flower.
Cambrian Explosion: supposed      huge diversification of multicellular life forms in the Earth's oceans during      the Cambrian Period 570 million years ago. All that’s certain is that      organisms living before the “explosion” did not leave behind many      fossils.
Cambium: the cell-generating      tissue between the bark and the stem. Usually absent in monocotyledonous (see      Monocot) plants.
Candle: new shoots on      needled evergreens.
Cane: a grapevine shoot      one year old.
Canopy: a tree's uppermost      layer: branches and leaves.
Capillary Action: water      movement through tiny absorbent channels, often against the force of gravity,      made possible by water's firm hydrogen-oxygen bondings. Capillary action plays      a major role in water diffusion through soils and organisms.
Carbohydrates: compounds      of oxygen, hydrogen, and carbon formed into the sugars, starches, and cellulose      formed by plant photosynthesis of water and carbon dioxide. They provide energy      and facilitate fat production. Three primary types: monosaccharides (simple      sugars like fructose and glucose), disaccharides (lactose, maltose, and sucrose),      and polysaccharides (cellulose, glycogen, dextrin, starch). Foods that provide      carbohydrates include breads, beans, dairy products, potatoes, corn, many      sweet deserts.
Carbohydrate Catabolism:      a three-step breakdown of glucose into energy (ATP) inside the mitochondrion,      the cell's power plant: glycolysis, the Krebs cycle, and oxidative phosphorylation.
Carbon: an element whose      atoms have six protons and six electrons. Because its outer electron shell      holds only four of the eight electrons it could support, carbon bonds easily      with other elements and with itself to fashion the complex molecules on which      life as we know it depends. It makes up almost half of the human body's dry      mass.
Carbonation: a type of      chemical weathering in which carbonic acid (carbon dioxide dissolved in rainwater)      reacts with the magnesium, potassium, sodium, or calcium in rocks like limestone      and feldspar and thereby dissolves them, sometimes forming caves.
Carbon Cycle: the passage      and recycling of carbon through the plantary biosphere, lithosphere, hydrosphere,      and atmosphere.
Carbon Dioxide: a colorless atmospheric waste-product gas (one carbon atom      joined to two carbon atoms) produced by combustion, fermentation, and respiration.      Fossil fuel consumption and deforestation have almost doubled the quantity      of it in the atmosphere. See Greenhouse Effect and Photosynthesis.
Carbon Flux: carbon      movement; movement of organic compounds through an ecosystem. Specifically,      the relationship between carbon dioxide absorbed by green plants and carbon      dioxide respirated by various organisms.
Carbon Sinks: sites that      soak up carbon (forests).
Carcinogen: a substance that fosters cancer, an illness characterized by cells      that cannot quit dividing in a kind of biological nation-statism.
Carr: a wet area of deciduous      scrub or woods grown from swampy soil.
Carrying Capacity: the      maximum poplation an ecosystem can support of a given species. An ongoing      debate focuses on whether the Earth's carrying capacity for humans has already      been exceeded or shortly will be.
Casein: a tasteless      white protein distilled from milk and used in dessert toppings, coffee whiteners,      adhesives and binders, paint, and plastics. Sensitivity to it plays a role      in milk allergies, Asperger's Syndrome, and Autism.
Catabolic: metabolic      processes that break down tissues and organs--turning protein into energy      during a fast, for example. The opposite of Anabolic.
Catchment: a natural      or artificial basement for trapping water. One natural version catches rainfall      and feeds it into a stream that drains the catchment area.
Cation: an ion carrying      a positive atomic charge. Many key soil nutrients employ cations.
Cation Exchange Capacity: how well a soil hosts exchanges of cations between      its minerals and its plant roots. In general, soils high in clay and organic      matter carry a negative charge that retains plant nutrient cations against      leaching away. High CEC usually correlates with high fertility.
Cavitation: fast or      even explosive erosion forced by air bubbles carried by a rapidly flowing      liquid. Ruins its share of water pumps.
Cell :      makers and maintainers of protoplasm; the basic living unit of all organisms      except viruses. The cells of organisms other than bacteria are eukaryotes:      those containing a defined nucleus in which chromosomes contain the DNA recipes      from which cells synthesize protein. Cells      know what to do and which genes to turn on because of what surrounding cells      do in reference to a chemical-directional gradient. In organisms of greater      complexity cells specialize into a variety of tissues.
Animal cell diagram. From the textbook Human      Biology (Daniel Chiras, published Jones and Bartlett, 2002)
Cell Grazing: concentrating      grazing animals like sheep to promote soil aeration and fertilization one      bloc of land at a time. Overgrazing and plant-killing trampling are prevented      by moving the animals along before it happens.
Cellulose: an insoluble,      fibrous carbohydrate that reinforces the cell walls of plants, green algae,      and dinoflagellates.
Celsius Scale: temperature scale in which water freezes at 0° and boils      at 100°.
Centrifugal Force: the force that pushes an orbiting object out of its circular      path. "Force" is a misnomer, however, because without the centripetal      force, the object would naturally straighten its course in accordance with      Newton's First Law of Motion, which states that objects tend to move in a      straight line through space unless acted upon by an outside force.
Centripetal Force: force      required to hold a moving object in a circular path against its tendency to      fly outward. Spinning storms like hurricanes and dust devils exhibit it. The      force is proportional to the square of the velocity, which means that doubling      the object's speed increases the centripetal force four times.
Cereals: grasses cultivated      for their edible seeds (grains). They include wheat, rice, maize, barley,      oats, and rye. Around the world, they are grown more often and more abundantly      than any other crop.
Cetaceans: the order      that includes dolphins and whales. (Closest living relative to the whale:      the hippo.) Like the Order Sirenia (manatees and dugongs), the Cetaceans were      never land animals.
Chalk: a type of limestone sedimented together from the skeletons and shells      of marine microorganisms; it resists erosion but is porous, often gathering      a lot of water beneath its formations.
Channelization: altering a stream by straightening, diverting, or dredging,      usually to make it run faster.
Chaparral: an evergreen      shrub community adapted to dry seasons. Although it secrets a resin that burns      like gasoline, homes continue to be built in its potentially explosive thickets.
Character Displacement:      given two species that might need to compete for a resource, the members least      like each other in what they require tend to survive and reproduce long enough      to evolve into species whose niches do not involve competition. So far, this      principle has not worked its way up the food chain into the dealings of nation-states      with each other.
Chela: the claw of an      arthropod.
Chelate: a ring-shaped      compound consisting of metals chemically bonded to organic residues. Metalloproteins,      for example, that work in the body with enzymes and iron storage.
Chelation: chemical      weathering in which chelates draw metallic cations (positively charged ions)      out of rocks and rocky minerals. Ultimately, all forms of weathering have      a hand in forming soils. Also: a controversial medical procedure in which      the organic chemical EDTA is injected into the body to chelate heavy metals      from the blood. The list of claimed benefits includes help for atherosclerosis      and various kinds of vascular disease, decreased angina, nicer skin color,      healing of gangrene, better blood viscosity and circulation, fewer free radicals,      smoother cell and organelle functioning, heightened sensuality, healed ulcers,      diminished arthritis, MS, Parkinon's, and Alzheimer's, and of course slower      aging. Proponents whose praises for chelation are ignored claim to be victims      of the medical establishment, their clinking heavy metals chelated by a disbelief      freely played if not always radical.
Chemical Autotroph (Chemolithoautotroph): a guitarless organism that feeds      itself chemically (chemosynthesis), as some bacteria do.
Chemical Weathering:      chemical decomposition of minerals and rocks. Types: oxidation (substances      dissolved in oxygen--iron oxidation, for instance), hydrolysis (in acidic      water), carbonation (limestone dissolved in water), hydration (weathering      through water absorption), chelation.
Chemigation: dispensing      a pesticide through an irrigation system. Sprinklers are often used for this.
Chemosterilant: a chemical      that stops pests from reproducing.
Chemosynthesis: the chemical      conversion of inorganic compounds found in an autotrophic organism's surroundings      into food for it. Compare Photosynthesis.
Chernozem Soils: soils      rich in humus and calcium, like the soils often seen in meadows and prairies.
Chert: hard and dense      sedimentary rock, light gray to dark gray (flint), composed of quartz crystals      and silica derived from marine fossils. Usually found in limestone nodules.
Chimera: an artificially      created animal composed of mixed DNA. A human with a mouse's brain would be      an example, as would Frankenstein's angry monster. In Greek mythology the      Chimera--a fire-breather who was part lion, part goat, and part dragon--devastated      the land until finally slain by a hero. Nevertheless, certain enthusiastic      biologists are more eager to create chimeras than to read hints and warnings      from ancient mythology.
Chinampa: a maze of raised      crop beds (camellones) on low, canal-fed islands of mud, clay, manure,      and decomposing plants built up in lakes and ponds. Aztecs and Mayans used      this farming method.
Chinook: a warm, dry      wind that blows on the lee sides of mountains in North America.
Chitin: an aminosugar      and polysaccharide (an insoluble carbohydrate spun from interwoven simple      sugars) found in some fungi cell walls and in insect exoskeletons. Although      abundantly produced--almost as much so as cellulose--some insecticides prevent      it from cycling.
Cloche: a transparent      plant cover that shields plants from the cold.
Chlorofluorocarbons      (CFCs): nonburning chemicals made of carbon, chlorine, and fluorine and used      in aerosol sprays, solvents, foams, refrigerants, and packing materials. When      released into the air and exposed to ultraviolet radiation in the upper atmosphere,      they form a gas that opens holes in the ozone layer.
Chlorophyll: a green, sunlight-capturing pigment in plants and some bacteria.      See Photosynthesis.
Chloroplast: a cell organelle, once a free bacterium, that holds chlorophyll.      Symbiotic with mitochondria, as shown by biologist Lynn Margulis.
Cholinesterase Inhibitors: chemicals that inhibit the enzyme that manages      neural activity. Found in many insecticides (carbamates, Parathion, Mestinon).      Used in small doses to relieve the symptoms of Alzheimer's disease and other      dementias.
Chordates (Phylum Chordata):      animals with a notochord--a long, cartilaginous support column running most      of the body's length--located between the stomach and a fluid-filled dorsal      nerve cord.
Chromatin: the combination      of DNA and the structural proteins (histones) it wraps around in the cell      nucleus. Chromosomes are made out of chromatin.
Chromosome: a long,      threadlike structure that carries the bearer's genetic code (DNA), among other      things. Humans have 23 pairs of chromosomes, 46 in all: 44 autosomes and two      sex chromosomes, the X (female) and less complex Y (male). Offspring acquire      half their chromosomes from the biological mother and half from the biological      father. Each chromosome is shaped like an X, with a dot in the center (the      centromere) and arms reaching out to the ends (the irreplaceable telomeres      that keep chromosomes from sticking together accidentally; their gradual shortening      from replication after replication during cell division sets the biological      limit to a life). See Gene, DNA.
Circum-Pacific Belt (Ring of Fire): a zone of volcanoes and volcanic islands      circling an edge of the Pacific Basin where one continental plate grinds under      another (subduction). See Plate Tectonics.
Cirque: a large, glacially eroded bowl on rocky mountains. Alpine glaciers      generally start out from a cirque.
Cities: urban systems      whose dominant members occupy various niches, some of which compete. Rather      parasitic, the large ones, in that they take from all over without giving,      bereft as they are of natural producers. Because of their exclusive emphasis      on growth and productivity, they are locked into an ecological immaturity      that wastes resources and widely and indiscriminately pollutes. For all these      reasons they are as unsustainable as the civilizations that spawn them.
As Homo        sapiens’s entry in any intergalactic design competition, industrial        civilization would be tossed out at the qualifying round. -- David        Orr
Citric Acid Cycle: see      Krebs Cycle.
Clade: a group of organisms      that includes their most recent common ancestor and all of their descendants.
Clast: a single constituent      of a rock (e.g., a grain).
Clastic: composed mostly      of former rocks (like shale and sandstone) whose fragments have been carried      a long distance from where they originated.
Clear-Cutting: removing all the trees from a given area; a destruction of      entire forests at a time.
Cleavage: natural plane      of breakage along which consecutive breaks produce smooth, parallel splits.
Cleptobiosis: when one      species steals food from another.
Climate: average atmospheric      conditions over a long time interval. Energy from the sun drives climate,      which sets limits on a biome's plant life and therefore on the animals that      live there. The Koppen-Geiger classification sorts major climates into five      types: humid tropical, dry, humid warm, humid cold, and cold polar.
Climax: the culminating      stage of plant succession in a given ecosystem. Climax communities tend toward      maturity because of having attained harmony with their surroundings through      years of experimentation and adaptation. See Succession.
Cline: a gradient of      variations in a species that stretches across a geographical location. Example:      different types of eucalyptus trees running across a series of slopes.
Closed System: one that      exchanges energy, but not matter, between itself and its environment. The      Earth is a closed system of finite room and resource.
Cloud Types*:
Cumulus (fair weather):        below 6,000 feet.
Stratus: below 6,000        feet.
* Take every typology        with two grains of salt. Nature knows no rigid categories.
Coal: hydrocarbon and      sedimentary rock composed of compacted plant remains, mostly ancient club      moss trees sitting above tropical swamps. Mined coal provides most of the      world's electrical energy. A popular compound in hell, it was once carried      by thieves and cutpurses to avoid apprehension.
Coarse Particulate Organic Matter (CPOM): unprocessed carbon compounds added      to an aquatic environment. Example: straw or leaves blown into a pond. Microorganisms      eventually break it down into FPOM (Fine Particulate Organic Matter).
Cobble: pebbles rounded      by being bounced around in water.
Codominant: two tree      species (hickory and oak) with roughly equal populations and ecological impact      in the forest they grow in. Also, the blended expression of two alleles (genetic      variations), as when white carnations crossed with red carnations produce      pink ones. See Allele.
Coevolution: interactions      between species that impact how both evolve. Examples: bees and plants needing      pollination; the cleaner fish and the whale shark.
Col: saddle-shaped depression      between mountain peaks. Formed by opposing cirque glaciers.
Cold Frame: a glass-covered      frame (often of wood) that houses seedlings and delicate plants. Contrast      with Hot Frame.
Collagen: long proteins      stretched into a triple helix to make strong structural fibers. They are found      in hair, tendons, and about a fourth of the human body's protein.
Colonial Nesting: the      habit of certain birds--egrets, swallows, herons--to build concentrated colonies.      (Historical note: One year a radio microphone was set up at Mission San Juan      Capistrano to convey the flappings of departing swallows to listeners all      over heavily colonized Orange County, but the inconsiderate avians flew off      ahead of schedule. The missionaries had done something similar in 1834 when      the mission was secularized.)
Colony Forming Units      (CFU): bacterial colonies cultured from a water sample. CFUs indicate the      water's level of bacterial concentration.
Combine: a grain harvester      that combines cutting, threshing, separating, cleaning, and straw dispersing      as it moves across cropland. Australian farmer Hugh Victor McKay invented      the first practical combine in 1882; as devout a Christian as Sven Foyn, inventor      of the harpoon gun, he fought against the establishment of basic wages for      agricultural laborers but lost that battle. James Morrow invented a similar      threshing and stripping device around the same time that McKay did.
Commensalism: a coevolutionary      relationship between species (usually animal species) that benefits one without      significantly impacting the other.
Commoner’s Laws      of Ecology: 1. Everything is connected to everything else. 2. Everything must      go somewhere. 3. Nature knows best. 4. There is no such thing as a free lunch,      or everything has to go somewhere. (Barry Commoner, biologist, 1971.)
Community Coefficient:      a measure of similarity between the plants and animals of two different ecological      communities.
Companion Planting: planting      plants that do well together near each other. Here are some:
Marigolds        around tomato and pepper plants.
Asparagus and parsley.
Apple trees with potato        seedlings.
Beans or peas near        garlic, onions or shallots.
Wormwood with anything;        eucalyptus with anything.
Competition: for food      and resources. Types: interference (by direct attack), exploitation (forced      to share a resource), scramble (everyone gets something), contest (one competitor      gets it all), and restrictive (preventing someone else from getting it); also,      inter- and intraspecific modes (between or within species). Competition tends      to characterize less mature ecosystems. Note: there is some debate about how      much of the "competition" and "dominance" we see in the      natural world is projected there by observers who take such behaviors in overmanaged      human societies for granted.
Competitive Exclusion:      where one species competes another into extinction.
Composting: enriching      a soil's nutrition and CEC (cation exchange capacity) by adding decomposed      organic matter to it. Grass clippings, kitchen scraps, coffee grounds, and      even certain kinds of weeds will serve when mixed with brown matter (dry twigs,      newspaper), but not animal fat, meat, oil, or cat or dog feces. A properly      built, moistened, and aerated pile will gradually heat up as microorganisms      break it down into humus; for faster results, shred the materials before composting,      keep sponge-moist, and turn the pile every three days, shoveling undigested      matter at its edges into its baking heart. It is ready to spread on soil when      flaky brown and no longer hot. A thin layer of soil on the pile gets it off      to a start. A pile of less than three cubic feet may not heat up properly.
Compound: a substance      composed of various elements.
Condensation: the transformation      of (water) vapor into liquid. Falling temperatures trigger it.
Condensation Nuclei: microscopic particle of dust, ash, etc. around which      a raindrop forms. Drops also form around silver iodide particles seeded into      clouds to increase local rainfall.
Cone of Depression:      the drop in the water table near an overused well, resulting in a cone-shaped      dry zone called an area of influence.
Connectance: the actual      food web interactions between species compared with the total possible number;      usually expressed as a fraction.
Conglomerate: coarse      sedimentary rock composed of weather-rounded rock fragments cemented with      silt and clay. See Breccia.
Conifer: a cone-bearing      tree. Coniferous vegetation occupies the middle and high latitudes.
Conjunctive Symbiosis: a mutually beneficial relationship in which the two      participants join into a single organ or body. Example: lichens.
Conservation Tillage:      any planting approach that leaves 30% or more of the soil covered by plant      residue or cover crop while tilling as little as possible to avoid destroying      the soil structure.
Constancy: the dispersion      of of a species throughout a community. A constant is a species that shows      up in almost every sample taken (indicating an occupation of roughly 80%).
Consumer: an organism      that consumes other organisms, whether living or dead. Compare Producer.
Consumerism: the mass      delusion, supplemented by expensive advertising, that using up as many products      as possible as quickly as possible will somehow not cave in the biosphere.      See Dieback.
Contact Metamorphism:      alteration of rock by localized high temperatures and fluids circulating near      a cooling mass of extrusive igneous rock (a pluton).
Continental Crust: the      predominantly granitic rock that comprises the stony foundations of the continents.      (Ocean floors are composed primarily of basalt.) The crust's thickness varies      from 20 to 75 kilometers. See Earth, Layers.
Continental Divide: the elevation that divides a continent's largest drainage      basins.
Continental Drift: the theory that continents are mobile rather than fixed.      Proposed by A. Snider in 1858. See Plate Tectonics.
Continental Effect: the seasonal temperature differences that land surface      heating and cooling have on local climate. The differences tend to be greater      than in places closer to an ocean (maritime effect).
Continental Margin: the      interval between the shore and the ocean floor; includes the continental shelf,      rise, and slope. Active margins mark sites of heavy geological activity,      including continental collision and subduction. Earthquakes, volcanism, mountain      formation, and a narrow continental shelf characterize the tumultous active      margins. Passive margins are the opposite, calmer and steadier, with flat      land and wide shelves. In North America, the west coast is active and the      east coast passive.
Continental Plate: a      rigid, primarily granitic slab floating on the asthenosphere, a layer of semi-molten      upper mantle. The plates average 125 kilometers of thickness and are pushed      rather than pulled by currents in the mantle. (See Plate Tectonics.) The continents      riding atop the plates occupy 29% of the planet surface.
Continental Shelf: the      more or less level sedimentary interval from the shore to the continental      slope that leads deeply downward to the ocean floor.
Continuum: subtle gradations      in plant or animal communities within an ecosystem.
Contour Farming: farming      perpendicular to the slope of a hill or mountain, instead of straight up or      down it, to minimize runoff and erosion. Including belts of cover vegetation      between crops is known as contour strip farming.
Contour Strip Mining: mining (mainly for coal) by slicing contour bands into a slope.
Conurbation: the fusion      of growing metropolitan areas into a megalopolis. An intermediate stage in      the development of what Lewis Mumford referred to as necropolis, an example      of which is tenemented Rome around the time that the Western Empire fell.      Necropolis is the final stage in decadence, bureaucratic alienation, hatred      of life, and urban implosion.
Convection: vertical      heat transfer, as in a convection current.
Convectional Precipitation:      when heat from the ground rises, cools, saturates the air, and falls, most      often as rain from a highly localized storm. Common along the equator and      deep inside continents.
Convergence: similarities      that appear independently in more than one type of organism. (Animals that      live in similar surroundings often resemble each other, for instance.) Contrast      with Homology.
Convergent Evolution:      the evolution of similar characteristics in widely separated populations.      Wings in unrelated species of birds are an example.
Convergence Precipitation      (Frontal Precipitation): formed when air masses collide, resulting in warm,      moist air rising until it cools.
Conveyance Loss: water      lost during transport. Evaporation from a creek, leakage from a pipe.
Coral: marine invertebrates      that secret a calcium carbonate exoskeleton and live symbiotically with algae,      with the algae providing nutrients like carbon and the coral nitrogen, phosphorous,      and an abode. Corals are perforate (porous skeleton) or imperforate (solid      skeleton). Colonial corals live in deep water, and reef-building corals in      warm, shallow water where their zooxanthellae algae can receive sunlight. When corals die,      their outer skeletons remain, growing the reefs layer upon layer (see Atoll).      As of the second millennium, two fifths of the world’s coral had disappeared      due to industrial pollution, and all of the remainder is under threat.
Coral Bleaching: where coral lose their colorful symbiotic algae. This happens      when carbon dioxide (a greenhouse gas) enters the water, cutting down reef      production and leaving existing reefs vulnerable to erosion.
Cord: a stack of wood with a gross volume of 128 cubic feet (4 feet by 4 feet      by 8 feet).
Cordgrass: several plant      species living in brackish or saline estuarine marshes; below them are tidal      mud flats, and above them salt marshes. Cordgrass produces five to ten times      as much nutriment and oxygen as a comparable acreage of wheat. Very useful      for tidal marsh restoration because its roots hold the mud in place as the      plants bracket incoming waves while filtering them for nutrients.
Cordon: horizontal branching      of a grapevine clinging to a trellis.
Core: the Earth's iron-nickel      interior; about 7,000 kilometers in diameter. Its currents generate the planet's      magnetic field.
Core Aeration: taking      plugs of soil out of the ground to increase its aeration. Roots die in overly      compacted ground.
Coriolis Effect: the      apparent deflection of an object in motion because of the Earth's rotation.      Low pressure systems in the northern hemisphere turn counterclockwise (clockwise      in the southern hemisphere). Think of the apparent curve caused by a child      trying to walk a straight line from the center of a carrousel to the edge      as it spins.
Corm: a short, thick      stem that stores nutrients underground. Usually a monocot, it does this through      hot summers or cold winters.
Cormel: a corm that      grows around the parent corm. Planting it can grow a new plant.
Cotyledon: embryo or      seed leaves. They store nutrients for the seed until it grows its own photosynthetic      leaves.
Coulee: a deep, dry      ravine or streambed. Also, steep flow of hardened lava.
Counter-Radiation: greenhouse deflection of incoming longwave radiation back      to the planet surface.
Cover Crop: a crop grown      to protect the soil from erosion and nearby food crops from weeds. Can be      dug under to put nutrients back into the ground. Common cover crops include      buckwheat, hairy vetch, Austrian winter pea, and various clovers.
Crash: a sudden population      dropoff caused by resource depletion. See Dieback.
Craton: the stable foundation of the continental plates; composed of the shield      and platform.
Creep: slow downslope      soil movement.
Cross-Bedding: sedimentary beds tilted when deposited in the direction the      water or wind that built them was moving.
Crown: where the plant      root joins the stem.
Crown Cover: the percentage      of forest floor overgrown with tree crown. A major component of forest productivity.      Lack of light and room to grow limits it (called crown shyness).
Crash: sudden depopulation      as a result of resource depletion. A crash can often be seen a long way off      in communities on a direct course to disaster through overuse of food and      other vital supplies.
Creationism (renamed      Intelligent Design): the use of scientific-sounding arguments to “prove” an unquestioned belief that a God created the world, usually in a short period      of time. Creationism is a "working against nature" rather than a "working with nature" enterprise in its insistence that the divine      stands apart from the natural in a relationship of domination (supernaturalism).      Few scientists take Creationist claims of worldwide Biblical floods and inexplicable      gaps in the fossil record seriously. In 1961 Henry M. Morris (1918-) and John      C. Whitcomb, Jr. published a poorly researched book called The Genesis      Flood that added nothing scientific to the argument but did inspire the      formation of a Creation Research Society in 1963. See Evolution.
Cryosphere: the part      of the Earth that remains below the freezing point (e.g., the poles).
Cryostatic Pressure:      ice pressure of the kind often seen inside glaciers.
Cryoturbation: frost      churning of soils.
Cryptophyte: a plant      whose reproductive organs (e.g., bulbs, corms) are underground or underwater.
Cultivar: an organism with desirable breeding qualities.
Cultivate: to break up      soil in preparation for planting. Firing, clearing, plowing, and cultivating      destroy the colloids that hold soil together and trap nutrients.
Cuspate Foreland (Ness):      a triangular shingle of particles at points located between joined ridge deposits      along a coastline. Similar to sand spits, but wider.
Cuticle: a waxy layer      of cutin that protects the surfaces of leaves.
Cuttings: segments cut      from parent plants for growing elsewhere. Cuttings grow best from sunside      shoots or branches with two nodes each. They are planted with the top bud      just clear of the soil.
Cyanobacteria: bacteria      that photosynthesize. They were among the first living things on Earth. The      food-making chloroplast of plants is actually a cynobacterium imported long      ago.
Cyclone: a low-pressure      center wrapped in rotating movements of air.
Cyst: a capsule-like sac that encloses a spore, parasite, or abnormal growth.
Cytokinesis: cell division.
Cytoplasm: the portion      of a cell's protoplasm (living matter) outside the nucleus.
Damping Off: a common      fungal disease that wilts seedlings and rots stems. It can often be avoided      by holding off on mulching until the seeds have sprouted.
Darwin      Awards : "The Darwin Awards salute the improvement of the human genome      by honoring those who accidentally kill themselves in      really stupid ways ." Fair enough, but the biologically pertinent      question is: do they do so before, or after, they pass on their genes?
Days to Maturity: the      number of days between planting the seed and first harvest. In politics, the      end of the current geological age.
Deadhead: to remove      spent blossoms in order to encourage new flowers. Also, avid if heavy-lidded      collectors of Jerry Garcia T-shirts, skeleton costumes, handmade jewelry,      and hemp.
Declination and Right      Ascension: declination, the angular distance north or south from the celestial      equator (the imaginary sky curve projected upward from the Earth's equator),      combines with right ascension (measurement along hour circles circling like      meridians between the celestial poles) to plot sky objects in a grid similar      to that of longitude and latitude. Because the Earth spins in space, right      ascension is measured in time intervals rather than degrees of arc.
Deciduous: annual or      seasonal shedding of foliage from trees and shrubs. Conserves water by cutting      down on transpiration and nutrients by reducing what the leaves required.      Deciduous trees are useful in gardens because they give shade in summer, let      in light in winter, and drop leaves that enrich the soil when decomposed.      They are best transplanted when dormant (late autumn to early spring).
Decomposer: an organism      that eats dead organic matter. Most are bacteria, algae, and fungi. They fuel      the nitrogen and oxygen cycles that support all life on Earth.
Deep Ecology: a term      coined by Arne Naess in his 1973 article “The Shallow and the Deep,      Long-Range Ecology Movements” to challenge the exclusively human-centered      view of the natural world by looking more deeply into questions of our place      in it (as opposed to surface environmental reform that addresses problems      but not their psychological or philosophical underpinnings). Its two fundamental      norms, irreducible to any others: self-realization (as opposed to ego-realization)      and biocentric equality that opposes anthropocentrism as the heart of our      problem with nature. Naess’s motto: “Simple in means, rich in      ends.” After working out a philosophical platform with George Sessions      while camping in Death Valley in 1984, Naess later defined “deep” in terms of a persistent questioning (problematizing) and a pursuit of deep      (significant) change. Deep ecologists see identification--with plants and      animals, places, the world--as the basis of empathy and relationship. (David      Kidner prefers “resonance” between self and other to "identification.")      Warwick Fox believes that unlike social ecology and ecofeminism, deep ecology      moves the source of our war against nature from intraspecies (human) to interspecies,      a move that transcends blaming politicians or industrialists by focusing on      their justification: anthropocentrism, which lovelessly regards the world      as a thing for human use.
Deflation: the removal      of soil by wind erosion in hollows and depressions.
Defoliant: an herbicide that kills leaves.
Degrading Use: water      contaminated before it can reenter the hydrological cycle.
Deme: an interbreeding      subpopulation.
Demersal: a bottom-feeding      animal.
Demographic Transition:      the hypothesis that industrializing nations exhibit death rate declines followed      by birth rate declines.
Dendrochronology: dating      a tree by counting its rings.
Denitrification: chemical      conversion of dissolved nitrogen (nitrite) into gaseous nitrogen. Fires on      particular soils do this.
Density Current: when      a denser current sinks down under a less dense current and flows along the      bottom.
Density Dependence: the      tendency of a population's growth rate to depend on its size, with an increase      in population density corresponding to a decrease in growth. This self-regulating      dynamic helps prevent extinction.
Dependent Co-Arising      (Paticca Samuppada): Buddhist theory of mutual causality, which in practice      means the interdependency of personal and social activity. Joanna Macy links      this to a sense of environmental responsibility: consciousness (not ego) and      world rise and fall together.
Deposit Feeder: a bottom-feeder      that eats sedimentary material and by doing so stirs up the mud.
Deposition: the dropping      of transported particles out of moving water onto a resting place. Also, a      transformation from gas to solid as a result of cooling.
Depression: a low pressure      system.
Desalinization Plant:      a site where seawater is boiled to separate steam from salt; the steam condenses      into fresh water. Because this requires a large amount of energy--normally      provided by burning coal or oil--desalinization is normally used only in very      dry areas.
Desertification: the      degradation of moist land into a desert. Some desertification is natural,      but most is from erosion, climate change (global warming), or overgrazing.
Detritus: decomposing      organic matter (leaves, bugs, etc.).
Detritivore: an organism      that eats detritus.
Dew Point: the temperature      at which water vapor from a saturated air mass turns into liquid. Below freezing,      called a frost point.
Diagenesis: changes to sediment or fossils after burial. Similar to metamorphosis,      but with less depth and less heat.
Diapsid: a vertebrate      whose skull has two pairs of side openings behind the eyes, e.g., lizards,      crocodiles, snakes, dinosaurs.
Diatomite (Diatomaceous      Earth): a sediment formed from diatoms (unicellular algae with yellow chloroplasts).
Dicot (Dicotyledon):      flowering plants whose embryos have two cotyledons (seed leaves).
Dieback: the deep population      crash when an environment can no longer support a population's demands. Usually      leads to dieoff (extinction).
The facts        of nature cannot in the long run be violated. Penetrating and seeping through        everything like water, they will undermine any system that fails to take        account of them, and sooner or later they will bring about its downfall. -- C. G. Jung
Dioecious: plants with      either male or female flowers, but not both (spinach, holly, date palm, etc.).
Dioxin: a highly toxic      chlorinated hydrocarbon used in herbicides and produced by industrial pollution.
Diploid: a cell containing      two sets of chromosomes. See Haploid.
Disaccharides: sugars      composed of monosaccharides (simple sugars). Examples: sucrose and lactose.
Disjunct: the distribution      of a species whose populations have been geographically divided.
Dissolved Organic Matter      (DOM)(Dissolved Organic Carbon): decomposing carbon compounds in water. Can      be natural or artificial.
Distributary: a branching      stream channel that flows away from a main stream channel. See Tributary.
Diurnal: active by day.
Diurnal Tide: a tide      that comes in once a day.
Divergent Evolution:      when two populations become more and more dissimilar, usually as a result      of different environmental pressures. The opposite of Convergent Evolution.
DNA (Deoxyribonucleic      Acid): a form of nucleic acid organized into pairs of double-helix molecules      packaged into chromosomes carrying the genetic code. The molecules are made      of linked nucleotides: units with a sugar, a phosphate, and one of four base      chemicals: adenine, thymine, guanine, and cytosine. These bases join like      ladder rungs--always an A to a T and a C to a G--with the sugar-phosphate      forming the outside "backbone" of the strand. The sequence of these      nucleotides, with each group of three spelling one anino acid "codon," determines the kind of protein manufactured when translated by strands of      RNA. (James Watson and Francis Crick discovered this structure in 1953.) RNA      also aids in DNA's replication. Everything living carries the same gene code,      one reason scientists are so confident we are all related biologically. Some      DNA sequences are identical in humans and bacteria, a fact that underlines      our common biological origins. See RNA, Chromosome.
Dockage: chaff, stems,      and other such nonproductive plant residue that can be removed from a crop      of wheat with a sieve.
Dogs: all are descended      from Canis lupus, the gray wolf. Coyotes are the next closest relatives.
Dollo's Law: evolution      never reverses itself.
Dormancy: a period of      summer or winter metabolic slowdown in animals, plants, or seeds that need      to conserve energy in inhospitable seasons.
Double-Digging: digging      soil to a certain depth--12 inches, say, and in rows--and loosening the soil      to a certain depth (often another 12 inches) below that before filling back      in. Used to prepare soil beds where plants have not been grown. See French      Intensive.
Downers: meat packing      term for disabled or injured animals.
Drawdown: dropping water      levels in a dam or reservoir. Also: the overuse of resources faster than they      can be replaced. See Oil.
Dredging: scooping out      a channel bed to prevent accumulated silt from stopping ship traffic.
Dry Farming: irrigationless      farming in arid or semi-arid conditions (rainfall below 20 inches a year).
Dualism: the perceived      split between people and nature normally traced back to French philosopher      Rene Descartes but with roots in monotheism, Plato, and still older sources.      Val Plumwood has      named five features that characterize dualism: backgrounding, radical exclusion,      incorporation, instrumentalism, and homogenization.
Dunes: along with estuaries      they prevent coastal flooding and erosion.
Dust Dome: brown or gray      dome of air particles and pollutants trapped by an urban heat island above      a city. The meteorological equivalent of the Metrodome.
Drumlin: an elongated      hill of glacial till or drift whose narrow end points toward the retreating      glacier.
Dykes: vertical veins      of igneous rock formed by magma cooling in breaks and fractures.
Dynamic Metamorphism:      metamorphism that changes a rock's shape without changing it chemically. Sometimes      associated with mountain-building.
Dystrophic: toxic habitats      deficient in nutrients.
Earth, Age Of: 4.55 billion      years. Formed by particles of gas and denser materials once ejected from exploding      supernovae and gradually pulled together by gravity.
Earth Day: a planetwide      celebration of our home that started on April 22, 1970 with a "Teach-In" organized by Gaylord Nelson to bring greater awareness to environmental concerns.      It spread spontaneously to thousands of campuses and involved at least 20      million participants. Earth Day has become popular enough that politicians      and corporate heads have started giving speeches on April 22. (President Bush      tried it in 2005, but the Great Smoky Mountains thundered and rained him out.      See Animism.)
Earth, Layers:
 
Ecesis: the establishment      of a plant or animal species in a new environment.
Ecliptic: the apparent      circular path of the sun around the Earth as seen from the ground.
Ecocentric: term coined      by Warwick Fox in preference to biocentric (environment-centered).      Both contrast with the more human-focused perspective prevalent in industrialized      nations.
Ecodynamics, Laws Of:      formulated by philosopher Edward      Goldsmith as corrections to the reductive laws of thermodynamics. The      Laws postulate that living things seek to preserve their structure, grow toward      climax (maturity) rather than entropy (nonexistence), move into mutualism      and wholeness, and survive and flourish through spontaneous, adaptive self-regulation.
Ecofeminism: term introduced      (“ecofeminisme”) by Francois d’Eaubonne in the 1974 text Le Feminisme ou la Mort. Dissatisfied with ecological analyses that      leave patriarchy out of account, ecofeminists out parallels between how men      in the West mistreat women and how they mistreat the Earth: in both cases      a relationship of power, control, a will to dominate, and a pervasive fear      of of the fact of interdependency. A twist on this is the patriarchal habit      of objectifying women while feminizing the environment; women are then seen      as less mature or human because "closer to nature." Not all ecofeminists      agree on women's relationship to the natural world: Salleh thinks that feminine      bodily experiences situate women more closely to nature, whereas Roach critiques      this for reinforcing of the old nature-culture dichotomy. Many ecofeminists      have criticized deep ecology's emphasis on unity (seen as a deemphasis on      diversity and particularity) and on the need for elaborate philosophizing;      for Plumwood, who sees the Western exaltation of rationality as a suicidal      expression of ecological contempt, "identifying" with nature is      an extended egotism that replaces relationship with psychological fusion.      For Ynestra King, the tie with nature, though socially colored, should be      celebrated rather than repudiated as "determinist" or "essentialist."
Ecological Efficiency:      the percentage (usually around 10%) of useful energy that passes from one      trophic level in a food chain to another. Shorter food chains tend to lose      less energy.
Ecological Equivalents:      species that live far apart but in similar niches and ecosystems.
Ecology: from the Greek oikos (household) and logos (study): the study of interrelationships      between organisms and their environment. The term was coined in 1866 by German      biologist and philosopher Ernest Haeckel, famous also for his discredited      but interesting dictum that ontogeny (individual physical development) recapitulates      phylogeny (the evolutionary development of its species).
Ecopsychology: a relatively      new discipline operating on an ancient assumption: the deepest levels of the      psyche are tied to the Earth (unlike environmental psychology, which looks      in linear fashion at the impact of surround on psyche). Theodore Roszak, for      instance, posits an “ecological unconscious” at the core of the      psyche; Stephen Aizenstat describes a “world unconscious” similar      to what early philosophers described as the anima mundi or world      soul. As with deep ecology, ecopsychology insists that to be healthy, our relations with the Earth must be reciprocal, not exploitive. "Ecopsychology      is the effort to understand, heal, and develop the psychological dimensions      of the human-nature relationship (psychological, bio-social-spiritual) through      connecting and reconnecting with natural processes in the web of life. At      its core, ecopsychology suggests that there is a synergistic relation between      planetary and personal well being; that the needs of the one are relevant      to the other." -- Robert Greenway, Amy Lenzo, Gene Dilworth, Robert Worcester,      Linda Buzzell-Saltzman.
Ecosophy: the philosophy      of Deep Ecology.
Ecosophy T: Arne Naess’s      brand of deep-ecological philosophy whose ultimate norm is Self-realization:      realization of self and ecosphere and, ultimately, the universe. From this      norm follow certain values like: interdependency of all things; maximum diversity;      minimal exploitation; elimination of class society; maximum symbiosis. A key      premise is that everything living has an intrinsic value apart from its purely      human use value. The “T” recalls his hut Tvergastein, named after      quartz crystals found nearby. (One of Naess's models, Spinoza, was a lens-grinder.)      See Deep Ecology.
Ecosphere Share: the      financially and politically dangerous idea that each person is entitled to      a share of the world’s resources in accord with what's needed to live.
Ecosynthesis: Haikai      Tane's term for a hypothesized evolution of ecosystems, some changing in response      to human-caused planetary changes.
Ecosystem: a biotic community      and its surroundings, part inorganic (abiotic) and part organic (biotic),      the latter including producers, consumers, and decomposers. The term was introduced      in 1935 by Sir Arthur Tansley. Social ecologist Murray Bookchin prefers the      less mechanical word ecocommunity. Its components are not reducible      to the interdependent relationships that emerge from it.
Ecosystem, Pulsing: Howard      Odum's hypothesis that ecosystems change not only gradually, but in the unpredictable      starts, fits, and "pulses" characteristic of systems subject to      chaos dynamics.
Ecotage: term invented      by future Environmental Action members at Earth Day, 1970, to describe the      sabotage of environmentally harmful machineries (bulldozers, SUVs) and projects      (housing tracts, supermalls). Similar to monkeywrenching (Edward      Abbey’s term from his 1976 novel The Monkey Wrench Gang). Most      greens consider ecotage inappropriate until, at the very least, actions like      nonviolent resistance have proven futile. Dave Foreman of EarthFirst! distinguishes      between terrorism (which is aimed at innocent people) and ecotage (aimed at      devices that ruins ecosystems). Farmer-writer Gene Logsdon has wondered whether      groups who resort to such acts ever think about protecting, say, vanishing      topsoil.
Ecotherapy: Earth-based      healing practices. "Ecotherapy involves understanding and healing the      human-nature relationship through connecting and reconnecting with natural      processes"(Robert Greenway). Ecotherapist Linda      Buzzell-Saltzman refers to the field as "ecopsychology in action."
Ecotone: the transitial      zone between adjacent biotic communities, often with unique nutrients and      ecological relationships.
Ecotope (Biotope): the      smallest ecologically distinctive area within a landscape classification system.
Ecotopia: a vision of      an ecologically friendly society.
Ecotourism: tourism that      makes use of the ecological attributes of a place (e.g., bird-watching).
Ecotype: a genetically      differentiated subpopulation evolved to remain within its habitat.
Edaphic Factor: any organism-impacting      feature of the soil, like pH for the plants there.
Edge Effect: the unique      properties in an ecotone (plant variety, animal density, biological diversity),      the zone where two communities meet.
Edge Wave: one that runs      parallel to the shore.
Effluent: a substance (usually toxic) entering an environment from a point      source (a confirmable location). Example: wastewater from a manufacturing      plant (effluence from affluence).
Effusive Eruption: non-explosive      flows of thin basalt-forming magma from a volcano. Often associated with shield      volcanoes.
Elastic Limit: how much      a rock or mineral can bend without shattering.
Elastic Rebound Theory: earthquakes happen when continental plates moving      in opposite directions finally slip after a long accumulation of stress.
Elater: a structure      that disperses spores when moistened.
Element: a molecule composed      of one type of atom (e.g., Carbon, Hydrogen, Helium). At present the Periodic      Table contains 112 elements. Two or more elements form a compound.
El Niño ("the boy"): a periodic climate change brought by      warmer Pacific currents (as high as 14oC warmer) normally pushed away by the      Pacific trade winds, which fade every three to seven years. As barometric      pressure shifts over the Pacific and Indian Oceans (the Southern Oscillation),      floods strike some regions (the West Coast of North America, for example)      as droughts bake others (parts of South America). (South      American fisherman bestowed the name because the effect--which lasts eight      to ten months--often arrives near Christmas, birth time of the Christ Child.)      See La Niña.
Elfin Forest: forest      of small, scrubby trees sometimes draped with mosses or lichens; often found      near a tree line.
Eluviation: movement      of humus, chemical substances, and mineral particles from the upper layers      of a soil to lower layers by the downward movement of water through the soil      profile.
Embayment: portions of      open water or marsh defined by natural topographical features such as points      or islands, or by human structures such as dikes or channels.
Embryo: a zygote (fertilized      egg) whose cells have divided prior to its developing into a foetus.
Emergent Wetlands: those      whose vegetation partly above water and rooted below it.
Emissivity: the quantity      of heat flowing from the Earth back into space. Emissivity and albedo help      balance the global temperature.
Endocrine Disruptor:      a pesticide chemical that interferes with hormones. It is suspected to cause      vaginal cancer, immune system deficiencies, and birth defects.
Endoplasmic Reticulum:      network of tubes and sacs involved with making protein (with ribosomes) and      steroids and with storing calcium and glycogen (stored sugar).
Endosymbiosis: when      one organism lives in another to the benefit of both. Examples of the resulting      symbiosis include plastids, mitochondria, and chloroplasts.
English, Latinized: English      evolved from the Anglo-Saxon tongues spoken by the Germanic tribes--Angli,      Saxons, Frisians, Jutes--whose conscripts among the Roman legions had visited      Britain (later, Angleland, or England) and found it inviting. They came around      410, the year Rome fell to the Visigoths and the Emperor Honorius decided      from the safety of Ravenna that outposts like Britain were on their own. With      the Romans gone, the incoming Germanics blended with the indigenous Celts,      and so did their languages: into Old English and its earthy words ("dream," "water," "strong," "today," and "bread" derive from OE). So matters stood until William the Conqueror invaded in 1066      and brought along a language spoken at court: Anglo-Norman, a dialect of French      nobilityspeak thick with Latin words transplanted from the Roman Empire and      its warlike clerics. Eventually Anglo-Norman mixed with Old English to make      Middle English (the language of Chaucer), but during the Renaissance, renewed      interest in classical science and scholarship summoned another wave of Latinisms.      With these and an infusion of Greek terms in place, English grew standardized      with help from the printing press. Today only about one-sixth of it is homegrown,      the rest imported from other languages. Surrounded by the cogs and wheels      of the Industrial Revolution, capitalists and scientists coined more new words      from Greek and Latin formations that lent themselves to abstraction, classification,      and measurement. Hence the need for glossaries like this one. (For one more      item, see Inkhorn.)
Enterococcus: an anaerobic      bacterium with two strains that live in the intestines and others that cause      infections to wounds and the urinary tract.
Entomophilous: seed plants      pollinated by insects.
Entrainment: transport      of organisms in moving water.
Entropy: disorder or      unproductive energy in a given system. It tends to increase over time.
Enzyme: proteins that      augment (catalyze) and manage chemical reactions in cells by lowering the      activation energy.
Epibenthic: living on      the surface of sediments lying on the floor of a body of water.
Epifauna: animals that      live on a surface. See Infauna.
Epiphyte: a plant growing      on, but not nourished by, another plant. See Hemiphyte.
Epithelium: the layer      of cells lining a body cavity to protect it (e.g., the stomach). Both plants      and animals have it.
Epizootic: impacting      many animals at once, as with a disease outbreak.
Equilibrium Success Strategy:      species that survive through low death rate, relatively little colonization      or expansion, moderately frequent reproduction cycles, and other steady-state      patterns of adaptation. Tends to be the larger animals. See Opportunistic      Success Strategy.
Equinox: the two annual      periods when the sun crosses over the earth's equator either north to south      or south to north, thereby making a day and a night of equal length: an unusual      circumstance given the planet's tilt. The spring (or vernal) equinox is on      March 21 or 22, and the autumn equinox on September 22 or 23. In other terms:      the two periods when the ecliptic crosses the celestial equator.
Erosion: some natural,      but more and more due to human interference (development, urbanization, agricultural      exhaustion of soil, etc.). In the U.S., over 140 million acres are classified      as HEL ("highly erodible land").
Every time        you see a dust cloud, or a muddy stream, a field scarred by erosion or a        channel choked with silt, you are witnessing the passing of American democracy. -- Sterling North
Escarpment: a cliff-like      ridge formed by faulting or erosion. It divides two more or less even pieces      of land.
Esker: long rope and      ridge deposits left by glacial melting.
Espalier: a plant trained      to grow vertically, usually up a fence or trellis. Conserves space, heat for      frost-prone areas; enhances productivity.
Estivation: similar to      hiberation, but during the summer, underground.
Estuarine Zone: an estuary--a      watery coastal conflux where tide meets river--plus the surrounding wetlands      (intertidals, salt marshes, lagoons, bay mouths, etc.) Thick with nutrients      and organic matter, such zones are the highest producers in the ecosphere.      Eliminating one removes the grasses needed by local fish, shrimps, snails,      and other protein-rich organisms, deprives the are of a pollutant scrubber,      and removes a key flood-control device. With strong-arm help from the Army      Corps of Engineers, about half of the estuaries in the U.S. have been destroyed      by dredging and filling and other forms of “development.” 95%      are gone in California. See Wetland.
Eukaryote: an organism      with a membraned cell nucleus. See Prokaryote.
Eustacy: sea level changes due to seawater volume changes in the oceans.
Euphotic Zone: the zone      of water penetrable by sunlight.
Eurybathic: able to tolerate      different depths in water (like a sperm whale, which can ride on the surface      or dive deeply). Contrast with Stenobathic.
Eurythermic: able to      tolerate broad temperature changes.
Eutrophic: productive;      applies to habitats rich in nutrients and organic material.
Eutrophication: a gradual      nutrient enrichment that increases organic matter production, as with a lake      that absorbs waves of nutrient runoffs.
Evaporation: liquid water's      transformation into vapor. Requires a lot of energy.
Evapotranspiration (Transpiration):      the evaporation of water off leaf surfaces. A natural event, but can cause      plants to lose too much water in dry times.
Evenness: the even distribution      of individuals of a species. Of two groups of plants, roughly 50 individuals      in each group is fairly even; 2 in one group and 50 in the other would be      uneven. See Richness.
Evergreens: trees that      keep their foliage throughout the year. Needle-shaped leaves retain moisture      with less loss to transpiration. Compare Deciduous.
Evolution :      adaptive changes in the genetic characteristics of a population over time--but      this adaptation is not necessarily “improvement.” This entry says "Evolution" and not "Evolutionary Theory" because evolution      is not a theory anymore. Evolutionary operations and outcomes have been observed      directly, today, as well as indirectly through field studies, DNA research,      evidence-dating techniques, the fossil record, etc. The animal equipped with      a new and helpful feature is likelier to live long enough to pass it down      than an animal without it.
Elephants      in China are more frequently born tuskless, now, due to pressure from poaching.      See Speciation for an example of a family of Asian butterflies branching into      different species today. Genetic mutations, which are rare and usually harmful,      play less of a role in evolution than Darwin believed, and cultural forces      that reinforce selection for certain characteristics a larger role. (See Natural      Selection and Sexual Selection.) According to biologist Richard Dawkins, the      eye has evolved independently at least forty times, echo location four times,      the venomous sting ten times, electrolocation several times, flapping flight      four times, jet propulsion twice, and sound production for social puroses      too many times to count. See Convergent Evolution, Taxonomy.
According to this chart, the highest form of life on Earth      is the French poodle.
The walls        between "nature" and "culture" begin to crumble as we        enter a posthuman era. Darwinian insights force occidental people, often        unwillingly, to acknowledge their literal kinship with critters. -- Gary        Snyder
Exfoliation: the weathering      off of granite sheets. Called unloading when it happens in conjunction      with uplift.
Exogenic: external to      the Earth.
Exon: the segment of the gene that codes proteins (not all segments do). Each      exon codes for a specific part of the protein to be created. Not to be confused      with Exxon, whose extra x symbolizes what it codes: dangerously unpredictable      environmental hazards due to petroleum products burned or spilled into the      biosphere.
Exotic Species: those      not native to an ecosystem.
Explosive Eruption: common      in composite and caldera volcanoes. Contrast with Effusive Eruption.
Extirpated: a species      that no longer lives where it used to.
Facilitation Model of      Succession: ecological succession is driven by pioneer species (often annuals)      preparing the way for later (often perennial) species on and into the climax.      See Succession.
Fecal Coliform Bacteria: unharmful enteric (intestinal) bacteria whose presence      indicates harmful comtaminations.
Facultative: able to      live in more than one kind of environment, like a plant that flourishes with      or without air. Frequent in species that dwell in wetland uplands.
Faults, Earthquake:
Normal: the hanging        wall (the fault that moves) slides down the foot wall (stationary).
Reverse: the hanging        wall slides up the foot wall.
Strike-slip: the hanging        wall moves sideways.
Thrust: a reverse        fault where the fault angle is 45° or less.
Fed Cattle: those ready      for slaughter. Industrially warehoused beef cattle weigh about 1,100 pounds      after the steady diet of protein and steroids they are forced to eat.
Feldspar: a group of common aluminum silicate minerals that contains potassium,      sodium, barium, or calcium. Felspars are found in almost all crystalline rocks.
Felsic: light-colored      minerals containing quartz and feldspar. Contrast with Mafic.
Fen: partially flooded low-lying peatland fed water from upslope. (Fen peat      usually comes from decomposing sedges, rushes, and other such plant matter.)
Fermentation: the enzyme-controlled      conversion of carbohydrates like grape sugar into hydrocarbons like alcohol.
Fetch: the stretch of      open water in which wind can blow freely in one direction.
Field Capacity: the water remaining in a soil after it has drained naturally.
Filament: the piece stamen      that positions the anther to disperse pollen.
Filter Feeder: an organism      that screens its food from water. Baleen whales do this by forcing seawater      past the baleen plates they use instead of teeth.
Fine Particulate Organic      Matter (FPOM): organic matter which has undergone an initial decomposition.
Firn: snow compacted      into glacier ice (firnification).
Firn Limit (Firn Line):      the lower boundary a glacier's firn accumulation to have endured for one year.
First Law of Thermodynamics:      energy cannot be created or destroyed, only converted into another form. Sunlight      into tissue; motion into electricity.
Fissile: cleavable, like      a rock that splits into parallel sheets.
Fixed: a genetic mutation      that infiltrates 100% of a population.
Fjord: a long, usually      narrow, inland-reaching coastal valley sculpted by a glacier.
Flocculation: the accumulation      of particles into small masses that fall out of liquid suspension, usually      to settle on the bottom. Salt does this with clay particles. It can also be      used to separate contaminants from wastewater.
Flower: a plant's reproductive      organs.
Floodplain: the natural      path taken by a flood-swollen river. In the U.S., more than ten million homes      are located in or near floodplains, and the Bush Administration has eased      building restrictions in such locations. See Insurance.
Fluvial: pertaining to      streams.
Fly Ash: powderlike soot      particles produced by coal and oil factories. U.S. coal factories alone produce      the better part of a hundred millions of tons of it per year.
Foliation: the metamorphic      straightening of rock into parallel layers. Also: leaf formation.
Food Chain: the path      of food energy transfer from green plants (primary producers) to grazers (primary      consumers), omnivors and carnivores (secondary consumers), and to their predators      (top carnivores). The detritus food chain starts when organic matter settles      on the ground and breaks down. Because such linear food chains are relatively      rare in nature, see Food Web.
Food Miles/Kilometers:      term coined by Tim Lang to denote the distance food must travel from where      it is grown or produced and where it is sold. Foods that must come a long      distance often require more preservatives and generate more air pollution      from the petroleum products used to ship them. For this reason food packaging      does not usually say where something is grown. Buying from a local grower      or farmer reduces or eliminates such environmentally unsound practices.
Food Web: the interconnection      of all food chains in an ecosystem. Food web diagrams emphasize the circular      complexity of feeding relationships.
Forb: a broad-leaved      non-grass herb growing out in a field.
Forests: = rain. Cut      down a forest and make a localized drought. Deforestation is a direct cause      of spreading desertification worldwide. Parallel damage to the human psyche      remains largely unexplored.
It was        our Indian rule to keep our fields very sacred. We did not like to quarrel        about our garden lands. One's title to a field once set up, no one ever        thought of disputing it; for if one were selfish and quarrelsome, and tried        to sieze land belonging to another, we thought some evil would come upon        him....There is a story of a black bear who got into a pit that was not        his own, and he had his mind taken away from him for doing so. -- Buffalo        Bird Woman
Forest Outlier: a patch      of forest separated from the main body.
Foraminifera: single-celled,      shell-encased, microscopic protozoa found in all marine environments. Remains      of their shells produces chalk.
Fossil Fuel: coal, oil      and natural gas geologically transformed from ancient beds of plant matter      into burnable hydrocarbons. All told, these industries put 800 tons of carbon      dioxide into the air every second: a sobering number given that oxygen-breathing      life on Earth depends on carbon remaining locked in the ground. Although none      of these fuels carries much, if anything, left from the dinosaurs, these now-extinct      saurons have come to symbolize them with an eerie persistence.
Founder Effect: a type      of genetic drift in which the genes of founder organisms--those that move      on from the population they came from--show up in their offspring more consistently      than other gene combinations.
Fragmentation: breaking up of a forest into islands of trees.
Free-Living: a mobile      organism that does not depend on other organisms for food or other resources.
Free Market: an economic      system in which the wealthiest players are free to make as much money as they      can regardless of consequences or catastrophes.
French Drain: a pipeless      drain set in a buried channel of gravel to drain off excess water behind walls.      Invented in Concord by Henry French.
French Intensive: a farming      method developed just outside Paris involving raised, humus- and manure-rich      beds over double-dug soil. Yields were very high compared to traditional agricultural      methods.
Frequency Dependence:      an interspecific equivalent of density-dependence in which a species grows      when its population is low compared to another species and stops growing when      the population is high. See Density Dependence, Predator Switching.
Freshet: a flow of fresh      water.
Front: transition zone between air masses. Types include cold fronts (cold      air pushing back warm air--often bringing stormy weather), warm fronts, stationary      fronts, dry lines (air barriers separating moist from dry air--very common      in the American Midwest), and occluded fronts (when a cold front catches up      with a warm one; the resulting rotations of air can generate cyclones).
Frost: ice formation      on exposed surfaces due to atmospheric cooling and a relative humidity of      100%.
Frost Creep: a gradual downslope movement of soil caused by repeated thawing      and freezing.
Frost Wedging: the weathering caused by water freezing and therefore expanding      in cracks and fissues.
Frugivore: an animal whose main diet is fruit. Many birds and bats are frugivores.
Fundamental Niche: for      a given species, the ideal range of suitable conditions without competition      or predators. See Realized Niche.
Fungi (Mycota): saprophytic (decay-fed), spore-making plants without chlorophyll:      rusts, molds, smuts, mildews, mushrooms, and yeasts. Their long hyphae filaments      aerate and bind soils, aid water transport, cycle nutrients, decompose organic      matter, and allow roots to absorb nutrients from the ground.
Gaia Hypothesis: formulated by James Lovelock (1959) and further developed      by Lynn Margulis, the scientific hypothesis that the Earth and its systems      work as a self-regulating whole to maintain the biosphere through systemic      feedback loops. The hypothesis was invented to answer the question of how      certain environmental variables (gasses in the atmosphere, ocean salinity      levels) that should be unstable remain in equilibrium.
Gallinaceous Guzzler:      invented by Ben Galding, the term refers to covered, self-maintained watering      containers or catchments fed by seasonal rains.
Gametes: eggs and sperm;      reproductive cells that combine to form a zygote (fertilized egg).
Gametophyte: the phase      when gametes appear in plants.
Gamma Diversity: regional      diversity.
Gangamma’s      Mandala: a symmetrical herb garden design that allows access without requiring      any trampling on the garden beds.
Gap Dynamics: the ecological      effect of a canopy gap opened when a tree dies or is otherwise removed from      a section of forest.
Gause’s Principle      (Competitive Exclusion): no two species in an ecosystem can permanently fill      the same niche or use the same resources.
Gelifluction: the movement      of soil over permafrost.
GEM: genetically engineered      microorganism.
Genetic Drift: along      with natural selection, a key evolutionary process, whereby the frequency      of certain genes (alleles, actually) varies randomly in a given population      rather than being "pushed" by natural selection. Think about a population      of rats in which all but one have striped tails. A catastrophe kills all but      the one, who goes on to breed. Result: a majority with unstriped tails.
Germ-Line Cells: those      that specialize in reproduction.
Germ Plasm: the hereditary      material in germ cells (e.g., genes).
Gene(s): a chunk of DNA      that allows organisms to pass on adaptations and acquired features by making      a protein through codon sequences. DNA duplication errors often create new      genes. Gregor Mendel discovered genes and wrote about them--he called them "factors"--in 1865, but his work was ignored for 45 years. See DNA.
Gene Flow: the proliferation of alleles (different versions of the same gene)      across populations.
Generalist: an organism      able to survive under a wide range of environmental conditions.
Genetic Diversity: genetic      variability found in a population due to the genetic combinations of its individuals.
Genome: the genes of      a species. Their chromosomal order controls physical characteristics.
Genotype: an individual      organism's genetic constitution. See Phenotype.
Geologic Time Scale: a scale that measures the vast amounts of time over which      geological changes occur. Divided into eons,      eras, periods, and epochs . We are now in the Phanerozoic Eon that started      543 million years ago when animals began to fossilize in large numbers, the      Cenozoic Era (started 65 million years ago when the dinosaurs blew out), Quaternary      Period (roughly 2 million years ago, when pre-humans appeared), Holocene Epoch      (10,000 years ago, when the last Ice Age ended).
Geomorphic Threshold:      the limit beyond which changes to a landform accelerate into a new state (e.g.,      a creeping slope suddenly falls over).
Geostrophic Winds: global      winds; they blow above 1,000 meters up and are driven more by pressure/temperature      factors than by surface features or conditions.
Geothermal Energy: heat energy from the Earth's interior. Geysers and volcanos      are naturally occuring examples.
Gilgais: gentle depressions      distributed fairly regularly across level landscapes of clay.
Girdling: wrapping something      like wire around a tree trunk to choke the cambrium layer and kill the tree.
Gibbons: small apes that      use their arms to swing from branch to branch.
Glacier: a more or less      permanent body of ice compacted from recrystallized snow that expands or contracts      depending on gravity and climate.
Glacial Milk: glacial      meltwater cloudy with sediment.
Glacial Trough: a deep      U-shaped valley formed by glacial erosion. Many contain cirques on the valley      floor.
Glaciation: the modification      of land features by glacier activity.
Glaze: an ice coating      left by rain on a cold surface.
Gleization: when slowed      decomposition in a waterlogged environment allows layers of vegetation to      accumulate. Peat is a frequent result. In Russia gleization has been used      to grow an organic "liner" to hold water in leaky ponds and dugouts.
Global Warming: the      rising of the Earth's average global temperature because of greenhouse gases      accumulating in the atmosphere. The scientific emphasis has swung from whether      global warming exists to how to minimize the damage it will cause. One      example of many: according to the British Antarctic Survey and U.S. Geological      Survey as of 5005, 87% of 244 glaciers studied have retreated over the last      fifty years, and average retreat rates are accelerating. If the Greenland      ice sheet melts, sea levels worldwide will rise twenty feet. See Greenhouse      Effect.
The tide rises in Tuvalu, but unnaturally high tides are not        seen only
in the Pacific. They are being spotted now all over the world.
Glober's Rule: more heavily pigmented warm-blooded animals tend to be found nearer the equator.
Glucose: a simple six-carbon sugar produced by photosynthesis. An energy source      for both plants and animals; it breaks down from ingested carbohydrates. Cellulose      and chitin contain it.
Glycolysis: the breakdown      of glucose via enzymes into pyruvic acid, an initial step in the conversion      of simple sugars into energy for the body. See Carbohydrate Catabolism.
GM: acronym for genetically      modified food crops. Most Americans do not realize that eating processed food      almost always means eating something genetically altered, in part because      the foods are not normally labelled as such.
Gneiss: a coarse, metamorphosed,      foliated (laminated) rock in which feldspars and quartz, sometimes hornblende      and mica, run in bands.
Golgi Apparatus: a cell      organelle that wraps proteins in vesicle packages for shipment outside the      cell.
Graben Fault: a subsided      block of rock surrounded on two sides by faults. Similar to rift valleys.
Gradation: the growth and decline of a population. Also a geology term for      land leveling by deposition and erosion.
Grafting: joining one      plant segment (the scion) to another (the stock: a root or an entire plant)      so they grow together. Used as an alternative from growing a plant from seed.      Grafting produces many hybrids.
Grain: a type of simple      dry fruit that does not open at maturity (technically called a caryopsis).      See Cereal. Global warming is believed to have cut world grain production      by 93 million tons in 2003 alone.
Granite: medium to coarse      igneous rock congealed from felsic (light-colored) magma roiling under continents.      Rich in quartz and potassium feldspar (orthoclase).
Granivory: loss of seeds to hungry marauders (e.g., birds).
Graupel: snow crystals      fused with raindrops.
Great Leap Forward: Jared      Diamond's name for the human artifacts, ornaments, paintings, and other symbolic      innovations that appeared rather suddenly 40,000 years ago.
Green Algae: a common (more than 7,000 species) algae, especially in estuaries,      with nucleated cells and chloroplasts that make food from sunlight. The "higher" plants evolved from it.
Green Manure: a crop      grown to be dug into soil in need of nutrients. It is usually applied before      the second crop (usually a food crop) grows to avoid overheating it or depriving      it of nutrients.
Greenhouse Effect: the      gradual warming of a planet by an atmosphere's conversion of incoming solar      radiation into heat (discovered in 1824 by Jean Baptiste Fourier). This natural      effect is amplified by growing quantities of greenhouse gasses--carbon dioxide,      nitroux oxide, chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), ozone, and methane--that trap reflected      radiant energy as it tries to leave the planet. Some would see a tragic, bitter      irony in using up topsoil, polluting the rivers and oceans, and blackening      the atmosphere while unconsciously converting the entire world into a giant      greenhouse. See Global Warming.
Green Psychology: see      Ecopsychology. Ralph Metzner prefers the term "green psychology" because instead of sounding like yet another discipline or departmental specialty,      it refers to what psychology should have been doing all along: visualizing      human beings in our ecological context. In his book by the same name he notes, "The absence of any consideration given to the ecological basis of human      life in textbooks and theories of psychology is startling: it's as if we lived      in a vacuum or space capsule."
Green Revolution: a modernization      of high-yield agriculture which began in 1944 in Mexico with the Cooperative      Wheat Research and Production Program organized by the Rockefeller Foundation      and the Mexican government under agriculturalist Norman Borlaug. The resulting      production techniques boosted wheat yield enormously, and their use in India      and Pakistan saved millions of lives. But because such production depends      on irrigation (which invites salt), heavy machinery (which compacts soil),      and chemical fertilizers and pesticides made from petroleum products, the      long-term ecological consequences have been devastating.
Greensand: an organic      source of potassium: 7% potash plus trace elements.
Greenwashing: the political      or business practice of masking an environmentally destructive activity by      promoting it as environmentally beneficial ("Healthy Forests Initiative")      or, at worst, minimally damaging (e.g., the Bush Administration's argument      that oil drilling operations in Alaska will only take up a few thousand square      miles of the immense Arctic National Wildlife Refuge--which is like claiming      that a man spraying toxic fumes into the air all around him takes up only      the few inches on which his feet touch the ground).
Gross domestic product      (GDP) -- Gross domestic product is a measure of the total production and consumption      of goods and services in the United States. Because it does not take resource      depletion or pollution into account, the GDP gives a false picture of the      wealth of nations.
Gross Primary Production:      the total amount of energy and nutrients transformed by plants into biomass      or chemical energy (roughly 1-3% efficiency for photosynthesis and .2% for      the ecosphere as a whole).
Group Selection: the      controversial idea that instead of responding only to challenges that presently      face an organism, natural selection encourages improvements that will eventually      benefit a group. This would lend evolution a forward-looking or "teleological" capacity most Darwinians reject.
Growing Season: traditionally,      the period between the last freeze in the spring and the first frost in the      fall. Varies by location.
Grub: a thick, wormy      beetle larva. Gardeners work diatomaceous soil into the earth in spring to      keep grubs from eating plant roots.
Guild: a group of species      that fill similar ecological niches (e.g., birds that eat bugs from tree bark),      but separated by time or geography so they don't compete. Also: a permaculture      term for harmonious plant assemblies gathered around a central element. Planted      around an orange tree: rue and lavender to repel pests, nasturtiums to smother      weeds and grasses, clover and vetch for nitrogen, and an albizia tree to attract      ladybirds to eat aphids. The guild is a version of companion planting.
Gust Front: the blustery      front edge of a thunderstorm. It separates warm surface air currents from      cold downdrafts.
Gymnosperm: a plant      (e.g., a conifer) that bears naked seeds. See Angiosperm.
Gypsum: pale, sedimentary rock (hydrated calcium sulphate) ground up for use      in plasters, cement, and fertilizers.
Gyre: a spiral or rotational      movement, like a circular air or water current.
Habitat: the abode of      a species. (Microhabitat: of an individual organism.)
Halocline: a vertical      water gradient where salinity changes steeply.
Half-Life: time required      for half of a quantity of particle-emitting material to undergo radioactive      decay. Because emission slows as the isotope decreases in radioactivity, taking      half the life of its decay is more meaningful than trying to estimate the      entire amount. Half-lives range from millionths of a second to millions of      years.
Halophyte: a plant that      likes saline soil (cordgrass, rushes, pickleweed). Most plants need less salty      soil to grow in.
Hamada: a flat exposure      of desert bedrock.
Haploid: a cell that      contains only one set of chromosomes. Example: gametes (sex cells). By contrast,      most of the cells that make up the body are diploid: they contain chromosomes      from both biological parents.
Haplotype: a chunk of      DNA that moves down the generations as a single unit.
Hardening Off: moving      flats of sprouting seedlings outdoors into the shade before finally planting      them in the ground. Takes about two weeks.
Hardpan: a hardened soil      layer that blocks plant root growth. Caused by clay compation, iron precipitation,      or cementing by calcium carbonate precipitates. Growing plants like dandelions      can loosen it up.
Hard Technology: costly,      highly centralized, mechanical technology that uses a lot of energy, wastes      resources, and pollutes the environment. Mining and agricultural machinery,      for example. See Soft Technology.
Hardwood: wood from angiosperm      (flowering) trees; usually deciduous and broad-leafed (maples, cottonwood,      ashe, oak, elm. See Softwood.
Hatching Asynchrony:      when birds of the same group of eggs hatch at different times because the      mother incubated some before laying the entire clutch.
Headland: a strip of      land that juts seaward, usually with a cliff adjacent. Called a promontory when high and narrow.
Headwaters: the higher end of a stream's drainage.
Healthy      Planet Food Pyramid : Lawrence Buzzell-Saltzman's model of sustainable      consumption of local food. Focusing on where we get our food, the      pyramid rests on three levels: first, from a neighborhood garden; next, from      local organic farmers; and last, imported from elsewhere, a costly choice      given the amount of fuel and preservatives required. The average load of food      must now travel 1,700 miles: an extravagance in terms of energy and planetary      health.
Heath: an open, coarsely      soiled, poorly drained patch of land, usually acidic, supporting shrubs and      small trees; similar to a moor, but less moist.
Heave: the partial levering      of a plant up from soil alternately frozen and thawed.
Heavy Metals: elements      between lead and copper in terms of the Periodic Table. Too much lead, zinc,      nickel, mercury, arsenic, copper, or cadmium in soil can damage plants.
Hectare: 2.47 acres.      See Acre.
Heeling In: temporarily      covering the roots of dormant plants with soil or mulch to protect them from      the weather.
HEL: see Erosion.
Helophyte: a cryptophyte      (a plant whose reproductive organs are underground or underwater) that flourishes      in water or waterlogged soil. Cattails, rushes, and reeds are helophytes.
Hemoglobin: the iron-bearing      protein/pigment in red blood cells that tranports oxygen to the cells.
Herb: a nonwoody angiosperm      whose flowers back seasonally. Herbs are grown for seasonings, for medicinal      use, and for attracting beneficial insects like bees into gardens. They do      best in at least six hours of sunlight daily and are harvested as the first      flower buds open.
Herb Spiral: a spiral-shaped      planting bed for herbs. It offers a more compact growing space and protects      the plants inside it from weeds and wind.
Herbaceous: non-woody      plants; herbs (graminoids, forbs and ferns).
Herbivores: organisms      that eat plants. Insects are the most numerous herbivores.
Hemiphyte: an epiphyte      (a plant that grows on another plant) that eventually extends its own roots      into the ground.
Hetarchy: a non-hierarchical      coordination of activity between species.
Heterotroph: an organism      that cannot produce its own food and so must get it from other organisms.      All fungi and animals are heterotrophs. See Autotroph.
Hibernation: an energy-conserving      lowering of metabolism, respiration, heart rate, and body temperature while      the body survives on accumulated fat supplies. See Estivation.
High Moor: a bog whose      vegetation is low in nutrients.
Highwalls: the exposed,      unexcavated cross-sections left by highwall strip mining of coal.
Holdfast: an anchor or "foot" used by an organism to stick to a surface.
Holding Pond: a pond      or reservoir, usually made of earth, built to store polluted runoff.
Homeorrhesis: the correction      of developmental defects before development is complete. A ten-dollar word      for
"self-correction."
Homogenization: gushing      milk through a filter to spread out the fat globules into a mist (liposomes).      This is done to keep cream from rising to the top. Homogenized milk is suspected      by some of contributing to several health problems, including hardening of      the arteries and diminished resistance to cancer.
Homology: a similarity      shared by descendants of a common ancestor. We walk upright; so did early      hominids.
Homosexuality: characteristic      of roughly 10% of any population. Recent evidence suggests a genetic component.      Those who argue that homosexuality is " unnatural " are apparently unaware of the behavior in birds, sheep, beetles, bats, penguins,      dolphins, orcas, macaques, bonobos (some 75% of whom are thought to be bisexual),      black swans, orangutans, and roughly 1,500 species.
Horst      Fault: when two reverse faults push a block of rock upward between them. The      opposite of a Graben Fault.
Horticulture: gardening;      growing fruits, vegetables, and ornamental plans. Indigenous societies once      believed on the brink of starvation until "civilized" by monoculturalists      (e.g., the California Indians and the Spanish Mission System) are now known      to have supported themselves with food grown horticulturally in mixed crops      similar to those now studied by permaculture.
Hot Manure: manure high      in nitrogen. Using too much can burn plant roots.
Hotbed: a bed of soil      enclosed by a structure with a top of glass, and heated, often by manure,      for raising seedlings.
Hox genes: those that      determine what proteins go where in a developing body.
Humus: rich, black organic      material; the living component of soils where plant and animal matter has      been allowed to decompose. Ideal humus: 100 parts carbon, 10 parts nitrogen,      1 part phosphorous, 1 part sulfur. Most of the important micronutrients are      cations; the most important anions are boron and molybdenum. Fertile soil      contains 4-10% organic matter.
Hybrid: a cross between      two genetically diverse parent plants. Agribusiness companies produce and      sell hybrids that do not reproduce in order to retain a monopoly on seeds.
Any statistical        justification of ugliness or violence is a revelation of stupidity. --Wendell Berry
Hydration: the chemical      weathering of a mineral when water is added to it.
Hydraulic Despotism:      having established control over all local irrigation, Egyptian and Babylonian      rulers made water available for obedient subjects and shut it off for dissenters.      Although Karl A. Wittfogel coined this term (1957) to apply only to Oriental      despots, its practice is worldwide, as in the Los Angeles water wars of urban      expansion and assimilation and Israel's diversion of the Jordan, a project      that led to the Six Day War of 1967. The definition could be broadened to      apply to enterprises like OPEC that monopolize vital resources.
Hydraulic Gradient: the      slope down which underground water flows. It alters with changes in the water      table.
Hydrocarbon: organic      compound composed primarily of hydrogen and carbon atoms. Petroleum, natural      gas, coal, and methane are examples.
Hydrologic Cycle: the      ongoing transformation of water in the biosphere from ocean water evaporation      to clouds, rain, groundwater and runoff, storage in organisms, etc. until      its return to the oceans. The Earth holds roughly 326 cubic million miles      of water, 97% of it in the oceans.
Hydrolysis: chemical      weathering in which hydrogen ions from water alter a mineral's composition.
Hydroponics: growing      plants without soil, usually by supplying nutrients to the roots by immersing      them in a specially prepared solution or with special sprays (aeroponics).
Hydrosphere: the water      mass of the earth, including water vapor. Oceans occupy 71% of the planet      surface: roughly the same percent occupied by water in the human body. Of      the fresh water in rivers, streams, reservoirs, etc., 90% is believed to show      some level of pollution.
Hydrostatic Pressure:      the push of water under pressure, as in an aquifer.
Hydrophyte: organisms      that live in water habitats. Examples: water hyacinths and bald cypresses.
Hygrophyte: organisms      that live in moist places (creeping spearworts).
Hygroscopic: able to      absorb moisture, particularly from the air. Salt, glycerin, ethyl alcohol.
Hyperparasite: a parasite      to another parasite. In crabs, pepper spot disease occurs when the flatworms      that infect the crab are infected by a parasitic protozoan.
Hyphae: microscopic filaments      from simple plants like mushrooms, bracket fungi, mushrooms, etc. that weave      soil together.
Hypoxia: depletion of      oxygen in water to less than 2 miligrams/liter. An excess of nutrients (eutrophication)      from fertilizer runoffs, air pollution, sewage, soil erosion, and other sources      can spark enough algal growth to deprive the water of oxygen and kill off      fish and other organisms that need it.
Ice Wedge: wedge of ice      whose expansions and contractions from melting and freezing open large cracks      in the ground.
Igneous:      a rock congealed from molten material beneath (intrusive) or at (extrusive)      the Earth's surface. Granite is an intrusive igneous rock.
Illuviation: accumulation      of soil materials (clay, humus, iron, etc.) leached from one soil layer or      horizon into another.
Impervious Cover: a surface      that blocks water from going into the soil: highways, streets, parking lots.      In urban areas the resulting storm runoffs spread pollution and waste, erode      whatever soils they reach, and threaten communities with flash flooding.
Impingement: power plant      intake screen blockage by fish, weeds, or other water species.
Incipient Species: one      about to become genetically isolated from its species of origin. See Speciation.
Indicator Plant: a plant      whose presence and health give clues about soil quality. Moss sometimes means      a lot of acid in the soil, for example, although to a seasoned eye, most plants      can serve as indicators.
Indicator Species: a      species that works like an indicator plant: its population and health reveal      much about its ecosystem.
Infauna: animals that      live in sedimentary deposits on the sea floor.
Influent: a plant or      animal that has an important effect on the biotic balance in a community.      Sometimes used to mean a species that moves into an ecosystem from outside.
Inhibition Model of Succession:      small disturbances coupled with varying dispersal and longevity in a dominant      species allow new species to gain a foothold in the ecosystem.
Inkhorn: a small ink      container, but also a term of sarcasm directed at scholarly pedants who insisted      on bringing long, Latinized terms--inkhorn terms--into English, a practice      deplored in Shakespeare's day and even by Shakespeare. Thomas Wilson's rant      appeared in 1553, his cry unheeded by generations of researchers who emulated      a Latin-speaking priesthood by locking away their concepts in sacred verbal      sacristies:
Among all        other lessons this should first be learned, that wee never affect any straunge        ynkehorne termes, but to speake as is commonly received: neither seeking        to be over fine or yet living over-carelesse, using our speeche as most        men doe, and ordering our wittes as the fewest have done. Some seeke so        far for outlandish English, that they forget altogether their mothers language.        And I dare sweare this, if some of their mothers were alive, thei were not        able to tell what they say: and yet these fine English clerkes will say,        they speake in their mother tongue, if a man should charge them for counterfeiting        the Kings English.
Insolation:      solar energy received by the Earth.
Insurance: what homeowners      need when their homes have been constructed on slipping hillsides, canyon      floors, eroding coastlines, floodplains, and swathes of chaparral by developers      working in complete disregard of the forces and cycles of nature.
Integral Ecology: a perspective      developed by Sean Esbjorn-Hargens and Michael Zimmerman to interfuse learnings      from the various subfields of ecology with the integral teachings of Ken Wilber,      those dealing with the All Quadrants/All Lines aspect in particular. According      to integral theory, every phenomenon can be studied either individually or      collectively, and from the inside or the outside. Integral ecology applies      this by exploring the subjective, measurable, cultural, and developmental      dimensions of a given ecological situation or problem rather than staying      solely with one angle of attack.
Interaction: the primary      ones are competition, mutualism, predation, parasitism, amensalism, and commensialism.
Interplanting: growing      different crops close to each other, as with pole beans at the base of corn      stalks, early peas followed by lettuce, and sweet corn with bush beans. When      done properly interplanting provides a natural mulch or ground cover and inhibits      pest infestations.
Interstem: a piece of      stem grafted between the scion and the stock for improved root strength, bark,      and flowers. See Grafting.
Intertidal: the stretch      of shoreline between low and high tide.
Introns: parts of the      gene that are never transcribed. See Exons.
Intuitive Totalization:      the inflated habit of emphasizing connections between things without assessing      whether the connections are relevant or important. A radioactive cloud drifting      halfway around the world demonstrates an ecologically significant linkage      between its point of origin and its destination; "everything is one" is verbal gas. ("Intuitive" because in terms of Jung's typology, such a blurring of sensate distinctions reveals an overexertion      of the intuitive function, the psychic knack for sensing patterns, to the      detriment of the grounding sensation function.) As Charles Manson liked to      put it, "If all is one, then nothing is wrong."
Invertebrate: an animal      without a backbone. Contrast Vertebrate.
Ion: an atom or group      of atoms that carries either a positive (cation) or negative (anion) electrical      charge because of having lost or gained an electron. Ions play a key role      in many biochemical reactions.
Ionization: producing      ions. Example: solar radiation striking the upper atmosphere.
Isobars: cartographic      (but not actual) lines connecting places with the same average air pressure      for a given period; used to define cyclones (low-pressure regions) and anticyclones      (high-pressure regions).
Isogamy: where two individuals      combine half their genes to make an individual offspring.
Isohyets: map lines connecting      places with the same average precipitation for a given period.
Isostasy: the buoyancy      of the Earth's crust (lithosphere) upon the asthenosphere. For a segment of      crust, buoyancy depends on its thickness and density.
Isotherms: lines connecting      places having the same average temperature for a given period.
Isotope (Nuclide): an      element variant in which the number of neutrons does not equal the number      of protons. U-235 has the same number of protons, but not neutrons, as U-238,      but U-238 will not fission itself into an atomic chain reaction when lumped      together.
Isothermal Layer: a vertical      atmospheric layer where temperature remains uniform. Such layers form the      bottom of the stratosphere, mesosphere, and thermosphere. See Atmosphere,      Layers.
J-Curve: a curve on      a graph that indicates an exponential increase: the curve begins low and angles      upward rapidly. Worldwide population growth, for instance.
Jet Stream: a long, serpentine      air current just below the tropopause (about 12 km up) and blowing westerly,      generated by temperature differentials between air masses, and often exceeding      a speed of 250 miles (402 kilometers) per hour. The two polar jet streams      are the strongest.
Junk      DNA: strips of DNA whose purposes have not been identified. They seem to play      no role in anything genetic.
Kame Terrace: stratified      alpine ridge deposited between a melting glacier and a valley slope.
Kangaroo Rat: an organism      notable for its ability to make its own water.
Kaolinite (Aluminum Silicate      Hydroxide): a clay produced by weathered feldspar. Common in clays everywhere,      including China, where its name comes from. Used to make paint, rubber, ceramic,      plastics, and the glossy stuff they put on magazines.
Karst: a limestone-bedrock      landscape dotted by fissures, caverns, sink holes, and other evidences of chemical weathering.
Katabatic Wind: wind      blowing down a mountain slope.
Kettle      Hole: depression or pond found in glacial deposits (see Kame Terrace). Left      by a chunk of melted glacier.
Kerogen: a solid, rubbery,      waxy substance often found in shale. Under pressure it turns into a tarry      hydrocarbon.
Keystone Species: a species      that increases or decreases the diversity of a system. Example: otters, which      when hunted to extinction remove a check on the sea urchins that will eat      local kelp forests on which many other species depend.
Kinship Gardening: a      form of companion planting in which botanical kin (taxonomically selected)      are placed next to each other to foster mutual growth and health. Concept      by Dr. Alan "Mushroom" Kapuler.
Krebs Cycle: the second      stage in the breakdown of glucose (unprocessed sugar) into energy (ATP), carbon      dioxide (as waste), and water Citric acid entering the Krebs cycle as a product      of glycolysis (first stage) exits as NADH (reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide),      one molecule of GTP (guanosine triphosphate), and one molecule of FADH2 (reduced      lavin adenine dinucleotide). NADH and FADH2 give their high-energy electrons      to an electron transport system (third stage) that makes many ATP molecules.      Named after German chemist Hans Krebs, who discovered the cycle in 1937. See      Glycolysis, Carbohydrate Catabolism.
Krummholz: the twisty,      shrubby islands of trees near a tree line (which marks the climatic boundary      beyond which they will not grow).
K-Selection: species      in stable environments tend to live longer and produce fewer, and sometimes      larger, offspring. (K is the constant for carrying capacity in terms of population      growth.) This used to be true for whales before their environment was changed.      See R-Selection.
Labor-Saving Devices: “Without ‘labor saving’ technological gadgets to help me,      I save a lot of time by not having to fix them.” -- Gene Logsdon
Lactose Intolerance:      the inability to digest lactose, or milk sugar, due to insufficient lactase      enzymes in the small intestine. Symptoms include bloating, stomach cramps,      diarrhea, and nausea. People of Northern European descent tend to suffer it      less because of an evolutionary transformation brought about by milk-drinking,      a practice other humans have traditionally given up after infancy.
Lacustrine: a very fancy      way of saying: having to do with lakes ("a lacustrine wetland").      See English, Latinized.
Lahar: a mud landslide      that rushes down the side of a volcano and freezes into place like concrete.
Lake, Layers:
a littoral zone where        shore plants grow
an epilimnion, site        of sunlight-driven photosynthesis
a metalimnion below        it, separating the upper waters from the
hypolimnion, cool        bottom waters, where organic decomposition occurs in the relative dark.        Lakes with little oxygen at this layer but abundant green algae might be        eutrophic (rich in nutrients but often poor in animal life), whereas clear        lakes with surpluses of oxygen in the hypolimnion might be oligotrophic        (poor in nutrients), with mesotrophic lakes somewhere in between.
Laminar Flow (Streamlined      Flow): uninterrupted parallel flows of liquid, as with blood flowing smoothly      through the circulatory system.
Land Breeze: surface      air movement down a pressure gradient from land to water at night. The air      over land is of higher pressure because the land, heated during the day, is      warmer than the water. See Sea Breeze.
Land Systems Method:      a mapping approach that integrates relatively uniform environmental features      usually measured separately: rock type, climate, vegetation, soil, topography,      etc.
La Niña ("the      girl"): when tropical Pacific trade winds strengthen enough to pile cold      water into the central      and eastern Pacific. An intensification of normal conditions (in North America,      stormy in the northwest and dry in the southwest). The opposite of an El Niño.
Larva: a recently born      or hatched animal before it undergoes metamorphosis into its mature form.
Latent Heat Flux: the      transformation of heat energy through cycles of air and water.
Lateralization: the specialization      of brain functions by hemisphere (language in the left lobe, pattern recognition      in the right).
Lateritization: the formation      of laterite, an infertile red clay soil used for durable bricks in the tropic      and subtropics, where rains and hot sunlight combine to wash minerals out      of the soil before baking it dry. Triggers huge landslides in recently deforested      areas.
Laterite: red or orange      soil with insoluble concentrations of iron, aluminum, and other metals. Laterites      rich in aluminium oxides are mined for their aluminium ore.
Lath House: a frame      topped by strips of wood spaced to provide about 50% shade for crops like      lettuce that need only partial sun exposure.
Latitude: a north-south      measurement of position on the Earth, from the equator at 0° to the North      Pole or South Pole at 90°. An east-west line connecting places of the      same latitude is a parallel. Latitude is measured in degrees, minutes, and      seconds. See Longitude.
Latitudinal Diversity      Gradient: around the world, the diversity of species tends to increases as      latitude decreases. In other words, life gets richer toward the equator and      less so nearer the poles.
Lawn: one of the most      wasteful things to do with fresh water. According to Bill Mollision (see Permaculture),      cultivated lawns go back to the British Empire and the country estate, both      in the business of taming the natural world. Their demand for water is second      only to that of agricultural irrigation. Many require petroleum products to      maintain and to fertilize, and pesticides to keep pristine despite their ecological      vulnerability.
Leaching: the flushing      or percolation of chemicals, minerals, or other substances through soil. Pesticides,      fertilizers, poisons from mines or feedlots, and wastes from industrial plants      sometimes leach into groundwater. Leaching also refers to washing the salt      from soil to increase its fertility.
Leibig’s Law of      the Minimum: each species in a community requires certain conditions to live,      such that if any of them fall below a critical limit, the species cannot survive      there.
Legume: a flowering bean      or pea plant. All legumes contribute to the nitrogen, phosphorus (key to flowering      and seed formation), and potassium nutrition of the crops that follow. Alfalfa      is the heaviest nitrogen producer.
Lentic: still water (pond,      lake, etc.); also, organisms living in it. Compare Lotic.
Levee: an embankment      that works as a dike. Levees built to containn floods can actually accelerate      floodwaters by narrowing natural channels.
Ley: arable land used      occasionally as hay or pastureland.
Ley Farming: the rotation      of legume and grain crops, developed as an alternative to crop-fallow practices      in Australia. In addition to improved soils and reduced erosion, wheat yields      increased 48% and showed a higher protein concentration.
Liana: a woody vine that      climbs on trees to spread its leaves above the canopy. Used to make rattan.
Libidinal Politics: Ynestra      King's term for politics grounded in care and relationships, in eros rather      than logos only.
Lichen: the symbiotic      association of a true fungi and a green alga. The alga makes sugar through      photosynthesis, and the fungi fills out the organism while holding it to a      surface (rocks, bark, etc.). Lichens pioneer harsh or sparse environments,      provide food for grazers, and break down rocks through chemical weathering.
Life Pyramids: niche      diagrams of the organisms living there.
Life Zones: created by      C. Hart Merriam in 1894 to classify environments by temperature and rainfall.      There are eight major life zones: Arctic-Alpine, Boreal (Hudsonian), Boreal      (Canadian), Transition, Carolinian, Loouisianian, Upper Sonoran, and Lower      Sonoran.
Lignite (Brown Coal):      low-grade coal.
Limestone: sedimentary      rock composed of calcium carbonate (calcium carbonate) formed by deposits      of seashells and marine animal skeletons. Limestone is often added to cement      and other construction materials, including blocks and facings.
Limiting Similarity:      the degree to which niches must be different to avoid interspecies competition      for them.
Limnetic: fresh water.      (Limnology is the study of lakes and ponds.)
Lipids: fats, waxes, oils: greasy organic hydrocarbons insoluble in water.      With proteins and carbohydrates, membrane-strengthening lipids provide cells      with their structure.
Liquefaction: the brief      conversion of saturated soil into a structureless mass that flows like fluid.      When earthquakes trigger it, walls, dams, buildings, and foundations are liable      to collapse. Frequent near coastal developments and areas of poor drainage.
Lithification: compaction      and cementing of sediments into sedimentary rock.
Littoral: the shore between      the high and low water marks. See Zonation.
Living Mulch: ground      vegetation grown to shelter a crop from pests or weeds.
Loading: the rate at      which something is added to water.
Loam: a fertile mixture      of sand, silt, and clay in roughly equal parts.
Loess: silt deposited      by the wind, often near glaciated land. Its erosion forms "cat steps" that slide off each other. A frequent component of fertile topsoil.
Longitude: an east-west      measurement of position on the Earth. Measurements of longitude range from      0° at the Prime Meridian at Greenwich to + 180° West and - 180° East of it. A line connecting places of the same longitude is a meridian.      It is measured in degrees, minutes, and seconds. Unlike latitude, longitude      cannot take the poles and equator as fixed points of reference. It must rely      more on time, which is why accurate long-voyage navigation had to await the      invention of an accurate timepiece. See Latitude.
Longshore Current: one      that moves parallel to the shoreline.
Lotic: flowing water,      as in a river or stream. Compare Lentic.
Low Moor: a mineral-rich      fen of peat or muck soil formed in nutritive waters, often drained from nearby.
Macroecology: the study      of statistical distributions of large groups of organisms or species to see      why the distribution patterns vary.
Macronutrients: soil      nutrients (not including carbon, hydrogen, or oxygen) needed in relatively      large amounts by plants: nitrogen, potassium, phosphorus, calcium, magnesium,      sulfur. Soils lacking one or more of them are sometimes given amendments to      add what's needed.
Macrophyte: a plant too      large to be considered microscopic.
Mafic: dark-colored,      igneous, and high in iron and magnesium and other heavy elements (as in gabbro      and basalt). See Felsic.
Mad Cow Disease: bovine      spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), a fatal, infectious disease that degenerates      the central nervous system of cattle. It might have evolved from scrapie,      a similar disease that infects sheep and goats. In Britain, the practice of      feeding cattle with the remains of other cattle not known to have been infected      helped spread the disease in the mid-1980s. (Given how the meat packing industry      treats them anyway, no wonder the cows are mad.)
Magma: molten rock beneath      the planet surface. (Lava is exposed magma.)
Magnetic Declination:      the difference in angle between true north and magnetic north, or true south      and magnetic south. The poles occasionally switch, also, which last happened      780,000 years ago.
Magnetosphere: the Earth's      magnetic field, generated by the planet's nickel-iron core and extending thousands      of kilometers into space. It shields the Earth from the highly charged plasma      (mostly hydrogen particles) of the solar wind that emanates from the sun.
Maldevelopment: Vandana      Shiva's term for what usually goes by the name of development and in actuality      results in widespread poverty and ecological destruction. Maldevelopment contrasts      with "realwealth," the actual richness and diversity of a community.
Why does        progress so often look like destruction? -- John Steinbeck
Mammal: hairy, warm-blooded      vertebrates that nourish their young with milk (hence the name). About 5,500      species in all, and all descended from a common ancestor of the anteater,      platypus, marsupials like the kangaroo, and placentals. The extinction of      the dinosaurs 65.5 million years ago made way for the growth of large mammals.      40% are rodents.
Mangrove: trees that      grow in coastal wetlands in tropical climates. Their trunks block wind, and      their roots provide habitats and a barrier to erosion.
Marble: metamorphic      rock made of recrystallized calcite or dolomite. Limestone marble is white.      Marbles like those played with on street corners were once made of marble;      the common method of shooting one is called fulking (no kidding).      It's considered impolite to fulk with another person's marbles without permission.
Maquis: dense, twisty,      drought-resistant evergreen scrub growing in arid regions. Hiding behind it      during World War II suggested a convenient name for the French underground.
Mariculture: growing      and harvesting marine life. Compare Aquaculture.
Maritime Effect: an ocean's      moderating effect on nearby climate. It tends to soften temperature extremes.      See Continental Effect.
Marl: a light-gray earth      made of carbonates from shells or fossils; can be either loose or firm. Used      as a fertilizer or a source of lime for lime-poor soils.
Marsupial: a mammal whose      offspring develop after birth in the mother’s pouch (the marsupium)      outside her body. 75% of living marsupials come from Australia.
Marsh: a damp wetland      less acidic and waterlogged than a bog.
Mass Extinction : a catastrophic reduction in species population. The mass extinction      now underway threatens more than half the animals on Earth, some of whom have      already vanished; others, like the great apes, are about to. For a tribute      to what no longer lives, see the Altars      of Extinction project online.
Mass      Wasting: the gravity-driven (not water- or wind-driven) movement of rock or      soil downslope. Tends to occur at higher elevations. Example: a landslide.
Matric Force: the attraction      that holds water to soil particles. Contributes to soil cohesion and the formation      of helpful colloids.
Matted-Row: placing      plants off center or on a diagonal rather than in space-consuming rows.
Medfly (Ceratitis capitata):      the Mediterranean fruit fly, one of the most destructive pests of deciduous      fruits like pears, stone fruits, and apples. Its larvae also eat vegetables      and nuts. Yellow-brown with reddish purple eyes. Chemical sprays do not control      them effectively because of the brief time it takes the adult to lay eggs      below the surface of the offspring's future food source. Braconid wasps and      other parasites seem to do a more thorough job (see Biocontrol).
Megamachine: Lewis Mumford's      term for a mechanical sequestering of human energy into rigid social hierarchies.      His examples include the labor force that built the Pyramids and the armies      of both World Wars.
Meiofauna: microscopic      animals (nematodes, copepods, etc.) that live on the bottom of a lake or sea,      usually between sand grains. The macrofauna (like fish) depend on them for      food.
Meiosis: a two-stage      type of cell division that creates gametes (sex cells). Because each must      contain half a future offspring's DNA (one set from the father and one from      the mother), the kind of cell division (mitosis) used elsewhere will not work--it      would double the amount of DNA needed. To prevent this, meiosis turns a cell      containing 46 chromosomes into four sex cells containing 23 chromosomes each      (haploids) through an initial extra stage that mixes chromosomes.      Aside from that stage, meiosis is like Mitosis.
Meme: a unit of cultural,      as opposed to genetic, inheritance. Recent research supports Susan Blackmore's      theory that the human brain evolved rapidly to make itself a better habitat      for human memes. Such memes would be available for sexual selection.
Mercator Projection:      a mapping system that favors nautical navigation over visual realism.
Meristem: plant cells      that specialize in making new tissue. Different sorts of meristem make the      various tissues (some for bark, some for leaves, etc.).
Merophytes: groups of      cells that all originate from one cell. Merophytes build much of a plant,      the leaves and stems in particular.
Mesic: semi-wet.
Mesocyclone: a spinning      column of air inside a thunderstorm with a steep updraft. About half of mesocyclones      spawn tornados.
Mesophytes: organisms      living in habitats of moderate moisture.
Mesotrophic: moderately      nutrient-rich habitats.
Metabolism: an organism's      total biochemical activity. All the physical and chemical factors in the production      (anabolism) and breakdown (catabolism) of protoplasm and energy. Also: all      the enzymatic reactions that go on the cells. Metabolism is the fire of biological      life.
Metamorphism: the transformation      of a rock (called a protolith before the change) subjected to pressure,      fluid, or heat into a different kind of rock. (Called prograde metamorphism      when the change agents are intensifying, and retrograde when they      are decreasing.) A frequent occurrence below the Earth's surface. Metamorphic      rocks make up most of the planet's crust.
Metapopulation: local      but geographically separated populations of a species that are linked only      by organisms that migrate between them. Although local groups might die out,      the migrants keep the species alive. (Term coined by Richard Levins, 1969.)
Metazoic: many-celled.
Mica: a mineral silicate      whose hexagonal arrangements of atoms give it perfect cleavage (it breaks      in sheets instead of fracturing or crumbling).
Microclimate: the climate      of small locales: under plant leaves, in a garden, on a hillside. Can be used      to offset too much heat, light, or cold in the surrounding area.
Microhabitat: a small,      specific habitat, like under a log or in a bush.
Micronutrient: nutritional      elements (e.g., copper, boron, manganese) required by a plant or animal in      small quantities. See Macronutrient.
Mind-Body Problem: a      sterile philosophical dilemma given its first modern expression by mathematician      and swordsman Rene Descartes. Its basic question: how do the mind and the      body relate to one another? Which implies that the two are as separate as      self and world were thought to be (another Cartesian gem). A more profound      philosopher spoke to this centuries before Descartes and his coordinate-plane      approach:
When you        wrack your brain trying to unify things without knowing that they are already        one, it is called "three in the morning." What do I mean by "three        in the morning?" A man who kept monkeys said to them, "You get        three acorns in the morning and four in the evening." This made them        all very angry. So he said, "How about four in the morning and three        in the evening?"--and the monkeys were happy. -- Chuang Tzu
Mineral: the inorganic,      crystalline solid that makes up rocks. Over 2,000 varieties have been discovered.
Mineralization: decomposition      of organic matter into its inorganic (mineral) components (e.g., petrified      wood). In archeology, the replacement of fossil bone with water-borne minerals.
Misanthropy: a hatred      or distrust of humankind, as when people passing for environmental activists      declare human beings a blight upon the planet. The implied dualism is older      than Descartes.
Mitigation: promising      to set aside a wetland to replace the one being built over.
Mitochondrion: an organelle      (although outside the cell nucleus) that power the cell by converting organic      matter into ATP (energy)--see Carbohydrate Catabolism. Mitochondria also regulate      bodily heat and refine the oxygen that would otherwise poison us. They look      like upturned pillbugs.
Mitosis: nuclear division,      an initial step in cytokinesis (cell division).
Mixotroph: an organism      that can double as an autotroph (produces its own food) or heterotroph (eats      food produced by other organisms). Some tiny marine protozoans are mixotrophs.
Molecule: a group of      atoms bonded together. Chemistry is the scientific study of molecular reactions.
Moment Magnitude Scale:      developed in 1979 by Tom Hanks and Hiroo Kanamori to measure the total energy      of an earthquake by considering the amount of fault slippage (the moment magnitude)      rather than just the seismic graphing. The measurements are more physically      precise than the Richter Scale it replaced. See Richter Scale.
Monoclimax Theory: in      any environment, only one climax community will dominate. See Polyclimax Theory      for a less capitalistic perspective.
Monocline: a fold in      which rock strata bend in the same direction. Caused by sedimentary rocks      bending over a fault line.
Monocot (Monocotyledon):      flowering plants that have embryos with only one cotyledon (embryo leaf).
Monoculture: the cultivation      of a single crop on a piece of land to the exclusion of other crops. This      generally requires large quantities of artificial fertilizers, herbicides,      pesticides, nematocides, and other potentiall toxic measures to kill bugs      and increase yield. Even with these chemical aids, monocultures are prone      to disease outbreaks and pest infestations. Wes Jackson (New Roots for      Agriculture): agriculture leads to the monoculture of annuals, nature      to the polyculture of perennials. Monoculture invites pests, diseases, erosion.
Much of        the motivation for high yield in agriculture was in the “search for        gold” realm and clearly is predicated on a form of conquest. -- Wes Jackson
Monoecious: a species      with male and female flowers on the same plant (e.g., pines).
Monophagus: predators      that favor a single prey species.
Monosaccharides: simple      sugars.
Monsoon: a reversing      seasonal wind often bearing heavy rainfall. Common near the Indian Ocean.
Moor: an open, uncultivated,      grassy, often peaty tract of land with scrubby vegetation. Wetter than a heath      but drier than a bog.
Mor: a layer of humus,      particularly in a forest, whose chemical composition is distinct from the      soil below it. Often acidic, cold, and rich in carbon content.
Morraine: a mound of      earth or rock left by a glacier.
Morphology: the form      and structure of plants and animals.
Mosses: small, leafy,      spore-producing plants without true roots or water-conducting plumbing. About      9,500 species. They prefer dark, moist locations.
Moulin: a tunnel of water      that forms when a lake on a sheet of ice begins to melt. The tunnel reaches      downward until it spreads over the underlying bedrock. In the case of Greenland      and Antartica, moulins are lubricating the remaining sheets of ice from below,      making it easier for them to snap off and melt in the sea.
Mulch:      a covering of detritus (leaves, stems, etc.) invented by plants to survive      without weeding, watering, or fertilizing. Even compost is basically treated      mulch. Mulching a garden reduces erosion, conserves soil moisture, inhibits      weed growth, and provides the soil with organic matter.
Mutation: change in the      structure of a gene or chromosome due to a biochemical replication error.
Mutualism: a relationship      between species that benefits both. Can be symbiotic or nonsymbiotic.
Mycoplasma: parasitic      bacteria that cause diseases (pneumonia). Similar to a virus.
Mycorrhizae: mutualistic      association of a fungus with plant roots. The fungus is nourished and housed      by the roots it transports soil nutrients into. Almost nothing green would      grow without this symbiosis.
Natural Farming: Masanobu      Fukuoka's method for letting roots till the soil instead of machines. Decrease      cultivation and you decrease weeds. Leguminous cover crops and mulching instead      of fertilizer. Fukuoka practices what he calls the "no-plowing, no-fertilizing,      no-weeding, no-pesticides, do-nothing method of natural farming." To      him the idea that people can grow crops is egocentric, for it is nature that      grows crops. His rice yields have been impressive. (He reads like kind of      a nut: lots of “man in his arrogance” soliloquizing reminiscent      of Roger Payne in the seventies.)
Natural Gas: hydrocarbon      gasses that accumulate in rocks of marine sediment. Roughly 80% methane.
Natural Selection: nature's      selection of viable strengths through environmental pressures that force an      organism to adapt. The bat that hears better than the rest stands a better      chance of living long enough to pass on that kind of hearing. In this way      certain favorable genes--favorable to adapting to environment pressures--gradually      become more numerous in a given population. Discovered by Charles Darwin and      Alfred Russel Wallace in 1858 (rather, discovered years earlier by both; Darwin      beat Wallace to the press in 1858). Whether the environment shapes completely      passive life-material or interacts with an emerging and ever-more-conscious      creative potentiality is a most interesting current debate. See Evolution.
Natural Systems Agriculture:      an approach developed by Wes Jackson and the The      Land Institute that emphasizes mimicking natural ecosystems by growing      perennial polycultures or mixtures of perennial grains, as prairies do.
Neap Tide: one that arrives      when the moon is in its first or last quarter. Because the sun and moon stand      at right angles to each other, their tidal pulls partially nullify each other,      resulting in a lesser tide. Contrast with Spring Tide.
Nektons: aquatic organisms      (fish, for example) that can swim against the current, whereas plankton drift      with it.
Nematodes: microscopic      cylindrical roundworms living in water and soil. Can be parasitic (as with      the trichina and the hookworm) or free-living.
Neoteny: retention of      juvenile characteristics in an adult, as in the axolotl salamander near Mexico      City; under certain environmental conditions it never fully matures. See Progenesis.
Neuron: a nerve cell      that transmits electrochemical impulses. Neurons were thought to work somewhat      like electric switches: when triggered at the dendrite end by an incoming      nerve pulse, they generate a pulse down the axon (with help from the Nodes      of Ranvier, which work like signal boosters) to the terminal button, where      the pulse triggers the release of neurotransmitter chemicals into the synpase,      the space between one neuron and another. These chemicals then trigger a pulse      (or inhibit one) in other neurons. As it turns out, however, each neuron is      more like a microchip than a simple switch. At any moment only abut 5-10%      of the human brain's neurons are sparking, but eventually they all do, a fact      that contradicts the common but inaccurate idea that people use only a small      portion of their brains. (How much of the brain a person uses at once, or      regularly, is another matter.) The adult brain contains about 10 billion neurons,      with the brain as a whole drawing 20-40 watts of power, and with an ultimate      storage capacity of (very roughly) 100 terrabytes: about the same as every      book ever written, digitized. It's hard to estimate because each dendrite      contacts about 10,000 other neurons in extraordinarily complicated neural      nets.
 
Neurotoxin: a poison      that disrupts nerve function. Some venoms are neurotoxins that paralyze the      prey.
Neutralism: hypothesized      situation in which two populations have no effect on each other at all. Rare      and unlikely. (To take a leaf from George Carlin's book, this is one of those      ideas like walking up to someone, declaring, "I have nothing to say to      you," and walking away.)
Neutron: a chargless      particle in the nucleus of an atom. Neutrons and protons make up most of the      atom's mass.
Niche: an organism’s      role, function, or position in an ecosystem.
Niche Differences: those      that keep organisms from competing for resources (like plants that draw nutrients      from different depths).
Nickpoint: elevation      drop along a stream. Falls occur at nickpoints.
Nitrate: a salt or ester      (acid-alcohol product) of nitric acid; in soil, used by plants for building      amino acids and proteins. Artificially manufactured nitrates are used in fertilizers      and explosives.
Nitrogen Cycle (or Nitrification):      cycling of nitrogen from the air and soil to plants, animals, and then back      to the environment. Bacteria, legumes, and algae convert atmospheric nitrogen      into nitrates that enter plant roots before turning into protoplasm that decomposers      eventually break down again.
Nivation: erosion by      frost or snow.
Node: the point on a      stem from where new stem or leaves grow.
Nondegradable Pollutants:      those that do not decompose. Examples include lead, mercury, arsenic, plastics,      and synthetics.
Nonpoint Source (NPS):      diffuse pollution whose source is difficult to determine (like polluted runoff).
Nonrenewable Resource:      one that can be used up, like coal and oil.
Nonsymbiotic Mutualism:      a relationship of relative independence, yet necessary for both species, as      with bees and apple trees.
Nuclear Power: energy      released by the fission (splitting) or fusion of atomic nucleii: in effect      rending the very fabric of matter. The resulting heat drives electric generators.      Although the average nuclear plant creates 20-30 tons of highly toxic byproducts      and wastes a year, no one has thought up a safe way to deal with it (plutonium      has a half-life of 24,400 years).
Nucleic Acid: a very      long molecule made up of nucleotide chains carrying genetic information built      from carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, and phosphorus. See DNA.
Nucleotide: a monomer      (a chemical link in chains called polymers) composed of a sugar, a phosphate      group, and a ringlike organic base.
Nucleus: in a cell,      the organelle that contains genetic material (DNA and chromosomes); the cell's      control center. Also: the center of an atom around which the electrons orbit.
Nuee Ardente: an ashy      cloud of volcanic gas that churns downslope burning whatever it touches.
Null Model: a statistical      model or computer simulation used to analyze something in a community or its      environment.
Nutrient Cycling: the      cycling of nutrients through the environment and its inhabitants from soil      to plants to animals and back to soil.
Nutrient Traps: places      where nutrients accumulate, as in estuaries.
Obligate: a species confined      to a narrow range of conditions (e.g., plants that need a very specific soil      pH).
Obliquity: the tilt of      the Earth's axis (23.5° at present). The tilt makes seasons possible because      at any given position in the Earth's orbit around the Sun, half of the planet      will lean toward the sun as the other half leans away from it.
Obsidian: dark glass      congealed from rapidly cooled lava. Often composed of rhyolite.
Occam's Razor: Franciscan      priest William of Occam's admonition against unnecessary plurality in explanations      of something not understood. In other words, simple explanations requiring      fewer assumptions (crop circles are cut by pranksters on tractors) tend to      work better than those requiring more assumptions (crop circles are cut by      extraterrestrials who come here by an unknown means to make designs through      an unknown method for unknown reasons before departing again without leaving      any other evidence of their visit). Chalquist Trimming of Occam's Razor: although      the most correct explanation is often the simplest, the most fruitful explanation      is the one that opens up the most penetrating questions, respects the beingness      of the phenomenon under study, stimulates imaginative discussion, and tends      hypotheses that see through themselves with the highest degree of transparency.
Ocean Floor (Abyssal      Plain): the surface of the oceanic crust 5,000 to 7,000 meters below the ocean      surface. Ocean basins take up 30% of the Earth's surface.
Oceanic Crust: primarily      basaltic and roughly 5 to 10 kilometers thick.
Oceanic Plate: a mobile      chunk of primarily basaltic lithosphere floating on the asthenosphere below      it. The plates are about 75 kilometers thick. Volcanism at the mid-ocean ridges      produced them 700 million years ago. See Continental Plate.
Oil :      hydrocarbon liquid commonly drilled from sedimentary layers packed with marine      matter left over from the Carboniferous days. Its dark, spellbinding, "oildorado" properties include convincing large groups of people to vote against cheap      public transportation and elevating pirates and robber barons into heads of      nation-states. See Peak Oil.
Old Growth Forest: a      relatively undisturbed forest containing many old trees and luxuriant levels      of vegetation from the forest floor to its canopy. Logging old growth forests      triggers ecological consequences, some known (loss of water, rainfall, habitat,      oxygen, carbon, etc.) and some unknown.
Oligotrophic: low in      nutrients, as in lakes high in oxygen but low in plant or animal life.
Omnivore: an organism      that eats both plants and animals.
Ontogenetic Crippling:      Paul Shepard's term for the emotional and spiritual stunting that results      from growing up in a civilization at war with nature and afraid of close contact      with anything wild. An example would be socializing hordes of people to be      impulsive consumers, thereby strengthening their least mature tendencies while      curtailing their capacity for critical thought.
The fact        that millions of people share the same vices does not make these vices virtues,        the fact that they share so many errors does not make the errors to be truths,        and the fact that millions of people share the same forms of mental pathology        does not make these people sane. -- Erich Fromm
Ontogeny: the development      of an organism from the egg to maturity.
Opportunistic Success Strategy: species survival in unstable environments through rapid colonization      and reproduction, low mobility, and high death rates. "It's better to      burn out than to fade away." Contrast with Equilibrium Success Strategy.
Optimum Sustainable Population:      pretentious term for "how many things can live in one place without using      it up."
Organic: containing carbon;      also, made of living things or the products of their decomposition, like humus.
Organic Farming: a form      of small-scale agriculture that produces yields without introducing artificial      fertilizers or pesticides. The basic aim is to grow things naturally with      a minimum of mechanical interference. Organic farming grew in popularity from      Sir Albert Howard's published observations of Indian farming techniques (1940).
Fairview Gardens, an organic farm and blossoming outpost of      urban agriculture
flourishing in Goleta, California. Photo by C. Chalquist, 2005.
Organogenesis: the start of organ formation in the embryo.
Organophosphates: chemicals      that kill pests by ruining their nervous system. Originally developed by the      Nazis during the 1930s for use as bioweapons--"weapons of mass production," as President Bush would say. Currently the most popular class of pesticides.      See Cholinesterase Inhibitors. (Chemicals from poisons and explosives, tractors      from caterpillar-treaded tanks: over the years mechanized agriculture assumes      more and more of the features of a war against the soil. See Agriculture.)
Orogenesis: tectonic      mountain-building. They rise as continental plates smash together (case in      point: the Pacific coast and its long range of mountains).
Orthographic Uplift:      the rise of air masses bumping into a mountain range. Often results in rain      on the windward side and a dry rain shadow on the lee side.
Orthographic Projection:      a map simulating the Earth's three-dimensional surface on a two-dimensional      chart.
Osmoregulation: the      ability to control mineral and salt concentration in the blood. Some fish      do this to help them move among waters that vary in salinity.
Outfall: wastewater discharge      point.
Outgassing: release of      gas from molten rock or from the Earth's interior. Ancient outgassing produced      most of the Earth's atmosphere.
Out of Africa: the commonly      accepted evolutionary hypothesis that all humans emigrated from Africa, a      continent that hosted several hominid species.
Outwash Plain: flat      layers of sedimentation left by melt from a retreating glacier. Some are arable.
Overburden: the soil      and rock removed by mining.
Overland Flow: the downhill      movement of a thin sheet of rainwater.
Overpopulation: some      perspective: to reach one billion people took humanity from its beginnings      all the way to 1830. The second billion arrived in a mere century, the third      in 44 years, and the fourth in 12 years.
Overshoot: the crisis      point of exhausting whatever resources were available. See Crash and Dieback.
Overstory: the canopy      of a forest.
Ovary: in flowering plants,      the enclosure around the seed-making ovules. The ovary becomes the fruit.
Overdrafting: taking      more water from a well or aquifer than it can recharge. Results: a falling      water table, subsidence (this is what made diking in Holland necessary), encroachment      from nearby bodies of saltwater, and eventual exhaustion.
Ovule: the rounded plant      outgrowth that produces the seed.
Oxbow Lake: a bend in      a stream cut off from the rest of the water by erosion.
Oxidation: changing a      substance chemically by adding oxygen to it. See Redox.
Oxidative Phosphorylation:      the third stage in the breakdown of glucose into APT energy (see Carbohydrate      Catabolism), in which electrons handed off by the mitochondrion's electron      transport chain (see Krebs Cycle) are joined with oxygen to produce ATP inside      the mitochondrion (the cell's power plant).
Ozone: a three-atom      oxygen molecule that in its gaseous state screens ultraviolet radiation. The      protective ozone layer hangs 10 to 50 kilometers above the Earth's surface.
Ozone Hole: a once-natural      springtime thinning in stratospheric ozone over Antarctica, but now enlarged      by CFCs and other pollutants into a hole the size of the Moon.
Paleomagnetic      Dating: dating ancient minerals by using their magnetic properties to trace      reversals in the Earth's magnetic field.
Paleoclimate: the reconstruction      of ancient climatic conditions.
Palsa: a mound of earth,      often peat, pushed up near the edge of a glacier.
Palustrine: freshwater.
PAN (peroxyacetyl nitrate):      a pollutant found in photochemical smog. It irritates the eyes.
Pangaea: the 300-million-year-old      supercontinent that plate tectonics split 200 million years ago into what      have become the current arrangements of continents. There seem to have been      at least two other supercontinents before Pangaea.
Panhumanism: Gary Snyder’s      term for humanistic scholarship that fully embraces the nonhuman.
Parent Material: the      minerals from which a soil originates.
Pasteurization: heating      milk to kill microorganisms that could sicken humans.
Patch Dynamics: how      similar components (patches) in an environment interact with each other. Used      to study how patches of invasive species impact an ecosystem, among other      things. Not to be confused with the actings out of Patch Adams, a famous and      dynamic doctor arrested for protesting naked in San Francisco.
Paternoster Lakes: a      line of mountain valley lakes carved by glacial erosion. From the air they      resemble beads on a cord.
Pathogen: a microorganism      that makes its host sick. Certain viruses, bacteria, and authoritarian flag-waving      fanatics are common examples of pathogens. They tend to be parasites that      weaken the organisms they feed upon until self-protective systems get rid      of them.
Pattern Climax Theory:      the pattern of climax vegetation tends to reflect the spatial variations of      its physical environment.
PCBs: polychlorinated      biphenyls. Fifty common chlorine compounds that grow stronger as they move      up the food chain. Odorless and tasteless, they came from electronics manufacturing      until laws were passed to forbid their production and release. They are still      plentiful in the air, soil, and water, however. Symptoms vary from depression,      rashes, and acne to gastrointestinal and liver damage.
Peak Oil: the growing      conviction that oil production has peaked in most oil-rich parts of the world      and is now declining. Once laughed at by conservatives and pro-industrial      energy advocates, the idea now gains ground as oil production continues to      drop and gasoline prices soar.
Peat: partially decomposed      remains of plants that once flourished in a waterlogged environment.
Pedanticism: consumed      by intellectual detail at the cost of coherence or relevance. The driving      force is usually a bitter blend of perfectionistic fussiness and nerdy narcissism.      The sight of psychologists, ecologists, and academics engaged in heated struggles      about the definition of an ecological concept while the ecosphere burns is      a lamentable one.
Pediment: a gradually      sloping bedrock surface at the alluvial foot of eroded mountains. Often seen      in dry regions.
Pedalfer: soils of humid      regions; usually rich in alumina and iron but poor in carbonates.
Pedocal: soils of arid      regions; tend to be rich in carbonates (especially lime).
Pedogenesis: uptight      word for soil formation.
Pelagic: on the open      ocean, like jellyfish.
Perennial: plant species      that bears and seeds more than once. Perennials tend to take longer to produce      a food yield than the quick-growing annuals so heavily exploited by traditional      agriculture, but they last longer and do better in marginal soils. See Annual.
Periglacial: near a glacier.      Usually refers to landforms shaped by glaciation.
Perihelion: the point      in the Earth's orbit when it is closest to the sun (147.5 million km). Perihelion      occurs on the 3rd or 4th of January. The opposite of Aphelion.
Peripheral Isolate:      a group that ends up far from the parent species. See Speciation.
Periphyton: tiny organisms      like algae and diatoms that cling to the underwater roots of aquatic plants.
Periodic      Table : a list of all known elements (substances whose atoms are all of      the same type). Some of the heavier elements only exist in laboratories.
Permaculture: coined      in 1978 by Australian ecologist Bill Mollison and his student David Holmgren      as a contraction of "permanent agriculture" or "permanent culture." Permaculture involves designing ecological human habitats and food production      systems emphasizing relationships between elements in (zones) and energies      (sectors) that integrate human dwellings, microclimate, annual and perennial      plants, animals, soils, and water into stable, productive communities. According      to Holmgren, permaculture is the use of systems principles and design thinking      to make landscapes that mimic the patterns and relationships found in nature      while yielding abundant food, fibre, and energy for human needs. Emphasis      is on multi-use plants, cultural practices like sheet mulching and trellising,      and encouraging animals to recycle nutrients and graze weeds. Community planning      includes energy-efficient buildings, waste water treatment, and growing healthy      soils as well as plants. "Without permanent agriculture," writes      Mollison, "there can be no possibility of a stable social order."
Other permaculture practices:
Zones are laid out        from the center (the dwelling) in terms of how many visits daily we need        to make to something. Sectors: energies coming toward the house to be shielded,        deflected or collected (ponds, banks, hedges, walls, screens, trellises,        hedges, etc).
Elements are placed        in zones to work together, as in the natural world, and placed to serve        two or more functions (a tree for shade and for erosion control) while managing        sector energies (blocking rough winds). Hedges provide forage, shelter crops,        provide mulch, exclude rampant grss or weeds, exclude browsing animals.        Swales manage drainage and help trees survive drought.
Likewise, every function        (water collection, fire protection, etc.) is served in two or more ways.
Plants that attract        beneficial insects: buckwheat, clovers, corlander, coreopsis, corn cockle,        cosmos, dill, fennel, feverfew, mustard, sweet alyssum, tansy, tidytips,        yarrow. Alfalfa, sweet clover, comfrey, dandelion, earthworms, mulch, and        daikon radish break up hardpan.
Water--drainage, collection,        availability--is the chief design consideration. Storage sources should        be placed on a slope above the site for gravity feeding downward. Roofs        can collect rainwater in covered drums. Wire fences to drip dew on the plants        below.
Everything is a resource.        Pests tell something about soil and plant problems. Predators manage them.
Three key permacultural        ethical principles: care for the earth, care for people, set limits to consumption        and reproduction, and redistribute surplus.
Principle of Stability:        it is not the number of diverse things in a design that leads to stability,        it is the number of beneficial connections between these components (Mollison).
Edge cropping: use        of edges and zones, which tend to be areas of diversity and production.
Windbreaks (ideally        one-fifth as high as the space between them) to preserve moisture; plant        mulch-producing crops near them. Interplant leguminous trees in a crop and        orchard for mulch, soil-building, frost cover, leaf drip. Wire fences above        crops to feed them dew. Whitish plants like wormwood and birch to deflect        sunlight and lower temps, or dark ones to retain it. Lots of trees for condensers,        water-catchers, etc.
Mollison's Prime Directive        of Permaculture: “The only ethical decision is to take responsibility        for our own existence and that of our children. Make it now.”
Permafrost: permanently      frozen subsoil. Five types: continuous permafrost, discontinuous permafrost,      sporadic permafrost, alpine permafrost, and subsea permafrost.
Permeability: how easily      soils and rocks transport water horizontally and vertically. Shale is porous      and therefore permeable, as is sand and gravel; granite and clay are not.
Persistence: how long      a population lasts.
Pests: anything that      eats or damages what we eat. Too many pests mean not enough predators, like      fish or birds for mosquitos and gopher snakes for gophers, who also avoid      daffodils, elderberry cuttings, and castor beans. Teas made of chamomile,      stinging nettle, comfrey, or horsetail discourage harmful fungi. Marigolds      control whiteflies, spearmint, tansy, and pennyroyal control ants, Mexican      marigold controls nematodes and root pests, as do French marigolds; yellow      nasturtiums decoy black aphids, which are repelled by spearmint, stinging      nettle, southernwood, and garlic, and borage repels tomato worms while attracting      helpful bees.
Petrochemicals: chemicals      made from natural gas or petroleum (crude oil).
pH (Potential Hydrogen):      a scale to measure the alkalinity or acidity. Substances with a pH below 7.0      are acidic (high in free hydrogen ions), and those above 7.0 are alkaline,      with 7.0 neutral. Acids tend to be sour and corrosives, and bases (alkaline      compounds) the opposite, and slippery. Rainy climates tend to produce acidic      soil, dry climates alkaline soil. For growing food, soil pH should fall between      6.3 and 6.8. Lime is sometimes added to acidic soil and sulfur to alkaline      soil. The more humus in the soil to buffer it, the less pH impacts fertility.
Phase Change: the transformation      of one physical state into another--gas into liquid, solid into gas, etc.      Always requires an exchange of energy, whether an increase or decrease.
Phenotype: the outward,      bodily manifestation of the genotype (genetic constitution). Phenotypes are      the aspect visible to natural selection: echo location makes some dolphins      more viable, so the genes those dolphins carry are passed on. The phenotype      extends to the organism's environment: coral for eels, nests for birds.
Phloem: the tissue in      plants that conducts food by means of hydrostatic pressure.
Phosphorylation: the "recharging" of ATP, the universal energy of biological activity.
Phosphorus Cycle: cyclic      movement of phosphorus from environment to organism and back, starting with      phosphate rock dissolved by water into plant roots.
Photic Zone: the watery      layer through which light penetrates to nourish photosynthetic marine organisms      like plankton.
Photochemical Smog: air      pollution produced by the reaction of hydrocarbons, nitrogen oxides, and sunlight.      Automobile and industrial exhausts are major contributors.
Photoperiodism: an organism's      responsiveness to changes of daylight or season.
Photon: a packet of      light energy. Beams of light are composed of photons.
Photosphere: the light-giving      surface of the sun.
Photosynthesis: the      conversion of sunlight and carbon dioxide into oxygen and glucose (used for      energy, starch, cellulose, etc.). Plants do it with a light-sensitive organelle      called the chloroplast. Photosynthesis gave us not only food, but the atmosphere      we breathe.
Phototropism: the tendency      of plants to turn toward and follow the sun.
Phylogeny: patterns of      evolutionary lineage (like tree shrews to people). See Ontogeny.
Phytoplankton: green      microscopic plants, typically algae but including diatoms, desmids, and dinoflagellates.      Upon their photosynthetic selves hang the food webs of the oceans.
Piedmont Glacier: a large      lobe of ice spilled out of a glaciated valley.
Pingo: a conical mound      of soil-covered ice pushed up from ground permeated by permafrost.
Pioneer: a plant species      that establishes itself in a bare area like a recently leveled field until      successional species move in. Many annuals are pioneer species. Many tend      to be invasive.
Piscivorous: fish-eating.
Pistil: the female reproductive      organ of a flower. Carpels (ovule-bearing leaves) compose it, and stamens,      petals and sepals ring it. A flower without stamens is a pistillate.
Place, Versus Space:      various ecological thinkers have pointed out that in the West, the felt sense      of place--that tree, this brook, my room--has slowly given way to the abstract      notion of space: a chunk of real estate, a Cartesian grid, a sector on a map.      Philosopher Ed Casey points out that many languages contain this place/space      distiction, which in the West goes back at least as far as Plato's Timaeus.      Our cultural preferrence for space to place survived even the Einsteinian      destruction of categories like absolute time and space: in fact, "place      was absorbed into space." This has far-reaching consequences for how      we experience ourselves as subjects, lost and place-impoverished, in a conceptually      dematerialized world. (Casey points out, for example, the word morality goes back to a term for "custom," whereas the word ethics refers ultimately to the place where the horses went home at night. For more      information, see his Getting Back into Place and The Fate of      Place.)
Placeworld: Ed Casey's      term for the felt, lived reconnection of space and place. An example is how      the self experiences itself as firmly located somewhere specific rather than      feeling lost in a sea of plots or coordinates.
Placer: a surface deposit      of heavy mineral particles like gold or platinum. In the mid-1800s, placer      mining by pick and pan gave way to powerful hydraulic hoses that washed away      entire hillsides.
Plankton: microscopic      algae and protozoa drifting in water. Larger organisms graze them like grass.
Plate Tectonics: the      movements of continental plates over the mantle whose currents pull them around      the Earth's surface. As far back as 1912, Alfred Wegener noted that the continents      fit together like puzzle pieces into some lost whole (see Pangaea, a name      he coined). He was ignored, but in 1929, Arthur Holmes decided that thermal      convection currents in the mantle could move continents around. These ideas      also account for where the seafloor comes from (molten material emitted through      cracks between plates), how some of it disappears (when the edge of one plate      vanishes under another--subduction), and why volcanic and mountain-building      activity so often surfaces in belts (plate edges).
Platypus: often poked      fun at as an egg-laying mammal, the platypus sports a remarkable bill that      detects its prey buried by generating an electric field.
Platyspermic: possessing      flattened, disc-shaped seeds. Contrast Radiospermic.
Playa: a temporary, shallow      body of water with a clay bottom. Also, a dry desert lake bed.
Pleiotropism: how a single      gene can express itself in several seemingly unrelated manifestations. Mutations      often do this. (To use the example of Richard Dawkins, genes function not      as blueprints, but as recipes.)
Plicate: a fanlike folding      (e.g., the leaves of palms and various orchids).
Plowing: a method of      turning soil to enhance productivity and destroy soil structure. Late in the      7th century, northern peasants began using a new type of plow, equipped with      a vertical knife to cut a furrow, a horizontal blade to slice under the surface,      and a moldboard to turn it over: a cross brought down into the earth. (Rotating      crosses called windmills pumped water from the sinking Netherlands, an effort      first funded by the church.)
Plucking (Quarrying):      glacial erosion in which frozen wedges of ice are pulled out of rocky cracks      by a passing glacier.
Pluton: a large mass      of intrusive igneous rock. Named after Pluto, god of the underworld, whose      name also means "wealth."
Podzolic: moderately      to highly acidic soil. See pD.
Podzolization: formation      of acidic soils through leaching and other natural processes.
Point Bar: a sedimentary      deposit (normally sand) inside the bend of a channel. Tends to build outwards.
Point Source: a specific,      identifiable source of pollutants, like the BP oil refinery in Carson, California.
Pollard: a tree cut      back to the trunk to make its branching or foliage denser. Also, an animal      without horns (e.g., a sheep).
Pollen: dustlike microspores      that carry a seed plant's male sex cell.
Polyclimax Theory: environments      contain numerous points of relative stability that enable more than one species      to flourish as a climax community. Contrast with Monoclimax Theory.
Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons      (PAHs): over a hundred organic carcinogens produced by the incomplete burning      of oil, coal, gas, tobacco, garbage, and even meat. Some are used in pesticides.      Aside from causing cancer, their impact on humans is unknown, although test      animals exposed to them lost the ability to reproduce.
Polycyclic Landform:      one exposed to more than one cycle of geomorphic change over time, as with      a mountainside sculpted by weathering, then by erosion, and later by weathering.
Polyculture: the planting      and growing of more than one species together, as natural world does it. Different      from Monoculture.
Polygenetic Landform:      one shaped by more than one type of geomorphic transformation, like a slope      that is partially chemically weathered and partially built up by deposition.
Polymer: a large molecule      assembled chemically by repeating molecular building blocks (monomers)      through a reaction called polymerization. Not all polymers are organic,      although most are.
Polymorphism: the expression      of two or more of a gene's alleles (varieties) in a population. Human hair      and skin color are polymorphous.
Polyp: a coelenterate      (corals, sea anemones, jellyfishes, and hydroids) with a hollow cylindrical      body anchored at one end and open at the other, where a mouth is fed by tentacles.
Polyphagous: predators      that consume more than one species of prey.
Pore Water: water in      the spaces between the grains of sediment. Often used for toxicity testing      of a nearby body of water.
Porosity: the amount      of space within rocks or soils.
Potash: potassium carbonate.      Sometimes obtained from wood ashes.
Potentially Renewable      Resource: one that is either inexhaustible, like solar or wind energy, or      replaceable, like wood from trees.
Prairie: an extensive,      uncultivated tract of level or rolling grassland with no or few trees. Its      soils are usually fertile.
Prairie Pothole: wetland      marshes or depressions left by glaciers. Prairie postholes scattered across      the Upper Midwest of North America host 50% of the continent's migrating waterfowl.
Precession of the Equinoxes:      the circular wobble in the Earth's axis. The planet spins unevenly like a      top on a table, pulled on by the sun and moon. It takes approximately 26,000      years to accomplish one complete wobble. Because of it, the spring equinox--the      point where the Sun crosses the celestial equator late every March--appears      from the earthly point of view to be sliding out of the constellation of Pisces      and into Aquarius.
Predator-Mediated Coexistence:      predation that thins out a prey species enough to keep it from competing another      species out of existence. Very      common in rocky intertidals.
Predator Switching: a      predator's ability to hunt a different species for prey when its preferred      species has declined or disappeared.
Primary Consumer: an      organism that eats green plants.
Primary Producer: an      organism that makes its own food through photosynthesis (plants) or chemosynthesis      (certain microorganisms). Primary producers form the foundation of the food      web.
Primary Air Pollutant:      a pollutant dumped directly into the air. (Photochemical smog is a secondary      air pollutant: it is chemically derived from primary pollution.)
Privatization: when a      political administration transfers resource oversight from public regulation      into the ownership of those who support that administration so they can privately      do what they wish with the resource.
Processed Foods: those      made in factories and altered with additives, preservatives, colorings, and      flavorings. Making them drains most of the nutrients out; processing them      adds nutrients back in. Companies that sell processed food have begun marketing      low-fat versions because of obesity concerns. A steady diet of processed meats      (hotdogs, hamburgers, etc.) is suspected of a link with pancreatic cancer.
Procumbent: having stems      that trail along the ground without rooting. Creeping vines.
Productivity:      the rate at which a group of organisms produces biomass.
Progenesis: sexual maturity      reached while still in the larva stage. See Neoteny.
Progradation: the natural      extension of a shoreline seaward.
Progress: an ideological      justification for nonsustainable exploitation of natural resources. Stating      that "Progress is inevitable" without mentioning who profits from      such an aggressive ideology is like stating that "Rudolf the Red-Nosed      Reindeer is a part of Christmas" without mentioning that Rudolf was invented      in 1939 by Montgomery Ward as part of a holiday advertising blitz. (Rudolf's      original name was Rollo, but they canned it because it announced the conquest      theme too openly.)
Prokaryote: an organisms      whose cells lack a nucleus. Roughly synonymous with bacteria, but divided      into eubacteria and archaeans. See Eukaryote.
Propagation: breeding      plants. Methods include division (separating one plant into several), ground      layering (bending a shoot from the parent plant into the soil so it will root      there), budding (inserting a parent plant bud into a second plant's rootstock),      and grafting (joining a stem from a parent plant onto a second plant's rootstock).
Propagule: a seed, spore,      or cutting that grows into a plant.
Protein: extremely complex      molecules of carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, and other elements joined in chains      of amino acids (peptides). Protein constitutes the bulk of living matter,      gives it structure, and has something to do in almost every aspect of cell      operation.
Protist: simple, usually      one-celled animal whose cells contain a nucleus. Examples include flagellates,      amoebas, ciliates, sporozoa, radiolaria, and slime molds. Some (microalgae)      are photosynthetic; most are microscopic; all sit at the base of the food      web.
Proton: a positively      charged particle in the nucleus of an atom. The number of protons determines      the nature of an element: one proton for hydrogen, two for helium, etc.
Protoplasm: a generic      for living matter.
Protozoa: tiny, single-celled      animals without a backbone. Usually classed with the protists.
Pruning: cutting away      stems or branches to improve a plant's vigor. Candidates include branches      with a lot of bulk but little foliage, weak branches, V-shaped crotch branches,      water sprouts, crisscrossed branches, double leaders, shaded branches, and      crown sprouts.
Pseudofeces: undigested      food particles bound in mucus and discarded by oysters and mussels. Some bottom-feeding      organisms eat it.
P-Wave (Pressure Wave):      a seismic oscillation that moves forward and backward rather than side to      side. An earthquake's first large jolt. See S-Wave.
Pyramid of Biomass:      a diagram showing the biomass supported at each trophic level of a food web.      Primary producers are at the bottom and predators are at the top.
Pyramid of Energy Flow      (Trophic Pyramid): a diagram showing the flow of energy through the trophic      levels of a food chain or web. About 10% of the usable energy at one trophic      level makes it to the next. Many small organisms are needed to feed relatively      few larger ones.
Quadrat: a small area      set aside for ecological study.
Quark: the particle that      makes up protons and neutrons. Although the quark is our current most fundamental      particle, some physicists suspect that in a universe of shifting relational      energies, the very notion of a smallest chunk of building block is wrong-headed.
Quartz: a hexagonally      latticed silicon dioxide mineral. A chief component of sand and therefore      sandstone. It is the second most abundant mineral after feldspar and is common      in continental crust but rarer in oceanic crust.
Quartzite: metamorphic      rock rich in quartz recrystallized from sandstone.
Radicle: the root of      a plant embryo; the first part of a seedling to emerge during germination.
Radioactive Decay: the      decay of an unstable nucleus (radionuclide) of an atom losing protons,      neutrons, or photons at random.
Radiospermic:      possessing round seeds.
Rainforest: an evergreen      forest growing in a wt, humid climate. Rainforest coverage prevents desertification      and drought and hosts more than half the world's animal species. Every day      unchecked industrial development flattens a patch of rainforest the size of      New York City.
Rain Shadow: a rainless      region on the lee side of a mountain. Clouds have often been drained of rainwater      by the time they reach it over the mountain.
Reaeration: mechanical      augmentation of dissolved oxygen in water, as in cresting waves or below waterfalls.
Realized Niche: the part      of a niche actually occupied by a species. Contrast with Fundamental Niche.
Reclamation: "reclaiming" apparently useless lands for human development, as when an ecologically rich      wetland is drained and converted into cropland. Also: reusing or recycling      water.
Red Bed: red sedimentary      layers of sandstone, silt, and shale colored by iron oxides; often seen in      the American Southwest.
Redox (Reduction-Oxidation):      a chemical transformation in which electrons are removed from one substance      (oxidation) and added to another (reduction). The reductant transfers electrons      to the oxidant. Redox reactions transfer biological energy. In photosynthesis,      carbon dioxide is reduced into sugars; in respiration, sugars are oxidized      to make carbon dioxide and water.
Red Queen Hypothesis:      sexual reproduction makes evolutionary sense despite its complexities because      it allows species to evolve new defenses against parasites. (Some lab evidence      suggests that sexual reproducers fend off parasites more efficiently than      asexual reproducers.) Also: biologist Leigh Van Valen's idea that a species      must develop continuously just to keep up with species co-evolving with it.      (Red Queen refers to a chess piece in Lewis Carroll's book Through the      Looking Glass who tells Alice that one must run just to stay in place.)
Red Tide: a phytoplankton      algae (dinoflagellate) bloom that spreads naturally just offshore but can      be triggered by nutrients dumped into the water. Red tides can cause fish      kills and infect shellfish with biotoxins.
Re-Entrant: a geographical      pointing inward, as with bays and inlets; the opposite of Salient.
Refugium: a refuge from      predation. The mouse that makes it into the hole escapes the cat.
Regolith: a layer of      loose, weathered or eroded material covering rock. An important habitat for      both plants and animals who cannot make a home in solid rock.
Reinhabitation: the bioregional      goal of living consciously and sensitively in one's locale. This includes      giving key decision-making power, economic and political, to locals who know      what the place where they live needs. See      Bioregionalism.
Residence Time: the amount      of water held in a given body divided by the amount that flows into and out      of it. (The oceans' residence time is roughly 40,000 years. By contrast, the      average turnover time of a stream is about two weeks.)
Resilience:      the ability of a biotic community to return to its former state after a disturbance.
Resource Partitioning:      the evolved knack of either sharing resources or using them in ways that avoid      competition (e.g., one animal eats the top of a plant and another eats the      roots).
Respiration: the conveyance      of oxygen to cells and tissues as carbon dioxide and water are given off.      In cells, the conversion of food (e.g., glucose) into energy. In most organisms,      respiration releases the energy that drives metabolism.
Resuspension: dispersion      of particles back into water, as when wave action or dredging stir up sediments that had fallen out of suspension and settled.
Retrogressive Succession:      when a plant community gradually undergoes simplification, a thinning of variety,      and a reduction in mass. Often associated with a deterioration in the environment.
Return: wastewater returned      to a water source. Even when cleaned, returned water of a temperature different      than where it heads can be damaging, as when heated water from a power plant      kills fish in an estuary.
Rhapsodic Intellect:      Theodore Roszak’s term for the integration of intellect, body, and emotion      that makes an ecological sensitivity possible.
Rhizoid: a rootlike outgrowth      that attaches a plant (hornworts, liverworts, mosses) to the ground.
Rhizome: a horizontal      underground stem from which spring shoots, buds, and roots. A potato is a      thickened rhizome. Found      in ferns, horsetails, and asparagus.
Ria Coast: an elaborately      sculpted coast with prominent capes or headlands and deep bays or inlets.      Formed by either the submergence of a continental landmass or a sea level      rise.
Richness:      the number of diverse species occupying a particular area. A sample with 50      species is richer than a sample with 5.
Richter Scale: an obsolete      logarithmic scale of 1-10 that measures earthquake magnitude (but not its      felt intensity). Created in California by Charles Richter. See Moment Magnitude      Scale.
Riffle: a stretch of      rapid, shallow water flow, as in a stream, broken up by bar deposits, rock,      or gravel. In streams pools often alternate with riffles. Also:      mining term for the slats on a sluice that catch heavy minerals.
Rift: a zone between      two diverging tectonic plates. Often volcanic, and a site of new sea floor.
Rift Valley: a long,      narrow valley subsided between parallel faults. It is possible that the African      Rift Valley separated an apelike ancestor into two groups, thereby allowing      us to evolve separately from today's chimpanzees.
Riparian: adjacent to      a river or stream. Riparian zones exchange organic matter between wet and      dry habitats and regulate erosion, sedimentation, temperature, and nutrients.
Riparian Laws: the antiquated      European feudal idea that who owns the banks owns the water. Turkey has relied      on this argument to take water from the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers even though      Syria and Iraq also depend on it. (The argument is specious: were air a resource      that confines itself to channels, no one would claim the right to withhold      it from people living downhill from its source.) See Hydraulic Despotism.
Riprap: rock, concrete,      brick, etc. assembled into shoreline facing to check erosion.
Riplines: channels cut      in gullies to reduce erosion.
Riverain: vegetation      near watercourses. Sometimes used as a synonym for riparian.
RNA (Ribonucleic Acid):      a versatile nucleic acid that combines with a protein to make ribosoomes,      the site of protein assembly (ribosomal RNA); copies genetic information from      DNA for transformation into proteins (messenger RNA), and incorporates animo      acid combinations into developing proteins (transfer RNA). The RNA molecule      is identical to DNA (from which it is made) except for the sugar ribose instead      of deoxyribose and uracil for thymine. At one time RNA might have been the      only form of life (the RNA World hypothesis): it can replicate without a cell      nucleus or even any DNA.
Roche Moutonnee: a resistant,      sheep-shaped mound of bedrock left by glacial erosion. Its slope is gentle      where the ice advanced and jagged and plucked on the other side.
Rock Cycle: the cycle      of transformations between igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary rock over      time. (Rocks are composed      of crystals: liquids whose atoms form lattices when congealed.)
Rock Flour: rock ground      to a powder beneath a glacier.
Roll Cloud: a rotating,      cigar-shaped cloud that sometimes precedes a thunderstorm. Often seen in UFO      photographs.
Rotation: using the      same soil to grow different crops. Interrupts cycles of weeds, diseases, and      insects; builds organic matter, improves soil structure. Useful rotations:      nutrient-grabbing crops like corn, celery, and potatoes with those that need      less, like garlic, mustard, or shallots; and shallow-rooting crops with deep      ones. (Soil improvers: broad beans, lima beans, peanuts, peas, shell beans,      snap beans, soybeans.)
Rotation Cycle: the time      interval between the cutting and recutting of a stand of trees. In the U.S.,      the average rotation cycle has bowed to economic pressure by falling from      120 years to 40.
R-Selection: rapid growth      and occupation through early reproduction, short life spans, low biomass,      and lots of offspring. See K-Selection.
Rubisco: the protein      that fixes carbon during photosynthesis. The most common protein on earth.
Runoff: a lateral flow      (unlike leaching, which is vertical) that carries soil, minerals, waste, or      pollution.
Ruminant: a hooved mammal      that eats its food, regurgitates it (cud), and eats it again, a procedure      made possible by a four-chambered stomach. Ruminants include cattle, bison,      sheep, deer, goats, elk, giraffes, antelopes, and camels. Their specialized      stomach evolved to extract the maximum of nutrients from low-quality food.
Rust: a fungal pest      that raises brown lesions on plants. It never sleeps.
Salient: a geographical      pointing outward, as with promontories and capes.
Salinity: the concentration      of salts dissolved in water, measured in parts per thousand. Seawater averages 34 ppt.
Salinization: accumulation      of salt on topsoil. Caused by irrigation. Around the world, 50-75 million      acres of once-arable land are too salty to grow food in. Heavily salinized      land is not arable until the salt is leached out of it. Several civilizations      have fallen because of the resulting ecological damage.
Salmonella: a diarrhea-producing      intestinal bacterium that causes typhus and poisons raw milk, eggs, meat,      and poultry.
Salt: sodium chloride.      Also, compounds produced when an acid's hydrogen atom is replaced by a metal      atom. Also, what unscrupulous fast food restaurants do with french fries and      potato chips in order to sell more drinks to thirsty customers.
Saltation: the movement      of a particle transported by wind or water, one too heavy to remain in suspension.
Sandstone: a soft sedimentary      rock composed of feldspar and weathered quartz grains. Porous sandstone layers      often hold water in aquifers.
Saprophyte: an organism      that eats dead organisms, thereby recycling the nutrients. Fungi and bacteria      are examples.
Savanna: flat tropical      or subtropical grassland with occasional shrubs, herbs, and trees.
Scald: exposed hardpan.
Scarification: extensive,      artificial earth movement that exposes the underlying soils. Also, to nick      and weaken a seed coat enough for germination.
Schist: a medium to      coarse metamorphic rock of elongated minerals. It splits along parallel bedding      planes. Often found in the company of tourmaline and garnet.
Scion: the stem that's      grafted onto a waiting rootstock.
Sclerophyllous: small,      tough, drought-resistant evergreen leaves. Also, a plant whose deep roots      and small leaves resist water loss.
Scrapie: a fatal degenerative      disease that destroys the nervous systems of sheep and goats. Named after      the infected sheep's habit of scraping its itchy skin against trees and bushes.
Scree: a pile of weathered      rock fragments at the bottom of a slope or cliff.
Scrub: small or low bushes      or trees. Common in dry and alpine regions.
Sea Breeze: the daytime      movement of air from water to land down a pressure gradient. See Land Breeze.
Seafloor Spreading:      the creation of seafloor crust moving outward from the mid-oceanic ridge.
Seamount: a submarine      mountain raised by volcanism.
Sea Stack: a column      or pillar of rock near a coastline. Shaped from eroded headlands.
Second Law of Thermodynamics:      energy (usually heat) dissipates in any closed system (entropy). This is why      trophic levels in a food web narrow as they rise.
Secondary Consumer: a      predator that eats plant-eating prey (primary consumers).
Section: 640 acres (1      square mile).
Sedentary: unmoving.
Sedge: Grass-like plant      that is adapted to grow in moist habitats. John Keats saw some withered from      the lake.
Sedimentary Rock: rock      compressed and cemented (lithification) from the weathered deposits of older      rocks (clastic), from chemical precipitates, or from organic deposits. Limestone,      chert, halite, chalk, shale, sandstone.
Sediment Sink: a place      where beach sediment leaves a      coastal area.
Seed-Saving: collecting      seeds (those passed down in families are called heirlooms), a practice      that preserves the precious genetic diversity now threatened by agricultural      seed monopolies.
Seed Pelleting: coating      a small seed with a substance that makes planting it easier. Using organic      and mineral material to create the pellet stresses the environment less.
Seiche: a sudden oscillation      in pond or lake water due to wind, weather, earthquakes, etc.
Seif: an elongated sand      dune formed parallel to the prevailing winds. Also, a dune formed by winds      from multiple directions.
Selective Cutting: cutting      only mature or diseased trees. Compare Clear-Cutting.
Self-Pruning: when lower      tree branches fall off and die because they haven't received enough light
Self-Reliance: broad      term for the various movements and practices toward becoming less dependent      on external sources of food and power. Some have suggested that "interdependency" would be a better term for the renewed emphasis on local, sustainable projects,      and democratic experiments in self-governance.
We know        how to solve every food, clean energy, and sensible shelter problem in every        climate; we have already invented and tested every necessary technique and        technical device, and have access to all the biological material that we        could ever use....The tragic reality is that very few sustainable systems        are designed or applied by those who hold power, and the reason for this        is obvious and simple: to let people arrange their own food, energy, and        shelter is to lose economic and political control over them. We should cease        to look to power structures, hierarchical systems, or governments to help        us, and devise ways to help ourselves. -- Bill Mollison
Semi-Diurnal: twice daily.
Sentinel Species: see      Indicator Species.
Sepal: the bud-protecting      leaf structures of a flower.
Seral Stage: one of      the intermediate stages of ecological succession between pioneering and climax.      See Succession.
Sessile: attached; non-mobile.
Sexual Reproduction:      creating offspring by fusing gametes (sex cells). Contrast with Asexual Reproduction.
Shale: a fine, layered,      cleavable sedimentary rock composed of clay or similar small particles. Shale      deposits sometimes contain or are found near coal or oil.
Sexual Selection: a form      of natural selection in which characteristics (e.g., bright plumage, deeper      voices) preferred by female mates are passed down to later generations.
Shear Wave: see S-Wave.
Sheet Erosion: the removal      of a layer of soil by rain or runoff. Topsoil accumulated for centuries or      eons can erode away in minutes unless anchored with vegetation and properly      drained.
Shoaling: decrease in      water depth, especially near a shoreline.
Shelterbelt: a barrier      of trees or other vegetation planted to block incoming winds. Shelterbelts      prevent moisture loss and erosion.
Shield: a large formation      of ancient (Precambrian) igneous and metamorphic rock that constitutes the      core material of the continents.
Shield Volcano: a wide,      shallowly sloping volcano built from recurring flows of basaltic lava.
Shrub: generic name      for a woody perennial plant without a well-defined main stem. Bushes and hedges.
Side-Dress: to place      fertilizer or manure around or beside plants.
Silage: a green crop      stored in a silo to moisten it. Usually corn, but also grass, sorghum, legumes,      and sunflowers, among others.
Silica: a transparent      mineral of silicon dioxide. Found in glass, quartz, opals.
Siltation: the accumulation      of small-grained sediments brought by water. A major problem of many dams      and deep water ports.
Silvicultural: forestry.
Sink: a depression or      hole opened by sand or soil erosion caused by poor drainage. Common after      a lot of rain, especially in heavily paved areas. Also: a place where unrecycled      compounds accumulate.
Sinusoidal Equal-Area      Projection: a roughly diamond-shaped map projection whose distances are accurate      only along the parallels and the central meridian. Distortion increases near      the poles and away from the center bulge.
Slate: metamorphic rock      hardened from shale.
Slip Erosion: a landslide.
Slip-Face: the lee side      of a dune.
Slough:      a swampy inlet.
Snag: a tree that's dead      but still standing.
Snibbiting: taking the      top of a plant and replanting the rest of it.
Snout (Terminus): the      front of a glacier.
Social Ecology: a discipline      that links ecological problems with social problems: “…The hierarchical      mentality and class relationships that so thoroughly permeate society give      rise to the very idea of dominating the natural world” (Murray Bookchin).      Some key emphases:
The paradigm of domination        of nature followed from domination of society by the state and, before that,        of women by men.
Institutionalized        hierarchy and domination damage the biosphere and subjugate humans to widespread        social injustices. They should be replaced by practices that favor thinking        and acting in terms of complementarity.
The artificial bifurcation        of the world into "natural" and "unnatural" (human)        cannot stand. We are part of the natural world we damage through our "second        nature" symbol-juggling capacities.
Capitalism based on        perpetual expansion is wasteful and outmoded.
The crisis of our        time is not the emergence of cities, but of an urbanization that ruins cities        and rural areas alike.
Bookchin criticizes        deep ecology’s blindness to the emergence of hierarchy: “As        long as hierarchy persists, as long as domination organizes humanity around        a system of elites, the project of dominating nature will remain a predominant        ideology and inevitably lead our planet to the brink, if not into the abyss,        of ecological extinction.”
Society: a local climax      community.
Sod: turf.
Soil: a mixture of humus      and particles weathered from rock. A cubic yard of soil will cover 300 square      feet of ground to a depth of 1 inch. The major nutrients are nitrogen, phosphorus,      and potassium. Bacteria and fungi produce humus. Half the volume of good soil      is pore spaces. Microbial decomposers account for 60-80% of total soil metabolism;      bacteria drive nitrification, sulfur oxication, and nitrogen fixation. Actinomycete      microbes help form humus; they are the most numerous organisms after bacteria.      Soil texture means the relative proportions of sand, silt, and clay. We live      on 1/12 of the Earth’s surface but have discarded ¾ of its productive      soil. Replacement of an inch of topsoil takes 500 years.
Soil Colloids: tiny organic      and inorganic (often clay) particles found in a soil. They carry a negative      electrical charge, have much to do with the soil's chemistry, and serve as      the primary sites for cation exchange and the capture and transport of nutrients.
Soil Creep: the slow,      gravity-driven mass movement of soil downslope.
Soil Horizons: its layers,      which from top to bottom are the O-horizon (or zone of leaching) of freshly      fallen plant litter, leaves, an A sublayer of water-holding humus, and another      of insoluble minerals, a B-horizon (or zone of deposition) of clay and other      inorganic particles, and a C-horizon with rock fragments weathered from the      bedrock.
Soil Profile: the overall      vertical arrangement of layers or horizons in a soil.
Soft Technology (Appropriate      Technology): the non-intrusive kind that does not harm the Earth: small, decentralized,      inexpensive.
Softwood: wood from gymnosperm      trees (redwood, pine, fir, spruce--conifers). See Hardwood.
Solarization: covering      planting beds with plastic sheets during the summer in order to control weeds.
Solstice: two annual      dates when the sun is farthest from the celestial equator: June 21 or 22,      when it stands the farthest north, and December 21 or 22, its southernmost      position (in the northern hemisphere; dates for the southern hemisphere are      the reverse).
Solum: the A and B horizons,      where things grow.
Sorghum: a tall annual      cereal used mainly for feed grain and syrup.
Specialist: an organism      that uses a narrow range of resources with high efficiency. The panda is a      specialist who harvests the bamboo that makes up most of its diet.
Speciation: the evolution      of a new species. This usually happens through either geographical separation      over long periods of time, or through reinforcement, in which subtle      differences in characteristics like calls or wing markings are more favored      in mates. When Agrodiaetus butterflies live together, for example,      the males tend to develop markings that distinguish them by species. Females      of the same species prefer them. This provides the kind of breeding barrier      an ocean or mountain range might.
Species: a group of organisms      that can breed with each other.
Species-Area Curve: species      richness tends to increase in roomier areas.
Speciesism: term coined      in 1970 by British psychologist Richard Ryder to denote a form of prejudice      against nonhuman species. An example would be the belief that animals have      fewer rights than humans because of lesser intelligence.
Spermatophyte: a seed      plant. Many spill their seeds upon the ground.
Spicule: pointed skeletal      elements found in certain sponges and sea cucumbers and made from either silica      or calcium carbonate. They provide structure and protection.
Spiegelman's Monster:      a strand of self-replicating RNA created by microbiologist Sol Spiegelman      by putting a simple viral form in an environment that would nourish it. What      started out as an RNA strand with 4,500 nucleotide bases ended up as a minor      genome trimmed down to 220 bases and able to out-replicate any competition.      Life as we know it might have begun somewhat similarly.
Spore: a seedless embryo.
Spring Tide: the high      and low tide preceding a neap tide. Combined tidal pulls from Sun and Moon      make the tide rise higher and fall lower than normal.
Square-Foot Gardening:      a system of gardening developed by Mel Bartholomew that uses four-foot-square      plots subdivided into one-foot squares for growing vegetables that use little      space but are easy to tend.
Stacking: planting to      take advantage of vertical growing space.
Stamen: a pollen-generating      stalk at the base of a flower's petals. Flowers typically have six of them,      just to make certain.
Standing Crop: the biomass      of a trophic level, community, population, or species at a certain time and      place.
Starch: a complex carbohydrate      used by plants to store glucose as food energy. Starches make up corn, wheat,      rice, potatoes, beans, and other vegetables.
Stenobathic: able to      tolerate only small changes in water depth (see Eurybathic).
Stenothermic: tolerating      only a small range of temperature change.
Steppe: a sweep of unforested      grasslands.
Stigma: the sticky tip      of a pistil. Also: the pigment clusters that serve photosynthetic microbes      as a light sensor.
Stochastic: randomly      patterned
Stipe: stalk.
Stoma: small surface      opening for gas exchange. Plants use stomata to take in carbon dioxide and      emit oxygen and water.
Stone Mulch: placing      stones near plants to water them with collected dew and to conserve water      in the soil.
Storm Surge: the piling      up of water by winds and low pressure weather (cyclones, hurricanes). They      cause flooding when they rush onshore.
Stoss: a slope that faces      into ice flow, wind, or running water. Opposite of lee.
Stream Order: a measure      of stream size and branching, from first order streams (the largest) to twelfth.
Stress Proteins: proteins      produced in response to environmental stress. Some of them ward off the hypothermia      brought by extreme cold, for example.
Striations: parallel      scratches or groves left by glacial abrasion.
Strip Mining: surface      mining that strips off an entire surface layer (the overburden).      Common consequences are eroded or denuded hillsides, devastated ecosystems,      and toxic runoffs, especially of sulfur compounds from coal deposits. This      pollutes not only the land but nearby water sources.
Subalpine: the highest      elevation at which forests will grow.
Subduction: where one      continental plate is pushed under another into the asthenosphere below. See      Plate Tectonics.
Sublimation: a phase      change from a solid into a gas state without any liquid state first. Example:      dry ice turning directly into a vapor. Can also occur in reverse.
Subsidence: land drop.      The decreased elevation can come from natural settling or from something done      by humans (groundwater depletion, petroleum withdrawal).
Succession: the gradual      replacement of one plant community by another. Brought about by changes in      climate, in environment, or in the community (climatic succession, physiographic      succession, biotic succession), and most frequently by erosion, dropping water      levels, or invasion by another species. Succession      due to external forces is allogenic, and autogenic when self-prompted.      Overall, succession starts with pioneer species and proceeds to those more      mature and longer lived (climax). Example: an empty lot taken over      by weeds, then bushes, then flowering plants and finally trees.
Succession Planting:      same crop, but planted a little at a time every one to three weeks or so to      prevent them from all need harvesting at once.
Succulent: juicy, moisture-retaining      plants like aloe, iceplant, cactus, agave, and yucca.
Sugar: an affectionate      term of endearment.
Sucker: a plant shoot      emerging from the root or lower stem. There's one born every minute.
Sunscald: the plant      equivalent of sunburn.
Supercell: a severe thunderstorm      with a steep, rotating updraft (see Mesocyclone). Supercells are likely candidates      for producing tornados.
Surface Microlayer: the      surface of water, where pollutants float and atmospheric gasses meet the sea.
Survival of the Fittest:      originally a Darwinian hypothesis twisted around by philosopher Herbert Spencer      to justify any desired might-makes-right form of social injustice as natural      and inevitable. Very often “fittest” means the most cooperative--see      Mutualism.
Suspension Feeder: an      organism (e.g., a barnacle) that eats food particles suspended in water.
Sustainable: using resources      without using them up.
Sustainable Society:      a society that manages its politics, economies, industries, and population      size without overwhelming ecosystems or depleting resources beyond their ability      to recharge themselves. Alan      Thein During’s basic definition of a sustainable society: “Each      generation should meet its needs without jeopardizing the prospects for future      generations to meet their own needs.” A less human-centered definition      would include the ecosphere's needs as well.
Sustained Yield: a workable      balance between taking and planting.
S-Wave (Secondary Wave:      a seismic pulse that moves things up and down or side to side. It follows      the P-wave.
Switching: when a predator      changes from eating one species to another, usually in response to changing      abundances. Tends to equalize competitive populations.
Symbiosis: a mutually      beneficial relationship between two species, like the Hawaiian squid and the      luminous bacteria it carries in its stomach. The bacteria gets a home, and      the squid is camouflaged by the light.
Sympatric Speciation:      the division of one species into two, but in the same geographical locale.      Some biologists doubt it occurs. A possible example: the two species of freshwater      three-spined sticklebacks that live in five lakes in British Columbia but      do not mate with each other. Extensive competition may have driven them apart      somehow.
Synapsid: a vertebrate      whose skull has one pair of openings behind the eyes (like mammals and their      close relatives).
Syncline: a downward-arching      fold in rock. The opposite of an Anticline.
Systemic Insecticide:      a chemical that makes a prey toxic to a predator. Often sprayed on plants.
Talik: an unfrozen patch      of ground over, under, or inside a layer of permafrost.
Talus: a slope of rock      debris formed at the base of a cliff.
Tapetum Lucidum: a reflecting      membrane that reprocesses incoming photons. It makes the eyes of cats and      other night animals shine.
Taproot: the primary      root of a plant.
Tarn: a small mountain      lake in a cirque.
Taxon: a classification      category for a group of organisms (Cetaceans, Mammalia, Protista, etc.).
Taxonomy (see also Tree      of Life): the classification of life, starting with Aristotle's attempts.      Botanist Carl Linneaus worked out a system in 1735 whose primary categories      are still in use. From largest to smallest, here is how we fit them:
KINGDOM: Animalia        (animals)
PHYLUM: Chordata        (with nerve chords)
SUBPHYLUM: Vertebrata        (and backbones)
SUPERCLASS: Gnathostomata        (and jaws for biting)
CLASS: Mammalia (the        young feed on mother's milk)
ORDER: Primata (primates:        five-fingered omnivores)
SUBORDER: Haplorrhini        (dry-nosed)
FAMILY: Hominidae        (erect, walking mammals)
GENUS: Homo (humans        and their close relatives, all now extinct but us)
SPECIES: Homo sapiens        (this two-name genus/species form is called binomial nomenclature)
Tea: a brew rich in      soil nutrients. Examples are seaweed tea and compost tea. Many teas are foliar,      meaning they can be sprayed directly on the leaves of plants.
Techno-Addiction:      Chellis Glendinning’s term for the secondary cravings we use to fill      our “original trauma” of separation from the natural world. She      follows Paul Shepard in thinking of the search for identity as not only psychological,      but ecological.
Temperature Inversion:      warm air over cold.
Ten Percent Law: only      about ten percent of the chemical energy available at one trophic level in      a food chain is converted into a usable form for organisms at the next trophic      level.
Tepal: a division of      the outer whorl (perianth) of a flower (e.g., magnolias, lilies,      and tulips) lacking clear differentiation into sepals and petals.
Tephra: rocky ejecta      blown from a volcano.
Terracide: a largely      unconscious but highly potent hatred for the Earth and, by extension, embodied,      carnal living.
Thalloid: plants without      leaves, stems, or roots, like duckweed, liverworts, and hornworts.
Thalweg: the deepest      part of a waterway; also, a subterranean stream. Gewlath spelled backwards.
Thermal Pollution: a      temperature rise that threatens an ecosystem, particularly one in which organisms      breed or give birth.
Thermocline: a boundary      marking a vertical change in temperature.
Thermokarst: high-altitude      landscape holed pitted by selective permafrost thawing. Karst without the      chemical weathering..
Third Law of Thermodynamics:      an object cannot be cooled to a temperature of absolute zero by a finite number      of steps. How about that.
Threshold Pollutant:      a chemical that's dangerous only when concentrated, like sulphur dioxide.
Throughfall: scientific-sounding      name for rain going through a forest canopy.
Throwaway Mentality:      the belief that we can use up resources, throw away the remains, and move      on to fresh ones. It is a holdover of the frontiersman mindset.
Tide: the periodic rise      and fall of the ocean surface pulled on by gravity from moon and sun.
Till: glacial deposits:      gravel, rocks, boulders.
Tilth: soil aggregation. "Good tilth" means it clumps properly for planting but is porous      enough to let air in.
Timber Line: the highest      elevation at which forests or stands of trees will grow. See Tree Line.
Tolerance, Ecological:      examined close up, the term seems to mean "ability to put up with things      that are harsh." The range of an organism's ability to do this is referred      to as its ecological amplitude.
Tombolo: a sand belt      or bar connecting an island with the mainland.
Topocosm: Theodore Gaster’s      word for the entire locality--soils, plants, animals, everything, yesterday,      today, and tomorrow--taken as an organism. The Neoplatonists called it the anima mundi (World Soul).
Topset Bed: the sedimentary      surface of a delta.
Trade Winds: winds that      blow toward the equator from the high-pressure horse latitudes, those bands      of air above and below the equator that blow into the doldrums. From there      it rises to the poles and returns. The trade winds blow from the northeast      in the northern hemisphere (the Northeast Trades) and from the southeast in      the southern (the Southeast Trades).
Transect:      a path from which an observer records the apparent gradient of change in animal      or plant species: which, where, numbers, densities.
Transpiration: evaporation      of water from plant leaves. Plant sweat. Its activity depends on humidity:      transpiration is higher in sunlight or wind, lower in fog or rain.
Tree Line: the highest      elevation at which individual trees will grow.
Tree      of Life : a classification of all living things from the kingdom level      down to the species level. Formerly biology textbooks divided all living things      into the five kingdoms described by Robert Whittaker in 1969; the current      total, based more heavily on RNA/DNA research, is three, now called domains (Carl Woese, 1990) but leaving out the viruses:
Archaea (ancient,        bacterialike animals that live in extreme environments)
Bacteria (the great        natural chemists of Earth)
Eukarya (everyone        else: fungi, protists, animals and plants)
Tributary: a stream channel      that branches back toward its source. The opposite of a Distributary.
Trophic: nutritive; see      Food Chain and Food Web.
Tropic of Cancer: latitude      of 23.5° North. The northernmost reach of the sun's declination. See Solstice.
Tropic of Capricorn:      latitude of 23.5° South. The southernmost reach of the sun's declination.
Tropophyte: a plant      that adapts its requirements to climate extremes, like a deciduous tree dropping      its leaves in winter and growing them back in spring.
Tuber: a buried stem      that stores nutrients. An enlarged rhizome.
Tundra: an arctic or      subarctic treeless plain with frozen subsoil and small growth: some grasses,      dwarf shrubs, lichens, mosses, sedges, and herbs. Often found at high latitudes      between the tree line and the snow line.
T-Value (T-Level): a      1-5 scale of soil loss tolerance: the average maximum soil loss, in tons per      acre per year, that still allows the current production level.
Ultrastructure (Fine      Structure): those structural details of an organism visible only to an electron      microscope.
Understock: the segment      of plant to which a graft is joined.
Understory: the trees      and other vegetation living below a forest canopy.
Ungulates: hoofed animals.
Uniformitarianism: the      well-substantiated hypothesis that the Earth and its organisms developed primarily      from gradual processes and conditions rather than sudden Biblical Flood-style      catastrophes.
Upwelling: the upward      flow of cold, nutrient-rich water toward the ocean surface as currents or      seasonal winds draw warmer water away from a coast. Phytoplankton that feed      in upwellings often support huge fish populations.
Urban Heat Island: a      bubble of heat hung over a metropolis not only by cars, industrial plants,      business parks, and other such structures, but by paved areas devoid of vegetation.      Cities then grow warmer than the surrounding land.
Variegated: plant pigmentation      that creates multicolored foliage.
Vascular: networks of      channels that transport nutrients, fluids, and wastes. The circulatory system      is an example.
Varve: a thin deposit      of sediment found on a lake bottom. Because its thickness fluctuates annually,      its layers disclose information about the lake's geological past.
Vector: a disease-carrying      organism.
Ventifact: a piece of      stone blasted smooth by windblown sand particles.
Vertebrate: an animal      with a backbone. Most large animals are vertebrates. They probably evolved      from a wormlike ancestor that turned upside down (upside-down catfish do this      today). See Invertebrate.
Vicariance: the evolution      of a new species from a group separated from the original species by a geographic      barrier.
Virus: a protein-coated      fragment of DNA or RNA that infects a host cell in order to reproduce.
Volatile Organic Compounds      (VOCs): a component of photochemical smog consisting of organic molecules      released into the atmosphere from household products like paint, solvents,      aerosols, cleaners, and (oddly enough) air fresheners.
Wallace Effect: females      attracted to males most like themselves breed offspring more like themselves      and less like the members of any subspecies, a tendency that eventually creates      a separate species.
Wallace’s Realms:      six geographical animal realms: Nearctic, Palaearctic, Neotropical, Ethiopian,      Oriental, and Australasian. They roughly outline the breakup of the supercontinent      Pangaia into continents on which different kinds of fauna lived and evolved.
Washover Fan: the fan-shaped      sedimentary deposits left when storm surges wash over barrier islands, thereby      transferring sand from one part of the island to another.
Waste Treatment Pond:      a shallow lagoon or pond in which agricultural manure and other wastes are      broken down by microscopic organisms.
Water Budget: the balance      of all water moving into and out of a specified area in a specified period      of time.
Water Table: the pooling      of groundwater on top of a bedrock layer. This pooling holds 95% of the world's      total supply of freshwater.
Watershed: the region      drained by a stream or river.
Weed: a plant growing      where it is not wanted.
Weir: a barrier or fence      in water that diverts something: fish, water flow, erosive material.
Westerlies: variable      mid-latitude winds that often bring moisture.
Wetland: a wet land;      a bog, fen, marsh, estuary. Wetlands are rich in nutrients, unique in ecosystems,      and hospitable to many forms of life, including birds on long flyways. They      also filter pollutants out of the water and ease the force of passing floods.      The Florida Everglades performed these and other ecologically beneficial activities      until 1905, when a governor with the remarkably apt name of Napoleon Bonaparte      Broward led the push to dredge, fill, dig, and canal; the resulting floods,      stagnation, salinization, fish kills, bird deaths, agricultural runoffs, drought,      groundwater depletion, and fire potential have not yet been brought under      control. In the United States, farmers were encouraged to allow acreage for      wetlands until the Bush Administration not only ended the incentives, but      eased regulations in filling in existing wetlands. See Estuarine Zone.
Wilderness Effect: Robert      Greenway’s term for the impact of the wilderness experience on the psyche:      the gradient goes from none to “a complete blowout of one’s usual      programs for processing reality.” Somewhere between these points is      where information processing switches from culture-dominated to nature-dominated.
Xeric: dry.
Xerophytes: organisms      that live in dry areas.
Xylem: woody tissue that      transports water and nutrients upward from the roots.
Yardang: rock streamlined      by wind erosion.
Yazoo Tributary: a small      tributary stopped by levees (embankments) from joining the main channel.
Zero Population Growth      (ZPG): when birth rate (plus immigration) equals the death rate (plus emigration),      resulting in an ecologically stable number of organisms.
Zoonotic Diseases: diseases      transmissible from animals to humans. Ebola, tuberculosis, and rabies are      examples.
Zooplankton: plankton      that do not produce their own food, as phytoplankton do. In size they fall      between phytoplankton and larger organisms like fish.
Zygote: a fertilized      egg.
The world        opened in the thickets of the dark. The wild grapes would soon ripen on        the vines. The burrowing ones were emerging. Horned owls sat in the treetops.        Mice scurried here and there. Skunks, fox, the slow and holy porcupine,        all were passing by this way. The young of the solitary bees were feeding        on pollen in the dark. The whole world was a nest on its humble tilt, in        the maze of the universe, holding us. -- Linda Hogan