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