ENV 100 GLOSSARY

A Horizon (Topsoil)

Found in a typical soil profile.

Forms the top layer or lies below the O horizon

Mostly inorganic mineral components (weathered substrate), with some organic matter and humus from above mixed in.

Abiotic

Any nonliving component of the environment.

Abyssal Plain

The flat, mostly topographically featureless ocean floor.

Acid Drainage (Acid Mine Drainage)

Sulphide minerals in newly exposed rock surfaces react with oxygen and rainwater to produce sulphuric acid. It leaches metals from the rocks and causes chemical runoff.

Mining greatly accelerates it by exposing many new rock surfaces.

Acid Rain

Acidic precipitation deposited in the form of rain.

Acid Deposition (Acid Precipitation)

Deposition of acidic or acid-forming pollutants from the atmosphere onto Earths surface by precipitation, fog, gases, or settling of dry particles.

Active Solar (energy)

Technological devices are used to focus, move, or store solar energy.

Acute Exposure

Exposure to a toxicant occurring in high amounts for short periods of time.

Adaptation

Strategy accepted that an event with potential impacts is going to occur, and plans are made to adjust to the impacts.

Adaptive Management

Systematic, scientific testing of different management approaches to improve methods over time.

Adaptive Trait (Adaption)

Trait that confers greater likelihood that an individual will reproduce.

Aerobic

Occurring in an environment where oxygen is present. (ex: the decay of a rotting log)

Aerosols

Very fine liquid droplets or solid particles aloft in the atmosphere.

Afforestation

Planting of trees where the land has not been forested for a long time.

Age Distribution (Age Structure)

Numbers of organisms of each age within a population, often displayed on an age structure diagram or age pyramid.

Aggregate

Unconsolidated or crushed stone or gravel used in construction.

Agricultural Revolution (Neolithic Revolution)

Around 10 000 years ago from a hunter-gatherer lifestyle to an agricultural way of life. It's a more intensive, manipulative way of producing and extracting resources marked a permanent change in the relationship of people to the natural environment.

Agriculture

Practice of cultivating soil, producing crops, and raising livestock for human use and consumption.

Agroforestry

Planting of trees in conjunction with crops. Trees benefit the crops by aiding in the biogeochemical cycling of nutrients and water, by contributing organic material to the soil, and by providing shade.

Air Mass

Large volume of air that is internally uniform in temperature, relative humidity, and density.

Air Pollution

Act of contaminating the air, or the condition of being contaminated by air pollutants.

Air Quality Health Index (AQHI)

A standardized, national-level index that quantifies the level of air pollution and associated health risks. (1 = very low, 10+ = very high)

Airshed

Geographical area associated with a particular air mass.

Albedo

Reflectivity of a surface.

Allergen

Toxicant that overactivates the immune system, causing an immune response when one is not necessary.

Alloy

Mix of metals.

Alpine

Pertaining to high-altitude environments.

Alpine Tundra

Tundra that occurs at high altitudes.

Amensalism

Relationship between members of different species in which one organism is harmed and the other is unaffected.

Ammonia (NH3)

Colourless gas with a pungent smell. Common tool of geographers, landscape ecologists, resource managers, and conservation biologists.

Anaerobic

Occurring in an environment that has little or no oxygen. Conversion of organic matter to fossil fuels at the bottom of a deep lake.

Antarctic Bottom Water (AABW)

Deep portion of the thermohaline circulation in the Southern Ocean.

Anthropocene Epoch

Proposed new formal unit of time in the geologic time scale. Beginning at the time of the Industrial Revolution when human activities first started to have a major impact on Earth systems.

Anthropocentrism

Human-centred view of our relationship with the environment.

Anthropogenic

Human-generated.

Anthroposphere

Human sphere, and the built environment; the environment as modified by human actions.

Aphotic Zone

A zone (usually in a water body) that is lacking in light, or where light does not penetrate.

Aquaculture

Raising of aquatic organisms for food in controlled environments.

Aquatic

Water-based.

Aquiclude

Rock or sediment that may hold water but does not allow it to be transmitted (i.e., blocks the flow of water.)

Aquifer

An underground water reservoir.

Arable

Used in reference to land or soil that is suitable for growing crops.

Arid

An area where annual precipitation is less than 250 mm.

Artificial Selection

Trait selection conducted under human direction.

Artisanal Fishery

Fishery that relies mainly on traditional, low-tech fishing equipment.

Asthenosphere

Part of the mantle immediately underlying the lithosphere, which is close to its melting temperature and thus malleable.

Atmosphere

Thin layer of gases surrounding planet Earth.

Atmospheric Deposition

The wet or dry deposition on a land of a wide variety of pollutants.

Atmospheric Pressure

The weight per unit area produced by a column of air.

Atom

The smallest component of an element that maintains the chemical properties of that element.

Autotroph (Primary Producer)

Organism that can use the energy from sunlight to produce its own food. Forests can have closed or open canopies. (ex. green plants, algae, and cyanobacteria)

B Horizon (Subsoil, Zone of Accumulation, Zone of Deposition)

Layer of soil that lies below the A horizon and above the C horizon. Minerals that leach out of the A horizon are carried down into the B horizon and accumulate there.

Bedrock

Continuous mass of solid rock that makes up Earth's crust.

Benthic

Of, relating to, or living on the bottom of a water body.

Benthic Zone

The bottom layer of water body.

Bioaccumulation

Buildup of toxicants in the tissues of an animal. Substance that bioaccumulates is bioaccumulative.

Biocapacity

Capacity of a terrestrial or aquatic system to be biologically productive and to absorb waste.

Biocentrism

A view or belief that the rights and needs of humans are not more important than those of other living things.

Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD)

The amount of oxygen required for aerobic microorganisms to decompose all of the organic matter in a volume of water.

Biodegradation

Process of organic substances are decomposed by micro-organisms (mainly aerobic bacteria) into simpler substances such as carbon dioxide, water, and ammonia. A substance that is prone to biodegradation in the right physical and chemical circumstances is biodegradable.

Biodiesel

Diesel fuel produced by mixing vegetable oil, used cooking grease, or animal fat with small amounts of ethanol or methanol (wood alcohol) in the presence of a chemical catalyst.

Biodiversity (Biological Diversity)

The sum total of all organisms in an area, taking into account the diversity of species, their genes, their populations, and their communities.

Biodiversity Hotspot

An area that supports an especially great diversity of species, particularly species that are endemic to the area.

Biofuel

Fuel produced from biomass energy sources and used primarily to power cars

Biogas

Natural gas (methane) extracted from landfill gas.

Biological Control (Biocontrol)

The attempt to battle pests and weeds with organisms that prey on or parasitize them, rather than by using pesticides.

Biological Hazard

Human health hazards that result from ecological interactions among organisms. Include parasitism by viruses, bacteria, or other pathogens.

Biological Weathering

Weathering that occurs when living organisms break down parent material, by physical or chemical means.

Biomagnification (Food Chain Concentration)

The magnification of the concentration of toxicants in an organism caused by its consumption of other organisms in which toxicants have bioaccumulated.

Biomass

Biological material; consists of living and recently deceased organic matter.

Biomass Energy

Energy harnessed from plant and animal matter, including wood from trees, charcoal from burned wood, and combustible animal waste products.

Biome

A major regional complex of similar plant communities; a large ecological unit defined by its dominant plant type and vegetation structure.

Biophilia

The concept that human beings subconsciously seek a connection with the rest of life.

Biopower

The burning of biomass energy sources to generate electricity.

Bioremediation

The attempt to clean up pollution by enhancing natural processes of biodegradation by living organisms.

Biosolid

Solid organic matter recovered from sewage treatment processes; it can sometimes be used as an organic fuel for power production, or as fertilizer.

Biosphere

Sum total of all the planets living organisms and the abiotic portions of the environment with which they interact.

Bioswale

Constructed landscape features that are designed to remove silt and pollution from surface runoff water. Typically consist of a drainage course with gently sloping sides, filled with vegetation, gravel, or riprap.

Biotechnology

The material application of biological science to create products derived from organisms. The creation of transgenic organisms is one type of biotechnology.

Biotic

Any living component of the environment.

Biotic Potential

An organisms capacity to produce offspring.

Bitumen

A thick and heavy, tar-like form of petroleum rich in carbon and poor in hydrogen.

Bog

A type of wetland in which a pond is thoroughly covered with a thick, floating mat of vegetation.

Bond

A chemical-physical connection between two or more atoms; an electrical force linking two atoms together.

Boreal Forest

A biome of northern coniferous forest that stretches in a broad band across much of Canada, Alaska, Russia, and Scandinavia. Consists of a limited number of species of evergreen trees, such as black spruce, that dominate large regions of forests interspersed with occasional bogs and lakes.

Breakdown Product

A compound that results from the degradation of a toxicant.

Breeder Reactor

A nuclear reactor that generates fissile material at a rate that is faster than the rate at which it is consumed.

Brownfield

A site that has been contaminated by hazardous materials but that has the potential to be cleaned up and remediated for other purposes.

By-catch

Portion of a commercial fishing catch consisting of animals caught unintentionally. By-catch kills many thousands of fish, sharks, marine mammals, and birds each year. By-catch kills many thousands of fish, sharks, marine mammals, and birds each year.

C horizon

Layer of soil lies below the B horizon and above the R horizon. Contains rock particles that are larger and less weathered than the layers above. It consists of parent material that has been altered only slightly or not at all by the process of soil formation. Contains rock particles that are larger and less weathered than the layers above. It consists of parent material that has been altered only slightly or not at all by the process of soil formation.

Canadian Environmental Protection Act (CEPA) (1999)

The centrepiece of Canadian environmental legislation.

Canopy (of forest)

The more or less continuous upper level of leaves and branches defined by the tree tops. Forests can have closed or open canopies.

Cap-And-Trade System

A permit trading system in which government determines an acceptable level of pollution and then issues polluting parties permits to pollute. A company receives credit for amounts it does not emit and can then sell this credit to other companies.

Captive Breeding

The practice of capturing members of threatened and endangered species so that their young can be bred and raised in controlled environments and subsequently reintroduced into the wild.

Carbohydrate

An organic compound consisting of atoms of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen.

Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS)

Technologies or approaches that remove carbon dioxide from power plant or other emissions and sequester it, in an effort to mitigate global climate change.

Carbon Cycle

A major nutrient cycle consisting of the routes that carbon atoms take through the nested networks of environmental systems.

Carbon Dioxide (CO2)

A colourless gas used in photosynthesis, given off by respiration, and released by burning fossil fuels. A primary greenhouse gas whose buildup contributes to global climate change.

Carbon Filter

A filter that uses a bed of activated (or highly porous) carbon to remove contaminants and impurities through chemical absorption.

Carbon Footprint

The cumulative amount of carbon, or carbon dioxide equivalent, that a person or institution emits, and is indirectly responsible for emitting, into the atmosphere, contributing to global climate change.