ESS - Water and Aquatic Food Production Systemsi

Hydrological Cycle

System of water flows and storages (check your storages and flows)

Water budger

amount of water stored in a system

Aquifer

body of rock and/or sediment that stores groundwater

Advection

horizontal movement of a mass fluid (eg. fog)

Surface (ocean current)

continuous, predictable, movement of sea water driven by global wind systems

Deep water (ocean currents)

movement of sea water driven by water density (which is dependant on temperature and salinity)

Grey Water

household waste water without faecal matter

Water Scarcity

lack of freshwater to meet standard demand

Salinisation

process of which non-saline water becomes saline (often because of irrigation)

permeability

the ability of a substance to allow liquids to go through it

phytoplankton

Unicellular organism that drifts with the current and performs oxygenic photosynthesis (base of several aquatic food webs)

Upwelling

amount of sea water, magma, or other liquid rising up

Biorights

concept that tries to protect areas of biological importance and seeks to compensate people that live near nature areas that are dependant on these natural areas for cash generating activites

Sustainable

able to be maintained at a certain rate or level

Aquacutlure

cultivation of aquatic organisms for food

Tragedy of the Commons

People enjoy unrestricted access to a finite, valuable resource where overuse and overall possible destruction is possible

Maximum Sustainable Yield

the number which can be harvested while the population size remains constant / highest amount that can be taken each year without permanently decreasing the amount of natural capital

Bottom trawling

long nets that reach the bottom of the ocean and drag everything in their path

Suspended Culture

Shellfish farming that is sustainable (grows on ropes) and provides a carbon sink

Recircultating Aquaculture

1. Fish are stocked in culture tanks (fed + grown. 2. Mechanical filter cleans water (sanitation). 3. Microbial filter ensures clean water 4. Oxygenation (added oxygen. (removes issues with disease, pesticides, and escaped fish)

Limiting factor

anything that constraints a population’s size or stops it from growing

Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD)

analytical parameters representing the amount of dissolved oxygen consumed by aerobic bacteria

Indicator Species

can provide information on ecological change and give early warnings on the ecosystem. EG blood worms = pollution but stone fly = clean

Biotic Index

Scale showing quality of an environment by indicating organisms present