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Glossary
aesthetics – the appeal or appreciation of the beauty of objects, animals, plants, scenes, natural or improved areas to a viewer agricultural – having to do with food and fiber production angler – a person who fishes with hook and line aquatic – living or growing in water basin – the area drained by rivers bedrock – unbroken solid rock overlaid in most places by soil or rock fragments benthic – the bottom of a body of water benthos – the plant or animal life whose habitat is the bottom of a sea, lake, or river best management practices – practices determined by a state or other designated areawide planning agency to be the most effective and practicable means of controlling point and non-point pollutants at levels compatible with environmental quality goals biodiversity – the variety of organisms considered at all levels; includes the variety of ecosystems, which comprise both the communities of organisms within particular habitats and the physical conditions under which they live black light – invisible ultraviolet or infrared light bow caliper – an instrument consisting of two curved hinged legs, used to measure thickness and distances buffer zone – an area or strip surrounding another specific area, in part or entirely, to protect the inner area from disturbance by influences from the outside cfs (cubic feet per second) – a unit of measurement of the amount of water passing a given point in one second channel – a natural stream that conveys water; a ditch or channel excavated for the flow of water channel stabilization – the process of preventing erosion and stabilizing velocity distribution in a channel by using jetties, drops, revetments, vegetation and other measures channelization – the straightening of a stream which eliminates natural meanders citizenship – behavior in terms of the duties, obligations, and functions of a citizen of a town state or nation cobble – a cobblestone or small stone cultural – pertaining to the ways of living built up by a group of human beings and transmitted from one generation to another cultural diversity – a variety of differing cultures dam – a barrier to confine or raise water for storage or diversion, to create a hydraulic head, to prevent gully erosion or for retention of soil, rock, or other debris deposition – the accumulation of material dropped because of a slackening movement of the transporting agent (water or wind) discharge – the rate of flow, specifically fluid flow; a volume of fluid passing a point per unit of time (commonly expresses as cubic feet per second, million gallons per day, gallons per minute, or cubic meters per second) divide – the line or zone of higher ground between two adjacent streams or drainage basins downcutting – erosion of a stream bottom drainage – the removal of excess surface water or groundwater from land by means of surface or subsurface drains dredging – the removal of earth from the bottom of water bodies using a scooping machine dynamic equilibrium – the condition at which a stream’s energy is at a level that allows the sediment load entering a reach to equal the sediment load leaving that reach ecological – having to do with the relationships between populations of organisms and their environments economic – having to do with money or financial gain ecosystem – a contraction for “ecological system;” the interacting system of a biological community and its non-living environment educational – having to do with gaining knowledge egocentric – having to do with an individual’s wants or needs environmental – having to do with human interaction with the ecosystem Equilibrium (in a stream) – A natural unmodified stream whose conditions for flow and sediment transport are in a balanced state. Also called Dynamic Equilibrium. erosion – 1) the wearing away of the land surface by running water, wind, ice, or other geological agents, including such processes as gravitational creep; 2) the detachment and movement of soil or rock fragments by water, wind, ice, or gravity first order stream – a natural channel in which no other streams feed into it flood plain – contiguous level land situated on either side of a channel which is subject to overflow flooding flood plain scouring – erosion of a flood plain by flood waters fluvial geomorphology - the science that investigates the complexity of the behaviour of river channels fourth order stream – a natural channel created when two “third order” streams intersect geography – the topographical features of a region geology – the geologic features (rocks and physical changes) occurring in a given region gradient – the degree of inclination, or the rate of descent of a stream ground water – the water beneath the surface of the ground, consisting largely of surface water that has seeped down (the source of water in springs and wells) habitat – the environment in which the life needs of an organism, population, or community are supplied headcutting – the upstream movement of bed scour healthful – having to do with keeping free from diseases humus – soil organic matter, usually amorphous and dark-colored, remaining after the major portion of added plant and animal residues have decomposed interstitial space – small or narrow spaces between things karst – a type of typography characterized by closed depressions, sinkholes, underground caverns, and solution channels land use – the primary or primary and secondary use(s) of land, such as cropland, woodland, pastureland, etc. legal – having to do with laws levee – an embankment to confine or control water, especially one built along the banks of a river to prevent overflow of adjacent lowland; a dike macroinvertebrates – insects or other animals that lack a backbone, live on the stream bottom, and can be seen without magnification meandering – the turnings of a stream non-point source pollution – any pollution whose sources cannot be pinpointed optical brighteners – color enhancers and whiteners used in detergents and cleaners point source pollution – a stationary source of pollution, such as a smoke stack or a discharge pipe political – having to do with the activities and policies of governments and their agents pool – an area of a stream where the velocity of current is reduced and a favorable habitat for plankton is created – silts and other loose materials that settle to the bottom of pools are favorable habitat for burrowing forms of benthos property rights – the legal rights surrounding ownership and use of property Physiographic Regions of Missouri
random sampling – a method of selecting a sample from a statistical population in such a way that every possible sample that could be selected has the same probability of being selected. recreational – having to do with leisure-time activities revetment – a facing of stone or other material, either permanent or temporary, placed along the edge of a stream to stabilize the bank and to protect it from the erosive action of the stream riffle – the fast flowing section
of a stream where shallow water races over stones and gravel; it usually
supports a wider variety of bottom organisms than other stream sections riparian zone – the part of the stream which is occasionally flooded but usually not under water root wad – the root mass of a tree runoff – that portion of the precipitation on a drainage area that is discharged from the area in stream channels – types include surface runoff, groundwater runoff, and seepage second order stream – a natural channel created when two “first order” streams intersect sediment – the solid material, both mineral and organic, that is in suspension, is being transported, or has been moved from its site of origin by air, water, gravity, or ice, and has come to rest on the earth’s surface either above or below sea level slumping – the downward slipping of a mass of bank material, usually a part of the bank caving process spontaneity – activity done naturally, unconstrained, and unplanned stewardship – taking action to care for or manage responsible, as in adopting a stream storage – act of accumulating or putting away for future use stream bank – the usually boundary, not the flood boundary, of a stream channel – right and left banks are named facing downstream stream channel equilibrium – a state obtained when water, sediment, energy, and vegetation are in balance substrate – a layer lying under another; the base or material on which an organism lives; the subsoil symbiosis – the state of two organisms of different species living in close association, one or both benefiting, and neither harmed third order stream – a natural channel created when two “second order” streams intersect topographic maps – a representation
of the physical features of a portion of the earth’s surface as
a plane surface, on which terrain relief is shown by a system of lines,
each representing a constant elevation above a reference plane tract – an expanse or are of land, water, etc. tributary – a secondary or branch of a stream, drain, or other channel that contributes flow to the primary or main channel urbanization – growing in population and density, resulting in a city velocity – rapidity of motion or operation; swiftness; speed vista – a view as seen from a long distance or through a long, narrow passage voyageur – an expert woodsman, boatman and guide in remote regions; historically, one employed by fur companies to transport supplies to and from their distant stations water rights – the legal rights to the use of water, which include riparian rights, appropriated rights, and prescribed rights watershed – the land area that drains toward a natural surface water system – more precisely, a give point on such a system wetland – any area that is more or less regularly wet or flooded and where the water table stands at or above the land surface for at least part of the year wilderness – a rather large, generally inaccessible, area left in its natural state – it is void of development except for those trails, sites, and signs left by previous wilderness users
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