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Glossary of Wetland Terms |
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bacteria: (singular bacterium) phytoplankton; single-celled prokaryotic organisms. bald eagle: Haliaeetus leucocephalus, a North American eagle, having a dark body and a white head and tail. The white head develops once the eagle is mature at age 5. banded killifish: Fundulus diaphanous, a native fish found in major river drainage areas. bank erosion: the process in which individual soil particles of a stream bank are carried away as the stream channel moves. The amount of erosion is affected by vegetation, soil composition of the bank, flow of water in the stream, and runoff from the land. bank slumping: an indication of the degree of bank erosion. A healthy habitat has gentle bank slopes and no evidence that the stream is undercutting the bank. bank vegetation: trees, shrubs, grasses, and other vegetation growing on the stream bank. bay: a body of water partly enclosed by land, but having a wide outlet to the sea. bed load: sediment consisting of coarse material such as gravel, stones, and boulders that move along the bottom of a stream channel. beefsteak plant: Perilla frutescens, an exotic invasive plant, originally from Asia, that grows in a clearing (meadow or field). beetle: an aquatic macroinvertebrate with larvae that have lateral filaments off their sides, a hook at the end of their body, and no wings. Adults have outer wings and are often black in color. The larvae are somewhat sensitive to pollution. bend: a change in the direction of a stream channel and the flow of water in the stream. benthic plants: aquatic plants that grow attached to or rooted to the bottom of the body of water and withdraw nutrients from the sediment. benthos: organisms that live on or in the bottom sediments of a water body. biochemical oxygen demand (BOD): a measure of the quantity of oxygen used by organisms to decompose organic matter, usually measured at the end of a five-day period. biodiversity: refers to variety of organisms, their genetic information and the biological communties where they live. blackfly: an aquatic macroinvertebrate of the order Diptera, a true fly. Dumbbell-shaped, soft larvae attach themselves to the substrate and prefer soft sediment; they are pollution tolerant. broad-leaved plantain: Plantago major; an exotic invasive plant, originally from Europe, that grows in a clearing (meadow or field). brine: a strong salt solution such as salt water. burrow: a hole or tunnel dug in the ground by an animal as a place to live or hide. —vi. to dig a hole or tunnel bush honeysuckle: Lonicera x spp.; an exotic invasive plant, originally from Eurasia, that grows in swamp forest (intermittently flooded lowland forest). |
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