Glossary of Wetland Terms

Wetland Terms – C

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C [caddis fly–cultural eutrophication]

caddis fly: aquatic macroinvertebrate of the order Trichoptera. Larvae have three pairs of legs, hooks on the end of their abdomen, and no wings. Larvae are sensitive to pollution.
canopy: overhanging tree cover.
carnivore: a meat eater; a consumer that eats other consumers.
cattails: Typha spp.; emergent vegetation of freshwater marshes and wetlands; tall perennial plants.
chlorinated: water treated with chlorine as a disinfectant.
clam: an aquatic macroinvertebrate of the phylum Mollusca, the clam is enclosed within two shells and feeds by filtering stream water through its shells; it is somewhat sensitive to pollution.
clarity: clearness.
clay: suspended sediment or bed material with a particle size of 0.00024-0.004 mm in diameter, smaller than a grain of sand.
cloud cover: the amount of sky covered by clouds, usually characterized as partly cloudy (10%– 50% of sky covered by clouds) or cloudy (50%– 90% of sky covered by clouds).
coagulation: the process in which chemicals react with suspended particles in a liquid to form a sticky precipitate.
common reed: Phragmites australis; an exotic invasive plant that grows in swamp forest (intermittently flooded lowland forest).
community: two or more populations of different species living and interacting in the same area.
competitors: individuals or species that each require the same limited resource to survive.
compost: a mixture of decaying organic matter, such as leaves and manure, that can be used as a plant fertilizer.
consumer: an organism that eats other organisms because it is unable to make its own food; a heterotroph.
contaminant: a substance that when mixed with another substance makes it impure.
control: a condition in a scientific experiment that remains the same.
coontail: a submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV), Ceratophyflum demersum; abundant in lakes, streams, marshes, and ditches in a depth of up to 18 feet; tolerant of nutrient-rich water and fluctuating water levels. It has leaves in whorls of 5-12 and can form thick masses.
crab: an aquatic macroinvertebrate of the phylum Arthropoda, class Crustacea. The crab is a bottom-dwelling predator.
crane fly: an aquatic macroinvertebrate of the order Diptera, a true fly. The larvae are large and fleshy with short tentacles at one end. Crane flies are somewhat sensitive to pollution.
crayfish: an aquatic macroinvertebrate of the phylum Arthropoda, class Crustacea. Crayfish have more than three pairs of legs and two pairs of antennae, with eyes on stalks and a hard covering on the back; somewhat sensitive to pollution.
croplands: land used for agriculture.
crustacean: an aquatic macroinvertebrate of the phylum Arthropoda, class Crustacea; includes crayfish and crabs. They have more than three pairs of legs and two pairs of antennae.
cultivate: to prepare land for crops by plowing and fertilizing.
cultural eutrophication: human-caused eutrophication; usually a very rapid process that can result in the death of an ecosystem.

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