 |
Abundance |
In reference to fauna & flora: The quantity of a particular plant or animal in a given area. |
|
Afforestation |
The planting of trees for commercial purposes, usually on land supporting non-forest plant species, e.g. grassland. This differs from reafforestation which is the restocking of existing forests and woodlands that have been depleted. |
|
Agricultural |
Relating to cultivating land, growing crops
and rearing animals. |
|
Agroforestry |
A system
of land use in which harvestable trees or shrubs are grown
among or around crops or on pastureland in order to increase
production, generate short-term income, and benefit the
environment (for example, by erosion control). |
|
Algae |
Plants that grow in water or on damp surfaces.
They have chlorophyll but no roots, stems or leaves. |
|
Amphibian |
A cold-blooded vertebrate, such as a frog, toad, newt or
salamander, that typically lives on land but breeds in water. |
|
Annelids |
Worms with bodies that are divided into segments,
both internally (inside the body) and externally. |
|
Aquifer |
An underground layer of water-holding
permeable rock, gravel, sand, silt,
or clay. |
|
Beneficial |
Good for people, animals or the environment. |
|
Biodiversity |
Biological diversity in an environment as indicated by numbers of different species of plants and animals. |
|
Bivalve
molluscs |
Aquatic invertebrates, such
as oysters, mussels and clams, which secrete two shells
rather than one. |
|
Brackish |
Brackish water is slightly salty. |
|
Bureau of Meteorology |
Produces
and circulates Australian weather forecasts, weather observations,
severe weather warnings and high sea forecasts for each
state and territory from information provided by a network
of field offices across the continent, on offshore islands,
and in Antarctica,
as well as by local observers. |
|
Cache |
A hiding place
for storing things. |
|
Census |
An official count of all the people who
live in a particular place or country, including information
about their age, education, jobs, health etc. An agricultural
census collects information on farming activities, animal
numbers/sales and some land use practices. |
|
Chlamydia |
Bacteria which are responsible for various diseases in koalas, as well as for psittacosis (a respiratory disease in parrots and people), trachoma (which can cause blindness) and some sexually-transmitted infections. |
|
Chlorophyll |
A green pigment in plants that traps the
energy from sunlight and makes photosynthesis possible. |
|
Climate Change |
A significant change in the average weather patterns of a region. This may include temperature, precipitation (any moisture, such as rain, hail or snow) or wind. |
|
Clutch |
A
batch of eggs laid in a single nest. |
|
Competitive |
Competing with other people, companies or
countries to be the most successful. |
|
Contingency plans |
Plans
that are dependent on a possible future event. |
|
Crustacean |
Animals, including crabs and crayfish,
that have a hard shell instead of a skeleton and usually
live in water. |
|
Declining |
Gradually becoming fewer in number, or
less healthy. |
|
Demonstration reach |
A large stretch of degraded river chosen for rehabilitation (restoring to better health) with the aim of improving river health and increasing native fish numbers. |
|
Distribution |
In reference to fauna and flora: The natural geographic range of a plant or animal. |
|
Divert |
To turn something away from its usual path
or course. |
|
Effluent |
A liquid that is discharged as waste from
a farming or industrial process or a sewage works. |
|
El Niño effect |
An
El Niño event is a temporary change in the temperature,
surface air pressure and currents of the Pacific Ocean
in the region around the equator. It affects both the ocean
and atmosphere and can have major effects on the world's
climate. |
|
Emission |
The release of things such as gases and radiation
into the atmosphere. |
|
Endangered |
At risk
of becoming extinct. |
|
Eradication |
Rooting
out or destroying something that is not wanted in a particular
area. |
|
Estuary |
The wide part of a river near where it joins
the sea and where fresh water mixes with salt water. |
|
Excretion |
Discharge
of waste matter from the body. |
|
Executive |
A person who is responsible for carrying
out plans and managing other people in a business. |
|
Expertise |
Special skill in or knowledge about a particular topic or activity. |
|
Extinct |
An animal
or plant species that no longer has any living members. |
|
Fishway |
Passages at locks and weirs for fish to swim up river past barriers. |
|
Fundamental |
Most important or basic. |
|
Gigalitre |
A gigalitre is one thousand million litres, which is equivalent to around 500 Olympic-size swimming pools. |
|
Global warming |
An increase in the earth's atmospheric and oceanic temperatures widely predicted to occur due to an increase in the greenhouse effect resulting especially from pollution |
|
GPS |
Global Positioning
System – Over twenty GPS satellites in orbit in space
broadcast precise timing signals by radio, allowing GPS
receivers to accurately determine their location (longitude, latitude,
and altitude)
in any weather, day or night, anywhere on Earth. |
|
Greenhouse gas |
Gases such as carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous
oxide, ozone, hydrofluorocarbons and chlorofluorocarbons
that are contributing to the greenhouse effect and to a
rise in global temperatures. |
|
Groundwater |
All water under the surface of the ground. When it rains, some water runs along the surface of the ground (surface water) while some seeps into the ground (recharge). The recharge water moves downward through the soil until it reaches a layer of rock through which it cannot easily move. The top of this layer of water is called the watertable and this can rise or fall depending on the amount of recharge water. Groundwater moves slowly down and across through the ground and may eventually join a river, stream or lake, or seep out at the surface as a spring. |
|
Habitat |
The place or environment where a plant or animal lives or grows. |
|
Hibernation |
Hiding
away and sleeping during the cold winter months. |
|
Hydroponics |
Growing
plants in a nutrient liquid, rather than in soil. |
|
Immature |
Not fully grown or developed. |
|
Incubate |
To hatch eggs by keeping them warm either
naturally or artificially. |
|
Indigenous |
Native to (belonging in) a particular
area or country. |
|
Inflow |
Water flowing into the river system. |
|
Infrastructure |
The dams, factories, roads, schools, hospitals and other major constructions that contribute to the economy of a country. |
|
Interactive |
Allowing a continuous two-way transfer of
information between a computer and its user. |
|
Interception |
Stopping or redirecting something, such
as the water in a river, on its way from one place to
another. |
|
Invasiveness |
The
ability of a plant or animal to move into a new area, or
an area where it is not native. |
|
Invertebrate |
An animal without a backbone. |
|
Irreversible |
Not able to be changed, reversed or repaired. |
|
Irrigating |
Supplying land with water by means of artificial
channels, ditches etc. in order to promote the growth
of crops. |
|
Lagoon |
An area of seawater separated from the sea
by a reef or sandbank. |
|
Larvae |
Immature free-living forms of many animals
that develop into different adult forms by metamorphosis. |
|
Lateral
line |
A
system of sensory organs in fish and aquatic amphibians.
It consists of a series of cells on the head and along
the sides of the body that detect vibrations and pressure
changes. |
|
Mandible |
The top or bottom part of a bird's
bill or beak. |
|
Manipulation |
Controlling or influencing something or
someone to produce a particular result. |
|
Marsupial |
Any mammal of the order Marsupialia which gives birth to immature young that complete their development in the safety of a pouch. The word 'marsupial' comes from the Latin word marsupium, meaning pouch. Most marsupials (bandicoots, kangaroos, wallabies, koalas, wombats, bilbies, gliders, marsupial moles etc.) are found in Australia, but there are opossums in the USA, Canada and Central America and one species, the Monito del Monte ('little mountain monkey') in South America. |
|
Metabolic rate |
The
speed at which various chemical processes, affecting energy
production, growth, excretion etc.,
occur in the body of a living creature. |
|
Metamorphosis |
The rapid transformation of a larva into
an adult that occurs in certain animals (e.g. a tadpole
into a frog). |
|
Meteorologist |
A person
who studies the earth's atmosphere, especially in
connection with weather forecasting and weather-forming
processes. |
|
Microorganisms |
Tiny living things that can only be seen
by using a microscope. |
|
Ministerial Council |
A group of public servants that facilitates
consultation and cooperation between the Australian Government
and state and territory governments in specific policy
areas. |
|
Mollusc |
Animals, such as snails, slugs and octopuses,
with soft bodies, a muscular foot and a mantle (a flap
of tissue covering the body). They use gills for breathing.
Most molluscs have an external shell, but some have an
internal shell or no shell at all. |
|
Murky |
Dark and gloomy; difficult to see through. |
|
Permeable |
Able to be passed through, especially by
liquids. |
|
Photosynthesis |
The process by which green plants are able
to use sunlight to make sugars from carbon dioxide and
water. |
|
Practitioners |
People
who are carrying out a particular activity, job or profession. |
|
Predator |
An animal that hunts other animals for food. |
|
Prehensile |
Adapted
for grasping, especially by wrapping around a branch or
other support. |
|
Prestigious |
Having a very good reputation and influence. |
|
Prey |
An animal hunted for food by another animal. |
|
Profitable |
Making money by selling something for
more than it cost you to grow or make. |
|
Protruding |
Sticking
forwards or outwards. |
|
Ramsar Convention |
The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands is an international agreement signed in 1971 in the city of Ramsar, Iran. It provides the framework for national action and international cooperation for the conservation and wise use of wetlands and their resources. |
|
Re-commission |
To return
a structure, factory or ship to working condition after
it has been shut down for some time. |
|
Resnagging |
Placing logs and rocks into selected areas
of a river or body of water to provide shelter and homes
for fish and other aquatic creatures. |
|
Revegetation |
Planting
trees and plants in bare areas, or in areas that have been
damaged by natural disasters. |
|
Riparian rehabilitation |
Replanting
and repairing areas such as creek banks, river banks and
floodplains which are affected by a waterway. |
|
Riverine |
Relating to, produced by, or living near,
a river. |
|
Rudimentary |
Not
completely developed. |
|
Salinity |
The level of salt in a liquid (usually
water). |
|
Southern hemisphere |
The half of the earth that lies south of
the equator (the imaginary line that is halfway between
the North and South Poles). |
|
Spawning |
The special term used to describe egg laying
by fish, amphibians and molluscs. |
|
Species |
A group of plants or animals that has the
same characteristics and whose members are able to breed
with each other. |
|
Statistics |
Information collected together and presented
in the form of figures, charts or graphs. |
|
Supervisory |
Only involving managing and supervising
people or activities. |
|
Sustainable |
Running a farm, business or industry in such
a way that it does not use up all the available resources,
or cause severe damage to the environment. |
|
Terrain |
The type of land in a particular area. |
|
Terrestrial |
Living on, or involving, the earth or land. |
|
Thermals |
Columns of rising air caused by uneven
warming of the land's surface. |
|
Transition |
In the process of changing from one stage
or state into another. |
|
Transverse |
Extending from one side of something to
the other side. |
|
Tussocks |
Dense
tufts of vegetation, especially of grass. |
|
Undercutting |
Cutting or wearing away the lower parts
of the banks of a river or body of water. |
|
Vulnerable |
At
risk, but not yet threatened, endangered or actually extinct. |
|
Weir |
A low dam built across a river to raise
the water level, divert
the water, or control its flow. |
