Glossary of Terms for Water Solutions: Bernheim Forest
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Glossary of Terms for Water Solutions: Bernheim Forest Algae bloom is an explosion of algae growth in a body of water due to an excess of nutrients in the water from fertilizer or organic waste pollution. The decomposition of dead algae can cause a shortage of oxygen in the water leading to the death of other water organisms. A “fish kill” is a good example of this process. Cisterns are underground tanks or containers used to hold water. At the Bernheim Forest Visitor Center, cisterns collect rainwater from the green roof that is subsequently used to flush the Center’s toilets. Channelization is the process of channelizing a stream, usually a gradual process that straightened the stream’s path by removing its meanders. It improved the landowner’s access to fertile bottomland and/or made it easier to navigate the stream. Channelization harms the health of the stream and the surrounding riparian zone and increases non-point-source pollution and flooding downstream. At Bernheim, the channelization of Wilson Creek was reversed, and the stream was restored to its natural meanders. Cobbles are rocks that have been rounded by wave action or running water. These rocks pile up to form riffles or shallow areas in meandering streams. Contaminants are impurities or substances that pollute other substances. In fact, pollution is defined as the introduction of contaminants into an environment that have negative impacts on the ecosystem to which they have been introduced. Detached wetlands are small temporary pools that form in the bottomlands of streams after flooding. They allow water to slow down and soak slowly into the watershed. They can also form important nurseries for macro-invertebrates and amphibians such as salamanders, frogs, and toads. Dissolved oxygen (DO) is also called “oxygen saturation.” It is the amount of oxygen dissolved in a medium such as water or blood. In aquatic environments, DO is the amount of oxygen available to fish and other organisms living in the water. Reductions in DO affect the health of such organisms. Much of the DO in aquatic ecosystems is supplied by aquatic plants and algae. Filtration is a mechanical or physical process of separating solids from fluids (such as water) by passing the fluid through a permeable membrane or porous bed of materials through which only the fluid can pass. For example, groundwater is naturally filtered as it flows through porous layers of soil. Floc is short for the word “floccule.” A floccule is a very fine, fluffy mass formed by the grouping together of tiny suspended particles, such as in a precipitate Floodplains are the flat areas bordering streams and rivers where water overflows during flooding. Food webs are interconnected models of several food chains or feeding relationships that show how energy and nutrients flow from one organism in the network to another. French drains/dry sinks are deep pits filled with large pebbles located where a roof downspout empties. A large rock is placed directly under the downspout. Water flows down the spout, splashes onto this large rock, and then is absorbed into the pit of smaller stones. This allows water to soak slowly into the groundwater without causing soil erosion. Fungi are a huge kingdom of organisms including yeast, molds, mushrooms, etc. The study of fungi is called “mycology.” Genotype is the genetic makeup of a cell, organism, or individual. It can refer to a group of organisms sharing a similar genetic make-up or to the genetic identity of an individual organism. Growing medium (plural “media”) is a rooting environment for plants. Soil is one example of a growing medium, but a variety of materials both natural and artificial can serve the same purpose. Whatever medium is used, it must provide the nutrients, air, and water necessary for healthy plant growth. Habitat is the environment where an organism normally lives. An organism’s habitat must provide adequate space, cover or shelter, water, and food for the survival of the organism. Habitat destruction is a major cause of the reduction in population or even extinction of different species of organisms. Hydrocarbons are molecules made up of hydrogen and carbon atoms. Carbon has the capability of forming large chains so hydrocarbon molecules can become quite large and complex. All living cells are made of hydrocarbons. Fossil fuels such as coal and oil are composed of a variety of hydrocarbon molecules due to the fact that they originated from ancient life that was buried and then transformed by heat and pressure into its present state. Impurities are substances found inside a liquid, gas, or solid that differ in chemical makeup from the material or compound. They can occur naturally or during the synthesis of the main material. Water Solutions, Bernheim Forest Glossary 2 Kentucky limestone glade ecosystems are dry, rocky openings on otherwise forested south-facing slopes. In some areas they provide habitat for rare plant species. Researchers at Bernheim Forest are investigating whether plants native to these glades would grow well on green roofs. Macroinvertebrates are invertebrates (animals lacking backbones) that are visible to the naked eye. In aquatic ecosystems such as those discussed in Water Solutions, the term refers to such creatures as crayfish, insects, worms, leeches, snails, etc. Meander is a verb that means to wander. However, as used in the Water Solutions videos about Bernheim’s Wilson Creek restoration, it is also a noun that describes the naturally occurring bends in a stream. These bends eventually result in a stream having a wandering snakelike path. The meanders of Wilson Creek were removed long ago when farmers channelized the stream. Metamorphosis is the rapid and often abrupt biological process of change that an organism undergoes as it changes from a larvae to an adult, e.g., the change from caterpillar to butterfly or tadpole to frog. Microorganisms are organisms too small to be seen by the naked eye. These are microscopic in size, for example, protozoa or bacteria. Mycelium (plural mycelia) consists of thread-like structures called hyphae. The main vegetative part of a fungus, the mycellum grows underground. The mushrooms that we see growing above the ground are actually only the “fruiting body” that produces spores for the purpose of reproduction. Mycoremediation is the process of using fungi to remediate or clean up harmful environmental contaminants such as petroleum hydrocarbons found in runoff or dumping areas. At Bernheim Forest, mycoremediation is used to clean the contaminants in the water runoff from the Visitor Center parking area Non-point-source (NPS) pollution is a type of pollution where the contaminants come from multiple sources instead of one local source such as a factory or power plant, e.g., fertilizer runoff from lawns, sediments from eroded soil, petroleum contamination from parking lots, etc. Nutrients are chemicals an organism gets from its environment that it needs to live and grow or use in its metabolism. Peat is an accumulation of partially decayed and carbonized vegetative matter. Peat forms in wetland bogs and swamps. Water Solutions, Bernheim Forest Glossary 3 Peat filtration beds are systems for filtering and cleaning wastewater that use underground tanks filled with peat moss. The peat acts as a growing medium for microbes that feed on the waste and thereby clean the water. At Bernheim Forest, a series of six of these filtration beds treat the wastewater from the bathrooms until it is clean enough to use for irrigation in the facility’s greenhouses. Rain gardens are basically artificial wetlands, depressions filled with native plants that can live in wet soil. When rain gardens are strategically placed where runoff can easily be routed to them, these gardens reduce erosion and slow and filter runoff. Recycled materials are materials that have been previously used and then put to a new and different use. The Visitor Center at Bernheim Forest is made of recycled materials including cypress wood from pickle factory vats. Reservoirs are (1) tanks used for collecting and storing liquid or (2) artificial ponds or lakes used to store water. Riffles are shallow shoals of rock (cobbles) lying just below the surface of a stream. They are important habitats for aquatic plants and macro-organisms and serve as partials barriers to slow down the speed of the stream’s current. Riparian zone is the border between a stream and surrounding land. It is an important transitional zone between the stream/wetland and dry land that is often rich with plant life and an important habitat for many organisms. It also helps preserve water quality. Runoff (or surface runoff) occurs when soil becomes completely saturated with water from rain or other sources and the excess water cannot soak in and flows over the land. This process is part of the water or hydrologic cycle. Scientific method is a system of objective thought and experimentation that scientists use to test and describe the world around them. It consists of the following steps: Hypothesis: Sometimes called “an educated guess”, a hypothesis is a question a scientist constructs to try to explain a natural process. Observation/experimentation: After posing the hypothesis, the scientist goes about testing it through observation and experimentation. Theory: If after repeated experimentation, the same results are observed and appear reliable, the researcher may then assert that the hypothesis is sufficiently proven to become a theory. However, in true scientific endeavor, theories can always be overturned based on new information oftentimes discovered through new experimental techniques and/or use of new technology. Water Solutions, Bernheim Forest Glossary 4 Sediment is a naturally-occurring material consisting of particles of varying sizes that are carried in suspension by the action of fluids such as wind or water and which then settle out of the fluid in which they were suspended, e.g., the fine sandy sediment covered the bottom of the basin.