Report Cover Vol I - Clare County Library

The County Clare Wetlands Survey Patrick Crushell & Peter Foss 2008
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Appendix 7: CWS Glossary of Terms
ABIOTIC - Of or relating to the non-living components of a habitat or ecosystem.
ACIDIFICATION - The detrimental effect of acid rain on soils and freshwater.
AFFORESTATION - The planting of trees (usually conifers) over an area of previously unplanted round.
ALTITUDE - Vertical height above sea level.
ALLUVIAL - Of or relating to silty deposits transported by water, or occurring on river flood plains.
AMPHIBIANS – A vertebrate group whose members spend part of their life cycle in water and part on
land e.g. Frog.
ANNEX 1 - of the EU Habitats Directive, lists habitats including priority habitats for which SACs have to
be designated.
ANNEX 2 - of the EU Habitats Directive is a list of species for which SACs have to be designated.
ANNUAL PLANT - Plant that completes its life cycle within a single growing season.
AQUATIC ENVIRONMENT – Rivers, streams, lakes, ponds, springs and features that depend on natural
waters e.g. marsh, bogs and wetlands.
ArcGIS A comprehensive desktop Geographic Information System (GIS) software package developed by
ESRI used to carry out many GIS operations.
ASIs - Areas of Scientific Interest. Areas that were identified in the 1970s as being of conservation
interest. The NHA designation developed from ASIs.
ATTRIBUTE – Non-spatial information about a geographic feature in a GIS, usually stored in a
table (or spreadsheet) and linked to the feature by a unique identifier. For example, attributes of a
wetland site might include its name, area, and soil type.
ATTRIBUTE FIELD – A column on an attribute table containing specific data such as area or site name
on a number of features (rows).
ATTRIBUTE TABLE - Tabular file containing rows and columns. In GIS, attribute tables are associated
with a class of geographic features, such as wells or roads. Each row represents a geographic feature,
such as a river, a wetland site etc.
BASE POOR SOILS - Soils that only slowly release the dissolved chemicals or minerals contained within
them.
BASIN - A depressed area of the Earth’s surface, in which sediments accumulate.
BIODIVERSITY – A general term used to describe all aspects of biological diversity, including: the
number of species present in a given environment; the genetic diversity present within a species; the
number of different ecosystems present within a given environment.
BIOTOPE - An environmental region, defined by certain conditions characteristic organisms that typically
inhabit it. Combination of the physical habitat and its recurring community of animals and plants.
BIOTIC - Of or relating to the living components of a habitat or ecosystem.
BIRDS DIRECTIVE (Council Directive 79/ 409/ 2nd April 1979) - Under this Directive Ireland is required
to conserve the habitats of two categories of wild birds: 1) Listed rare and vulnerable species and 2)
Regularly occurring migratory species. The Directive also obliges Ireland to conserve wetlands, especially
those of international importance and regulates the hunting and trading of wild birds. It was transposed
into Irish legislation by the EU (Natural Habitats) Regulations, 1997.
BLANKET BOG - Bogs which carpet the landscape, following the underlying topography. They can cover
extensive areas along the west coast and on uplands throughout the country.
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