Lake Water Quality 2006 Report - Lakefield Herald

Appendix G: GlossaryAquatic plants – Plants that grow partially or entirely submerged in lakes and streamsor in waterlogged, wetland soils.Algae – Aquatic one-celled or colonial plant-like organisms that contain chlorophyll anddo not differentiate into specialized cells and tissues like roots and leaves.Algal blooms – Sudden proliferations of algae.Allelopathy – A process in which host plants excrete chemical compounds that inhibitthe growth or germination of other plants on or near them; some plants excretesubstances toxic to grazing insects or animals.Alvar plain – A drought-prone, rare prairie-like environment located on almost barelimestone bedrock.Base flow – Amount of water flowing in a stream during extended dry weather. Thiswater is not runoff, but seepage from groundwater, wetlands or nearby large bodiesof water.Biomass – The amount of living matter produced in a chosen area or volume of habitat.Usually measured by dry weight, biomass indicates how productive, for example, alake, pond, forest or meadow is.Canadian Shield – Also called the Precambrian or Laurentian Shield, it covers asbedrock much of central and northeastern Canada and the United States. It is one ofthe oldest geological formations in the world, composed of metamorphosed rocksoriginally laid down between 4.5 billion and 540,000 million years ago. Often coveredwith forest, it provides relatively low-phosphorus water to the Kawartha Lakes.Chlorophyll a – A green plant pigment in photosynthesizing organisms; the amount ofchlorophyll a in surface water samples indicates the amount of free-floating algae.E.coli bacteria – Bacteria living in the intestines of warm-blooded animals such asbirds, beavers and humans. While most are harmless, a few strains of E.coli causesevere gastrointestinal illness. Drinking water and recreational water are tested forthe presence of these bacteria.88