State of Environment Reporting - Coast and Marine

Glossary

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Adsorption	A process in which solids or liquids attract and hold other solids, liquids, or gases in a surface film, without chemically combining with them.
Alien species	A plant or animal that has been introduced by humans to a location outside its native range. Also called introduced, non-native, exotic and invasive species.
Anadromous	Fish that must ascend rivers and streams from the sea in order to breed.
Aquaculture	The controlled cultivation and harvest of aquatic animals or plants, such as finfish (e.g., salmon), shellfish (e.g., clams, oysters), and edible seaweeds.

Ballast water	Water carried by a ship to improve its stability when it is lightly loaded. It is normally discharged into the ocean when the ship is loaded with cargo.
Baseline Thematic Mapping (BTM)	A digital integration of satellite imagery and land-use, land-cover, and topographic data to produce an “image map” with contour lines and vector planimetry information.
Bathymetry	The depth of water in the ocean as it relates to the topography or features of the ocean floor.
Benthic	Organisms that live on or in the sediment at the bottom of aquatic ecosystems such as lakes, rivers, and the ocean.
Bioaccumulation	An increase in the concentration of a chemical in a biological organism over time, compared to the chemical’s concentration in the environment. Compounds accumulate in living things if they are taken up and stored faster than they are broken down or excreted.
Biodiversity	The variety and abundance of life, including ecosystems, communities, and the genetic composition of species. Also called biological diversity.
Biogeoclimatic Ecosystem Classification (BEC)	A classification system in British Columbia that distinguishes terrestrial zones based on climate, soils, and dominant vegetation.
Biological controls	Using natural enemies of a particular species, usually predators and pathogens, to control population.
Biomagnification	the process that results in the accumulation of a chemical in an organism at higher levels than are found in its food. It occurs when a chemical becomes more and more concentrated as it moves up through a food chain
Blue listed species	A species classified by the BC Conservation Data Centre as not immediately threatened but of concern because of characteristics that make it particularly sensitive to human activities or natural events.
Biological oxygen demand (BOD)	A measure of the amount of oxygen required for bacteria to break down organic matter (e.g., sewage effluent) in water. If BOD is too high, fish and other aquatic organisms are deprived of the oxygen they need for survival.
By-catch (fishery)	Discarded catch plus incidental catch. Discarded catch is the portion of the fishery catch that is returned to the sea because of economic, legal, or personal considerations. Incidental catch is retained catch of non-targeted species.

Carcinogen	A substance that may cause cancer in animals or humans.
CCCMA	Canadian Centre for Climate Modelling and Analysis (located at the University of Victoria).
CDC (B.C. Conservation Data Centre)	The provincial government office that tracks species and ecosystems that are in some danger of disappearing from British Columbia. The CDC annually publishes the provincial red and blue lists.
Certification (of products for sustainability)	A process whereby an independent, third-party auditing body conducts an inspection and awards a certificate using independently developed standards and objectives.
Chart datum	The Canadian Hydrographic Chart Datum (CHCD) is the lowest tide that can be expected in a given locality considering gravitational effects alone. Even lower tides may occur rarely if strong or persistent winds and storm surges work to further lower the water. The chart datum is used as a reference point for measuring water level at tide gauge stations on the coast.
CO2 equivalent	The amount of CO2 that would cause the same effect as a given amount or mixture of other greenhouse gases.
Congener	A term in chemistry that refers to one of many variants or configurations of a common chemical structure. Although similar, congeners may have different toxicological properties and fates in the environment.
Conservation covenant	A legal agreement that specifies the ways in which a piece of land can be used. A conservation covenant is incorporated into the land deed and protects the land in perpetuity.
Conservation	The protection of wild species and their ecosystems.
Contamination	substances, including those found naturally, that are present at concentrations above natural background levels, or whose distribution in the environment has been altered by human activity.
Corridor	An area of intact habitat that allows wildlife to move in relative safety from one place to another.
COSEWIC (Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada)	A national committee of experts that assesses and designates which wild species are in some danger of disappearing from Canada.
Critically Endangered	IUCN classification for a species for which the best available evidence shows that it is facing an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild.

Dioxins and furans	Two families of chlorinated organic compounds that can be formed as by-products of activities such as pulp bleaching and waste incineration. Both can persist in the environment for many years and some forms are highly toxic.
Disturbed environment	Alteration of part or all of a living community from natural or human activity. Storms, landslides and El Ninos are examples of natural events; clearcutting, pollution, and harbour dredging are examples of human-caused disturbance.

Ecoregion Classification	A classification system in B.C. that describes areas of the province with similar climate, physical land and water features, vegetation, and wildlife potential. The classification has five levels from broadest to narrowest: ecodomain, ecodivision, ecoprovince, ecoregion, and ecosection. See Demarchi 1996 for more details. See also, Marine Ecosystem Classification.
Ecosection	The finest scale in the Ecoregion Classification system. Forty ecosections make up the coastal and marine region of B.C..
Ecosystem	Plants, animals, and the physical environment (water, air, soil, etc.) interacting in a given area.
Ecotourism	Nature-based tourism that is ecologically sustainable.
Ecotype	A subgroup within a species that has developed distinct physical or behavioural characteristics in response to its local environment that persist even if individuals are moved to a different environment.
Endangered	A species facing imminent extirpation or extinction very soon (COSEWIC).
Endemic	A species native to, and restricted to, a particular geographical region.
Endocrine	System of the body that releases hormones into the blood stream or lymph system. These hormones control growth, metabolism, mood, and reproduction and influence almost every cell and organ in the human body.
ENSO	El Niño Southern Oscillation, an interannual variation in climate related to large-scale shifts in tropical atmospheric pressure manifested by El Niño and La Niña events.
Escapement	The number of fish that escape commercial or recreational fishing and return to spawn; these make up the expected breeding population.
Estuary	The mouth of a river where fresh and salt water meet and mix. Estuaries tend to be highly productive environments.
Eutrophication	A process by which over-enrichment of a water body with nutrients results in excessive plant growth and oxygen depletion.
Exotic species	See Alien species
External threat (to protected areas)	Something occurring outside the protected area boundary that threatens ecosystems and biodiversity within the protected area. For example, roads, urban development, tourist infrastructure, forestry, mining, agriculture.
Extinct	A species that no longer exists.
Extirpated	A species no longer existing in the wild locally, but which occurs elsewhere.

Fecal coliform bacteria	Bacteria found in the intestinal tracts and feces of warm-blooded animals.
Fish population	A discrete group of fish that are of the same species, in the case of salmon, spawn in the same stream.
Fish stock	A species, subspecies, geographical grouping, or other grouping of fish that is managed as a unit.
Flux	The amount of a substance, such as mercury, flowing from or over a given area per unit time.
Food chain/food web	the feeding relationships between species in a biotic community, from the producers (plants) up through various levels of consumers (animals) . An example would be algae eaten by the water flea, which is eaten by a minnow, which is eaten by a trout, which is finally eaten by an eagle (or a person). Although often portrayed as a single chain of events, the reality is a web of interactions between species.
Fragmentation	Changing a continuous ecosystem, such as a forest, into smaller patches by disturbing the land. Fragmentation can be caused naturally, for example by fire, landslides, and trees falling in storms, and by humans during road building, forest harvesting, land clearing, and other activities.
Furans	See Dioxins and furans.

Greenhouse gases	A gas that absorbs and re-emits infrared radiation, warming the earth’s surface and contributing to climate change. Greenhouse gases are released into the atmosphere by many naturally occurring processes and by human activities such as fossil fuel combustion, deforestation, agriculture, and industrial activity.
Gross domestic product (GDP)	The total market value of all goods and services produced within a country during a specified period of time.
Groundfish	Fish that live on or near the bottom of the ocean.

Habitat	The place where a plant grows or an animal lives, and all the characteristics of that place, including climate, food, shelter, and others.
Halogenated compound	An organic compound that has one or more halogens, such as fluorine, chlorine, or bromine, substituted for hydrogen molecules. In a fully halogenated compound, all hydrogen has been replaced with chlorine or fluorine. The resulting compounds are generally less flammable but more toxic.

Impervious surface	A hard surface that prevents or slows the entry of rain and meltwater into the soil, causing water to run off the surface in greater quantities and at an increased rate of flow. Examples include roads, rooftops, and parking lots.
Internal threat (to protected areas)	Something occurring inside the protected area boundary that threatens ecosystems and biodiversity within the protected area. For example, roads, visitor facilities, recreational use, exotic species, and activities that consume or extract resources.
Intertidal	The portion of seashore between the highest and lowest tides.
Introduced species	See Alien species.
IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change)	An international group of experts responsible for scientific assessments of global change.
Isostatic rebound	A geological process in which the earth’s surface rises as stresses imposed by the weight of ice during the last glacial period are gradually released.
IUCN (World Conservation Union)	The world’s largest conservation network composed of 82 states, 111 government agencies, more than 800 nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), and some 10,000 scientists and experts from 181 countries in a unique worldwide partnership. The IUCN publishes the IUCN Red List of Threatened species, a global list of species at risk.
IUU catch	A fisheries catch that is illegal, unreported, and unregulated. It includes catches that are concealed or misreported as other species in violation of regulatory limits; unreported discards and recreational catches; and catches of species that authorities do not have a mandate to monitor.

Krummholz

Stunted, scrubby trees typical of windswept alpine regions close to treeline; from German for “crooked wood”.

Landsat

Land Remote-sensing Satellite. A series of satellites that produce images of the Earth from space.

Marine Ecosystem Classification	A part of the BC Ecoregion Classification system that further divides the benthic marine environment into ecounits based on seven physical parameters. There are 263 unique ecounit codes along the B.C. coast.
Marine protected area	A generic term used to describe an area of intertidal or subtidal terrain, together with its overlying or contiguous water and its associated flora and fauna, and historical and cultural features, which has been reserved by law to protect all or part of the habitats and/or species found within it. Note: The Canadian government also has specific, legislated designations called Marine Protected Areas. These provide a certain level of protection to an area.
MDF	Maximum Daily Flow, the highest recorded daily average discharge at a river gauging station (in cubic metres per second).
Mean trophic level	The average position in the food chain of species caught in a particular fishery. Mean trophic level of fisheries landings has been adopted internationally by the Convention on Biodiversity as an indicator of the integrity of marine ecosystems. See also Trophic level.

Nearshore

An indefinite zone extending seaward from the shoreline to well beyond the breaker zone.

Offshore	The zone beyond the nearshore zone where sediment motion induced by waves alone effectively ceases and where the influence of the sea bed on wave action is small in comparison with the effect of wind.
Orthophotograph	A photograph on which all distortions caused by tilt, relief, and perspective have been corrected.

PAHs	Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons are ubiquitous environmental contaminants that are formed by the incomplete combustion of organic materials, such as wood or fossil fuels.
Pathogen	A disease-causing agent, including bacteria, viruses and fungi, usually microscopic in size.
PBDEs	Polybrominated diphenyl ethers are a class of chemicals used extensively as flame retardants to decrease flammability of certain materials. They are added to plastics used in furniture upholstery, carpet backings, electrical insulation, computer and TV cases, and other consumer goods.
PCBs	Polychlorinated biphenyls are a class of stable, waxy to oily compounds that were used as heat-resistant coolants or insulators in electrical equipment.
PDO	Pacific Decadal Oscillation, a decadal-scale climate phenomenon related to changes in the geographic location of a persistent low-pressure centre over the Gulf of Alaska.
Pelagic	Organisms that live in open waters away from the bottom of aquatic ecosystems such as lakes, rivers, and the ocean.
Phylum	A major subdivision of classification in the animal kingdom.
Phytoplankton	Microscopic floating plants that live suspended in bodies of water and drift about because they cannot move by themselves or because they are too small or too weak to swim effectively against a current.
Pollutant	A contaminant whose concentration in the environment is high enough to result in deleterious effects.
Polygon	As used in computerized mapping (Geographical Information Systems), a stream of digitized points approximating the delineation (perimeter) of an area on a map. It is used to graphically represent the features of a defined area (e.g. an ecosystem or a type of land use) along with its associated attributes.
Protected area	A generic term used to describe areas of land and/or water that are protected in some way. The protected area may be called a park, an ecological reserve, or another name. The Canadian government also has specific, legislated designations called Protected Areas and Marine Protected Areas. These provide a certain level of protection to an area.
Protected unit	An area of protected land or protected ocean that is geographically continuous. For example, two protected areas that join one another make up one unit, and a protected area that occurs in four geographically distinct fragments makes up four units.

Receiving environment	The site or area where pollution or wastewater ends up after being discharged from a treatment facility or an outfall; usually a stream, river or ocean environment.
Recruitment	The number of individuals entering a population or a fishery each year.
Red listed species	A species that is legally designated as threatened or endangered under the provincial Wildlife Act, is extirpated, or is a candidate for such designation.
Regeneration	The replacement or renewal of a forest stand by natural or artificial means.
Riparian	Beside or along the bank of a stream or river.

SARA (Species At Risk Act)	A federal act, proclaimed in June 2003, that applies to all federal lands in Canada, all wildlife species listed as being at risk, and their critical habitat.
Sensitive ecosystems	Ecosystems that are particularly vulnerable to human or natural impacts.
Smart growth	Environmentally sensitive land development with the goals of minimizing dependence on auto transportation, reducing air pollution, and making infrastructure investments more efficient.
Special Concern	A species that may become a threatened or an endangered species because of a combination of biological characteristics and identified threats (COSEWIC).
Species at risk	A wild species that is at risk of extinction or extirpation. The level of risk is identified, from highest to lowest, as endangered, threatened, and special concern. Both federal and provincial agencies designate species at risk, but only federal listings have legal protection under the Species at Risk Act (SARA).
Species	The classification for a group of organisms that is distinct from other such groups. Breeding within the group will produce fertile offspring.
SPSS	Statistical Package for the Social Sciences, a set of software utilities available from SPSS Inc.
Stewardship	Looking after something important and valuable that you do not own.
Stock	See Fish stock.
Subspecies	A formally named subdivision of species composed of geographically discrete populations that differ in appearance, behaviour, and/or genetics from other members of the species. Subspecies are capable of interbreeding with other members of their species.
Subtidal	The area extending below the lowest tidemark.

Taxon (pl: taxa)	A group into which similar organisms are classified. For example, genus, species, or subspecies.
Taxonomy	Theory and practice of classifying living organisms.
TEQ	Toxicity equivalence, the international method of relating the toxicity of various dioxin/furan congeners to the toxicity of 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin.
Teratogen	An agent or substance that may cause physical defects in the developing embryo or fetus when a pregnant female is exposed to that substance.
Terrestrial protected area	A generic term used to describe areas of land (including freshwater) that are protected in some way. The protected area may be called a park, an ecological reserve, or another name. The Canadian government also has specific, legislated designations called Protected Areas. These provide a certain level of protection to an area.
Threatened	A species likely to become endangered if limiting factors are not reversed (COSEWIC).
Terrain Resource Information Management Program (TRIM)	A program to produce digital maps using the Universal Transverse Mercator coordinate system as the cartographic framework. TRIM mapping for B.C. consists of 7027 mapsheets covering the province at a scale of 1:20 000. Each mapsheet is precisely 12 minutes of longitude wide by 6 minutes of latitude high.
Total suspended solids (TSS)	A measurement of the amount of solid matter in wastewater or effluent, usually expressed in parts per million.
Trophic	Pertaining to food or nutrition.
Trophic level (TL)	The feeding position occupied by a certain organism in a food chain. Plants have a TL value of 1, herbivores (plant-eaters) have a TL of 2, and so on up the food chain. The value for top predators rarely exceeds 5.

Upland	Any land that occurs above the high tide mark at the seashore.
Urban sprawl	A pattern and pace of land development in which the rate of land consumed for urban or suburban purposes exceeds the rate of population growth using the developed land. Sprawl results in an inefficient and consumptive use of land and its associated resources.

Variety	Taxonomic classification, used primarily in plants, to indicate any kind of variation within a species.
Vulnerable	IUCN classification for species for which the best available evidence shows that it is facing a high risk of extinction in the wild.

Yellow List

Uncommon, common, declining, and increasing species—all species not included on the prvincial Red or Blue lists, but tracked by BC Conservation Data Centre.