Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
Riprap A layer of stone or rubble designed to protect and stabilize stream
banks, shorelines, and other areas subject to erosion.
Salt panne An area that traps marine waters during the highest tides; evapo-
ration increases the salt concentration of the remaining water or leaves hyper-
saline soils and a crust of salt behind.
Shoals Sandbars and other linear forms of sediment build-up in a body of
water.
Smolt An anadromous fish physiologically ready to make the transition from
fresh water to salt water; age varies with environmental conditions.
Spawn To produce or deposit eggs, sperm, or young.
Trophic level The position an organism occupies in the food chain.
Turbidity The amount of solid particles suspended in water that cause light
rays shining through the water to scatter.
Upwelling A current of cold, nutrient-rich water rising to the surface; occurs
when strong seasonal winds push surface water away from a coast to be re-
placed by deeper waters.
Water column The water in a lake, estuary, or ocean that extends from the
bottom sediment to the water surface.
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