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Dictionary
A whole new language develops when 100's of organizations get involved. The IRL Dictionary contains terms, definitions, and abbreviations used in Indian River Lagoon terminology.
Glossary of Terms
The Indian River Lagoon Glossary of Terms and Definitions applies specifically to the Indian River Lagoon National Estuary and it's local demographic. The glossary contains IRL relevant terms and draws on local Florida East Coast examples to represent the terms. View the entire glossary and add new terms on the Glossary Page.
New Glossary Terms
Term | Definition | |
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Term | Definition | |
inland waters | Waters landward of the baseline from which the marginal seas are measured and over which complete sovereignty is exercised. | |
saltwater intrusion | the invasion of freshwater bodies by denser salt water. | |
riparian rights | The rights of an owner of land bordering a river or the sea and relates to the water (its use), ownership of the shore, right of ingress and egress, accretions, etc. | |
watershed | Topographic area that contributes or may contribute runoff to specific surface waters or an area of recharge. | |
mean low tide | The mean average of all the low tides (high low tides and low low tides) occurring over a certain period of time, usually 18.6 years (one lunar epoch). | |
productive ecosystem | a biological system that efficiently converts energy into growth and production. | |
monitoring station | an instrument that makes in situ measurements in the environment. | |
mobile epibenthos | bottom-dwelling animals that move on top of sediments: crabs, shrimp, snails, amphipods, isopods. | |
drain field | Shallow, covered, excavation made in unsaturated soil into which pretreated wastewater is discharged through distribution piping for application onto soil infiltration surfaces through porous media or manufactured (gravelless) components placed in the excavations. The soil accepts, treats, and disperses wastewater as it percolates through the soil, ultimately discharging to groundwater. | |
panne | small pond or pool in the salt marsh. | |
sea surface temperature | the average temperatures at the uppermost layer of the ocean –only a few millimeters deep. Sea Surface Temperature, often referred to as SST, can be globally monitored through satellite remote sensing. | |
xeric | Very dry environmental conditions. | |
tidal inlet | Any inlet through which water alternately floods landward with the rising tide and ebbs seaward with the falling tide. | |
petroleum derivatives | toxic pollutants from crude oil products; mixture of hydrocarbons, which are organic solvents. | |
no-take zones | aquatic or coastal areas in which all extractive activities (such as fishing) are prohibited. | |
septic tank | A buried, watertight tank designed and constructed to receive and partially treat raw wastewater. The tank separates and retains settleable and floatable solids suspended in the wastewater and discharges the settled wastewater for further treatment and dispersal to the environment. | |
storm surge | a rise in the height of ocean water associated with high storm winds pushing against the ocean water; flooding caused by high ocean waters in coastal areas. | |
supratidal | occasionally flooded by very high or storm tides. | |
retention pond | A stormwater management structure whose primary purpose is to permanently store a given volume of stormwater runoff, releasing it by infiltration and /or evaporation. | |
external loading | Pollutants originating from outside a waterbody that contribute to the pollutant load of the waterbody. | |
tidal marsh | An extensive, nearly level marsh bordering a coast (as in a shallow lagoon, sheltered bay, or estuary) and regularly inundated by high tides; formed mostly of unconsolidated sediments (e.g. clays, silts, and/or sands and organic materials), and the resistant root mat of salt tolerant plants, a marshy tidal flat. | |
vertical stratification | laying of fresh water on top of salt water, also known as “salt wedge” effect; occurs when the fresh and salt water is not vigorously mixed together by turbulence. | |
organic matter | materials and debris that originated as living plants or animals. | |
species | a classification of related organisms that can freely interbreed. | |
personal watercraft | Personal watercraft (PWC) are small vessels or conveyances that float on the water and are powered by engines, commonly propelled by jet drives to achieve fairly high speeds, usually in excess of 20 knots. PWC have no interior and are ridden by sitting on top of and astride them as one rides a motorcycle.
Personal water craft (PWC) are generally not considered boats. PWC are usually under 15 feet (4.6 meters) LOA. Though personal watercraft are not considered boats, they must obey the same rules of the road as any boat of the same size, according to applicable Federal and local law. | |
centralized wastewater treatment system | A managed system consisting of collection sewers and a single treatment plant used to collect and treat wastewater from an entire service area. Traditionally, such a system has been called a publicly owned treatment works | |
sea level rise | long-term increases in mean sea level. The expression is popularly applied to anticipated sea level changes due to the greenhouse effect and associated global warming. | |
water column | the area of water from the seafloor up to the water surface. The water column contains free swimming, or pelagic, organisms and plankton (tiny drifting and floating organisms). The water column is a part of all bays, sloughs, lagoons and coastal areas; and is therefore part of an estuary. | |
water quality criteria | A set of enforceable requirements under the Clean Water Act that establish measurable limits for specific pollutants based on the designated use(s) of the receiving water body. Water quality criteria can be expressed as numeric limits (e.g., pollutant concentrations or mass loads) or narrative descriptions of desired conditions (e.g., no visible scum, sludge, sheens, or odors). | |
onsite wastewater treatment system | A system relying on natural processes and/or mechanical components to collect, treat, and disperse or reclaim wastewater from a single dwelling or building. | |
stenohaline | unable to tolerate a range of salinities. | |
tide mark | High-water mark left by tidal water; the highest point reached by high tide; a mark placed to indicate the highest point reached by a high tide, or occasionally, any specified stage of tide | |
monitoring | sampling of environment (air, water, soil, vegetation, animals) that is compared with baseline samples to see if any changes have occurred. | |
invasive species | non-native species of plants or animals that out-compete native species in a specific habitat. | |
succession | progressive replacement of populations in a habitat. | |
estuarine habitat | habitats associated with estuaries. | |
biofilter | living material or an organism that captures and biologically degrades pollutants. | |
harmful algae bloom | Harmful algal blooms (HABs) are the rapid growth of algae that can cause harm to animals, people, or the local ecology. A HAB can look like foam, scum, or mats on the surface of water and can be different colors. HABs can produce toxins that have caused a variety of illnesses in people and animals. HABs can occur in warm fresh, marine, or brackish waters with abundant nutrients and are becoming more frequent with climate change. | |
high marsh | the area of the marsh flooded infrequently by the high tides associated with new and full moon. | |
washover fan | A fan-like landform of sand washed over a barrier island or spit during a storm and deposited on the inland-side. | |
yacht | A yacht is any moderately large vessel or conveyance that floats on the water which is used for pleasure, not for commercial purposes. | |
tidal height | difference between water level at high tide and mean sea level, the average height of the ocean. | |
polyhaline | high salinity about 30-335 ppt. | |
tidal range | difference between high and low tide. | |
maritime forest | forest dominated by pitch pine and located on the mainland side of a barrier beach or island. | |
commercial fishing | fishing for a commercial purpose, i.e. to sell the catch | |
recreational fishing | any fishing for which the primary motive is leisure rather than profit; fishing for pleasure. | |
food chain | a representation of the flow of energy between producers, consumers, and decomposers. | |
sandflat | area of bottom of aquatic system that is exposed by low tides and composed of sand - particles of sediment larger than those of mud. | |
neap tide | Tides of decreased range or tidal currents of decreased speed occurring semimonthly as the result of the Moon being in quadrature. The neap range (Np) of the tide is the average range occurring at the time of neap tides and is most conveniently computed from the harmonic constants. It is smaller than the mean range where the type of tide is either semi diurnal or mixed and is of no practical significance where the type of tide is predominantly diurnal. The average height of the high waters of the neap tide is called neap high water or high water neaps (MHWN) and the average height of the corresponding low waters is called neap low water or low water neaps (MLWN). | |
treatment system | Any technology or combination of technologies (treatment trains or unit processes) that discharges treated wastewater to surface waters, ground water, or the atmosphere. | |
surface water | precipitation that runs off the land surface and is collected in ponds, lakes, streams, rivers, and wetlands. | |
dredged channel | A roughly linear, deep water area formed by a dredging operation for navigation purposes | |
point source | An identifiable and confined discharge point for one or more water pollutants, such as a pipe, canal, channel, vessel, or ditch. | |
human impact | impacts arising from human activity; often referring to negative impacts on the environment. | |
scientific method | the steps necessary for scientific investigation including 1) identify a problem you would like to solve, 2) formulate a hypothesis, 3) test the hypothesis, 4) collect and analyze the data, 5) make conclusions. | |
non-point source | Diffuse runoff without a single point of origin that flows over the surface of the ground by stormwater and is then introduced to surface or ground water. | |
territorial sea | The offshore belt in which a coastal state has exclusive jurisdiction. The territorial sea may not extend more than 12 nautical miles from the coast line. | |
macroalgae | large multicellular algae (green red and brown varieties). | |
watershed management approach | The process of addressing water quality concerns within their natural boundaries, rather than political or regulatory boundaries. The process draws together all the participants and stakeholders in each basin to decide what problems affect the water quality in the basin, which are most important, and how they will be addressed. | |
coliform bacteria | A group of bacteria predominantly inhabiting the intestines of humans or other warm-blooded animals, but also occasionally found elsewhere. Used as an indicator of human fecal contamination. | |
abiotic factors | non-living characteristics of a habitat or ecosystem that affect organisms' life processes. | |
high water mark | A line or mark left upon tide flats, beach, or along shore objects indicating the elevation of the intrusion of high water. The mark may be a line of oil or scum on along shore objects, or a more or less continuous deposit of fine shell or debris on the fore shore or berm. This mark is physical evidence of the general height reached by wave run up at recent high waters. It should not be confused with the mean high water line or mean higher high water line. | |
water cycle | the recycling of water between the earth and the atmosphere. | |
wastewater treatment facility | a place that treats waste water from homes and businesses, such as toilet or sewage water. | |
spawn | to deposit sperm or eggs into the water (fish reproduction). | |
respiration | process that, using oxygen, releases stored chemical energy to power an organism’s life processes; opposite reaction of photosynthesis. | |
oligohaline | low salinity areas | |
beach berm | Nearly horizontal portion of the beach or backshore formed by the deposit of materials by wave action. Some beaches have no berms, others have one or several. | |
frontal dune | the dune closest to the water's edge. | |
slack water | The state of a tidal current when its speed is near zero, especially the moment when a reversing current changes direction and its speed is zero. The term also is applied to the entire period of low speed near the time of turning of the current when it is too weak to be of any practical importance in navigation. The relation of the time of slack water to the tidal phases varies in different localities. For a perfect standing tidal wave, slack water occurs at the time of high and of low water, while for a perfect progressive tidal wave, slack water occurs midway between high and low water. See slack; ebb begins and slack; flood begins. | |
small craft | Small craft, in a marine context, is any vessel or conveyance that floats on or operates on the water and is under 197 feet (60 meters) length overall (LOA). A small craft may be used for pleasure, commercial, or residential purposes. Small craft is synonymous with boat in marine use. Though the term craft applies to all vessels operating in a fluid medium, the term small craft is only used when applied to boats. | |
navigable waters | Waters that are either tidally influenced or navigable in fact. | |
spoil island | Spoil islands are manmade islands composed of rock, soil, and/or shell spoil material extracted and deposited while dredging and dumping navigation channels. | |
tidal flat | An extensive, nearly horizontal, barren or sparsely vegetated tract of land that is alternately covered and uncovered by the tide, and consists of unconsolidated sediment (mostly clays, silts and/or sand, and organic materials).
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coastal zone | coastal waters and adjacent shorelands including islands, inter-tidal areas, salt marshes, wetlands, and beaches. | |
subtidal | area usually flooded near edge of tidal waters. | |
mesohaline | intermediate levels of salinity, about 15ppt.
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graywater | Wastewater drained from sinks, tubs, showers, dishwashers, clothes washers, and other non-toilet sources. | |
oxygen content | often referring to the oxygen content of water. The amount of oxygen dissolved in a given volume of water at a particular temperature and pressure. | |
wrack line | a string of debris stranded by last high tide; cast ashore seaweeds, isolated sources of food and shade support an important community of isopods and amphipods as well as providing food for birds. | |
lagoonal deposit | Sand, silt or clay-sized sediments transported and deposited by wind, currents, and storm runoff in the relatively low-energy, brackish to saline, shallow waters of a lagoon. | |
trophic level | level in a food chain, e.g., producer, primary consumer, secondary consumer, tertiary consumer. | |
spring tide | Tides of increased range or tidal currents of increased speed occurring semimonthly as the result of the Moon being new or full. The spring range (Sg) of tide is the average range occurring at the time of spring tides and is most conveniently computed from the harmonic constants. It is larger than the mean range where the type of tide is either semi diurnal or mixed, and is of no practical significance where the type of tide is predominantly diurnal. The average height of the high waters of the spring tides is called spring high water or mean high water springs (MHWS) and the average height of the corresponding low waters is called spring low water or mean low water springs (MLWS). | |
living shorelines | A shoreline management practice that provides erosion control benefits; protects, restores, or enhances natural shoreline habitat; and maintains coastal processes through the strategic placement of plants, stone, sand fill, and other structural organic materials. | |
United States Fish and Wildlife Service | A bureau within the United States Department of the Interior (DOI), the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is a federal conservation agency whose primary responsibility is the management of fish and wildlife for the American public. | |
Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan | The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan (CCMP) identifies a region's priority environmental issues and the actions needed to solve them. | |
total maximum daily load | A Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) describes a plan for restoring impaired waters that identifies the maximum amount of a pollutant that a body of water can receive while still meeting water quality standards. | |
Citizen Oversight Committee | The Citizen Oversight Committee (COC) oversees the Save Our Indian River Lagoon (SOIRL) program in Brevard County. | |
Department of Interior | The U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) conserves and manages the Nation’s natural resources and cultural heritage for the benefit and enjoyment of the American people. | |
Save Our Indian River Lagoon | A Brevard County IRL restoration program funded by a half cent sales tax voted in by the citizens. | |
National Estuary Program | An national EPA program to preserve 28 significant United States estuaries. | |
National Aeronautics and Space Administration | The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is an independent agency of the United States Federal Government responsible for the civilian space program, as well as aeronautics and aerospace research. | |
Kennedy Space Center | Kennedy Space Center (KSC) is home to NASA's Launch Services Program. | |
Florida Institute of Technology | Florida Institute of Technology (FIT) in Melbourne, Florida is home of the Indian River Lagoon Reseach Institute (IRLRI) who researches and monitors the central Indian River Lagoon. | |
National Wildlife Refuge | The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) System administers a network of United States lands and waters for the conservation, management and restoration of the fish, wildlife and plant resources and their habitats. | |
Saint Johns River Water Management District | The St. Johns River Water Management District is an environmental regulatory agency of the state of Florida whose work is focused on ensuring a long-term supply of drinking water, and to protect and restore the health of water bodies in the district’s 18 counties in northeast and east-central Florida. | |
Land-Ocean Biogeochemical Observatory | An estuarine observation network of land/ocean biogeochemical observatory (LOBO) units that provide real-time, high-accuracy and high-resolution water quality/weather data. | |
Basin Management Action Plan | A Basin Management Action Plan, or BMAP, is a comprehensive set of site-specific strategies to reduce or eliminate pollutant loadings and restore particular waterbodies to health. | |
Indian River Lagoon Research Institute | Indian River Lagoon Research Institute (IRLRI) is a part of the Florida Institute of Technology (FIT) Oceanographic Institute in Melbourne, Florida | |
Marine Resources Council | The Marine Resources Council's mission is "To improve water quality and to protect and restore the fish and wildlife resources of the Indian River Lagoon, coastal waters, inshore reefs, and the watershed by advocating and using sound science, education and the involvement of the public at large." | |
Environmental Protection Agency | An agency of the United States federal government whose mission is to protect human and environmental health. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the EPA is responsible for creating standards and laws promoting the health of individuals and the environment. | |
Mosquito Lagoon Aquatic Preserve | A 4,700 acre State of Florida aquatic preserve located between Edgewater and New Smyrna Beach in the northernmost portion of Mosquito Lagoon, an "Outstanding Florida Water". | |
National Estuarine Research Reserve System | network of 28 protected areas established for long-term research, education and coastal stewardship authorized as part of the Coastal Zone Management (CZM) Act of 1972, which called for the establishment of a network of estuaries that represent different biogeographical regions of the United States. | |
National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System | A national program under Section 402 of the Clean Water Act for regulation of discharges of pollutants from point sources to waters of the United States. Discharges are illegal unless authorized by an NPDES permit. | |
Surface Water Improvement and Management Act | In 1987 the Florida Legislature created the Surface Water Improvement and Management (SWIM) Act to protect, restore and maintain Florida's highly threatened surface water bodies. Under this act, the state's five water management districts identify a list of priority water bodies within their authority and implement plans to improve them. | |
System Wide Monitoring Program | The monitoring program of the National Estuarine Research Reserve System which tracks short-term variability and long-term changes in estuarine waters to understand how human activities and natural events can change ecosystems. This program measures physical and chemical water quality indicators, nutrients and the impacts of weather on estuaries. As the program expands, plans include adding a biological monitoring component and tracking changes in land use through remote sensing. | |
National Water Level Observation Network | The network of tide and water level stations operated by the National Ocean Service along the marine and Great Lakes coasts and islands of the United States. The NWLON is composed of the primary and secondary control tide stations of the National Ocean Service. | |
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission | The Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission (FWC) and its partners are working to increase and diversify participation in hunting and fishing throughout Florida in an effort known as R3 or recruitment, retention, and reactivation. | |
baffle box | An underground stormwater management device that uses barriers (or baffles) to slow the flow of untreated stormwater, allowing particulates to settle in the box before the stormwater is released into the environment. | |
bar-built estuary | areas where sandbars form parallel to the shore, partly enclosing the water behind them as the sandbars become islands. | |
Association of National Estuary Programs | Association of National Estuary Programs (ANEP) works with the EPA's National Estuary Program (NEP) to restore and protect estuaries of significant importance. | |
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration | NOAA is an agency that enriches life through science. Our reach goes from the surface of the sun to the depths of the ocean floor as we work to keep the public informed of the changing environment around them. | |
Indian River Lagoon National Estuary Program | The Indian River Lagoon National Estuary Program (IRLNEP) is an estuary of national significance under the EPA's National Estuary Program (NEP). | |
Florida Atlantic University | Florida Atlantic University (FAU) in Fort Pierce, Florida is home to the Harbor Branch (HB) Oceanographic Institute whose Indian River Lagoon Observatory (IRLO) is monitoring the southern IRL water quality in real-time. | |
Florida Department of Environmental Protection | The Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) is the state’s lead agency for environmental management and stewardship, protecting our air, water and land. | |
Indian River Lagoon Observatory | The Indian River Lagoon Observatory (IRLO), based at FAU Harbor Branch in Fort Pierce, Florida, is investigating the IRL’s plants, animals, and environment, and how natural and human-induced stressors impact them. | |
Indian River Lagoon Observatory Network | IRLO research and education activities are enhanced by the deployment of an estuarine observation network of land/ocean biogeochemical observatory (LOBO) units and weather sensors to provide real-time, high-accuracy and high-resolution water quality/weather data through a dedicated interactive website. | |
Clean Water Act | The Clean Water Act is a 1977 amendment to the Federal Water Pollution Control Act of 1972, which set the basic structure for regulating discharges of pollutants to waters of the United States. | |
backshore | That part of the beach that is usually dry, being reached only by the highest tides, and by extension, a narrow strip of relatively flat coast bordering the sea.
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adaptation | a behavior or physical trait that evolved by natural selection and increases an organism’s ability to survive and reproduce in a specific environment. | |
aeration | The process of exposing water to air, allowing air and water to mix and water to absorb the gasses in air. | |
aerobic | with air, oxygen. | |
algae | a simple, nonflowering, and typically aquatic plant of a large group that includes the seaweeds and many single-celled forms. | |
anadromous | fish that live their adult lives in the ocean but move into freshwater streams to reproduce or spawn. | |
anerobic | without air, no oxygen. | |
anthropogenic | arising from human activity. | |
bank | Edge of a cut or fill; the margin of the watercourse; an elevation of the seafloor located on a continental shelf or an island shelf and over which the depth of water is relatively shallow but sufficient for safe surface navigation (reefs or shoals, dangerous to surface navigation may arise above the general depths of a bank). | |
bathymetry | Science of measuring water depths (usually in the ocean) in order to determine bottom topography.
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beach | Zone of unconsolidated material that extends landward from the low water line to the place where there is marked changes in material or physiographic form, or to the line of permanent vegetation (usually the effective limit of storm waves). A beach includes foreshore and backshore. | |
benthos | bottom-dwelling flora and fauna; from tiniest microbenthos (bacteria) to medium-sized meiobenthos (nematode worms) to the highly visible macrobenthos (clams, polychaete worms). | |
berm | Nearly horizontal portion of a beach or backshore having an abrupt fall and formed by wave deposition of material and marking the limit of ordinary high tides. | |
biodiversity | the number and variety of living things in an environment. | |
biogeochemical | relating to or denoting the cycle in which chemical elements and simple substances are transferred between living systems and the environment. | |
biosphere | the part of the world in which life can exist; living organisms and their environment. | |
biota | the animal and plant life of a particular region, habitat, or geological period. | |
biotic | of or having to do with life or living organisms; organic. | |
boat | A boat is any vessel or conveyance that floats on or operates on the water and is under 197 feet (60 meters) length overall (LOA). A boat may be used for pleasure, commercial, or residential purposes. Boat is synonymous with small craft in marine use. | |
brackish | brackish water occurs in areas, usually estuaries and lagoons, where salt water oceans and fresh water rivers mix together. | |
causeway | a raised road or track across low or wet ground. | |
channel | a dredged passageway within a coastal bay that allows maritime navigation. | |
chlorophyll | a green pigment found in algae, plants and other organisms that carry on photosynthesis; enables plants to absorb energy from light. | |
coast | General region of indefinite width that extends from the sea inland to the first major change in terrain features | |
condensation | the process in which water vapor changes into liquid water (such as dew, fog, or cloud droplets). | |
conservation | careful preservation and protection of ecological processes and biodiversity of the environment. | |
contamination | an undesirable element, impure or unclean, something that is not supposed to be there (such as oil or insecticides in water). | |
cove | A small, narrow sheltered bay or recess in an estuary, often inside a larger embayment | |
craft | Craft are any vessel or conveyance that operate in a fluid medium or a vacuum. Thus, boats are craft; aircraft are craft; and spaceships, spacecraft, and space capsules are craft. When applied to vessels or conveyances that float on the water, a craft is any boat or ship of any size or type and of any use. | |
crustacean | anthropods having hard-shelled bodies and jointed ligaments such as crabs, shrimp and lobsters. | |
current | large-scale circulation of water caused by thermodynamics and winds. | |
dam | a barrier constructed to hold back water and raise its level, forming a reservoir used to generate electricity or as a water supply. | |
decompose | to decay or rot; to break down or separate into smaller or simpler components. | |
decomposer | an organism that feeds on and breaks down dead plant or animal matter, thus making organic nutrients available to the ecosystem. | |
delta | a low-lying sediment deposit found at the mouth of a river. | |
desiccation | loss of water. | |
detritus | newly dead or decaying organic matter coated with bacteria. | |
diatom | one of most common groups of phytoplankton; single-celled organism that reproduces asexually. | |
dike | an embankment for controlling or holding back the waters of the sea or a river:
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dinoflagellates | common type of phytoplankton, most abundant in fall; responsible for “red tides” as well as bioluminescence. | |
diverse | of different kinds, types, or species. | |
drawbridge | a bridge withspans that can be raised up, let down, or drawn aside so as to permit tall watercraft to pass | |
dredge | an excavation or digging activity carried out at least partly underwater in shallow water areas to move bottom materials from one place to another; often used to keep waterways deep enough for boat passage. | |
ebb | the falling tide when the water moves out to the sea and the water level lowers. | |
echolocation | biological sonar used by several kinds of animals where the animal makes sounds and listens to the echoes of those sounds that return from bouncing off objects near them. These echoes can be used to locate and identify prey and objects, and be used in navigating through their environment. | |
ecosystem | the biotic community and its abiotic environment. | |
ecotourism | travel undertaken to witness sites or regions of unique natural or ecologic quality. Often it is environmentally responsible travel that benefits nature and local communities. | |
effluent | Sewage, water, or other liquid, partially or completely treated or in its natural state, flowing out of a septic tank, subsurface wastewater infiltration system, aerobic treatment unit, or other treatment system or system component. | |
elasmobranch | approximately 400 species of fish, including sharks and rays that have skeletons made of cartilage. | |
epibenthos | organisms that live on the bottom, rather than burrowed into, of an aquatic system. | |
erode | the wearing away of the land by the action of water, ice or wind. | |
erosion | Transportation of weathered (decomposed) rock material or soil by natural forces. | |
estuarine | of, relating to, or formed in an estuary | |
estuary | Estuaries and their surrounding wetlands are bodies of water usually found where rivers meet the sea. Estuaries are home to unique plant and animal communities that have adapted to brackish water—a mixture of fresh water draining from the land and salty seawater. | |
euryhaline | able to live at a variety of salinities. | |
exoskeleton | a hard outer covering. | |
foreshore | the area between mean low water and mean high water. | |
fry | newly hatched fish. | |
gastropod | one of a class of mollusks that includes the snails and nudibranchs. | |
gill | the paired respiratory organ of fishes and some amphibians, by which oxygen is extracted from water flowing over surfaces within or attached to the walls of the pharynx. | |
groundwater | water contained below ground in soil and rock. | |
habitat | the natural environment in which an organism normally lives, including the surroundings and other physical conditions needed to sustain it. | |
halophyte | a plant that grows in waters of high salinity. | |
herbivore | an animal that eats plants. | |
hypoxic | very low oxygen levels. | |
infauna | organisms living between the grains of sand or mud. | |
inlet | 1. A recess, such as a bay or cove, along a coast.
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inshore | In beach terminology, the zone of variable width between the shoreface and the seaward limit of the breaker zone. | |
intertidal zone | The coastal environment between mean low tide and mean high tide that alternates between subaerial and subaqueous depending on the tidal cycle.
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invertebrate | an animal that does not have a backbone; such as snails, worms, and insects. | |
island | An area of land completely surrounded by water. | |
isopods | aquatic crustaceans with flat, oval body and seven pairs of legs. | |
lagoon | Lagoons are separated from larger bodies of water by sandbars, barrier reefs, coral reefs, or other natural barriers. The word "lagoon" derives from the Italian word laguna, which means "pond" or "lake."
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latitude | The angular distance between a terrestrial position and the equator measured northward or southward from the equator along a meridian of longitude. | |
levee | Artificial bank confining a stream channel or limiting adjacent areas subject to flooding; an embankment bordering a submarine canyon or channel, usually occurring along the outer edge of a curve. | |
loading | The total quantity of pollutants in stormwater runoff that contributes to the water quality impairment. | |
longitude | Longitude is a measurement of distance on the earth’s surface, east or west of the Greenwich, England (0° Longitude) meridian, expressed in angular measurements of degrees or hours from 180° West (or -180°) to 180° East. Degrees of longitude are imaginary lines drawn 60 minutes apart from North Pole to South Pole around the Earth. Each minute of longitude can be further divided into 60 seconds. | |
mangrove | tree species that grow in non-freezing estuaries. There are about 12 species though the black, red, and white are most common.
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marsh | soft wet land usually characterized by grasses.
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migration | the movement of living organisms from one biome to another, commonly with changing seasons. | |
mollusks | soft bodied, shelled animals such as clams, oysters, nudibraches and octopi (the latter two have either small remnant shell within their bodies or an embryonic shell). |
Abbreviations
View the full list, and add new abbreviations on the Abbreviations Page.
New Abbreviations
Abb | Term | |
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Abb | Term | |
EPA | Environmental Protection Agency | |
NEPA | National Environmental Policy Act | |
RAP | reasonable assurance plan | |
OSTDS | onsite sewage treatment and disposal system | |
CWA | Clean Water Act | |
IRLON | Indian River Lagoon Observatory Network | |
IRLO | Indian River Lagoon Observatory | |
DEP | Florida Department of Environmental Protection | |
FAU | Florida Atlantic University | |
IRLNEP | Indian River Lagoon National Estuary Program | |
NOAA | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration | |
ANEP | Association of National Estuary Programs | |
FWC | Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission | |
NWLON | National Water Level Observation Network | |
SWMP | System Wide Monitoring Program | |
SWIM | Surface Water Improvement and Management Act | |
NPDES | National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System | |
NERR | National Estuarine Research Reserve System | |
MLAP | Mosquito Lagoon Aquatic Preserve | |
EPA | Environmental Protection Agency | |
MRC | Marine Resources Council | |
IRLRI | Indian River Lagoon Research Institute | |
BMAP | Basin Management Action Plan | |
LOBO | Land-Ocean Biogeochemical Observatory | |
SJRWMD | Saint Johns River Water Management District | |
NWR | National Wildlife Refuge | |
FIT | Florida Institute of Technology | |
KSC | Kennedy Space Center | |
NASA | National Aeronautics and Space Administration | |
NEP | National Estuary Program | |
SOIRL | Save Our Indian River Lagoon | |
DOI | Department of Interior | |
COC | Citizen Oversight Committee | |
TMDL | total maximum daily load | |
CCMP | Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan | |
FWS | United States Fish and Wildlife Service | |
HAB | harmful algae bloom |
Document Table
Repository Table displays the IRL documents currently available from the file server. Repository displays a simple view for mobile devices.
Reference Link Directory
An archive of source materials cited in the Indian River Lagoon Project, including databases, documents, images, maps, videos and website links from the conservation, ecology, education, government, research, and science institutions that study the Indian River Lagoon.
View the Reference Link Directory
Digital Media Center
Web Site links to rich media archives, image galleries, interactive tools, maps, news feeds, podcasts and videos used in the Indian River Lagoon Project.
View the Digital Media Center
Web Link Directory
Informative website links that connect you with Indian River Lagoon Estuary activities, locations, volunteer opportunities and social media groups. View all, and add new web links in the Web Link Directory.
Subcategories
This category has the following 4 subcategories, out of 4 total.
Pages in category "Library"
The following 3 pages are in this category, out of 3 total.