Saline Lake Ecosystems Project Glossary
Increased water use, coupled with long-term drought conditions and a warming climate, have resulted in historic low water levels in saline lake ecosystems across the Great Basin in California, Nevada, Oregon, and Utah. The Saline Lake Ecosystems IWAA is using an integrated scientific approach to monitor and assess water availability, migratory birds, and other wildlife dependent on saline lakes.
A
Alluvial
Alluvial
related to alluvium: A loose clay, silt, sand, or gravel that has been deposited by running water in a stream bed or floodplain.
B
Benthic
Benthic
Relating to the organisms at the bottom of a body of water.
C
Carrying Capacity
Carrying Capacity
The maximum number of individuals a place has the ability to support.
Continuous
Continuous
Collecting many data points over time from one location.
D
Dabbling duck
Dabbling duck
Duck species that forage in shallow waters by feeling along the water surface or by tipping upside down.
Discrete
Discrete
Duck species that forage in shallow waters by feeling along the water surface or by tipping upside down.
G
Guilds
Guilds
Groups of birds in a community that use the same resources in a similar way but are not necessarily the same species.
H
Hypersaline
Hypersaline
Water that is saltier than seawater.
M
Migratory
Migratory
Relating to animals that regularly move from one area to another, often seasonally. This can be done for food, breeding grounds, or environmental factors.
Molting
Molting
Process of shedding and regrowing feathers.
Motus
Motus
An international collaborative research network that uses cooperative automated radio telemetry and presence data to track small flying organisms like birds, bats, and insects.
P
Pacific Flyway
Pacific Flyway
Major flyway for migratory birds that goes from north to south, primarily on the Pacific cost of the U.S.
Platform Transfer Terminal
Platform Transfer Terminal
Animal tracking devices that estimate location via change in frequency waves rather than using the GPS satellites.
Proxies
Proxies
Something that is an adequate representation of something else
S
Salt Load
Salt Load
The amount of salt that enters a lake over time.
Spatial
Spatial
Changes or differences across different locations.
Stopover Site
Stopover Site
Popular places for migratory birds to stop, rest, refuel, and seek shelter, synonymous with staging area.
Synoptic
Synoptic
Related to summarizing or overview.
T
Temporal
Temporal
Related to time
Terminal Lake
Terminal Lake
A lake without a natural outlet.
W
Wetland Succession
Wetland Succession
The change in vegetation over time driven by disturbances and the maturation of plant species.