GLOSSARY
Astronomical
Tides the periodic rise and fall in the surface water of the
oceans due to gravitational attraction of the sun and moon and the
rotation of the earth.
Benthic
or Infauna organisms that live on or burrow in the sediments at
the bottom of a body of water.
Biomass
weight of living material, usually expressed as dry weight per unit
area.
Detritus
fresh to partly decomposed plant or animal material.
Ecotone
transition zone between two structurally different communities.
Epibenthic
organisms living at the sediment-water interface.
Food
Chain movement of energy and nutrients from one feeding group of
organisms to another in a series that begins with plants and ends with
carnivores, detrital feeders and decomposers.
Foraging habitat locations where organisms obtain food.
Guild
a group of species that use the same resource in a similar way.
Hydrology the amount and timing of water flowing into a system.
Hypersaline
salinities in excess of that commonly found in oceanic sea water,
or greater than 35 ppt (parts per thousand)
Invertebrate
organisms that lack a bony skeleton.
Mangroves
the mangrove forest consists of a number of species of inshore, tropical
shrubs and trees that can grow in salt water.
The forest is commonly referred to as mangal.
Mosaic
patches of habitat within a larger landscape that are ecologically
linked with one another.
Photosynthesis
the process by which green plants use sunlight to convert carbon
dioxide and water into carbohydrates.
Primary
Consumers the first organism in a food chain that feeds on either
live plants or detritus.
Primary
production the amount of biomass produced by green plants through
photosynthesis.
Salt
Marsh emergent, estuarine,
vegetated wetland habitat characterized by smooth cordgrass (Spartina
alterniflora).
Trophic
level functional classification of organisms in an ecosystem
according to feeding relationships.
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