Sec 2-4 glossary ecological planning terms Flashcards
Abiotic
those aspects dealing with nonliving matter.
Adaptation
A genetically determined characteristic that enhances the ability of an organism to better adjust to its surroundings.
Adiabatic lapse rate
A variation in temperature of a parcel of air up or down a change in elevation. This does not take into account exchanges of heat between the air parcel and the environment.
Administration
Execution of an organizational policy to reach predetermined objectives.
Advection
The transfer of an atmospheric property due to mass air motion along a gradient of the property in question; the horizontal spreading of local effects by wind.
Agricultural lands
Places used for crop or animal production or for silviculture.
Air mass
A widespread body of air that gains certain characteristics while set in one location. The characteristics change as it moves away.
Air parcel
A space of air over a certain area of land.
Air pollution areas
Places that require restraints on air pollution emissions due to periods of poor vertical air mixing and the subsequent entrapment of polluting substances.
Albedo
Reflected solar radiation factor.
Alluvium
the soil material deposited by running water.
Analysis
The examination of individual parts to find out their nature, function, and interrelationship with other parts.
Annexation
The addition of new territory to the jurisdiction of a municipality.
Aquifer
A water-bearing layer of permeable rock, sand, or gravel.
Aspect
Orientation toward some direction.
Basalt
A hard, fine-grained igneous rock caused by volcanism.
Base map
A reproducible map used to display various types of information.
Biogeochemical cycles
Mineral and nutrient cycles that are important to the biological community.
Biological
Those aspects dealing with living matter.
Biomass
The amount of living matter in a given unit of the environment.
Biophysical
Biological and physical factors.
Biosphere
The portion of earth and its atmosphere that can support life.
Biota
All living organisms that exist in an area.
Biotic Community
An assemblage of plants and animals living in the same community, forming a system that is mutually sustaining and interdependent and influenced by the abiotic factors of the ecosystem. A biotic community is generally characterized by the dominant vegetation.
Board of Adjustment
An independent board created to handle conditional uses, variances, and special applications of regulations established by a zoning ordinance and to hear and act on appeals.
Building Code
The legal requirements pertaining to the building of structures.
Canopy Layer
The uppermost layer of forest vegetation.
Capability
An evaluation based on a resource’s inherent, natural, or intrinsic ability to provide for use and includes that existing ability which is the result of past alterations or current management practices. Often capability is used interchangeably with suitability.
Capability Class
An evaluation made by the U.S. Soil Conservation Service concerning the agricultural management of a soil type.
Capital improvement programming (CIP)
The multi year scheduling of public physical improvements. The scheduling is based on studies of fiscal resources available and the choice of specific improvements to be constructed for a period of 5 or 6 years in the future.
Carnivores
Animals that feed on other animals.
Carrying capacity
1) In ecology, the number of individuals that the resources of a habitat can support. (2) In wildlife, the maximum number of animals an area can support during a given period of the year. (3) In recreation, the amount of use a recreation area can sustain without deterioration of its quality.
Citizen participation
The involvement of the public in the planning process.
Citizens advisory committee (CAC)
A group of citizens called together by an agency to represent the ideas and attitudes of their community in advising and giving consultation to the agency.
Clay
Soil particles smaller than 0.002 millimeters in diameter.
Climate
The set of meteorological conditions characteristic of an area over a given length of time.
Cognitive mapping
A process by which people acquire, code, store, recall, and decode information about the relative locations and attributes of phenomena in the everyday spatial environment.
Cohort-survival method
Popular method for making population projections based on fertility, mortality, and net migration.
Community
(1) In sociology, a variety of physical and social areas and institutions within which and with which people live. (2) In ecology, an association of interacting populations, usually determined by their interactions or by spatial occurrence.
Compensating Wind
Wind originating above plains and flowing toward nearby mountains along a pressure gradient.
Competition
The use or defense of a resource by one individual which reduces the availability of that resource to other individuals.
Comprehensive plan
A document setting forth official governmental policy for the long-term future development of an area that considers all major determinants of growth and change—economic, political, social, and biophysical.
Comprehensive planning
A process for coordinating and establishing the policies set forth in a comprehensive plan.
Conditional use
A permitted use allowed in zoning ordinances that requires review by a board of adjustment or similar review agency.
Conifer
A cone-bearing plant whose needles remain on the tree all year.
Conservation
The management of human use of the biosphere to yield the greatest sustainable benefit to present generations while maintaining its potential to meet the needs and aspirations of future generations.
Critical Areas
Places significantly affected by, or having an effect on, an existing or proposed major facility or other areas of major public investment; or containing or having a significant impact on historical, natural, or environmental resources of regional or statewide importance.
Cropland
Land regularly used for production of crops, except forestland and rangeland, including permanent pasture.
Cross section
A graphic tool that illustrates a vertical section of land.
Cumulative impact assessment
A comprehensive planning process whereby the rate or total amount of development is managed to stay below prestated threshold levels and is halted when such thresholds are reached.
Deadwater
Unflowing stream or river water.
Decomposers
The breakdown of matter by bacteria. It changes the chemical makeup and physical appearance of materials.
Delphi
A method for systematically developing and expressing the views of a panel of experts.
Detritus
Freshly dead or partially decomposed organic matter.
Detritus-feeding animals
Animals that ingest and break down fragments of organic matter.
Detrivores
Animals that obtain energy from decaying plant and animal matter.
Development
The modification of the biosphere and the application of human, financial, living, and nonliving resources to satisfy human needs, and improve the quality of human life.
Dike
Hardened lava extending in a direction other than that of the flow.
Dominant species
A species that has a controlling influence on the local environment.
Drainage Basin
A part of the earth’s surface that is occupied by a drainage system, which consists of a surface stream or a body of impounded surface water together with all tributary surface streams and bodies of impounded surface water.
Drainage Class
The relative terms used to describe natural drainage as follows: Excessive: Commonly very porous and rapidly permeable soils that have low water-holding capacity. Somewhat excessive: Very permeable soils that are free from mottling throughout their profile. Good: Well-drained soils that are nearly free of mottling and are commonly of intermediate texture. Moderately good: Moderately well-drained soils that commonly have a slow permeable layer in or immediate beneath the slum. They have uniform color in the surface layers and upper subsoil and mottling in the lower subsoils and substrata. Somewhat poor: Soils wet for significant periods but not all the time. They commonly have a slowly permeable layer in the profile, a high water table, additions through seepage, or a combination of these conditions. Poor: Soils wet for long periods of time. They are light gray and generally are mottled from the surface downward, although mottling may be absent or nearly so in some soils.
Drainage wind
A wind flowing from a higher elevation to a lower elevation.
Duplex
A detached structure containing two dwelling units.
Dwelling Unit
An independent living space within a structure designed and intended for occupancy by not more than one family and having its own housekeeping and kitchen facilities.
Easement
The purchase of partial rights in a piece of land.
Ecological critical areas
Places containing one or more significant natural resources that could be degraded or lost as a result of uncontrolled or incompatible development. Ecological planning The application of ecological knowledge to community, regional, and resource planning.
Ecology
The reciprocal relationship of living things to one another and to their physical and biological environment.
Economic
Of or having to do with the management of the income and expenditures of a household, business, community, or government.
Economic multiplier
The numerical relationship between an original change in economic activity and the ultimate change in activity that results as the money spent and re-spent through various sectors of the economy.
Ecosystem
The interacting system of a biological community and its nonliving surroundings.
Ecotone
Transitional areas between two ecological communities, generally of greater richness than either of the communities it separates.
Elevation
The height of land (in feet or meters) above sea level.
Energy
That which does or is capable of doing work.
Environment
The sum of all external influences that affect the life, development, and survival of an organism.
Environmental impact statement (EIS)
A document required of federal agencies by the National Environmental Policy Act for major projects or legislative proposals. It is used in making decisions about the positive and negative effects of the undertaking and lists alternatives. Some states and several other nations also require impact statements.
Environmentally sensitive areas
Places vulnerable to negative environmental impacts, such as unstable soils, steep slopes, floodplains, wetlands, and certain plant and animal habitats.
Environmental thresholds
The level beyond which additional stress to an ecosystem results in a marked decrease in the system’s performance or an adaptive change in the system’s structure or both.
Eolian soils
Soils deposited by the wind.
Erosion
The process of diminishing the land by degrees by running water, wind, ice, or other geological agents.
Erosion, bank
The destruction of land areas from active cutting of stream banks.
Erosion, beach
The retrogression of the shoreline of large lakes and coastal waters caused by wave action, shore currents, or natural causes other than subsidence.
Erosion, gully
The widening, deepening, and headcutting of small channels and waterways due to erosion.
Erosion, rill
The removal of soil by running water with formation of shallow channels that can be smoothed out completely by normal cultivation.
Erosion, sheet
The removal of a fairly uniform layer of soil or materials from the land surface by the action of rainfall and runoff water.
Estuary
A semienclosed coastal body of water that has a free connection with the open sea; it is thus strongly affected by tidal action, and within it seawater is mixed (and usually measurably diluted) with fresh water from land drainage.
Evaporation
The loss of water to the atmosphere from the surface of a soil or a body of water.
Evapotranspiration
The sum of evaporation and transpiration during a specific time period.
Exotics
Plants or animals introduced into a community that are not normally constituents of that community.
Fault
A fracture line along which movements have occurred, causing the geologic units on either side to be mismatched.
Fauna
Animal life
Fire Hazard Areas
Places identified by the U.S. Forest Service and state wildfire management agencies as being particularly susceptible to forest fires.
Flooding
The general and temporary condition of partial or complete inundation of normal dryland areas from the overflow of streams, rivers, and other inland water or from abnormally high tidal water resulting from severe storms, hurricanes, or tsunamis. Also, any relatively high stream flow overtopping the natural or artificial banks in any reach of a stream, or a relatively high flow as measured by either gauge height or discharge quantity.
Floodplain
The area of land adjoining a body of water “ that has been or may be covered by floodwater.
Flood-prone areas
Places identified on the basis of the frequency of flooding.
floodway
The channel of a river or other watercourse and the adjacent land areas required to carry and discharge a flood of a given magnitude.
Flora
Plant life
Fog
Suspended liquid particles formed by condensation of vapor.
Food Chain
The interconnected feeding relationships of various species that transfer energy from an initial source through a series of organisms.
Forb
Herbs other than true grasses, sedges, and rushes and nonaggressive plants having little or no woody material
Forestland
Land that is at least 10 percent stocked by trees of any size and land from which the trees have been removed to less than 10 percent stocking but that has not been developed for other use.
Frost pocket
A hollow in the topography into which cold air will flow, thereby lowering temperatures in the bottom of the hollow.
Geological hazard areas
Places characterized by a high frequency of earthquake shaking, landslides, fault displacements, volcanic activity, subsidence, or severe erosion.
geology
The science dealing with the study of rocks, often in an attempt to learn more about the history of the earth.
geomorphology
The science dealing with the interpretation of the relief features of the surface of the earth.
goal
A concise statement of a community or organization’s central aspirations in addressing a problem or an opportunity expressed in terms of a desired state or process that operating programs are designed to achieve.
grass
Plant species with narrow leaves and jointed stems.
greenbelts
Buffer zones created by restricting development from certain land areas.
groundcover
Plants grown to keep soil from eroding.
Groundwater
The mass of gravity water that occupies the subsoil and upper bedrock zone; the water occupying the zone saturation b elbow the soil water zone.
groundwater Recharge
Areas where additions are made to an aquifer by infiltration of water through the land surface.
Group dynamics
A generic term classifying a variety of interpersonal techniques used to foster group interaction and achievement of group goals and problem-solving techniques designed to clarify substantive issues.
Habitat
The sum of environmental conditions in a specific place that is occupied by an organism, population, or community.
Hedgerow
A group or row of trees and shrubs separating two grassy areas.
Herb
Any flowering plant that does not develop a persistent woody stem above ground, including forbs, grasses, and glasslike plants.
Herbicide
A chemical that controls or destroys undesirable plants.
herbivores
Primary consumers or animals that obtain energy from plants.
Historic, Archeological, and Cultural Areas
Sites important to the heritage of the community, region, state, or nation.
Human ecology
The interdisciplinary’ study of human-ecosystem relationships.
Humus
The semistable fraction of the soil organic matter remaining after the major portion of added plant and animal residues has decomposed, usually dark-colored.
Hydrograph
A streamflow graph which shows the change in discharge over time, usually hours or days. See also Hydrograph method.
Hydrologic Cycle
The planet’s water system, described by the movement of water from the oceans to the atmosphere to the continents and back to the sea.
Hydrology
The science dealing with the study of groundwater and surface water and the changes that occur during the hydrologic cycle.
Impact fees
A growth management technique that requires a developer to pay for public services necessary for new urban development.
Indicator species
A species (either plant or animal) generally limited to a particular environment so that its presence will usually indicate that environment or life zone.
Infiltration Rate
The rate of speed at which water flows into soil through small pores.
Insolation
Incoming solar radiation that is absorbed by the land, largely dependent on landforms and wind direction.
Intrinsic suitability
The inherent capability of an area to support a particular land use with the least detriment to the economy and the environment.
Introduced species
A species brought into an area by people; one that is not a native.
Inventory
The gathering of data for future use.
Inversion
An atmospheric condition caused by a layer of warm air preventing the rise of cool air trapped beneath it.
Landscape
All the natural features such as fields, hills, forests, and water that distinguish one part of the surface of the earth from another part. Usually a landscape is that portion of land or territory which the eye can comprehend in a single view, including all its natural characteristics.
Landscape Architecture
The art and science of arranging land so as to adapt it most conveniently, economically, functionally, and gracefully to any of the varied wants of people.
Landscape ecology
A study of the structure, function, and change in a heterogeneous land area composed of interacting ecosystems.
Landscape plan
A written and graphic documentation of a community’s goals, the strategies to achieve those goals, and the spatial consequences of the implementation strategies.
Land Use
The occupation of an area for a particular purpose, such as rangeland or industrial areas.
Land use need
A factor that is essential or beneficial for a particular land use.
land user
Person using a land resource who may or may not own title to that land.
Langley
A measurement of solar radiation equivalent to one calorie per square centimeter over some increment of time.
Leaching
The process by which nutrient chemicals or contaminants are dissolved and carried away by water or are moved into a lower layer of soil.
Life Cycle
The stages an organism passes through during its existence.
Life Zone
A biotic region with a distinctive flora and fauna. The region is based on climatic conditions, elevation, and other natural factors.
Limestone
A metamorphic rock formed from organic remains.
Limnology
The study of the physical, chemical, meteorological, and biological aspects of fresh water.
Loam
A soil mixture of sand, clay, and silt.
Loess
Predominately silt-sized particles that have been transported and deposited by the wind.
Lot
A parcel of land under one ownership, used or capable of being used under the subdivision regulations of a zoning ordinance, including both the building site and all required yards and open spaces.
Matrix
A graphic tool that plots two groups of interdependent factors against each other (one in rows and one in columns) to help illustrate their relationships.
Meandering Stream
A stream that follows many S-shaped curves.
Metamorphic Rock
A previously igneous or sedimentary rock that was exposed to conditions which entirely altered its original condition.
Metropolitan statistical area (MSA)
Following the 1980 U.S. Census, the term standard metropolitan statistical area (SMSA) was shortened to metropolitan statistical area (MSA). If any area has more than 1 million population and meets certain other specified requirements, then it is termed a consolidated metropolitan statistical area (CMSA), consisting of major components recognized as primary statistical areas (PMSAs), In addition there are special New England county metropolitan areas (NECMAs) in that region of the United States. MSAs, PMSAs, and NECMAs are categorized by their population size, as follows: Level A: Areas of 1 million or more Level B: Areas of 250,000 to 1 million Level C: Areas of 100,000 to 250,000 Level D: Areas of less than 100,000 Metropolitan statistical areas are defined in two ways: a city of at least 50,000 population or an urbanized area of at least 50,000 population with a total metropolitan area population of at least 100,000. MSAs are defined in terms of whole counties, except in the six New England states where they are defined in terms of cities and towns. In addition to the county containing the main city, an MSA also includes additional counties having strong economic and social ties to the central county.
Microclimate
The climate from the surface of the earth to a height at which the local effects of the earth can no longer be distinguished from the general climate.
Migratory Animals
Animals that periodically pass from one region or climate to another for feeding or breeding purposes.
Mineral extraction areas
Places that contain minerals or materials of commercial quality and quantity and include, but are not limited to, sand, gravel, clay, peat, rock, and ores.
Moratoriums
The prevention of the issuance of building permits until urban service capacity levels are attained or until plans and ordinances are completed.
Morphology
The study of land surfaces.
Multifamily Dwelling
A building containing three or more dwelling units.
Multiple Use
Harmonious use of land for more than one purpose, such as grazing of livestock, wildlife production, recreation, and timber production, it is not necessarily the combination that will yield the highest economic return or greatest unit output.
Natural Ecological Areas
Places with ecosystem units that are either superlative examples of their type or areas that perform a vital function in maintaining the ecological integrity and environmental quality of a larger region.
Natural Hazard Critical Areas
Places in which incompatible development may result in the loss of life or property or both.
Natural Selection
The process of survival of the fittest by which organisms that adapt to their environment survive and those that do not disappear.
Natural System
The biophysical factors, such as geology, soils, and wildlife.
Natural Wildlife Habitat areas
Places essential to the preservation of either game species or unique, rare, or endangered species.
Neighborhood Planning Council
A locally based organization that permits citizen participation in making policy decisions and in planning issues affecting their immediate geographic area.
Niche
An area that provides the necessary elements for the existence of a particular organism.
Normal-group workshop
A citizen-participation technique based on the concept that people think most creatively while working in a group.
Nonconforming use
Any lawful use of activity involving a building or land occupied or in existence at the effective date of a zoning ordinance that does not conform to the principal, accessory, or conditional uses permitted in, or the density provisions of, the zoning district in which it is located.
Non-point-source pollution
Caused by residuals carried into streams, lakes, and estuaries by surface water as well as to groundwater zones by infiltration and percolation. These pollutants do not result from a direct release from a pipe or channel.
Nutrients
Elements or compounds essential to growth and development of living things: carbon, oxygen, nitrogen, potassium, and phosphorus.
Objective
A clear and. specific statement of planned results to be achieved within a stated time period.
Oceanography
The study of the sea in all its physical, chemical, geological, and biological aspects.
Omnivores
Animals that obtain energy from plants and other animals.
Open Space
A relatively undeveloped green or wooded area provided usually within an urban development to minimize the feeling of congested living.
Organic
Referring to or derived from living organisms. In chemistry, it is any compound containing carbon.
Organic Matter
Matter derived from living matter.
Organism
Any living things
Organization development
A discipline involved in intervening in social networks to foster higher levels of cohesion and effectiveness.
Osmosis
The tendency of a fluid to pass through a permeable membrane, as the wall of a living cell, into a less concentrated solution so as to equalize concentrations on both sides of the membrane.
Parent Material
The unconsolidated and chemically weathered mineral or organic matter from which soils are developed.
Pedon
A three-dimensional soil sampling unit from 1 to 10 square meters, large enough so the nature of its soil horizons can be studied and the range of its properties identified.
Perceptual and Cultural Critical Areas
Places containing one or more significant scenic, recreational, archeological, historical, or cultural resources that could be degraded or lost as a result of uncontrolled or incompatible development.
Perched water table condition
A layer of soil separated above the saturated zone by an impermeable layer.
Percolation
The downward movement of water in a soil.
Perennial plant
A species of plant that lives longer than 2 years.
Performance Standards
Criteria that are established and must be met before a certain use will be permitted. These criteria, or standards, may be a set of economic, environmental, or social factors or any combination of these factors.
Permeability
The rate of speed at which water can move through soil.
Pesticide
Any substance used to control pests ranging from rats, weeds, and Insects to algae and fungi.
pH
A measure of the acidity or alkalinity of a material, solid, or liquid. pH is represented on a scale of 0 to 14, with 7 being a neutral state, 0 most acid, and 14 most alkaline.
Photogrammetry
The art or science of obtaining reliable measurements through photography.
Phyllite
A rock similar in composition to silt and schist.
Physical
In ecological planning, the abiotic elements of the environment, including geology, physiography, soils, hydrology, and climate.
Physiography
The science dealing with the study of physical features of the land, in particular slope and elevation
Planning
The use of scientific and technical knowledge to provide choices for decision making as well as a process for considering and reaching consensus on a range of options.
Planning commission
An appointed citizen body that advises elected officials on such matters as the comprehensive plan, zoning ordinances, and subdivision regulations.
Planning, Programming, and budget system (PPBS)
A complex annual budget system that involves the linkage of programs to the budgeting process.
Planning staff
The professional staff for the planning commission
Plant Community
An association of plants characterized by certain species occupying similar habitats.
Plat
A map or plan, especially of a piece of land divided into building lots.
Plateau
A large, flat area of land that is higher in elevation than some adjacent land.
Policy
A definitive course or method of action selected by a governmental agency, institution, group, or individual from among options in light of given conditions to guide and usually determine present and future decisions.
Preferential tax policies
Favorable taxation of land in exchange for an agreement to use that land for a certain use, such as agriculture, or for open spaces.
Process
The action of moving forward progressively from one point to another on the way to completion.
Primary consumer
Herbivores or animals that obtain energy from plants.
Pristine
Pure and untouched
Producers
Organisms that can use solar energy to convert inorganic substances into organic substances.
Profile
A graphic tool that shows a portion of the surface of the earth and the features on this portion.
Project Planning
Designing a solution to a specific problem such as a dam, highway, harbor, or a single building or group of buildings.
Public hearing
An open forum where statements become part of official records. Public hearings are often required by law.
Public Opinion Poll (preference Survey)
A means of gathering information, attitudes, and opinions from a large number of people.
Purchase of development rights (PDR)
the property owner’s development interests are relinquished to the purchaser of the rights, who will control the use of the land.
Putative species
The species expected to occur in an area based on habitat requirements.
Rain Shadow
An area that has decreased precipitation because it is to the leeward side of mountains.
Rangeland
Land in grass or other long-term forage growth of native species used primarily for grazing. It may contain shade trees or scattered timber trees with less than 10 percent canopy. It includes grassland, land in perennial forbs, sagebrush land, and brushland other than sage. The term nonforest range is used to differentiate the nonforest range from the forest range when both are being discussed.
Recharge
Process by which water is added to the zone of saturation, as recharge of an aquifer.
Recharge Areas
see groundwater recharge areas.
Recreation
Any experience voluntarily engaged in largely during leisure (discretionary time) from which the individual derives satisfaction.
Region
1) An uninterrupted area possessing some kind of homogeneity in its core but lacking clearly defined limits. (2) A governmental jurisdiction or designation. (3) A frame for multidisciplinary research: a demand for the integration of data from many realms of ecological reality and, therefore, an opportunity for specialists to work together on theoretical conceptions of human ecology as a synthesis.
Regolith
The predominately loose surficial material overlaying bedrock. It is roughly equivalent to what engineers term soil and may contain or be capped by a true soil pedon, as used by soil scientists.
Remote Sensing
The detection, identification, and analysis of objects of features through the use of imaging devices located at positions remote from the objects of investigation.
Resident
Animals that remain in one region or climate through the year.
Residium
Unconsolidated and partly weathered mineral materials accumulated by disintegration of consolidated rock in place.
Resource
A substance or object required by an organism for normal maintenance, growth, and reproduction. If a resource is scarce relative to demand, then it is referred to as a limited resource. Nonrenewable resources (such as space) occur in fixed amounts and can be fully utilized; renewable resources (such as food) are produces at a fixed rate with which the rate of exploitation attains an equilibrium.
Resource production critical areas
Places that provide essential products supporting either the local economy or economies of a larger scale.
Riparian
Relating to a habitat on the banks of streams, rivers, and lakes.
River Basin
The land area drained by a river and its tributaries
Rubble
A mass of broken stones and rocks, often at the base of a cliff
Runoff
Water from rain, snowmelt, or irrigation that flows over the ground surface and returns to streams.
Sand
Soil particles between 0.05 and 2.0 millimeters in diameter
Scenic areas
Places that contain natural features of sufficient aesthetic quality to warrant their preservation.
Scientific areas
Places of geological interest or places that present ecological processes warranting study.
Secondary consumer
Carnivore or animals that obtain energy from other animals.
second-order stream
See stream orders.
Septic Tank
An enclosure in which the organic solid matter of continuously flowing wastewater is deposited and retained until it has been disintegrated by anaerobic bacteria.
Service districts
The division of a jurisdiction into areas based on the level of urban and rural services with different rates of taxation.
Shale
A sedimentary rock formed from tightly packed clays and silts
Silt
Fine soil particles between 0.05 and 0.002 millimeter in diameter that can be picked up by air or water and deposited as sediment.
Single Family Dwelling
A detached building containing one dwelling unit.
Slope
The incline of the land surface, usually expressed in percentage of slope. Often slopes are expressed as follows: 0-3 percent nearly level 3-7 percent gently sloping 7-12 percent moderately sloping 12-25 percent strongly sloping 25-40 percent steeply sloping 40-70 percent very steeply sloping 70- 100 presence and above extremely steeply sloping
Slope wind
winds flowing up or down slopes along a temperature gradient
Social
relating to human society and the interactions of the community
Sociocultural
a combination of the social and the cultural characteristics of an area.
Soil
A natural, three-dimensional body on the surface of the earth that supports plants and has properties resulting from the integrated effect of climate and living matter acting upon parent material as conditioned by relief over periods of time
Soil association
Soils of different series found in the same area
Soil catena
a group of related soils that have developed from the same parent material but differ in drainage class due to different locations on a slope.
Soil Depth
The depth of soil material that plant roots can penetrate readily to obtain water and nutrients. It is the depth to a layer that, in physical or chemical properties, differs from the overlying material to such an extent as to prevent or seriously retard the growth of roots or penetration of water. The depth classes are (1) very deep, more than 60 inches; (2) deep, 40 to 60 inches; (3) moderately deep, 20 to 40 inches; (4) shallow, 10 to 20 inches; and (5) very shallow, 1 to 10 inches.
Soil Profile
A vertical section of the soil through all its horizons and extending into the parent material.
Soil Series
Solid from the same parent material having similar horizon characteristics.
Soil texture
The relative proportions of sand, silt, and clay particles in a mass of soil. The basic textural classes, in order of increasing proportion of fine particles, are shown in the chart at the top of page 327
Soil types
Solid within a series having the same texture.
Solar radiation
The energy from the sun that reaches the earth
Solum
The upper and most weathered part of the soil profile; and A and B horizons.
Species
A group of closely related organisms potentially able to reproduce offspring.
Species diversity
The number of difference species occurring in a location under the same conditions.
Sprawl
Unplanned development of open land.
Standard
A statement that describes a condition when a job is done properly. Standards show how well coming should be done rather that what should be done.
Strategy
The approach and/or methods through which problems are solved or minimized and objectives are achieved.
Stream
A general term for a body of flowing water. In hydrology, the term is generally applied to the water flowing in a natural channel as distinct from a canal. More generally, as in the term stream gauging, it is applied to the water flowing in any natural or artificial channel.
Stream, ephemeral
A stream that flows only in response to precipitation.
Stream, intermittent
A stream that flows only part of the time or through only part of its reach.
Stream orders
First-order streams are primary drainageways. Second-order streams are the confluence of two first-order streams. Third-order streams are the confluence of two second-order streams, and so on.
Stream, perennial
A stream that flows continuously.
Street
Street The entire width between property boundary lines of every way that provides for public use for the purpose of vehicular and pedestrian traffic and the placement of utilities.
Strip-cropping
Growing crops in a systematic arrangement of strips or bands that serve as barriers to wind and water erosion.
Structures, heavy
A building of generally great weight and size such as a mill or factory.
Structures, light
A building of generally slight weight and size such as a residence.
Subdivision
The division of a lot, tract, or parcel of land into two or more lots, plats, sites, or other divisions of land for the purpose, whether immediate or future, of sale or building development.
Subdivision regulation
The legal requirements pertaining to the subdivision of land.
Subsoil
The B soil horizon; the layer of soil below the layer in which grass roots normally grow.
Succession
The orderly progressive replacement of one community by another until a relatively stable community occupies an area.
Suitability analysis
The process of determining the fitness of a given tract of land for a defined use. Suitability is often used interchangeably with capability.
Surface water
Water that remains on the top of land, such as lakes, rivers, streams, and seas.
Swale
An elongated depression in the land.
Synthesis
The combining of all the parts to form an interrelating whole.
Task force
An agency-sponsored citizen committee with a specific task and charge usually related to a single problem or subject.
Technical advisory committee (TAC)
A group of individuals with specific expertise, usually from various disciplines, brought together by an agency for giving advice and consultation.
Temperature gradient
The difference in temperature along some horizontal distance or up a vertical parcel of air.
Terracing
Dikes built along the contour of agricultural land to hold runoff and sediment, thus reducing erosion.
Third-order streams
See Stream orders.
Topoclimate
The term used when the topographic variations of the land on microclimate are considered.
Topography
The physical features of a surface area, including relative elevations and the position of natural artificial features.
Town Meeting
The traditional New England meeting of the people of a town.
Transfer of development rights (TDR)
The development rights are purchased to be used in another location, thereby separating the development rights from the land itself.
Transpiration
the loss of water to the atmosphere from plants.
Tree
A woody, perennial plant with a single main stem.
Trophic levels
The different levels through which energy flows from producers to consumers.
Understory
Herbs and shrubs that grow beneath a forest canopy.
Urban Growth boundary
Line to which urban areas may grown based on population projections and physical conditions of the area.
USGS map
U.S. Department of Interior Geological Survey map
Valley wind
Winds flowing up or down valleys along temperature gradients.
Variance
A special situation that creates a need to deviate from the established zoning ordinances and requires review by a board of adjustment or similar review agency.
Vegetation
Plant life; trees, shrubs, herbs, and grasses.
Ventilation
The circulation of fresh air across the land, largely dependent on landforms and wind direction.
Voluntary covenants
Agreements that limit what can be done with property.
Water
A transparent, odorless, tasteless liquid, a compound of hydrogen and oxygen (H2O) freezing at 32°F (0°C) and boiling at 212°F (100°C), which is more or less an impure state, that constitutes rain, oceans, lakes, rivers, and other such bodies, it contains 11.188 percent hydrogen and 88.812 percent oxygen by weight.
Water balance
The ratio of water lost from a system and brought into a system.
Water quality areas
Aquifer recharge areas, headwaters, stream corridors, and wetlands that function as a natural filter for surface waters.
watershed
A drainage area separated from other drainage areas by a dividing ridge.
Water table
The upper surface of groundwater or that level below which the soil is saturated with water.
Wilderness recreation areas
Isolated tracts of land that are large enough to support recreational activities like camping, hiking, and canoeing.
Wildlife
Animals that are neither human nor domesticated.
Windchill
The relationship between body heat loss and the cooling power of different wind and temperature combinations.
Zero-base budgeting (ZBB)
An annual budget system, developed by the Texas Instruments Company, that involves developing budgets for programs from scratch each year.
Zoning
Land-use controls such as limiting the use to which land in each area may be put, minimum lot size, and building types.
Zoning ordinance
Land-use controls such as limiting the use to which land in each area may be put, minimum lot size, and building types.
ASCS
Agricultureal Stabilzation and Conservation Service
BLM
Bureau of Land Management
CEQ
Council of Environmental Quality
CMSA
Consolidated Metropolitan statistical area
DLCD
Department of land conservation and development
DOE
department of ecology
EIS
Environmental Impact Statement
EPA
Environmental Protection Agency
FAA
Federal Aviation Administration
FPPA
Farmland Protection Policy Act
FTE
Full-time equivalent employment
HUD
Department of housing and urban development
LCDC
land conservation and development commission
LESA
agriculture land evaluation and site assessment system
LESA
land evaluation
MSA
metropolitan statistical area
NEPA
National Environmental Policy Act
NOAA
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
NPS
National Park Service
PMSA
Primary Metropolitan statically area
PNB
Pacific Northwest Bell
SA
Site Assessment
SCS
Soil Conservation Service
SEPA
State Environmental Policy Act
SMSA
Standard Metropolitan Statistical Area
USDA
US Department of Agriculture
USFS
US Forest Service
USGS
US Geological Survey
