All terms

 

0-9   A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Drainage (artificial)

Man-made adjustments to a field directed at the removal of excess water by ditches, subsoiling, pipes.

Drainage (natural)

Refers to the capacity of unaltered soils to drain water through percolation, as opposed to artificial drainage, which is commonly the result of artificial drainage or irrigation but may be caused by the sudden deepening of channels or the blocking of drainage outlets.

Drip irrigation

Application of water under low pressure through a piped network in a pre-determined pattern, applied as a small discharge close to each plant and adjustable by irrigation nozzles or droppers. Usually called

Dynamic properties

Soil characteristics that can change in response to land use changes.

Dynamic soil properties

Soil properties that change over the human time scale in response to anthropogenic (management, land use) and non-anthropogenic (natural disturbances and cycles) factors. Many are important for characterizing soil functions and ecological processes and for predicting soil behavior on human time scales. (Compare to use-dependent soil properties.)

E horizon

Albic horizon, which is an eluvial horizon with evidences of losing soil components; it is usually a light-coloured subsurface horizon from which clay and free iron and aluminium have been removed to the extent that the colour of the horizon is determined by the colour of the sand and silt particles rather than by coatings on these particles.

EC

Electrical onductivity (dS/m).

Ecological infrastructure

Any area which delivers services such as freshwater, micro climate regulation, recreation, etc, to a large proximate population, usually cities. This is sometimes referred to as green infrastructure.

Ecosystem

A dynamic complex of plant, animal, and microorganism communities and their non-living environment interacting as a functional unit. (MA, 2005a) For practical purposes it is important to define the spatial dimensions of concern.

Ecosystem function

A subset of the interactions between ecosystem structure and processes that underpin the capacity of an ecosystem to provide goods and services. Refers to the services performed by the organisms in the system such as energy flow, nutrient cycling, filtering and buffering of contaminants, and regulation of populations.

Display #