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.

Electrical onductivity (dS/m).

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.

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.

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.

Benefits (provisioning, regulating, supporting and cultural services) that people obtain from ecosystems, including attributes and processes through which natural and managed ecosystems can sustain ecosystem functions (http://www.millenniumassessment.org/en/index.html).

The direct and indirect contributions of ecosystems to human wellbeing. The concept

A type of mycorrhizal fungi that grows between root cells and forms a sheath around roots, but does not actually invade cells. They are important to many woody plants.

The community of soil organisms (microbes, fungi, nematodes, worms, insects, protozoa, etc.)

(1) The rainfall useful for meeting plant water requirements. This does not include water percolating down to aquifers, or surface runoff of water (cf. definition (2)!) (2) The difference between precipitation and evapotranspiration, i.e. the water percolating to aquifers or surface runoff (cf. definition (1)!). (3) The amount of rainfall after subtracting the fraction that has been directly evaporated from the canopy surface without reaching the soil surface (as in coniferous forests).