Hotwater physa (Physella wrighti) recovery strategy: chapter 4


4. Glossary of terms

Allochthonous
Substances originating outside the immediate habitat.

Blue list (blue-listed)
Species not immediately threatened, but of concern because of characteristics that make them particularly sensitive to human activities or natural events.

Chara
Chara vulgaris. Floating leaf-like plant that is actually an algae. Often called muskgrass or skunkweed due to the strong odour the algae exudes. Chara is often confused with submerged plants, and usually does not extend above the water surface. The plant is an overall grey-green with whorled branches.

COSEWIC
Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada.

critical habitat
The habitat necessary for the survival and recovery of a listed wildlife species and that is identified as the species' critical habitat in the recovery strategy or in an action plan for the species.

DFO
Fisheries and Oceans Canada.

ecological
Of, or having to do with, the environments of living things or with the pattern of relations between living things and their environments; of or relating to the interdependence of organisms.

ecosystem
An ecological community considered together with the nonliving factors of its environment considered as a unit.

endangered
Facing imminent extirpation or extinction.

extirpated
No longer existing in the wild in Canada, but occurring elsewhere.

G1
Critically imperilled, at very high risk of extinction due to extreme rarity (often 5 or fewer populations), very steep declines, or other factors (Natureserve 2006).

hermaphrodites
Species containing both sexual organs.

in situ
In its original place.

lentic
Standing water environments.

lotic
Moving water environments.

oviparous
Animal reproduction whereby the eggs are laid by the female and develop outside the body.

precautionary approach
Recognizing that the reduction or loss of the species should not be postponed for lack of full scientific certainty.

recovery
The process by which the decline of an endangered, threatened or extirpated species is stopped or reversed, and threats reduced to improve the likelihood of the species' persistence in the wild.

S1
Critically imperilled in the nation or state/province because of extreme rarity (often 5 or fewer occurrences) or because of some factor(s) such as very steep declines making it especially vulnerable to extirpation from the state/province (Natureserve 2006).

SARA
The federal Species at Risk Act.

Stochastic
Patterns or processes resulting from random factors.

threatened
Likely to become endangered if limiting factors are not reversed.

tufa
Tufa is a rough, thick, rock-like calcium carbonate deposit that forms by precipitation from bodies of water with high dissolved calcium content (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tufa)

viable
Capable of living.

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