Tucker Wasuta, Kent Johnson
California Clapper Rail Glossary
Aesthetic Value:
The visual value of a species: its appeal to be saved due to looks.
Cordgrass:
A coarse, thinly woven grass present in California Wetlands.
Dike:
a barrier constructed to contain the flow of water or to keep out the sea.
Diked Marshes:
Marshes blocked by man made methods in order to retain a certain water level,
salinity, and reproductive environment.
Ecosystem:
A biological community of organisms and their environment.
Ecosystem Sustainability:
The ability of species to retain their ecological niches and an ecosystem to retain
its biological diversity over an extended period of time.
Ecological Niche:
The specific characteristics of a specific organism in its environment.
Ecotourism Value:
The value of a species relative to the tourism funds its attracts.
Endangered:
In imminent danger of extinction.
Endangered Species:
a species whose numbers are so small that the species is at risk of extinction.
Estuaries:
Where the mouth of a river meets the tidal waters of a bay or ocean.
Extinction:
The entire biological loss of a species from the earth.
Filling:
material that is placed in, on, or over wetlands or other surface waters.
Fisheries:
a workplace where fish are caught and processed and sold.
Floodplains:
a low plain adjacent to a river that is formed chiefly of river sediment and is
subject to flooding.
Food Webs:
A system of interacting or interlocking food chains (The order in which species
consume each other in an ecosystem).
Fragmentation:
The process or state of breaking or being broken into small or separate parts.
Habitat:
the type of environment in which an organism or group normally lives or occurs.
Implemented:
apply in a manner consistent with its purpose or design.
Invasive Species:
A species not native to a habitat that is often incredibly destructive.
Intrinsic Value:
The value an animal poses in its own right.
Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918:
decreed that all migratory birds and their parts (including eggs, nests, and
feathers) were fully protected.
Pickleweed:
Small, Thinly stocked shrub and low growing vegetation in Bay Area Wetlands.
Population:
a group of organisms of the same species inhabiting a given area.
Preserve:
keep in safety and protect from harm, decay, loss, or destruction.
Recovery Plan:
Recovery plans are a designated strategy with the objective to guide research
and management aimed at enhancing the listed species' population.
Restore:
return to its original or usable and functioning condition.
The Wetlands Conservation Act 1989:
provides matching grants to organizations and individuals who have developed
partnerships to carry out wetlands conservation projects in the United States,
Canada, and Mexico for the benefit of wetlands-associated migratory birds and
other wildlife.
Threatened:
likely in the near future to become endangered.
Tidal Marshes:
Marshes affected by tide only, no human interference.
Tidal Restoration:
efforts to restore degraded tidal wetlands to healthy and productive ecosystems.
Use Value:
The direct value of a species to its ecosystem.
Waterfowl:
Aquatic birds that were or are regarded as hunting game.
Weeks-McLean Act 1913:
designed to stop commercial market hunting and the illegal shipment of migratory
birds from one state to another.
Wetlands:
Land consisting of marshes or swamps, highly saturated land.
Wildlife:
all living things (except people) that are undomesticated.
Wildlife Refuge:
An area of land set aside to shelter and protect animals.
References:
Division of bird habitat conservation (2012) Retrieved January 8. 2013, from U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service website:
http://www.fws.gov/birdhabitat/Grants/NAWCA/index.shtm
Dredging and Filling in wetlands (2012) Retrieved January 8, 2013, from Florida
Department of Environmental Protection Northeast District website:
http://www.dep.state.fl.us/northeast/wetlands/PDF/SLERP_factsheet.pdf
Guide to the Laws and Treaties of the United States for Protecting Migratory Birds
(2012) Retrieved January 8. 2013, from U.S. Fish and Wildlife service website:
http://www.fws.gov/migratorybirds/RegulationsPolicies/treatlaw.html
Tidal Wetland Restoration (2012) Retrieved January 8, 2013 from Department of
Energy and Environmental Protection website:
http://www.ct.gov/dep/cwp/view.asp?A=2705&Q=323828
Wordnet a Lexical Database for English (2012) Retrieved January 8, 2013, from
Princeton University website: http://wordnet.princeton.edu/