Flashcards: Environmental soil science

Bioremediation is a waste management technique that involves the use of organisms to remove or neutralize pollutants from a contaminated site.

Soil liquefaction describes a phenomenon whereby a saturated or partially saturated soil substantially loses strength and stiffness in response to an applied stress, usually earthquake shaking or other sudden change in stress condition, causing it to behave like a liquid.

Soil contamination or soil pollution as part of land degradation is caused by the presence of xenobiotic (human-made) chemicals or other alteration in the natural soil environment.

A biofilm is any group of microorganisms in which cells stick to each other and often these cells adhere to a surface.

Biotope is an area of uniform environmental conditions providing a living place for a specific assemblage of plants and animals.

Landscape ecology is the science of studying and improving relationships between ecological processes in the environment and particular ecosystems.

Night soil is a euphemism for human feces collected at night from cesspools, privies, etc.

Desertification is a type of land degradation in which relatively dry area of land becomes increasingly arid, typically losing its bodies of water as well as vegetation and wildlife.

Phytoremediation (from Ancient Greek φυτο (phyto), meaning "plant", and Latin remedium, meaning "restoring balance") refers to the technologies that use living plants to clean up soil, air, and water contaminated with hazardous chemicals.

Biochar is charcoal used as a soil amendment.

Soil retrogression and degradation are two regressive evolution processes associated with the loss of equilibrium of a stable soil.

Erosion control is the practice of preventing or controlling wind or water erosion in agriculture, land development, coastal areas, river banks and construction.

Soil salinity is the salt content in the soil; the process of increasing the salt content is known as salinization.

Land restoration is the process of ecological restoration of a site to a natural landscape and habitat, safe for humans, wildlife, and plant communities.

Biofiltration is a pollution control technique using living material to capture and biologically degrade pollutants.