volume
25/01/2016
•
123 cm
Glossary
| term | definition |
|---|---|
| Eutrophication |
The accumulation of organic substances or waste in lakes, reservoirs and seas, which causes excessive, harmful growth of certain algae. // In ecology, the term, eutrophication, refers to nutrient enrichment in an ecosystem. The most common usage is specifically in reference to more or less massive additions of inorganic nutrients in an aquatic ecosystem. An ecosystem or environment is said to be eutrophic when it has an abnormally high amount of nutrients. |
| Tilling |
This is the name used locally to refer to deep ploughing. // Tilling the rice fields is a farming technique that consists of beating the surface of the fields with a tractor with iron wheels to aerate them and add to the soil the stalks and stubble left over from the harvest after reaping with harvesters. When tilling is done, large numbers of larvae, worms and other animals in the soil are exposed, which attracts many bird species such as gulls, herons, shorebirds and terns, which crowd around the muddy tractors to feed as they beat the surface of the waterlogged rice fields. // Tilling, which follows the crushing of the stalks, is one sustainable alternative to stalk burning. |
| Phytoplankton |
Plankton composed predominantly of algae and other plant organisms. // Seawater or freshwater plankton composed predominantly of plant organisms such as certain types of microscopic algae: A set of aquatic plankton organisms that are capable of performing photosynthesis and live by drifting in water. The name comes from the Greek terms, φύτον (phyton, "plant") and πλαγκτος ("plánktos", "wanderer" or "drifter"). |
| Inlets |
Canals through which l’Albufera lake is connected to the sea. Originally, l'Albufera had just one natural inlet. The five inlets that currently exist are artificial canals regulated by a sluice gate system. |