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Acid
- Any substance with a pH level below 7
Adaptation
- A way in which living things improve their living conditions by adjusting or altering their physical make up
Aerobic
- being active only during the presence of oxygen
Alkaline
- any substance with a pH higher than 7
Amphibian
- an air breathing animal which lives mainly in the water
Anaerobic
- active in the absence of water
Aquatic
- Living in or around water
Ash
- a tree of the olive family. Used for lumber, young short trees are a food source for deer and a pollen source for bees.
Base
- any substance with a pH lower than 7
Basswood
or Linden
-a tree that occurs in moist woods. An important wildlife food source.
Bog
- an acid wetland environment
Boardwalk
-The wooden trail placed through Cedar Bog so that visitors have a minium effect on the plants and animals there while also being able to enjoy them.
Buffer Zone
- land directly adjacent to an area which will minimize the effect of outside impacts
Carnivorous
- a species that eats meat
Carrying Capacity
- The number of organisms an ecosystem can support without change to the organisms or to the ecosystem
Cedar
-a pine tree of a type that hasflattened leaves. The Northern White Cedar, or Arbor Vitae, was one ofthe first trees imported to Europe. It has white wood. Cedar swamps (areas like are found in Cedar Bog) are good winter habitat for deer.
Cedar Creek
-The creek which runs through Cedar Bog
Closed system
- an ecosystem which has little or no exchange of materials
Consumers
- organisms that consume or use the energy of other organisms
Deciduous
- types of trees which lose their leaves during winter to conserve energy
Decomposers
- animals or plants which consume dead organic matter
Decomposition
- the breaking down of organic matter
Detritus
- decomposing plant and animal materials
Diurnal
- active during the day
Ecosystem
- a complex system of plants and animals interacting as a community
Ecotone
- the transition area between two adjacent ecological systems
Elm
-a tall, hardy shade tree that grows in open areas and that many animals use as a food source. The Red and American Elms are being destroyed now by a disease called "Dutch" Elm disease which is spread by a beetle. This disease wiped out the elms in Cedar Bog around 1945.
Emergent
- living things which exist in two layers of an ecosystem, such as sedges, grasses, and other vegetation which emerges from the water
Endangered
- a living organism that is in danger of extinction or extirpation from an area where it lived before
End Moraine
- pile up of earth, rock, andother natural materials found at the point where a glacier has ceased movement
Evaporation
- the change of a liquid to a gaseous state
Exoskeleton
- having the bony support system of the body on the exterior
Fen
- a wet springy site with an internal flow of water rich in calcium and magnesium bicarbonates making it a neutral or alkaline environment
Fog
– a heavy saturation of water in the air close to the ground
Food Chain
- a food order which transfers energy from one organism to another and in which there are predators and prey
Food Web
- the relationship of predator and prey in an ecosystem
Forested Swamp
- a wetland containingtrees
Glacier
- a large body of slowly moving ice which travels over land
Habitat
- the environment of an organism
Herbivore
- an animal which eats plants
Ice Age
- Period of pre-history when Cedar Bog had it beginnings. Ended around 10,000 years ago.
Indicator Species
- a species whose presence is a marker for the habitat (example - cattails indicate freshwater wetlands)
Invertebrates
- animals with no backbone
Mammal
- a class of higher vertebrates which nurse their young with milk secreted by mammary glands
Maple
-a shade tree from which maple syrup is made.
Mastodon
-Prehistoric, elephant-like animal that once roamed the area around Cedar Bog. Became extinct about 10,000 years ago.
Massasauga
Rattlesnake--Eastern rattlesnake.
Meadow
– rolling area of grasses and otherplant life, usually with few or no trees
Meltback
- a periodic melting of a glacier
Microorganism
- extremely small plants and animals, such as algae and bacteria
Migration
- the movement of a species from its point of origin to another and back again
Moraine
- an area of ridges and hills formed by the movement of a glacier
Muck
– wet, muddy plant and/or animal residue
Native
- indigenous, originally growing or living in a place
Neutral
- any substance with a pH level of 7
Nocturnal
- active at night
Northern Temperate Zone
- an area of mild temperatures in the Northern Hemisphere
Obligate
- any plant species which naturally has to live on a wetlands or other specific habitat
Omnivore
- a species which eats plants and animals
Open System
- an area with a high rate of exchange in materials
Parasite
- an organism that feeds on other animals
pH
- the measure of the concentration of hydrogen ions in a solution
Photosynthesis
- the process where plants produce food in the presence of sunlight
Phytoplankton
- floating microscopic plants
Plankton
- minute plant or animal life found in a body of water
Pollution
- an impurity that cause change to the characteristics of air, water, or land and may be harmful to organisms in that area of change
Prairie
– a flat, grassy area of land with few or no trees, made up of six specific grasses; big blue stem, little blue stem, cord grass, Canadian wild p, side oats gramma, prairie dropseed
Producer
- an organism that creates its own food
Reptile
- a cold-blooded animal that creepsor crawls and can adapt to dry or moist climates
Runoff
- surface water that runs across land in sheets rather than in distinct channels
Sediment
- particles of soil that washoff land, become suspended in water, and settle to the bottom of wetlands and other water habitats
Sedges
-a grass-like plant found in Cedar Bog. These plants have edges on their stems instead of being rounded.
Shrub Swamp
- a wetland area dominated by small, woody plants
Silt
- very fine soil sediment
Skink
-small lizard found in Cedar Bog.
Spotted Turtle
- a rare kind of turtle found in the streams at Cedar Bog.
Spicebush
-a shrub with aromatic leaves. It was once thought to be an indicator of good farm land. The twigs and leaves can be made into a tea. Animals also eat the twigs and fruits.
Stagnant
- not moving or active
Substrate
- Organic and mineral materials that form the bed of a body of water
Surface Water
- the water that makes up the surface of the Earth
Terrestrial
- living on land or air
Threatened
- a species which is likely to become endangered
Topographic
- a graphic representation of elevations and landmarks in an area
Toxic
- a chemical substance which can be harmful or deadly to organisms
Vertebrate
- animal with a backbone
Water Fowl
- birds that live on or near water
Water Table
- upper limit of water saturation in an unconfined aquifer
Watershed
- an area of land that drains to a particular body of water
Wet Meadow
- the driest of all wetlands which contains little standing water, but remains soggy for most of the year
Wetland
- any area of land which is waterlogged or covered with water at least periodically
Windbreak
- an object used to block the flow of the wind
Zooplankton
- floating microscopic animals
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