Bioaccumulants
“Substances that increase in concentration in living organisms as
they take in contaminated air, water, or food because the substances
are very slowly metabolized or excreted.”
Bioassay
A laboratory or field test in which living organisms are used to
detect the presence of or test the effect of a particular substance,
factor, or condition. Results are compared to a standard preparation
or control to determine the relative strength of the substance, factor,
or condition.
Biodiversity
The variety and variability among living organisms and the ecosystems in which they occur. Biodiversity includes the numbers of
different items and their relative frequencies; these items are organized at many levels, ranging from complete ecosystems to the
biochemical structures that are the molecular basis of heredity.
Thus, biodiversity encompasses expressions of the relative abundances of different ecosystems, species, and genes.
Biogeographic province
Geographic areas characterized by specific plant formations and
associated fauna.
Biomarker
Biochemical, physiological, or histological indicators of either
exposure to or effects of xenobiotic chemicals at the suborganismal
or organismal level.
Biomass
“All of the living material in a given area; often refers to
vegetation”.
Biome
“Entire community of living organisms in a single major ecological
area.”
Biotic
Of or pertaining to living organisms.
Calibration
Statistical transformation of a variable to correct for scale or bias or
otherwise to impose the properties of another variable. Example: let
two labs use different protocols of chemical analysis. Designate one
protocol as the standard and generate a transformation function to
convert the data from the second protocol into representation of the
standard. Calibration will be required as a routine statistical procedure in many aspects of EMAP. New protocols will replace old
ones. Surrogate attributes will be extensively measured, to be calibrated to represent the target attribute. Use of multiple laboratories
invariably involves laboratory bias, which can be reduced by calibration. Analytic equipment requires periodic calibration, and the
data generated by such a process can also benefit from statistical
calibration. Double-sample methods can utilize calibration in many
ways to enhance the precision of estimates based on small
subsamples.
CDF
Cumulative distribution function.
Change
As used in EMAP, the difference in the distribution of measurements of condition indicators between two time periods.
Characterization
Determination of the attributes of resource units, populations, or
sampling units. A prominent use in EMAP is characterization of
40-hexes.
Classification
The process of assigning a resource unit to one of a set of classes
defined by values of specified attributes. For example, forest sites
will be classified into the designated forest types, depending on the
species composition of the forest. Systematic arrangement of
objects into groups or categories according to established criteria.
Community
“All of the populations occupying a given area”; “an assemblage of
populations of different species within a specified location in space
5 Geographic Information Systems and Remote Sensing Applications in Environmental. . . 219
“Substances that increase in concentration in living organisms as
they take in contaminated air, water, or food because the substances
are very slowly metabolized or excreted.”
Bioassay
A laboratory or field test in which living organisms are used to
detect the presence of or test the effect of a particular substance,
factor, or condition. Results are compared to a standard preparation
or control to determine the relative strength of the substance, factor,
or condition.
Biodiversity
The variety and variability among living organisms and the ecosystems in which they occur. Biodiversity includes the numbers of
different items and their relative frequencies; these items are organized at many levels, ranging from complete ecosystems to the
biochemical structures that are the molecular basis of heredity.
Thus, biodiversity encompasses expressions of the relative abundances of different ecosystems, species, and genes.
Biogeographic province
Geographic areas characterized by specific plant formations and
associated fauna.
Biomarker
Biochemical, physiological, or histological indicators of either
exposure to or effects of xenobiotic chemicals at the suborganismal
or organismal level.
Biomass
“All of the living material in a given area; often refers to
vegetation”.
Biome
“Entire community of living organisms in a single major ecological
area.”
Biotic
Of or pertaining to living organisms.
Calibration
Statistical transformation of a variable to correct for scale or bias or
otherwise to impose the properties of another variable. Example: let
two labs use different protocols of chemical analysis. Designate one
protocol as the standard and generate a transformation function to
convert the data from the second protocol into representation of the
standard. Calibration will be required as a routine statistical procedure in many aspects of EMAP. New protocols will replace old
ones. Surrogate attributes will be extensively measured, to be calibrated to represent the target attribute. Use of multiple laboratories
invariably involves laboratory bias, which can be reduced by calibration. Analytic equipment requires periodic calibration, and the
data generated by such a process can also benefit from statistical
calibration. Double-sample methods can utilize calibration in many
ways to enhance the precision of estimates based on small
subsamples.
CDF
Cumulative distribution function.
Change
As used in EMAP, the difference in the distribution of measurements of condition indicators between two time periods.
Characterization
Determination of the attributes of resource units, populations, or
sampling units. A prominent use in EMAP is characterization of
40-hexes.
Classification
The process of assigning a resource unit to one of a set of classes
defined by values of specified attributes. For example, forest sites
will be classified into the designated forest types, depending on the
species composition of the forest. Systematic arrangement of
objects into groups or categories according to established criteria.
Community
“All of the populations occupying a given area”; “an assemblage of
populations of different species within a specified location in space
5 Geographic Information Systems and Remote Sensing Applications in Environmental. . . 219