Glossary of Terms
General Terms
- Endemic: Characteristic of or prevalent in a particular field, area, or environment.
- Extirpation: To destroy completely or to pull up by the root.
- Habitat: The natural area or environment where an organism or ecological community of plants and animals normally lives or occurs.
- Riparian: Relating to or inhabiting the banks of a natural course of water; examples include areas along streams, creeks, and rivers.
- Upland: Land that lies above the level where water flows or where flooding occurs; examples include hills, hummocks, and mounds where grasses, shrubs, and trees grow.
- Wetland: A low-lying area with that is permanently, seasonally, or intermittently saturated with moisture; examples include marshes, floodplains, creeks, and ponds.
Species Terms
- Endangered: A species on the brink of extinction.
- Extinct: A species that has no living representatives.
- Native: Plants or animals that naturally originate, grow, feed, and reproduce in a particular habitat or environment.
- Non-native: Plants or animals originating in a part of the world that is different from where they are growing; also called exotic, alien, introduced, or invasive species.
- Species of Special Concern: A species that is declining in number or has naturally small populations susceptible to extinction.
- Threatened: A species experiencing serious threats that may eventually lead to its extinction.
Water Terms
- Alkaline: Contains a relatively low concentration of hydrogen ions and a PH greater than 7; sometimes contains metals.
- Fresh: From rain, snow melt, and associated run off; does not contain salt.
- Hypersaline: Contains extra salt in the solution.
- Permanently saturated: Water saturates the environment year-round.
- Saline: Of, relating to, or containing salt; salty.
- Seasonally saturated: Water saturates the environment only during winter or spring rains.
Plant Terms
- Metapopulation: Separate populations between which there is some migration and gene flow; may function as a single population due to occasional interbreeding.
Learn more about native, special status plants:
Bureau of Land Management
Special Status Plant Program
Calflora
Searchable database all 8375 currently recognized vascular plants in California, including 20000 photographs.
California Native Plant Society
Rare Plant Program
California Natural Diversity Database
Inventories of the status and locations of rare plants and animals in California.
California State University, Stanislaus
Endangered Species Recovery Program
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
Endangered & Threatened Plants
Special Status Plant Program
Calflora
Searchable database all 8375 currently recognized vascular plants in California, including 20000 photographs.
California Native Plant Society
Rare Plant Program
California Natural Diversity Database
Inventories of the status and locations of rare plants and animals in California.
California State University, Stanislaus
Endangered Species Recovery Program
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
Endangered & Threatened Plants
