GLOSSARY

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AQUATIC PLANT COMMUNITY (Herbier)

Bed of water plants in a watercourse, lake, etc.; underwater meadow.

(Translated from Dictionnaire universel francophone. Hachette/Edicef, 1997.)

ANADROMOUS (Anadrome)

Refers to fishes that ascend rivers from the sea to spawn, as do shad and some salmonids.

(W. B. Scott and M. G. Scott. Atlantic Fishes of Canada. Can. Bull. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 219: 731 p., 1988).

ANURANS (Anoures)

The largest order of amphibians, including frogs, tree frogs and toads. All are tailless and have short bodies, large heads and four well-developed limbs.

(Adapted from F. H. Pough. Herpetology. Second Edition. Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, New Jersey, 2001).

BACKGROUND CONCENTRATION (Concentration de fond)

Concentration of a natural or pre-industrial pollutant source; concentration of a pollutant at a natural site, far from any human pollution.

BATHYMETRY (Bathymétrie)

The measurement of depths in oceans, seas or lakes.

(The New Shorter Oxford English Dictionary, L. Brown [ed.]. Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1993.)

BIOACCUMULATION (Bioaccumulation)

Process by which some endogenous or exogenous substances, present in small quantities, increase in concentration in an organ, an organism, a food chain, or an ecosystem.

(Translated from Parent, S. Dictionnaire des sciences de l'environnement. Broquet, Québec, 1990.)

BIOASSAY (Bioessai)

Assessment of the toxicity of a substance by observation of its effects on a living organism in the laboratory.

BIOAVAILABILITY (Biodisponibilité)

The degree to which a substance is available to be absorbed and metabolized by an exposed living organism.

BIOCENOSIS (Biocénose)

An association of organisms forming a closely integrated community; the relationship between them.

(The New Shorter Oxford Dictionary. Edited by Lesley Brown. Clarendon Press: Oxford. 1993).

BIOINDICATOR (Bioindicateur)

A bioindicator (also biological indicator) is a measure, an index of measures, or a model that characterizes an ecosystem or one of its critical components. It may reflect biological, chemical or physical attributes of ecological condition. The primary uses of an indicator are to characterize current status and to track or predict significant change. With a foundation of diagnostic research, an ecological indicator may also be used to identify major ecosystem stress.

(Adapted from U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.)

BIOMARKER (Biomarqueur)

Biological reactions of organisms exposed to a pollutant, by which qualitative and/or quantitative assessments may be made if the contaminant concentration in water reaches a level or begins to be manifested in clandestine effects on the toxicity of the sensitive populations so exposed.

(Translated from Ramade, F. Dictionnaire encyclopédique de l'écologie et des sciences de l'environnement. Édiscience international, Paris, 1993.)

BIOMASS (Biomasse)

Total mass of living matter, expressed in weight per surface unit or volume, present at a trophic level in the ecosystem or corresponding to that of the population of a given species in a community.

(Translated from Ramade, F. Dictionnaire encyclopédique de l'écologie et des sciences de l'environnement. Édiscience international, Paris, 1993.)

BIVALVE (Bivalve)

Mollusc whose shell is constituted of two hinged valves (sections), a horny ligament and one or two muscles.

(Translated from Grand dictionnaire terminologique. Office de la langue française and Sémantix, 2000.)