C
canal - A man-made waterway that is used for draining or irrigating land or for navigation by boat.
control structure - Man-made structures that regulate the flow of waters or the levels of waters.
culvert - A metal, concrete or plastic pipe that transports water.
D
dam, dike - A man-made embankment that controls or confines water.
dune - Mounds or hills of sand created by dune grasses, which trap sand grains being moved across the beach by wind.
E
ecosystem - A community of interacting organisms and their natural environment.
endangered species - A species in immediate danger of becoming extinct (extinct is when no living member exists).
epiphyte - An air plant that receives water and nutrients from the air and rain. It usually uses other plants for support.
estuary - A place where freshwater and salt water meet (i.e. where a river meets the ocean or the Gulf of Mexico).
Everglades Agricultural Area (EAA) - Land in the northern Everglades that was drained for agricultural development.
G
gate - Referred to in this text as a gate that holds water in or lets water out.
H
habitat - The environment in which an organism lives.
hammock - Localized, thick stands of trees that can grow on natural rises of only a few inches in the land.
L
levee - A man-made embankment that controls or confines water.
lock - An enclosure (i.e. in a canal) with gates at each end, used to pass boats from location to location.
M
mangrove forest - A community of mangrove trees that may consist of the red mangrove, black mangrove and white mangrove.
P
pineland - Nearly level land composed of coarse, poorly drained soils and dominated by pine trees.
prairie - Land predominately covered in grasses.
pump, pump station - A device that transfers water from one location to the other.
S
scrub - Communities dominated by pinewoods with a thick understory of oaks and saw palmetto. Scrubs occupy well-drained, nutrient-poor, sandy soils.
slough - Pronounced slew. Sloughs contain areas of slightly deeper water and a slow current. They can be thought of as the "broad, shallow rivers of the Everglades".
Stormwater Treatment Area (STA) - Man-made wetlands designed to remove excess nutrients from the water.
subtropical - An area or climate that is nearly tropical.
swamp - A generally wet, wooded area where standing water occurs for at least part of the year.
T
threatened species - A species that is likely to become endangered if it is not protected.
tropical - An area or climate that is frost-free and has temperatures high enough to support year-round plant growth if enough moisture is present.
W
Water Conservation Area (WCA) - Marshland areas that were designed for use as storage to prevent flooding, to irrigate agriculture and recharge well fields and as input for agricultural and urban runoff.
Wetland - Wetlands are just what they sound like: land saturated with water. It is characterized by an abundance of vegetation (ferns, swamp, marshes, etc) that is adapted for life in saturated soil conditions.
