Glossary

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‘A’ weighting dB(A)	The human ear does not respond uniformly to different frequencies. A-weighting is commonly used to simulate the frequency response of the ear.
Above Ordnance Datum (aOD)	The mean sea level at Newlyn (UK) used as a base measurement on Ordnance Survey Maps for contours.
Abutment	The structure that supports the end of the bridge or supports and retains the bridge approach.
Acid grassland	Grassland that occurs on acidic soils (pH less than 5.5).
Acoustic deterrent	A system for repelling fish and marine mammals from a region of water using noise.
Aggregate	Materials used in construction, including sand, gravel, crushed stone, slag, or recycled crushed concrete.
Air Quality Management Area (AQMA)	A non-permanent designation created if monitoring reveals that statutory air quality thresholds are being exceeded or will be exceeded in the near future.
Alevin	Recently hatched salmonid with yoke sac still present.
Algae	Single or multi-cellular organisms that photosynthesise.
Alien species	A species that exists outside of its normal distribution.
Allocation	A proposal for land for housing, industry or other uses within a Local Plan that identifies a specific area of land to be developed within the time period of the plan.
Alluvium	Sediment deposited by a river.
Amber list species	Bird populations in moderate decline or previously in severe decline but are recovering.
Ambient Noise	The all encompassing sound at any point in time.
Amenity grassland	Intensively managed and regularly mown grasslands that are typical of golf courses, sports pitches, playing fields and lawns. These grasslands are typically of low diversity and limited wildlife and landscape value.
Amenity value	Defined as the relative pleasantness of a journey and relates in particular to the exposure of pedestrians and others to traffic.
Ammocetes	Larval stage in the life cycle of lamprey.
Amphibian	Any cold blooded animal of the class Amphibia which includes frogs, toads and newts.
Amphidromous	Refers to fish that regularly migrate between freshwater and the sea (in both directions), but not for the purpose of breeding, as in anadromous and catadromous species.
Amplexus	Mating embrace in frogs and toads, when eggs are shed into the water and fertilised.
AnaBat detector	Type of bat detector which detects bat echolocation calls via a microphone and stores call frequency and time information on flash memory card for analysis using AnaLook software. Enables identification of bat species and activity type. Can be operated manually or remotely.
Anadromous	Referring to fish that migrate from marine waters upstream to breed in fresh water.
Ancient Woodland Inventory	Aims to list all probable ancient semi-natural woodlands on a county basis together with those woodlands in other ancient categories of lesser woodland nature conservation interest.
Ancient Woodland	Areas of land that appear as wooded on maps dated pre-1750 (in Scotland) and are considered likely to have been continuously wooded from this date.
Angiosperm	A flowering plant which has seeds enclosed within an ovary.
Annulus	Term used to describe various ring or circle shaped objects or openings.
Anoxic	Absence of oxygen.
Anthropogenic	Caused by humans.
Anthozoan	A marine invertebrate of the class Anthozoa, such as a sea anemone or coral.
Area of Great Landscape Value (AGLV)	An area designated by a local authority in development plans as being of outstanding scenic quality and character and requiring special protection against inappropriate forms of development. (The requirement to designate AGLVs is set out in Circular 2/1962).
Area of Outstanding Landscape Quality (AOLQ)	An area designated by a local authority as being of exceptional landscape quality and requiring special protection against inappropriate forms of development.
Appropriate assessment	An assessment of likely impacts associated with a development on a European Protected Site. An Appropriate Assessment is required by law under Regulation 48 of the Habitats Regulations (1994), implementing Article 6(3) of the Habitats Directive (92/43/EEC).
Aqueous	Relating to or containing water.
Aquifer	A body of rock through which appreciable amounts of water can flow.
Arable land	Land that is or can be used for growing crops.
Aranaea	Taxonomic super order comprising true spiders.
Arthropoda	An animal phylum which includes jointed-foot invertebrates, for example, insects, spiders, crustaceans and millipedes.
Artificial refuge	A sheet of corrugated metal, carpet tile or other material that is placed on the ground and is typically used to survey for the presence of retiles and amphibians.
Assessment	An umbrella term for description, analysis and evaluation.
Attenuation	Increase in duration of flow hydrograph with a consequent reduction in peak flow.
Attribute	Characteristics of an ecological receptor.
Authority area	The area administered by a local authority for example, District Council, City Council or Unitary Authority.
Average Score Per Taxon (ASPT)	The ASPT is calculated by dividing the Biological Monitoring Working Party (BMWP) score of a sample by the number of scoring families that contributed to the BMWP score of that sample.
Backhoe dredger	Hydraulic excavator equipped with a half open shell.
Bait-marking	A technique used for determining the territorial boundaries of badger social groups, involving the use of bait laced with coloured plastic pellets.
Balancing pond	Part of a Sustainable Urban Drainage System (SUDS). The purpose of the balancing pond is to contain the surge of water during/after a storm and release it slowly/in a controlled way, thus preventing flooding and potential pollution.
Ballast	A device used on submersibles to control buoyancy and stability.
Bank toe reinforcement	Strengthening to the base of a river or stream bank to prevent erosion.
Barrier effects	Features such as roads which may impact communities through restriction of movement and habitat alteration, sub-dividing populations with demographic and possibly genetic consequences.
Baseline	The existing conditions which form the basis or start point of the environmental assessment.
Bathymetric surveys	The measurement and description of underwater depths taken from the water surface.
Beam trawl	A type of fishing net where the mouth of the net is kept open by a beam with shoes or skids fixed at each end, these travelling along the seabed as the net is towed by boat.
Bedrock	Hard rock that lies beneath a superficial cover of soils and sediments.
Benthic	Of or relating to or happening on the bottom under a body of water.
Benthos	The flora and fauna found on the bottom of a sea or lake.
Berm	The raised bank or path alongside a waterbody.
Bing	A heap or pile of something, especially a slag heap.
Best Practicable Means	A feasible approach [to mitigation] having due regard for means/resources/conditions. Defined in the Control of Pollution Act (1974) as measures which are ‘reasonably practicable having regard among other things to local conditions and circumstances, to the current stated of technical knowledge and to financial implications’.
Bioaccumulation	The process by which substances accumulate in the tissues of living organisms with particular reference to toxic substances that accumulate via a food chain.
Biodiversity	Biological diversity, or richness of living organisms present in representative communities and populations.
Bioaccumulation	The process by which substances accumulate in the tissues of living organisms with particular reference to toxic substances that accumulate via a food chain.
Biodiversity	Biological diversity or species richness of living organisms present in representative communities and populations.
Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP)	Sets objectives, along with measurable targets for the conservation of biodiversity.
Biodiversity Management Plan	Document identifying the actions to be taken to ensure the maintenance and long-term viability of priority species and habitats in a defined site or area, and the parties responsible for these actions.
Biological Monitoring Working Party (BMWP)	A scoring system for measuring water quality using species of macroinvertebrates as biological indicators based on the variability in sensitivity of different invertebrate groups to different pollutants and pollutant types. Using the system pollution sensitive taxa are assigned a higher score than pollutant tolerant taxa. The higher the sum of individual taxon scores, the better quality invertebrate communities and the better the water quality.
Biotope	An area of uniform environmental conditions with a specific assemblage of plants and animals.
Bivalve	An aquatic mollusc which has a compressed body enclosed within two hinged shells, such as an oyster, mussel, or scallop.
Biological Monitoring Working Party (BMWP) Index	Based on the tolerance of various freshwater macro invertebrates to organic pollution. Each invertebrate family is assigned a score from 1 to 10, depending on their tolerance to pollution. Low scores are given to pollution-tolerant taxa, whilst the pollution-intolerant taxa score highly. Scores are assigned based on the presence of a scoring family in the sample and abundance within families is not considered. The BMWP score is the total of all the scoring families present in a given sample.
Bog	An area of soft, wet, peaty ground.
Bowser	Mobile water tank.
Brackish water	Water that is a mix of salt and freshwater.
Brae	A slope or a hillside.
Brash	Angular fragments of rock, which occasionally form the basement bed of alluvial (deposited by flowing water) deposits.
Braun-Blanquet Scale	A cover-abundance scale for analysis of vegetation.
Broadleaved woodland	An area of woodland with predominantly deciduous tree species (less than 10% coniferous trees in the canopy).
Brownfield	Industrial or commercial property or land that is abandoned or underused and often environmentally contaminated, especially one considered as a potential site for redevelopment.
Bryophyta	Phylum of non-flowering plants, with little or no vascular tissue; includes plants such as true mosses and liverworts.
Buffer	A natural, undisturbed strip surrounding a development or land disturbance activity or bordering a stream or permanent water body.
Bund	An embankment, wall or dam that can be used to minimise noise or alternatively built around an oil tank to contain the contents in the event of spillage.
Burn	A small stream.
Caisson	Retaining, watertight structure.
Calcareous	Refers to a sediment, sedimentary rock, or soil type which is formed from or contains a high proportion of calcium carbonate.
Calcitic veining	Having veins of calcite, a common crystalline form of calcium carbonate (CaCO₃).
Cantilever	A beam supported on only one end that carries the load to the support where it is resisted by moment and shear stress.
Cetacean	Refers to a group of marine mammals that includes whales, dolphins and porpoises.
Catadromous	Referring to fish that live in fresh water and breed in the sea.
Catchpit	A pit at an accessible point in a drainage system, used to collect grit and prevent it from blocking in-accessible sections of the system.
Catchment	The area contributing flow to a point on a drainage system.
Cetacean	A marine mammal of an order including whales and dolphins.
Channel morphology	Physical characteristics of stream channels, such as width/depth ratio and sinuosity, and types of pattern e.g. braided, meandering, straight.
Channel sinuosity	An assessment of the degree of irregularity in the path of a river channel across the landscape; it is measured as the difference between channel length and valley length.
Charophytes	A group of green algae, with the common name ‘stoneworts’.
Chute flow	Term used in river habitat survey (RHS) to describe a low curving fall in contact with the substrate. Often associated with cascades.
Circum-neutral	Having a pH of 5.5 to 7.4.
Code of Construction Practice (CoCP)	A series of objectives and measures to be applied throughout the construction period by the Contractor to manage and operate the construction works, to maintain satisfactory levels of environmental protection and limit disturbance from construction activities.
Coleoptera	Beetles. Taxonomic order including the largest number of species not only in the class of insects (Insecta), but also in the entire animal kingdom (Animalia)
Community	Assemblage of interacting populations that occupy a given area.
Community Conservation Index (CCI)	A conservation indexing protocol for summarising aquatic macroinvertebrate data obtained from inland flowing and still water sites.
Community Severance	Community severance is defined here as the separation of residents from facilities and services they use within their community caused by new or improved roads or by changes in traffic flows.
Community type	The composition of plant species that form a habitat or group of habitats.
Commuting route	A linear route used regularly by individuals of a population of bats for travelling between roosting and foraging habitats.
Compulsory Purchase Order (CPO)	A legal document giving the government (Scottish Ministers) power to compulsorily purchase the areas of land necessary for the construction of the scheme.
Conductivity	The ability or power to conduct or transmit heat, electricity, or sound'. Its units are Siemens per meter [S/m] in SI.
Coniferous woodland	An area of woodland with predominantly coniferous tree species (less than 10% deciduous trees in the canopy).
Conservation	Preservation or restoration of the natural environment and wildlife.
Conservation Area	Area of special architectural or historic interest, the character or appearance of which it is desirable to preserve or enhance. Designated under section 61 Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) (Scotland) Act 1997.
Contaminated land	Land in such condition by reason of substances on or under the land that significant harm is being caused, there is a significant possibility of such harm being caused or pollution of controlled water is being, or likely to be caused’.
Contiguous	Relating to areas that are connected to each other.
Contracting Parties	Partnership or organisation which enters into a binding agreement with one or more other contracting parties.
Controlled Activity Regulations (Scotland) 2005	Controls all engineering activity in or near watercourses.
Core Path	A right of way designated by a Local Authority as being of importance to maintain access and leisure provision.
Corophiidae	A taxonomic family of amphipods.
Couch	Above-ground otter shelter.
Cover Value Score (CVS)	Method used when carrying out NVC surveys whereby the percentage of a defined area covered by individual species is identified.
Crepuscular	Animals that are most active during twilight i.e. at dawn and dusk.
Cropmark	Marks visible in growing and ripening crops, especially via aerial photography, which reflect the differences in the subsoil beneath. For example, parched lines of grass may indicate hidden stone walls or packed stone layers.
Crustaceans	Class of arthropods that often have a hard shell covering their bodies, for example, lobsters, shrimps and crabs.
Cryptic	Camouflage.
Cub	A badger less than four months old or an otter less than one year old.
Cultivation terrace	A sloped area of land that has been built up and made flat to grow plants/crops on.
Culvert	A metal, wooden, plastic, or concrete conduit through which surface water can flow under or across roads.
Crawler crane	Crane mounted on an undercarriage with a set of tracks (also called crawlers) that provide stability and mobility.
Critical Load	The quantitative estimate of the level of exposure of natural systems to pollutants below which significant harmful effects on specified sensitive elements of the environment do not occur.
Curtilage	The enclosed area of land around a dwelling.
Cut-and-cover	This type of construction involves excavating a trench from the surface, building a tunnel and then backfilling and restoring the ground.
Cyprinid/coarse fishery	Managed fishery for cyprinid (of the carp family of fishes) fish or coarse fish (non-salmonid freshwater fish).
DAFOR Scale	A scale for assessing species abundance.
Deadwater	Part of a stream where the current is slack (very slow).
Decibel (dB)	The range of audible sound pressures is approximately 0.00002 Pa to 00 Pa. Using decibel notation presents this range in a more manageable form, 0 dB to 140 dB. Mathematically: Sound pressure Level (dB) = 20 log (pt / p0) where p0 = 2 x 10-5 Pa
Deciduous	Trees and shrubs that shed their leaves annually.
Deme	A small population that interbreeds locally but forms part of a larger population, thus the gene pool of the population is restricted.
Demersal	Refers to fish which live primarily on or near the seabed.
Demography	The studying/science of the characteristics of populations, such as size, growth rate etc.
Dermaptera	A taxonomic order of insects commonly called earwigs, characterised by membranous wings folded underneath short leathery forewings.
Derogation	A temporary waiver from a Regulation or a Directive and is normally only granted for a specific purpose and by unanimous agreement of the Council of Ministers and for a limited period.
Designed Landscape	A designed area of landscape which is identified in the Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes (jointly compiled by Scottish Natural Heritage and Historic Scotland).
Detention pond	A place for temporarily storing water which delays the flow of water downstream.
Detritus	Disintegrated material such as fallen leaf matter or small rock particles that have been worn away from the main rock mass by the erosive action of the river.
Diadromous	Refers to fish that make migrations between the sea and freshwater, these may be in either direction and not necessarily related to spawning.
Diffuse pollution	Contamination and pollution arising from many dispersed and different sources. These sources are often individually minor, but collectively may be significant.
Diplopoda	A taxonomic order of myriapods (subphylum of arthropods) that have two pairs of legs on each segment.
Diptera	A taxonomic order comprising true flies.
Discharge regime	The rate of flow of a river at a particular moment in time, relative to volume and velocity.
Displacement	To move something from its natural environment.
District Wildlife Sites (DWS)	Local council designation.
Diurnal	Organisms which are active during daylight hours.
Dolerite	Basic igneous rock similar in composition to basalt but with a coarser grain.
Do-minimum	The base situation where there are no modifications to the existing road network. May also refer to the minimum modifications, which will necessarily take place in the absence of a proposed scheme.
Domin Scale	A variation of the Braun-Blanquet Scale for describing an area of vegetation.
Draw-down	Term used in hydrology to describe the lowering of reservoir water level or in an aquifer, the change in hydraulic head.
Dredging	Excavation activity or operation usually carried out at least partly underwater, in shallow seas or fresh water areas with the purpose of gathering up bottom sediments and disposing of them at a different location.
Drey	The most common nest type or dwelling place for squirrels comprising a round ball of twigs, leaves and bark, which is frequently built close to the tree trunk or in branch forks to provide shelter from the elements.
Drift deposits	Drift geology overlying bedrock.
Driven shooting	Involves birds being driven over guns by beaters. The guns are stationed in pre-determined positions.
Dune interface	The area where a beach ends and a sand dune plant community starts.
Dung pit	A shallow hole or scrape dug by an animal into which dung and/or urine is deposited.
Duet dual mode bat detector	Duet bat detectors detect bat echolocation calls using a microphone and can be used to identify bat species in "real time" (heterodyne) or by delayed (frequency division) techniques.
Earthworks	Works created through the moving of quantities of soil or unformed rock.
Easements	A term relating to law where a right (e.g. a right of way) is held by one person to make limited use of another landowner’s property.
Echinoderm	A marine invertebrate of a large taxonomic phylum (Echinodermata) including starfishes, sea urchins, and sea cucumbers.
Echolocation	The use by bats of ultrasonic signals to navigate and locate insect prey.
Ecological Clerk of Works	A qualified ecologist who supervises construction sites, ensuring that ecological impacts are minimised and that the law relating to protected species etc. is complied with.
Ecological receptors	Living organisms, habitats, or natural resources that could be impacted by the construction or operation of the proposed scheme.
Ecology	The branch of biology concerned with the relations of organisms to one another and to their physical surroundings.
Ecosystem	A biological community of organisms interacting with one another and their physical environment.
Edge effect	Processes that characterise habitat fragmentation and the concomitant creation of edges. Habitat conditions (such as degree of humidity and exposure to light or wind) created at or near the more-or-less well-defined boundary between ecosystems, as, for example, between open areas and adjacent forest.
Effect	The result of change or changes on specific environmental resources or receptors.
Eft	An immature newt in its terrestrial phase.
Electrofishing	A fish sampling technique using electric currents and electric fields to control fish movement and/or immobilize fish, allowing capture.
Element	A component part of the landscape or environment (e.g. roods, hedges, woodlands).
Elver	A young eel, migrating upstream from the ocean.
Emergent vegetation	The vegetation that grows up from within the water.
Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA)	The process by which information about the environmental effects of a project is evaluated and mitigation measures are identified.
Environmental Management Plan (EMP)	Document which describes the processes to be followed to ensure compliance with environmental legislation and policy and minimise harm to the environment.
Environmental Statement (ES)	Document provided by the Developer to the Competent Authority, containing environmental information required under Article 5 of Directive 85/337/EEC as amended.
Ephemeral	Lasting or living for a very short time.
Escarpment	A transition zone between different physiogeographic provinces that involves a sharp, steep elevation differential, characterised by a cliff or steep slope.
Estuarine	Pertaining to an estuary.
Estuary	A semi-enclosed coastal body of water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. They are affected by both marine influences, such as tides, waves, and the influx of saline water; and riverine influences, such as flows of fresh water and sediment.
Euryhaline species	Species which can tolerate salinities between 5 and 30 PSU.
Eutrophication	A process where water bodies receive excess nutrients that stimulate excessive plant growth. This can lead to effects such as lack of oxygen and reductions in water quality, fish, and other animal populations.
Fauna	Referring to animals of a particular region or habitat.
Feeding station	A favoured spot where food items are often brought to be eaten and feeding remains as neat piles of chewed lengths of vegetation are evident.
Fen	A wetland that, like a bog, has organic soil. In contrast with bogs, fens receive most of their water from the surrounding groundwater, and consequently can be either acidic or alkaline, depending on the surrounding earth. They support a greater variety of plants than bogs, but are often still dominated by peat.
Fill	Material deposited by man in ground depression or excavated area.
Finnock	A juvenile sea trout that has returned to freshwater after being to sea for a short period of time.
Flatworms	A taxonomic phylum of relatively simple bilaterian, unsegmented, soft-bodied invertebrate animals.
Flight line	A route, usually along linear or habitat feature, which is used by bats for commuting between landscape features.
Floodplain	Land adjacent to a river, which is subject to regular flooding.
Flora	Referring to plants of a particular region or habitat.
Flow regime	Combinations of river discharge and corresponding water levels and their respective (yearly or seasonally) averaged values and characteristic fluctuations around these values.
Fluvial geomorphology	The study of landforms associated with river channels and the sediment processes which form them.
Flyway	A route between breeding and wintering areas taken by a group of migratory birds.
Footprint	The geographical extent of an ecological impact.
Foraging	Searching for food or provisions.
Fragmentation	Breaking up of an organisms habitat into smaller fragments that may vary in size.
Freshwater	Bodies of water such as ponds, lakes, rivers and streams containing low concentrations of dissolved salts and other total dissolved solids.
Fry	Young fully-formed fish (in salmonids not yet having parr markings).
Fyke net	Small cone-shaped net used to catch fish.
Gantry	A framework that spans a road or railway track.
Generic mitigation	Measures which are applicable throughout the scheme and which aim to prevent, reduce or offset impacts.
Geomorphology	The branch of geology concerned with the structure, origin and development of topographical features of the earth’s crust.
Geophysical survey	Geophysical survey is a non-intrusive pre-construction archaeological evaluation technique that exploits a variety of physical or chemical characteristics of rocks and soils etc, in an attempt to locate underground features of archaeological interest. Types of geophysical survey include magnetometer survey, magnetic susceptibility survey and resistivity survey.
Geotextile	Permeable fabric made of polypropylene/polyester and which has the ability to separate, filter, reinforce, protect or drain.
Glaciofluvial	Pertaining to streams fed by melting glaciers, or to the deposits and landforms produced by such streams.
Glacial Till	Glacial till is that part of glacial drift which was deposited directly by the glacier. It may vary from clays to mixtures of clay, sand, gravel and boulders.
Glass eel	Transparent larval stage of the European eel during migration in the Gulf Stream to the UK coastline prior to migration up rivers and streams.
Glide	Even paced section of river or stream with laminar flow.
Granulometry	The measurement of particle grain sizes of sediments.
Gravid	A female (amphibian or fish) swollen with eggs.
Green Belt	The green belt is an area of countryside around the edge of an urban area where new building is not normally allowed and planning is strictly controlled. The aims are to prevent urban expansion, allow easy access to the countryside and protect attractive landscapes.
Green list species	Bird species with no identified threat to their population status.
Grilse	Salmon which have spent only one full winter at sea.
Ground Investigation	Exploratory investigation to determine the structure and characteristics of the ground influenced by a development. The collected information is used to establish or predict ground and groundwater behaviour during, and subsequent to, construction.
Ground-truthing	Verification on the ground of conditions on a site.
Groundwater	Water below the surface of the ground in the saturation zone and in direct contact with the ground or subsoil.
Grout	A construction material used to connect sections of pre-cast concrete.
Habitat	Term most accurately meaning the place in which a species lives, but also used to describe plant communities or agglomerations of plant communities, as used, for example in a Phase 1 Habitat Survey.
Habitat Action Plan	Objectives set by the British government to conserve the biodiversity in given habitats.
Habitat complexity	The sum of factors which interact to dictate environments in which species live.
Habitats Directive	EC Directive 92/43/EEC on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora.
Habitat fragmentation	Describes the breaking up of an organisms preferred environment/habitat. Occurs naturally through geological processes that alter the layout of the physical environment over long periods of time, or through human activities, such as land conversion.
Habitat isolation	Populations which occupy different habitats within the same area and do not meet.
Habitat Modification Index	An index used to assess the condition of a river corridor based on the biological condition of a sampling point.
Habitat Modification Score	An assessment of the extent of anthropogenic modification to a channel. Larger scores indicate a higher degree of modification.
Habitat Quality Assessment	A measure of the structural diversity of the river. Increasing scores are associated with increasingly complex habitat diversity.
Habitat Suitability Index	A numerical index that represents the capacity of a given habitat to support a selected species.
Habituate	To become accustomed to a particular situation.
HaHa	A boundary barrier that does not block the view e.g. where a retaining wall is built into a ditch.
Hair-tube	A tube containing a hair-trapping device and baited with nuts, which is placed horizontally on a branch to detect the presence and/or absence of red and grey squirrels.
Hauling-out	The behaviour, especially associated with pinnipeds (walruses, seals and sealions), of temporarily leaving the water between periods of foraging activity.
Heavy Goods Vehicle (HGV)	Vehicles with 3 axles (articulated) or 4 or more axles (rigid and articulated).
Hemiptera	A taxonomic order of sucking insects comprising true bugs.
Heathland	Uncultivated land with sandy soil and scrubby vegetation.
Herbaceous vegetation	Plants other than shrubs or trees that do not have persistent parts above ground.
Herbivore	An animal that feeds exclusively on plants.
Herpetofauna	Referring to reptiles and amphibians.
Heterogeneous	If something is heterogeneous it is different in kind/type/origin, for example, a riverbed containing silt, gravel and pebbles can be said to be heterogeneous.
Hibernacula	Structures that are used by animals to hibernate through the winter, such as log piles, rock piles, vegetation piles, old mammal burrows, tree root complexes and buildings.
Hibernation	Extended period of torpor undertaken during winter.
Hirundinea	A sub-class of the phylum Annelida comprising leeches.
Holt	Deep underground otter shelter.
Home range	The area within which an animal normally lives.
Homogeneous	Something that is composed of parts which are all the same.
Horticulture	The cultivation of flowers, fruit, vegetables or ornamental plants.
Hover	Shallow temporary below-ground resting place used by otters.
Hydracarina	A taxonomic sub-order of animals that covers many families of water mite.
Hydrocarbon	A chemical compound of hydrogen and carbon.
Hydrodynamic	Of, relating to, or operated by the force of liquid in motion.
Hydrogeology	The branch of geology that deals with the occurrence, distribution, and effect of ground water.
Hydrological	The exchange of water between the atmosphere, the land and the oceans.
Hymenoptera	Taxonomic order of the Insecta which includes ants, bees and wasps.
Hypoxic	Low levels of oxygen.
Igneous Petrology	The study of igneous rocks, their occurrence, composition, and origin.
Immigration	When an organism enters a new place/habitat.
Immiscible	Incapable of being mixed.
Impact	Any changes attributable to the proposed scheme that have the potential to have environmental effects (i.e. the causes of the effects).
Impermeable	Material that does not allow fluids to pass through it.
Improved grassland	Grasslands that have been so modified by fertilisers, drainage or grazing that they have lost most of the species expected in unimproved grassland.
Incidental sighting	Casual observation of a plant or animal of one or more species recorded by whilst performing a non-relevant ecological survey.
Indicator species	A species that is characteristic of a particular habitat. The disappearance of such a species is an early warning of habitat degradation.
Infauna	Animals living in the sediments of the ocean floor or river or lake beds
Infrastructure	The basic structure or features of a system or organisation.
Intake	The place where water is taken into a pipe or conduit (e.g. for cooling water); opposed to outlet.
Intelligent Transport System (ITS)	System to assist in delivering optimum capacity within a safe, efficient and reliable environment and provide local and strategic information to road and public transport users during normal and abnormal conditions.
Inter alia	Among other things.
Inter-bedded	Alternating layers of different materials in a section of bedded rocks.
Inter-specific competition	Competition for resources between species e.g. red and grey squirrels competing with each other.
Intertidal	The transition zone between mean high water springs and mean low water springs, and includes both land exposed, partially submerged, and fully submerged dependant on the tide and water within this zone.
Intra-specific competition	Competition for resources within a species e.g. red squirrels competing with each other.
Interstitial	Referring to the spaces between sediment grains or in other minute spaces.
Intertidal	Referring to the environment between high and low tide marks (mean high water and mean low water) that is alternately exposed to the air and to the sea.
Invertebrate	An animal without a backbone.
Jack-up barge	Self elevating platform.
Jump formwork system	A concrete climbing construction process that rises with the building process to create a vertical seamless wall structure.
Keystone species	Species that have a key role in an ecosystem, affecting many other species within the system. The removal of a keystone species can lead to the extinction of other species within that ecosystem.
Kick sample	A standardised method used to collect aquatic macro-invertebrates with a hand net.
L_Aeq	Equivalent Continuous Sound Level. A notional steady sound level which would cause the same A-weighted sound energy to be received as that due to the actual, possibly fluctuating, sound level over a given period of time.
Lacustrine	Of or relating to a lake.
Lagoon	A body of comparatively shallow salt or brackish water separated from the deeper sea by a shallow or exposed sandbank, coral reef, or similar feature.
Landform	Combination of slope and elevation producing the shape and form of the land surface.
Land Management Contract	Formal agreement betweenthe farmer and the Scottish Government to deliver environmental benefits through a range of land management measures.
Landscape	Human perception of the land, conditioned by knowledge and identity with a place.
Land-take	Acquired land which is necessary to construct the scheme and associated infrastructure and to undertake the essential environmental mitigation measures.
Large-masted trees	A tree that produces large seeds e.g. oak, hazel.
Larva	An active immature form of an insect or other animal that undergoes metamorphosis, e.g. a caterpillar or tadpole.
Lateral connectivity	Hydrologic connectivity is defined as the condition by which disparate regions on the hillslope are linked via subsurface water flow. Lateral refers to the spatial dimensions of riverine/riparian/floodplain habitats.
Latrine	A series of pits dug by a badger where faeces (and urine) is deposited or a collection of water vole droppings habitually deposited in a single location typically used to define territorial boundaries.
Lepidoptera	Taxonomic order of Insecta comprising butterflies and moths.
Lichen	A group of complex organisms, which are formed from the symbiotic association of a fungus and an alga.
Lithology	The study of rocks, with particular emphasis on their in terms of their color, texture, and composition.
Listed Building	Building included on the list of buildings of special architectural or historic interest and afforded statutory protection under the ‘Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) (Scotland) Act 1997’ and other planning legislation. Classified categories A — C(s).
Littoral sediment	Sediment moved by waves and currents of the littoral zone: the area between high and low water marks.
Liverwort	The common name for members of the plant division Hepatophyta.
Local Landscape Character Area (LLCA)	An area outlined as having distinct characteristics based on landscape features. Derived from regional landscape studies available from SNH.
Local Wildlife Site (LWS)	A non-statutory designation used locally by some local authorities to protect locally valued sites of biological diversity.
Luffing jib tower crane	A tower crane with a hinged jib where its hook will move up and down as the jib moves.
Lying-up site	An area where an otter will rest, usually a holt or couch.
Macroinvertebrate	An animal without a backbone that can be seen with the naked eye, for example, snails, waterfleas, shrimps or insects.
Macrophyte	An individual alga large enough to be seen easily with the unaided eye.
Made ground	Ground comprised of material deposited by man i.e. not natural.
Magnitude	Size, extent, scale and duration of an impact.
Mammal ledge	A shelf built within a culvert to facilitate mammal passage, accessible at both ends from the bank and the water.
Marginal	Vegetation at the water’s edge.
Marine Mammal Observer (MMO)	Refers to an observer who conducts visual watches for marine mammals.
Maritime grassland	Maritime habitats are those exposed to the wind and waves around the coast. Maritime grassland occurs on cliffs and slopes in less severely exposed locations.
Marshland	Low-lying wet land with grassy vegetation; usually is a transition zone between land and water.
Mast trees	Trees that produce nuts.
Meadow	An area of grassland that has is normally grazed by livestock and/or used for growing hay.
Meander bend	A bend in a sinuous watercourse. Formed when moving water in a valley bottom erodes the outer banks causing the channel to change shape.
Mean Trophic Rank (MTR)	Utilised in surveys of the aquatic plant populations in rivers, MTR uses a scoring system based on species and their recorded abundances at river sites. Each species is allocated a score (its species trophic rank, STR) dependent on its tolerance to eutrophication (enrichment of water with nutrients) then, for a given site, the mean score for all species present is calculated. Tolerant species have a low score, so a low MTR tends to indicate a nutrient-rich river.
Mesotrophic	Of a moderately rich or productive habitat.
Metamorphosis	The transformation of one structure into another, most commonly referring to the change undergone by insects and amphibians between embryo and adult life stages.
Metapopulation	A population of the same species that is fragmented and exists as loosely connected smaller populations. This occurs naturally but also can be the result of human activities.
Mid channel bars	A non-vegetated accumulation of alluvium (typically gravel or sand) located in a waterbody channel away from the banks, generally found in areas where the channel runs straight, caused by recent channel instability.
Migration	The movement (of an animal) from one habitat to another according to the seasons.
Mineral extraction	The removal of a naturally occurring solid formed through geological process that has a characteristic chemical composition, a highly ordered atomic structure and specific physical properties.
Mire	General term which embraces all those peat-forming ecosystems; bog, fen, carr, muskeg, moor and peatland. Does not include marshes since they are, by definition, non-peat-forming and are seasonally flooded. Mires are subdivided into fens and bogs on the basis of the origin and chemistry of their respective water supplies.
Mitigation	Term used to indicate avoidance, remediation or alleviation of adverse impacts.
Mixed plantation woodland	Planted stands with either broadleaf or conifer species comprising 10-90% of the canopy.
Mollusca	A taxonomic phylum of invertebrates that often have a calcareous shell(s) which at least partly enclose their soft un-segmented bodies.
Monoculture	Land that is used to grow one crop only.
Montane	Flora and fauna that live in mountainous regions.
Morphological diversity	Minor variations within a basic body plan or biological form.
Mudflat	An area of intertidal muddy land left exposed at low tide.
Natal den	The small space (usually a holt or couch) used by a female otter to give birth and raise cubs for a period of up to three months.
Natal pond	A pond where eggs are laid and larvae develop.
Natal range	The territory in which the young where born.
National Vegetation Classification (NVC)	A system to describe British vegetation types, whereby each vegetation type has a different ‘code’.
Native	A species occurring naturally, in its normal geographic range.
Nemertean	A member of a phylum of invertebrate animals also known as ribbon worms or proboscis worms.
Nereididae	A family of polychaete worms which are predominantly marine.
Neutral grassland	Grassland communities that grow on neutral soils (pH 5.5 — 7).
Niche	The limits, for all important environmental features within which individuals of a species can survive, grow and reproduce.
Nocturnal	Refers to any animal that is active at night.
Non-indigenous	Not originating in, nor characteristic of, a particular area.
Non-motorised users	Pedestrians, cyclists and equestrians.
Non-prime land	Agricultural land of Land Capability for Agriculture (LCA) classes 3.2 to 7.
Non-Statutory Guidance/Organisation	Direction from a professional governing body and not directly through legislation.
Notable species	Species which are below Red Data Book species in terms of threat status.
Nursery area	An area utilised by juvenile animals for protection and food sources.
Odonata	Taxonomic Order of Insecta comprising dragonflies and damselflies.
Offsetting	The process of compensating for something with something else.
Oligochaetes	Hermaphroditic terrestrial and aquatic worms having bristles borne singly along the length of the body.
Online pond	Pond that is fed by the river or stream through a natural connecting channel.
Open space	Any land laid out as public parks or used for the purpose of public recreation, or land which is a disused burial ground.
Ornithological	The branch of zoology that deals with the study of birds.
Otter trawl	A fishing net towed by a boat. The horizontal opening of the net is achieved and maintained by angle-towed otter boards (large rectangular ‘boards' of timber or steel) and the vertical opening by a combination of floats on the headrope and weights on the ground line.
Outfall	The place of discharge e.g. where a sewage pipe discharges into a river.
Palaeobotany	The branch of science dealing with the recovery and identification of plant remains from geological contexts.
Parasite	An organism that for at least part of its life derives its food from a living organism of another species (the host).
Parr	Young salmon or trout with distinctive thumbprint markings on flanks.
Passage migrants	Birds that are migrating between breeding grounds and/or wintering grounds.
Passive Acoustic Monitoring (PAM)	A method to detect cetaceans by listening for them through hydrophones.
Pasture	An area of grassland (or other suitable plants) used to feed grazing animals.
Peatland	Land where plant decomposes only partially and accumulates to form brown to black organic material called peat; the two main types are bogs and fens.
Pelagic	Refers to animals that live in the water column or in the open waters of the sea/ocean rather than the sea floor.
Percolation	The action of water moving slowly through the pores in soil or permeable rock.
Perennial	A plant that continues to grow from year to year, sometimes undergoing several years of growth before seeds are produced.
Permeable	Something that can be penetrated/passed through by something else e.g. soil is permeable to water as the water can pass through it.
pH	A figure expressing acidity or alkalinity on a logarithmic scale of 0 to 14.
Phase 1 Habitat Survey	This identifies the different habitats that are contained within or make up a site, and the key plant species for each of those habitat types.
Phase 2 Habitat Survey	A detailed specialist survey or phytosociological (plant community) study of a habitat within a site. It may utilise analysis of sample vegetation plots (quadrats) following the UK National Vegetation Classification.
Phoronid	A member of the relatively small animal phylum (Phoronida) of worm-shaped animals with a gut that loops and exits the body near the mouth, instead of running the length of the animal.
Phototaxis	Movement in response to light.
Physiological	Biology relating to the function and activity of organisms, rather than their structure.
Pile	A heavy stake or post made out of timber, steel, reinforced concrete or pre-tensioned concrete, driven into the ground to support foundations.
Piling	The act of installing piles.
Pinniped	A diverse group of semi-aquatic marine mammals comprising the families Odobenidae (the walrus), Otariidae (eared seals, including sea lions and fur seals), and Phocidae (earless seals).
Piscivorous	Animals which eat fish.
Planform	The outline of an object viewed from above.
Plantation woodland	Woodland of any age that obviously originated from planting.
Plant plug	Any developing plant whose growth cycle is initiated well in advance of its actual planting.
Poaching	Term used in river habitat survey (RHS) to mean the erosion of a watercourse bank by livestock.
Point bars	Deposits of alluvium found on the inside bank of a meander, they form when alluvium is eroded from the outside bend (cut bank) and deposited on the inside bend of a meander.
Point pollution	A point source of pollution is a single identifiable localised source of air, water, thermal, noise or light pollution.
Policy Advice Note (PAN)	Supporting document to National Planning Policy Guidelines, which disseminates good practice and provides more specific design advice of a practical nature.
Polycheate	Any member of a group (Class Polychaeta) of segmented marine worms.
Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs)	A mixture of chlorinated derivatives of biphenyl banned in 1979. A persistent organic pollutant.
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH)	Any of a class of carcinogenic organic molecules that consist of three or more benzene rings and are commonly produced by fossil fuel combustion.
Porosity	Degree to which soil, gravel, sediment or rock is permeated with pores or cavities through which water or air can move.
Potamodromous	Migrate entirely within freshwater to spawn, live and feed in freshwater.
Potential couch/holt/hover	Tunnels, cavities or other structures which may be used by otters but which cannot be confirmed as being used in the absence of signs.
Priapulid (penis worm)	A member of a phylum of marine worms with an extensible spiny proboscis.
Predictive System for Multimetrics	The standard method for assessing the biological quality of still waters. The method uses a number of aquatic plant and invertebrate measures, which are combined to give a single value, which represents the waterbody’s overall quality.
Prime agricultural land	Agricultural land of Land Capability for Agriculture (LCA) classes 1, 2 and 3.
Priority habitat	Those which have been identified as being most threatened and requiring actions under the UK Biodiversity Action Plan.
Priority species	Those which have been identified as being most threatened and requiring actions under the UK Biodiversity Action Plan.
Proposed Scheme	The scheme design as reported in Chapter 4 of the ES, and used as the basis for environmental assessment and reporting.
Push net	A frame-mounted fishing net pushed along by hand close to the shore line.
Quadrat	A sample area of known size enclosed within a square frame, inside of which a community of plants/animals is analysed.
Qualitative	Concerned only with the nature of the organism/substance being investigated.
Quantitative	Concerned with the number, as well as nature of the organism/substance being investigated.
Ramsar sites	Internationally important wetland identified for conservation under the Ramsar convention (1971).
Rank vegetation	Grassland or marshes that have not been cut or grazed for some time and have become tall, tussocky and dominated by coarse species of grass.
Reach	A stretch or portion between defined limits. The stretch of water visible between bends in a watercourse.
Receptor	An ecological element that is affected (either directly or indirectly) by an ecological driver that causes a change in an organism, community, ecosystem, or other ecological component of the landscape.
Receptor(visual)	A dwelling, workplace or other building, outdoor space, viewpoint, road or footpath with views which may be changed in character and visual amenity by a proposed development.
Red Data List	The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™ provides taxonomic, conservation status and distribution information on plants and animals that have been globally evaluated using the IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria. This system is designed to determine the relative risk of extinction, and the main purpose of the IUCN Red List is to catalogue and highlight those plants and animals that are facing a higher risk of global extinction (i.e. those listed as Critically Endangered, Endangered and Vulnerable).
Red list species	Bird species in severe population decline.
Refuge/refugia	Any structure that provides animals temporarily with a place they can retreat to and feel secure. This can be rock or log piles, dense scrub or mammal burrows
Regionally Important Geological Sites (RIGS)	Sites designated by regional geological groups on locally developed criteria, currently the most important places for geology and geomorphology outside statutorily protected land such as Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI).
Relic woodland	Small remaining section of a large, usually established woodland.
Resectioned/reprofiled channel	Obvious over-deepening of the channel bed resulting from lowering the river bed.
Resectioned/reprofiled bank	Bank modified, often to accommodate flood flow or maintenance machinery. Recent resectioning produces a smooth, uniformly angled bank slope.
Residual impacts	Residual impact means the environmental impact after the provision of mitigation measures, if any.
Rhizome	A horizontally creeping underground stem which bears roots and leaves and usually persists from season to season
Riffle	A shallow section of a river/stream where the water is fast-flowing over a gravel/cobble substrate.
Right of way	A public right of way is a defined route which has been used by the general public for at least 20 years and which links two public places (usually public roads).
Riparian habitat	Natural home for plants and animals occurring in a thin strip of land bordering a stream or river.
Riparian zone	The area of habitat that is under the influence of the water body. It includes the transitional area between the water and land, and also extends further back than just the water edges.
River basin characterisation	The process of identifying the type, and all significant pressures on every water body.
River Basin District	The area of land and sea, made up of one or more river basins, together with the associated groundwater and coastal waters, identified by the Water Framework Directive as the main unit for the management of river basins.
River basin management plan	A plan setting out actions required within a river basin to achieve set environmental quality objectives, reviewed on a six yearly basis.
River Habitat Survey (RHS)	A survey to assess the physical structure of freshwater streams and rivers, providing a broad assessment of habitat quality.
RIVPACS	RIVPACS (River InVertebrate Prediction And Classification System) is a model that predicts the freshwater macro-invertebrate communities that are expected to occur at a site in the absence of any pollution.
Rockhead	The surface representing the top of the solid geological strata, i.e. below any drift deposits.
Roost	Any resting site used by bats including maternity roosts which are used by females and their young, hibernacula which are used during winter hibernation and transitional roosts which may be used at any time.
Rough grassland	Rank or tussocky grassland. May have been drained, grazed, mown or treated with manure but not so improved by fertiliser or herbicides as to have altered the sward composition greatly. Associated with unenclosed uplands, lowlands with poor access or wet areas, and road verges.
Rough pasture	Rough pasture is non-intensive grazing pasture, commonly found on poor soils, especially in hilly areas.
Route corridor	A defined area around the route alignment.
Ruderal	A plant that colonizes disturbed ground. They are often weeds that have a high nutrient requirement and/or are intolerant of competition.
Run	Fast flowing, silent water flow. Standing waves at surface are unbroken.
Run	A defined path used by an animal.
Runoff	Water that flows over the ground surface to the drainage system. This occurs if the ground is impermeable or if permeable ground is saturated.
Salinity	A measure of the amount of salts dissolved in water.
Salmonid	Pertaining or belonging to the family Salmonidae (salmon, trout and charr).
Saltmarsh	An area of coastal habitat that is regularly inundated by seawater.
Saprophyte	A plant, fungus or bacterium that gains nourishment directly from dead or decaying organic matter.
Scat	Animal dropping.
Scheduled Ancient Monument (SAM)	A monument which has been scheduled by the Scottish Ministers as being of national importance under the terms of the ‘Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979’.
Scour	A depression or hole left when sediment is washed away from the bottom of a river.
Scrape	A fragment scraped off of something and collected.
Scrub	Climax vegetation dominated by locally native shrubs, usually less than 5m tall.
Sea kelt	Post spawning adult sea trout.
Secondary impacts	Impacts that are caused by the proposed action and are later in time or farther removed in distance but are still reasonably foreseeable. Secondary impacts may include induced changes to land-use patterns, population density, or growth rate and related effects on natural systems.
Sedentary	Non-migratory.
Sediment	Material carried in particles by water or wind and deposited on the land surface or seabed.
Sedimentation	The deposition or accumulation of sediment.
Seepage line	The line above which there is no hydrostatic pressure and below which there is hydrostatic pressure.
Seine net	A fishing net which hangs vertically in the water with floats at the top and weights at the bottom edge, the ends being drawn together to encircle the fish.
Semelparous	Organisms that produce their offspring all at once.
Semi-improved grassland	Grassland that has been modified by fertilizers, drainage or intensive grazing. Contain less species diversity than unimproved grasslands.
Semi-natural Ancient Woodland	Areas that appear as wooded on 1860 maps but not maps from 1750 i.e. woodland that appeared between these two dates.
Semi-natural woodland	Woodland that does not obviously originate from planting. The distribution of species will generally reflect the variations in the site and the soil. Planted trees must account for less than 30% of the canopy composition.
Semi-natural habitat	Habitat which has been altered by altered by land management.
Sessile	Plants and animals that are firmly attached rather than free-moving.
Sett	The burrow system of badgers comprising a series of underground tunnels and chambers. There are several categories of sett including a main sett, annexe sett, subsidiary sett and outlier sett.
Severance	The separation of communities from facilities and services they use within their community. Alternatively, in relation to agricultural land, the division of plots of land into separate land parcels, potentially affecting access or creating areas that may be impractical for agricultural use.
Sewage fungus	A characteristic community of micro-organisms that often occurs in water with heavy organic pollution.
Shelterbelt	A barrier of shrubs and trees, which provides protection against the wind and reduces erosion.
Side bar	See Point Bar.
Sinuous	A river with many curves/ bends (meanders).
Sipunculan	Member of a phylum containing 144-320 species of bilaterally symmetrical, unsegmented marine worms, commonly called peanut worms.
Site compound	A secure area close to the construction site white provides full site services including storage for equipment, materials and fuel, offices and amenity areas.
Site of Importance to Nature Conservation (SINC)	Non-statutory designation which seeks to protect areas of high wildlife value at a local level.
Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI)	Areas of national importance. The aim of the SSSI network is to maintain an adequate representation of all natural and semi-natural habitats and native species across Britain. The site network is protected under the provisions of Sections 28 and 19 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 as well as the Amendment Act 1985 and the Environmental Protection Act 1990.
Small-masted tree	A tree that produces small seeds, for example, birch, or Scots pine.
Smolt	Young salmon migrating to the sea.
Soakaway	A deep hole used for drainage, where rainwater and other waste water drains directly into the ground, without connection to any mains drainage or sewerage pipes.
Social group	A collective term for a family of badgers, comprising usually 4-12 animals.
Soil nailing	Reinforcement and strengthening of the existing ground by installing closely spaced steel bars (nails) into a slope or excavation.
Soutterain	Curving, underground passageway built many years ago, which are usually lined with stone. Their use is not known but it is thought that they were either used for storage of valuable commodities or for ritual purposes.
Spawning	The process of egg release into the water by aquatic animals.
Special Area of Conservation (SAC)	An area designated under the EC Habitats Directive to ensure that rare, endangered or vulnerable habitats or species of community interest are either maintained at or restored to a favourable conservation status.
candidate Special Landscape Areas (cSLA)	Special Landscape Areas will be designated for their scenic quality, enjoyment, rarity and views. cSLAs will replace existing Areas of Great Landscape Value (AGLVs) when new Local Plans are adopted.
Special Protection Area (SPA)	An area designated under the Wild Birds Directive (Directive74/409/EEC) to protect important bird habitats. Implemented under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. Under the Habitats Directive, all SPAs will be proposed Special Areas of Conservation.
Species Action Plan	UK Biodiversity Action Plans detailing information on the conservation status of 382 species and the actions necessary to achieve the action plan targets.
Specific impact	A forceful consequence or strong effect to something particular or unique.
Species Cover Value	The cover class per plant taxon on an increasing scale between 1 and 9. The value forms part of the calculation of the Mean Trophic Rank
Split hopper barge	Non-mechanical ship or vessel designed to carry materials like rocks, sand and soil.
Spoil ground	An area within a body of water, especially in the sea, where dredged material is deposited.
Spraint	Otter faeces.
Stakeholder	A person or group that has an investment, share or interest in something.
Standing wave	A wave formed by one of three conditions: a narrowing of the riverbed, a steepening of the riverbed, or an increase in the volume of water. In contrast to ocean waves, standing waves don’t generally move much upstream or downstream.
Statute	Formal written enactment of a legislative authority that governs a country, city, or county. Typically, statutes command or prohibit something, or declare policy. Statute is often used to distinguish law made by legislative bodies from case law and the regulations issued by Government agencies.
Stenohaline species	Marine species which can tolerate salinities down to 25 practical salinity units (psu).
Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA)	The process by which information about the environmental effects of proposed plans, policies and programmes are evaluated.
Strategic Transport Project Review (STPR)	A two year review of the Scottish transport network being undertaken by Transport Scotland. It aims to identify and prioritise road, rail and other interventions of national significance, which will be taken forward to improve the network. Through selecting which transport projects of national significance should be progressed, the STPR would also affect regional and local transport networks.
Sub-lethal	Not causing death directly but has cumulative deleterious effects.
Sublittoral	The zone which is permanently covered with seawater.
Substratum	The base on which a sedentary organism lives or grows.
Subtidal	Referring to marine aquatic environments that are continuously submerged, even at low tide.
Superficial Deposits	The youngest geological deposits formed during the most recent period of geological time, the Quaternary, which extends back 1.8 million years from the present.
Supra-estuarine	A benthic community found in the lower Forth Estuary characterised by both euryhaline and stenohaline species.
Supra-littoral	The part of the lake, sea or ocean shore that is above the water level but made damp by waves and spray.
Surface water hydrology and flood risk	The study of water on or near the land surface.
Susceptibility	The ability to accommodate change arising from the proposed road without adverse effect.
Sustainable drainage systems (SUDS)	A sequence of management practices and control structures designed to drain surface water in a more sustainable fashion than some conventional techniques. Referred to in earlier guidance as ‘Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems’.
Swamp	An area of wet spongy land that often supports some trees and vegetation but is too wet for cultivation.
Sward	Turf; surface layer of ground containing a mat of grass and grass roots.
Swarm	A term that can be applied to fish, insects, birds and bats as well as microorganisms, such as bacteria, and describes an aggregate of animals of similar size and body orientation, generally moving in the same direction.
Swimbladder	An internal gas-filled organ that contributes to the ability of a fish to control its buoyancy.
Taxa	Plural of taxon.
Taxon	A taxonomic group of any rank.
Taxonomy	The branch of science (biological) concerned with classification.
Terrestrial	The environment above the mean high water spring
Threshold	The minimum intensity or value of a signal etc that will produce a response or specified effect.
Topsoil	The upper, outermost layer of soil.
Trestle	A rigid frame used as a support.
Turbid	High concentrations of suspended sediment and particulates in the water column.
Tussocky grassland	Grassland which have no, or only a very sparse, tree and shrub layer, and a ground layer dominated by tussock-forming (clump of) grasses.
Univariant analysis	A statistical analysis that considers only one factor or variable at a time.
Vascular plants	Higher plants, including flowering plants, conifers and ferns. They are characterised by the possession of specialized tissues (vascular tissue) for the translocation of substances around the plant.
Vegetative reproduction	Asexual plant reproduction where plants are formed not from seeds, but from specialized structures of the root, stem or leaf. This is usually accomplished by means of horizontal stems or roots (e.g. runners) which allow the plant to spread over a wider area.
Velocity	A measure of the speed and direction of an object.
Vernacular	Refers to a type of architecture which is indigenous to a specific time or place.
Viaduct	A bridge that carries a road, railroad etc. over a valley.
Vibro-piling	A method of driving a pile into the ground using rapid repeated oscillations of the pile.
Visual acuity	Ability to make fine visual discriminations between and among objects in the visual environment.
Visual envelope	The visual envelope illustrates the extent of potential visibility to or from a specific area.
Vocalisation	A type of animal communication involving their vocal cords.
Vulnerable groups	Children, elderly and disabled.
Walked-up shooting	Involves people walking across the land using guns and dogs to flush out birds, shooting the birds as they are found.
Waterfowl Habitat	Vegetation and water regimes which facilitate the breeding, nesting, feeding and cover required for the production and proliferation of ducks, geese and other waterfowl.
Water Framework Directive (WFD)	Wide-ranging European environmental legislation (2000/60/EC). Addresses inland surface waters, estuarine and coastal waters and groundwater. The fundamental objective of the WFD is to maintain "high status" of waters where it exists, preventing any deterioration in the existing status of waters and achieving at least "good status" in relation to all waters by 2015.
Water quality	The chemical and biological status of various parameters within the water column and their interactions, for example dissolved oxygen, indicator metals such as dissolved copper, or suspended solids (the movement of which is determined by hydrological process and forms geomorphological landforms).
Wildfowl	Any wild bird such as ducks, geese or swans.
Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 (WCA)	Principal mechanism for wildlife protection in the UK.
Working corridor	Strip of land either side of a proposed development.
Zone of influence	An area along a proposed development over which potential ecological effects extend.
Zone of Theoretical Visibility (ZTV)	Area in which a proposed development would theoretically be visible, based on a ‘bare-ground’ model which takes account of topography but not the screening effects of structures (e.g. buildings), vegetarion (e.g. woodlands). May also be referred to as Zone of Visual Influence.