Glossary
of Terms1
Alternative: a set of one or more management measures
that function together to address one or more objectives. May be referred
to as an alternative plan. Example: the combination of dam removal,
bank stabilization with bioengineering techniques, and control of
human access to a stream to improve native aquatic species diversity.
Approach: the strategy or conceptual framework for
tackling a problem; a general way of advancing into planning analysis.
Determining the approach to a problem requires selection from among
competing approaches and a decision. Example: use GIS modeling and
satellite imagery to classify land cover types, convene an expert
panel to modify an assessment procedure for local application, build
a conceptual model to further refine data needs.
Assessment:
quantification; the act of identifying, characterizing, and measuring
ecological functions. Currently most assessments in use by the Corps
provide quantification on a scale from 0 to 1. Example: determine
habitat quality for cavity-nesting birds, characterize the ability
of a bottomland wetland to retain floodwaters.
Assessment
method: tools that allow quantification; tools that provide
a defined procedure for identifying, characterizing, and measuring
ecological functions. Example: Floristic Quality Assessment (FQA),
Habitat Evaluation Procedures (HEP), Hydrogeomorphic Assessment (HGM),
Index of Biotic Integrity (IBI), Instream Flow Incremental Methodology
(IFIM), Riverine Community Habitat Assessment and Restoration Concept
(RCHARC), Wetland Rapid Assessment Procedure (WRAP). Synonym: Assessment
procedure.
Basin:
a drainage associated with a river basin including its tributaries.
There may be multiple watersheds within a basin, one for each tributary.
Example: The Missouri River basin.
Benefit:
an outcome associated with changed outputs described in terms of their
relative value; the outcomes and changed outputs are a result of the
Corps project or action being discussed. Benefits may be economically
valued or assessed with nonmonetary measures. Example: diversity of
stream invertebrates, improved water clarity, migratory habitat in
riparian zones.
Best
Professional Judgment: a descriptive approach to assessment
that relies on ratings or rankings performed by individuals with knowledge
of the area and system. Example: a team examines five alternatives
and scores them from low (1) to high (5) on their ability to meet
the objective.
Classification:
the systematic arrangement in groups or categories according to established
criteria. To classify land and water cover, we identify relationships
and patterns on the landscape and draw lines around them, with the
size of the pattern depending on the scale at which classification
is done and the intended use of the classified results. Example: A
variety of classification schemes have been developed for wetland
plant communities including the “Classification of Wetlands
and Deepwater Habitats of the United States” and the Hydrogeomorphic
classification. These classifications can then be used to determine
the wetland type(s) on a particular site, or to determine the types
and their extent over a large area (inventory).
Condition:
the biological and physical integrity (well-being) of a habitat relative
to a reference/baseline condition. (draft definition)
Cost
Effectiveness Analysis: an analysis done to find the cost
effective alternative plans. For a given level of environmental output
(habitat units, acres, IBI scores, etc.), no other plan costs less.
Similarly, no other plan delivers more environmental output for less
cost.
Delineation:
the process of marking a line on the ground (and ultimately on a map),
delineating the boundary between two areas of interest, e.g., land
cover classes. Also refers to the technique of identifying and determining
the jurisdictional boundary of wetlands in the U.S. for Section 404
permit actions. Example: delineating wetland from upland or aquatic
systems.
Ecosystem:
An ecosystem is a biotic community together with its physical environment,
considered as an integrated unit. Implied within this definition is
the concept of a structural and functional whole unified through physical,
chemical, and biological processes. Example: the Gulf of Mexico, Crab
Orchard Lake, a stand of old growth timber. Note: An ecosystem and
a watershed can be equivalent but need not be. Any one watershed may
encompass multiple ecosystems, and a sufficiently large ecosystem
will encompass multiple watersheds.
Evaluation: an overarching term for assessment and
appraisal of alternatives. Assessment is the quantification, and appraisal
is the judgment. The primary reason for evaluating plan impacts is
to qualify plans for further consideration in the comparison step
of the planning process. Example: quantification of benefits of dam
removal for improving fisheries and stream biotic integrity, followed
by comparison to the without-project condition, analysis of the effects
of the action, analysis of how well the alternative meets the objectives,
and whether the alternative is justified or not.
Function:
the biological, physical, and chemical processes that occur in natural
systems; both which functions are occurring and the level at which
they are occurring is of interest. Example: fish and wildlife habitat
support, carbon cycling, nutrient trapping.
Incremental
cost analysis: analysis performed on the cost effective alternative
plans. We look at changes in cost and changes in output as we move
to successively larger (more output) alternative plans. We look for
the plans that give us the greatest increases in output for the least
increases in cost (stated another way, the plans that have the lowest
incremental costs per unit of output for successively larger levels
of output). We call these plans that are "most efficient in production"
the "best buy" plans.
Inventory:
determining the extent and distribution of a unit of interest. Example:
inventory of wetlands within a watershed, number of breeding pairs
of least terns.
Management
measure: a feature or activity that can be implemented to
address one or more planning objectives. A measure may be structural
or non-structural. Management measures are combined to produce alternative
plans. Example: construct fish spawning substrate, introduce coarse
woody debris, revegetate riparian banks.
Method:
the steps, framework, and formulations used in assessment. These include
simple formulations based on expert opinion, local rapid assessment
procedures, and more rigorous assessment procedures. Example: Best
Professional Judgment, conceptual models, Index of Biotic Integrity.
Synonym: procedure.
Metric:
a unit of measure that coincides with a specific method or procedure
or analysis. In Corps planning, metrics are used for assessing and
comparing properties such as scale, capacity, or quantity. Metrics
are used in evaluating the outputs of ecosystem restoration alternatives.
Example: habitat units derived from Habitat Suitability Index models
or functional capacity units derived from hydrogeomorphic wetland
function assessment models.
Model:
an abstraction or simplification of reality; a subset of the most
critical components of the system being modeled. Models may be conceptual
or mathematically expressed. Models are often used in evaluation to
quantify outputs. Example: Habitat Suitability Index (HSI) model,
Ecological Dynamics Simulation (EDYS), Hydrological Simulation Program
– FORTRAN (HSPF), Hydrologic Engineering Center River Analysis
System (HEC-RAS).
Objective:
A clear statement of intended purpose; description of desired results
or outputs, e.g., from ecosystem restoration. Objectives are written
for specific actions, projects, or activities. Example: Restore the
natural emergent marsh vegetation at Babylon Marsh; increase native
species diversity in the Babylon River basin.
Output:
the desired or anticipated measurable product or result of restoration
measures and alternatives; the increase of quality and/or quantity
of selected ecosystem resources. These measured outputs provide the
metric for determining how well an alternative plan meets the objectives
of the project, and for comparing and selecting among alternatives.
Ecosystem restoration projects must be formulated for outputs that
are considered significant. Example: diversity of native species in
the Babylon River, extent of oyster beds, habitat to support viability
of an endangered species.
Procedure:
the steps, framework, and formulations used in assessment. These include
simple formulations based on expert opinion, local rapid assessment
procedures, and more rigorous assessment procedures. Example: Best
Professional Judgment, conceptual models, Index of Biotic Integrity.
Synonym: method
Process:
physical, chemical, and biological flows of energy and material that
result in the functions of ecosystems. Example: hydrologic cycle,
carbon sequestration, predation.
Protocol:
manner in which field, lab, and office data are collected and analyzed.
Data may be used in an Assessment Procedure. Example: Light trap for
tadpoles, stratified random transect for ground vegetation, soil probe.
Synonym: technique
Services:
referring to natural services, these are beneficial outputs that result
from functions of natural systems and that are valued by or valuable
for society. Example: better fishing and hunting, cleaner water, better
views, and reduced human health risks and ecological risks.
Significant:
likely to have a material bearing on the decision-making process.
Significance is based on institutional, technical, and / or public
recognition. The scale of significance can be from local to international.
Resources, effects, and outputs can be determined significant. Example:
ecosystems such as wetlands and coral reefs, species such as the bald
eagle.
Structure: the spatial and temporal occurrence and
arrangement of material in an ecosystem; the physical manifestation
of processes and functions. Example: amount and distribution of sediment,
biomass, vegetation layers, or species.
Technique:
manner in which field, lab, and office data are collected and analyzed.
Data may be used in an Assessment Procedure. Example: Light trap for
tadpoles, stratified random transect for ground vegetation, soil probe.
Synonym: protocol.
Value:
(1) monetary measure of the contribution to human welfare provided
by project outcomes, (2) numbers in an analysis, (3) society’s
or an individual’s view of a thing.
Watershed:
a portion of land defined based on topography and water flow. A watershed
is an area of land within which all surface waters flow to a single
point. An ecosystem and a watershed can be equivalent but need not
be. Any one watershed may encompass multiple ecosystems, and a sufficiently
large ecosystem will encompass multiple watersheds. Example: Chesapeake
Bay watershed, which contains the Department of Army installation
Fort Belvoir, which contains 7 watersheds and 53 subwatersheds.
____________________________________________________________________________
1
This glossary is slightly modified from a glossary has been prepared
for use in US Army Corps of Engineers training classes. Compiled by
L. Jean O’Neil, US Army Engineer Research and Development Center,
Environmental Laboratory, Vicksburg, MS; and Candy Bartoldus, George
Mason University, Fairfax, VA. April 2003, modified Jan 2004.
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