Historical and Current Ecology of the Lower Passaic River

Glossary

Benthic invertebrates

The community of organisms living on or in bottom sediments in freshwater and marine ecosystems.

Catch per unit effort (CPUE)

A sampling method used to compare the relative abundance of fish between one area of habitat and another where the only common link is the method used to catch the fish. Catch per unit effort is typically expressed as the number of fish captured divided by the amount of time it took to catch the fish (e.g., fish per hour) or the number of fish captured per net set.

Combined sewer overflow

The discharge into waterways during rainstorms of untreated sewage and other pollutants via combined sewers carrying both sanitary sewage and storm-water runoff from streets, parking lots, and rooftops.

Detritivores

Animals that feed on detritus, or dead material, typically but not always of plant origin.

Ecotone

A narrow and fairly sharply defined transition zone between two or more ecological communities, e.g., land-water interfaces.

Infauna

Organisms that bore or burrow into bottom sediments.

Omnivores

Animals that feed on both plants and animals.

Grab sampler

A grabbing device often used for collecting quantitative samples of materials from underwater.

Piscivores

Animals that feed on fish.

Point-source and non-point-source pollutants

Point-source pollutants are those that originate from a concentrated point, such as a pipe from a factory. Non-point-source pollutants come from a more dispersed area-for example, in storm water running off roads.

Ruderal species

Species characteristic of lands that are highly disturbed but rich in water, nutrients, and other resources.

Synoptic

Presenting a summary of the principal parts or a general view of the whole.

Taxon

A taxonomic rank, such as family, genus, or species.

Tubificid

Any of a family (Tubificidae) of aquatic worms that lack a specialized head (such as Tubifex worms).