Vocabulary

altitude: the height of an object or point in relation to sea level or ground level. 

aquifer: an underground layer of rock or soil that contains water from which groundwater can be extracted. 

chaparral: a habitat with dense, small evergreen shrubs that grow where  summers are hot and dry and winters are cool and moist  

coastal sage scrub: a habitat on drier coastal slopes that consists of drought resistant, deciduous shrubs and other plants.  

conifers: mostly evergreen trees and shrubs having usually needle-shaped or  scale-like leaves and including forms (as pines) with true cones and others (as  yews) with an arillate fruit. 

culvert: a drainage or channel, such as a flood control channel, that crosses  under a road or railway. 

cumulonimbus cloud: a cloud forming a towering mass with a flat base at fairly  low altitude and often a flat top, as in thunderstorms. 

deciduous: plants that lose their leaves during certain seasons; in California,  usually the dry summer-fall season. 

endemic: native to and confined to a certain place or region. erosion: the process by which water, wind, or other means wears away land. fault line: a line on a rock surface or the ground that traces a geological fault. groundwater: water that is in underground streams or aquifers. headwater: a tributary stream of a river close to or forming part of its source. 

nitrates: nutrients needed by all aquatic plants and animals that come from  decomposing dead plants and animals and the excretions of living animals. 

pesticide: a substance used to kill harmful or undesirable plants or animals

pH: a measure of acidity (acid) or alkalinity (base) of water or other solution  indicating hydrogen ion concentration on a scale of 0 (acidic) to 14 (basic),  with 7 being neutral; pH is an abbreviation for “power of Hydrogen” 

pollution: the presence or introduction into the environment of a substance  (pollutant), usually produced by humans, that causes harm to a natural  environment.  

reservoir: a large natural or artificial lake used as a source of water supply. 

riparian: a type of wetland near or along the banks of a river, stream or lake; a streamside or riverside habitat. 

runoff water: water that doesn’t soak into the soil, and instead runs off the land  into storm drains, creeks, rivers, etc. 

sky-islands: isolated mountains surrounded by radically different lowland  environments. 

transpiration: is the process where plants absorb water through the roots and  then give off water vapor through pores in their leaves. 

water quality: a measure of several factors (e.g., dissolved oxygen, nitrates,  phosphates, and pH) in water relating to a particular purpose of the water (e.g.,  drinking). 

watershed: an area of land that drains the rain falling onto it (or water flowing  through it) into a common body of water, such as a creek or stream, which flows  into a larger body of water, such as a river or lake, which eventually flows into  an estuary and out to the ocean