Aggradation: to fill and raise the level of a water body by deposition of sediment.
Agri-environment schemes: voluntary land-management agreements that provide funding for farmers and land-managers who manage their land in an environmentally sensitive way above and beyond standard regulations.
Anadromous salmonids: species that are born in fresh water, migrate to the sea where the majority of their life is spent, before returning to fresh water to spawn and die.
Anal gland secretions: from a pair of internal sebaceous glands, anal papillae can be exposed through the cloaca to secrete a liquid that can be used in territorial defence and for identification of family members. Colour and viscosity can be used to sex beavers.
Anthropogenic: the effect or object resulting from human activity.
Beaver control/management: mitigation of beaver impact, including a range of non-lethal and lethal control methods.
Biomass: organic matter derived from living, or recently living organisms.
Cadaver: corpse or deceased body.
Carbon sequestration: long-term storage of carbon dioxide or other forms of carbon to mitigate or defer global warming.
Castoreum: yellowish secretion of the castor sacs. Beavers use castoreum in combination with urine to scent-mark territory.
Castration: removal of the testicles, to prevent a male from reproducing.
Chemical communication: a form of communication between animals based on chemicals or pheromones being emitted or deposited for the purpose of signalling various messages to others of the same species, such as readiness for mating, boundaries of territories and identity of individuals in an area. These signals can also be picked up by non-target species: for example, prey animals can recognise the presence of a predator and may then leave an area; and predators can track prey.
Colonisation/recolonization: process by which a species spreads to new areas or repopulates a previously occupied area it became expatriated from.
Cultural landscapes: cultural properties of an area that represent both natural and anthropogenic factors.
Diptera: true flies.
Domestic legislation: law relating to a country’s internal affairs.
Dynamic environment: constantly changing environment.
Dynamic source-sink pattern: a theoretical model used to describe how variation in habitat quality may affect the population growth or decline of organisms.
Ecosystem services: processes by which the environment produces resources that are utilised by humans.
Euthanasia: the act of putting an animal to death or allowing it to die by withholding extreme medical measures.
Eutrophication: the enrichment of an environment as a result of excessive nutrient input, commonly in low nutrient water systems.
Extant: still in existence; surviving.
Fluke: internal, parasitic flatworm.
Geographic expansion: the dispersal of a species into a surrounding landscape.
Habitat heterogeneity: habitats that contain a greater number and diversity of niches thereby supporting more biodiversity.
Habituation: a form of learning in which an individual learns to stop responding to a stimulus which is no longer biologically relevant.
Herbivorous: species adapted to a plant diet.
Host-specific: a parasite that is capable of living solely on or in one species of host.
Hypothermia: the condition of having an abnormally (typically dangerously) low body temperature.
Impoundment: to collect water behind a dam or in a reservoir.
Keystone species: a species that has a disproportionately large effect on its environment relative to its abundance.
Kits: the young of beavers.
Lactation: the secretion of milk in female mammals.
Limiting factor: factors preventing a population from growing.
Migratory fish: fish that migrate from one location to another for either feeding or breeding purposes.
Natal: place of birth.
Native range: refers to where a species historically originated and lived.
Nematode: roundworms, many of which are parasitic.
Non-native: a species living outside its native distributional range.
Opportunistic predators: species that feed on a range of prey when opportunity presents itself.
Ovariectomy: removal of one or both ovaries.
Ovariohysterectomy: removal of the uterus and ovaries
Parr: a young salmonid species, between the stages of fry and smolt.
Pathogen/pathogenic: causing or capable of causing disease.
Pelage: the fur, hair, wool, etc., of a mammal.
Percid: the collective term for perch fish species.
Populations: all the animals or plants of a particular species present in an area.
Preventative measures: action to avoid, minimise or reduce the extent of a problem(s).
Refugia: relict population.
Regional extirpation: the extinction of a species within an area.
Riparian: the area of land adjacent to a water body.
Runoff attenuation features: features which aid in the slowing of water flow along a catchment.
Salmonids: a collective term for the family of ray-finned fish, which includes salmon, trout, chars, freshwater whitefishes and graylings.
Self-regulating population: a population whose growth is naturally limited as a result of various factors such as lack of suitable habitat and food, deaths as a result of territorial fighting, etc.
Semi-emergent: plant species which have roots under water and leaves and flowers above the surface.
Soft engineering: the use of ecological principles and practices to reduce erosion and achieve the stabilisation and safety of shorelines and the area surrounding rivers, while enhancing habitat and improving aesthetics.
Statutory nature conservation organisations: nature conservation organisations which are run by the government.
Sterilisation: eliminating reproduction by physically or chemically altering the function of the sex organs.
Suboptimal habitats: less desirable environments.
Territory: an area that an animal considers as its own and that it defends against intruders of the same species.
Translocation: movement, or the act of moving an animal from one location to another.
Trematode: a parasitic flatworm.
Vasectomy: a surgical operation in which the vas deferens from each testis is cut and tied to prevent transfer of sperm during ejaculation.
Zoonoses/zoonotic: a disease that can be transmitted from vertebrate animals to humans.