Glossary of Terms*

Anadramous Fish Populations: Anadromous fish are fish born in fresh water (i.e. streams and rivers), which then migrate to the ocean to grow into adults, and finally return to freshwater to spawn. Salmonid species (e.g. salmon, steelhead trout) are anadramous fish. (Click here for detailed information on salmonid ecology and restoration)

Backyard Habitat Program (NWF): Established by the National Wildlife Federation, the Backyard Habitat program helps homeowners create vital habitat right in their own backyards, providing advice about wildlife-attracting plants, key habitat principles and requirements, and site-specific suggestions for your backyard. The program was implemented under the premise that habitat restoration is critical for wildlife where commercial and residential development has eliminated most natural areas. Participants in the program can have their yard or garden certified as a "Backyard Wildlife Habitat" (and receive a wonderful sign for the yard), and know that in doing this, they are nurturing wildlife, and benefitting the overall quality of the environment by improving air, water, and soil throughout their community. For more information, contact the NWF Backyard Habitat website, at www.nwf.org/backyardwildlifehabitat, or call 585-461-3092 or 800-822-9919.

Barriers to Fish Migration: Barriers to fish migration include any obstacles that may interfere with or prevent the upstream or downstream movement of fish. Examples of major barriers to fish migration include dams, culverts, and heavily engineered channels of concrete and riprap. Minor barriers can include partial dams, eroded streamside banks, small waterfalls, etc. Modification and/or removal of barriers can open up large sections of streams to fish populations - including spawning habitat - that were previously unreachable.

Channelization: The engineered straightening and/or lining of natural, meandering creekbeds using rock (riprap) or concrete. Channelization - traditionally implemented for flood-control purposes - has resulted in some of the most detrimental flood control projects that exist, including exacerbating erosion and flooding problems in downstream areas, and eliminating critical ecological habitat (such as fish habitat and vegetative cover on stream banks). The loss of natural stream meander increases flooding problems, while increasing water flow speeds and volumes.

Culverts: Underground pipes designed to carry water, both from creeks and/or as part of a flood control or storm sewer system. Apart from the aesthetic and ecological losses of culverting open creeks, culverts create as many problems (or more) than they "solve." Problems include: back-up of flood flows (culverts can only carry a finite amount of water, unlike natural streams which will overflow higher up their banks), leading to flooding of streets, homes, etc.; increasing water pressure and velocity by constraining the water to a small diameter, thereby causing erosion and water quality problems downstream, and preventing fish from migrating upstream; and failure and collapse of the culverts themselves - which will always happen over time - which places overlying structures and downstream areas at high hazard risk.

Daylight: In the stream restoration world, "to daylight" is a verb denoting the excavation and restoration of a stream channel from an underground culvert, covering, or pipe - in other words, opening it up to the daylight.

Gabions: Wire cages filled with rock and placed on the water side of stream banks to protect the area from erosion. They are one of the most commonly overused and misused materials in waterways projects, because they are inexpensive, easy to transport, and provide a quick "structural fix." Almost any gabion project could be replaced with soil bioengineering methods. Improper installation of gabions can lead to their being blown out, and rocks and debris then scattered downstream. Young fish ("fingerlings") can also get caught in the wire netting of the gabions, and die or suffer critical injuries.

Riparian: The riverside or riverine environment next to a stream channel. There is no specific measured distance constitituting the riparian area; instead, it refers to the extent of habitat on either side of a river or stream channel that is clearly dependent on that river or stream.

Riparian Plants: The vegetation (e.g. trees, shrubs, ground cover) located in a riparian, or streamside, area - e.g. along the stream banks, etc.

Riprap: Heavy stones used to protect soil from the action of fast-moving water. True restoration tries to eliminate or minimize the use of riprap, using plants with strong root systems to anchor soil instead (e.g. willows). The use of riprap can lead to many detrimental effects, including increasing water volumes and flow (which leads to flooding and bank erosion), constricting stream channels (which exacerbates flooding), etc.

Salmonids: The official biological term for all species of salmon (species Oncorhynchus), which includes such species as Chinook and Coho salmon, and Steelhead trout. Salmonids spend most of their life at sea, but spawn in freshwater, using rivers and streams as their spawning grounds. (Click here for detailed information on salmonid ecology and restoration)

Soil-bioengineering: The use of natural methods to control creek bank erosion, and to restore natural stream habitat. Also referred to as, "biotechnical slope protection," soil-bioengineering involves the use of live and dead woody cuttings and poles or posts collected from native plants, to revegetate watershed slopes and stream banks. The cuttings, posts, and vegetative systems composed of bundles, layers, and mats of the cuttings and posts provide structure, drains, and vegetative cover to repair eroding and slumping slopes.
Download a Stream Bioengineering Handbook that has lots of information on various techniques and how to complete a successful project.

Spawning and Spawning Habitat: The method by which salmonids reproduce and deposit their eggs. Salmonids, such as Steelhead trout, return to the freshwater streams of their birth, to lay their eggs. The prime spawning habitat is in the small, upstream waterways (the "headwaters" and "tributaries" of larger rivers), where the water temperature is cooler, and there are gravel beds in the stream channel. The female uses her body to dig a depression in the gravel, and lays her eggs there, while a male waits at the side to fertilize the eggs. The female then moves upstream and flaps her tail against the stream bottom, dislodging gravel which covers the egg-laying site. The eggs incubate in this nest, until they emerge as "fry." (Click here for detailed information on salmonid ecology and restoration)

Steelhead Trout: One species of the salmonid family, officially termed, Oncorhynchus mykiss. Steelhead trout are currently listed as a "threatened" species under the federal Endangered Species Act. (Click here for detailed information on steelhead ecology and restoration)

Watershed: The landscape area whose run-off flows into a particular stream or river, also known as "basins" or "drainages." Watersheds can be nested within each other - i.e. smaller watersheds draining into smaller streams are nested within a larger encompassing watershed that contains all of those streams, as well as a larger river into which they flow.

* References used in compiling this glossary include:

A. L. Riley, 1998. Restoring Streams in Cities: A Guide for Planners, Policymakers, and Citizens. Island Press, Washington, D.C. 426 pp.

T. R. Schueler and H.K. Holland, 2000. The Practice of Watershed Protection. Center for Watershed Protection, Ellicot City, MD. 752 pp.

U.S. Department of Agriculture (Natural Resources Conservation Service), et al., 1998. Stream Corridor Restoration: Principles, Processes, and Practices. National Engineering Handbook (NEH) Part 653, USDA. Washington, D.C.

E.C. Wolf and S. Zuckerman (eds.), 1999. Salmon Nation: People and Fish at the Edge. Ecotrust, Portland, OR. 80 pp.