Name it
Use the term only after you can point to the clue on the ground.
Field glossary
Flora & Fauna Glossary
Plant, habitat, ecology, natural-community, and flora/fauna relationship terms stay together here so wildlife pages can connect back to the living system.
Use this smaller glossary when you know the kind of word you need. Each entry still links to the best guide pages for field use.
31 terms
split reference
searchable
Flora & Fauna Glossary
Showing 31 glossary terms.
No exact glossary match
Try a related glossary page
The term may belong to one of the other focused glossaries, or it may need to be suggested for review.
Flora & Fauna Glossary Angling angler · fishing with rod and line
Angling is fishing with rod and line, best planned by water body, current rules, habitat, access, and low-impact bank behavior.
Flora & Fauna Glossary Blowdown windthrow · fallen trees
Blowdown is a patch of trees or limbs knocked down by wind, ice, flood, or age, often creating cover, openings, and habitat complexity.
Flora & Fauna Glossary Canopy forest canopy
The upper layer of trees and leaves that shapes shade, temperature, nesting, feeding, and movement conditions below.
Flora & Fauna Glossary Canopy Gap light gap · forest gap
A canopy gap is an opening in the upper forest layer that lets more light reach the ground and can trigger seedlings, shrubs, insects, and edge-like activity inside woods.
Flora & Fauna Glossary Channel stream channel · river channel · tidal channel
A channel is the main path that carries moving water through a stream, river, marsh, or tidal creek.
Flora & Fauna Glossary Chesapeake Bay tidal bay · bay country
The Chesapeake Bay region is defined by tidal rivers, marshes, broad shorelines, and weather patterns shaped by open estuarine water.
Flora & Fauna Glossary Closure Notice temporary closure · area closure · trail closure
A closure notice is a current official restriction caused by weather, habitat protection, safety work, hunting management, fire risk, flooding, maintenance, or another temporary access issue.
Flora & Fauna Glossary Cove Forest sheltered cove forest · rich cove
A cove forest is a sheltered, moist forest pocket often found in mountain folds or protected slopes with richer soils, tall trees, and cooler air.
Flora & Fauna Glossary Eastern Shore maryland eastern shore
The Eastern Shore is Maryland’s broad low-relief landscape of marshes, fields, slow rivers, migration habitat, and water-shaped travel.
Flora & Fauna Glossary Ecotone transition zone · habitat edge
An ecotone is the transition zone where two habitats meet, such as meadow to woods, marsh to forest, or stream to floodplain.
Flora & Fauna Glossary Estuarine Marsh tidal estuary marsh · brackish marsh
An estuarine marsh is a tidal wetland influenced by both fresh water and saltier bay or ocean water.
Flora & Fauna Glossary Forest Fragmentation fragmented forest · forest edge effect
Forest fragmentation is the breaking of larger forest blocks into smaller pieces by roads, development, fields, or utility corridors.
Flora & Fauna Glossary Headwater headwaters · stream source
A headwater is the small upper reach of a stream system where springs, seeps, shaded runs, and narrow channels begin to shape water quality downstream.
Flora & Fauna Glossary High Marsh upper marsh
High marsh is the higher marsh zone flooded less often than low marsh, often with different grasses, wrack lines, nesting cover, and foot-safety concerns.
Flora & Fauna Glossary Marsh Platform marsh surface · marsh plain
A marsh platform is the broad vegetated surface of a marsh, shaped by elevation, flooding frequency, plant zones, wrack, and tidal drainage.
Flora & Fauna Glossary North-facing Slope cool slope · shaded slope
A north-facing slope generally holds shade, moisture, snow, moss, cool air, and spring plants longer than warmer exposures.
Flora & Fauna Glossary Overwash storm overwash · overwash fan
Overwash is the movement of storm-driven water and sand across a beach or barrier island, reshaping dunes, flats, access, and nesting habitat.
Flora & Fauna Glossary Oxbow oxbow pond · old river bend
An oxbow is an old or cut-off river bend that can become slow water, wetland, or floodplain habitat depending on water connection and season.
Flora & Fauna Glossary Piedmont maryland Piedmont
The Piedmont is Maryland’s rolling upland transition between mountain country and tidewater, with reservoirs, stream valleys, woods, and edge habitat.
Flora & Fauna Glossary Prescribed Fire controlled burn · planned burn
Prescribed fire is a planned, managed fire used by trained crews to maintain habitat, reduce fuel, or restore fire-adapted landscapes.
Flora & Fauna Glossary Public Land public lands · public access land
Public land is a park, refuge, forest, preserve, trail system, shoreline, or other managed place where access depends on current rules, closures, hours, permits, and responsible visitor behavior.
Flora & Fauna Glossary Ravine ravines · forested ravine · shaded ravine
A ravine is a steep, narrow side valley where shade, slope, cool air, seeps, erosion, and protected travel routes can create distinct forest habitat.
Flora & Fauna Glossary Tidal Exchange tidal flow · ebb and flood
Tidal exchange is the regular movement of water into and out of tidal creeks, marshes, flats, and bay edges.
Flora & Fauna Glossary Tidal Marsh marsh · tidal marshes
A tidal marsh is a wetland flooded and drained by tide, supporting shoreline plants, wading birds, waterfowl, crabs, and edge habitat.
Flora & Fauna Glossary Tidal River tidal rivers · estuarine river · tidewater river
A tidal river is a river reach where tide, wind, salinity, marsh edge, and water level changes shape the field conditions.
Flora & Fauna Glossary Understory forest understory
The layer of shrubs, saplings, vines, and low vegetation beneath the forest canopy.
Flora & Fauna Glossary Wading stream wading · wet wading
Wading means walking in water, a choice that can affect stream bottoms, refuge pools, spawning areas, footing, and aquatic habitat.
Flora & Fauna Glossary Watershed drainage basin · catchment
A watershed is the land area that drains to a shared stream, river, reservoir, wetland, bay, or coastal waterbody.
Flora & Fauna Glossary Watershed drainage basin
The land area that drains rain, snowmelt, and runoff into a shared stream, river, bay, pond, or wetland.
Flora & Fauna Glossary Wetlands wetland · wet woods
Wetlands are water-influenced habitats such as marshes, wet meadows, floodplain pockets, and beaver ponds that support rich seasonal life.
Flora & Fauna Glossary Wind Tide wind-driven tide · blowout tide
A wind tide is a water-level change caused by sustained wind piling water toward or away from a shoreline, sometimes overpowering the predicted tide.
Term in use
Turn the word into a field clue
A useful term should change what you notice. Match the definition to a place, a season, a species, and a low-impact way to observe it.
Test it
Pair the term with one habitat and one species page.
Keep going
Use related links to move from definition to field use.
Field check
- Find the visible clue.
- Open one related habitat.
- Open one species or place.
- Suggest a missing term if the route breaks.
