A community or natural assemblage of organisms inhabiting a biotype; often used as an alternative to ecosystem but strictly it is the fauna/flora association per se, excluding physical aspects of the environment. (Fishbase Glossary https://fishbase.mnhn.fr/Glossary/Glossary.php)
An unusual and frequently severe weather condition characterized by strong winds and dust-laden air over an extensive area. Prerequisite to a dust storm is a period of drought over an area of normally arable land, thus providing the very fine particles of dust which distinguish it from the more common sandstorm of desert regions. Sand and dust storms (SDS) are natural atmospheric events generated in arid and semiarid regions, usually caused by strong near-surface winds associated with thunderstorms and frontal synoptic conditions. During these weather-driven extreme events, large amounts of particles of a broad range of sizes are uplifted from the soil. Sand and dust distinguish the size of the particles involved in SDS – “sand” refers to coarse particles (with diameters of > 60 micrometres (mm)) and “dust” refers to finer particles (with diameters of < 60 mm, including silt and clay). (FAO. 2009. Commission for Controlling the Desert Locust in the Central Region (CRC)' and WMO. 2025. Guidelines on Sand and Dust Storm mitigation. GAW Report No. 305 https://library.wmo.int/idurl/4/69235)
Note
The term sand storm is used most often in the context of desert sand storms, especially in the Sahara, or places where sand is a more prevalent soil type than dirt or rock, when, in addition to fine particles obscuring visibility, a considerable amount of larger sand particles are blown closer to the surface. Whereas the term dust storm is more likely to be used when finer particles are blown long distances, especially when the dust storm affects urban areas.
Data that defines the physical characteristics of the ocean-atmosphere boundary layer and the subsurface distribution of sea water properties. (https://opensky.ucar.edu/islandora/object/technotes%3A175/datastream/PDF/view)
A bight is a long, gradual bend or recess in the shoreline that forms a large, open bay. A bay formed by such a bend. (Adapted from NOAA. What is a bight? National Ocean Service website, https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/bight.htmll, 06/16/24 and and USACE Glossary of Coastal Terminology https://cdip.ucsd.edu/m/documents/glossary.html)
A bioregion (short for biogeographic region) is an area that is defined according to patterns of ecological characteristics in the landscape or seascape. It provides a frameword for recognising and responding to indigenous biodiversity values. (The New Zealand Biodiversity Strategy (Glossary), New Zealand, 2004.)
An interglacial period is a geological interval of warmer global average temperature lasting thousands of years that separates consecutive glacial periods within an ice age. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interglacial)
Larval stage of crustaceans following metamorphosis from the nauplius larva; characterised by four pairs of thoracic appendages; it may be referred to as protozoea where differentiation between the nauplius and mysis (or postlarva stage of development) is difficult. (Bondad-Reantaso, M.G., McGladdery, S.E., East, I. & Subasinghe, R.P. (2001) Asia diagnostic guide to aquatic animal diseases. FAO Fisheries Technical Paper, (402/2): 237p.)
Handlining is a fishing method in which a line with a hook, usually baited, is lowered into the water from a drifting, anchored or moving boat or from a jetty, pier or rock on the shore overlooking the water. Handlining is just as its name implies — holding a line in the hand while waiting either actively or passively for a fish to take the bait. (http://www.fao.org/3/t0511e/T0511E01.htm)
Fusarium wilt of cucumber is a disease caused by Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. cucumerinum (https://www.plantwise.org/KnowledgeBank/Datasheet.aspx?dsid=24622)
A biography is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of these life events. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biography)
Ovine pulmonary adenocarcinoma (OPA), also known as ovine pulmonary adenomatosis and jaagsiekte, is a contagious tumour of sheep and, rarely, of goats. It is a progressive respiratory disease, principally affecting adult animals. (WOAH. Ovine pulmonary adenocarcinoma (pulmonary adenomatosis). https://www.woah.org/fileadmin/Home/fr/Health_standards/tahm/3.07.08_OPA.pdf)
The part of an economy that escapes regulation by government authorities, particularly in the areas of contract and company law, taxation and labour law; hence the basic activities of enterprises are not, or not consistently, subject to formal regulation and oversight. Includes all unregistered commercial enterprises and all non-commercial enterprises that have no formal structure in terms of organization and operation. (UNTERM, 2024. https://unterm.un.org/unterm2/en/view/b02e887e-d0ba-432b-8869-e32e2a532d94 and Informal Economy and Sustainable Development Goals: Ideas, Interventions and Challenges, A Vinodan, S Mahalakshmi, S Ramesh Kumar. Emerald Publishing Limited, 2024)
Slump structures are mainly found in sandy shales and mudstones, but may also be in limestones, sandstones, and evaporites. They are a result of the displacement and movement of unconsolidated sediments, and are found in areas with steep slopes and fast sedimentation rates. These structures often are faulted. (Boggs, S., 2006, Principles of Sedimentology and Stratigraphy (4th ed.), Pearson Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ, p.94-97)
The use of biological agents (e.g. insects, micro-organisms and/or microbial metabolites) for the control of mites, pests, plant pathogens and spoilage organisms. (FAO & WHO. 2017. Code of Hygienic Practice for Fresh Fruits and Vegetables. Codex Code of Practice, No. CXS 53-2003. Rome. https://www.fao.org/fao-who-codexalimentarius)
Carpobrotus quadrifidus is a succulent perennial of the family Aizoaceae, native to the west coast of South Africa. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carpobrotus_quadrifidus)
