Regional Environmental Information Network

Glossary of commonly used environmental terms

Tell Metro about any terms that should be added.

2040 Growth Concept
The region’s long-range growth management plan, adopted by Metro Council in 1995 that guides land-use decisions.
Biodiversity
The variety of plants and animals in a particular area.
Fish and wildlife habitat
An area upon which fish and wildlife depend in order to meet their requirements for food, water, shelter and reproduction.
Forb
An herb that is not considered to be a grass or grasslike.
Habitat fragmentation
The breaking up of a single large habitat area such that the remaining habitat patches are smaller and farther apart from each other.
Habitat of concern
Unique, rare or at-risk habitat areas (for example, wetlands, white oak forests, bottomland hardwood forests, riverine islands)
Interior habitat
The area in the center of a fish and wildlife habitat patch that is higher quality habitat than areas along the edge of patches, since areas along the border are more prone to edge effects.
Invasive
A type of plant or animal that is not local to an area, but rather originates from another place. Also called “exotic,” “non-native,” or “alien” species.
Low impact development (LID)
An innovative approach to stormwater management and environmental protection that allows for natural drainage on a developed site.
Mitigation
A means of compensating for impact to a regionally significant habitat using replacement, creation, or enhancement activities .
Non-native species
A type of plant or animal that is not local to an area, but rather originates from another place. Also called “exotic” or “alien” species.
Regionally significant habitat
Habitat areas Metro has identified as important at the regional level based on a resource inventory undertaken in the first step of Metro’s fish and wildlife habitat protection program.
Riparian area
The vegetated land near water bodies such as streams, rivers, wetlands and lakes that provides important benefits to wildlife and humans including clean water, reduced flooding and healthy habitat.
Salmonid
Fish of the family Salmonidae, including salmon, trout and steelhead.
Terrestrial
land-based or living on the land, as opposed to aquatic (water-based, or living in the water).
Upland area
Land located at a higher elevation than riparian areas that stays relatively dry.
Urban growth boundary (UGB)
The line that marks the separation between rural and urban land.
Watershed
All the land and streams that drain to a particular water body or point in a stream. Since water flows downhill, points of high elevation generally determine watershed boundaries.