Abiotic: non-living part of an ecosystem that shapes its environment
Alkalinity: capacity of water to resist acidification
Anthropogenic: [environmental change] caused or influenced by people, either directly or indirectly
Biodegradable benthic grids: nets made of biodegrable materials such as jute used to plant aquatic weeds at the bottom of the ocean
Biomass: the quantity or weight of organisms in a given area or volume at a given time
Blue carbon stocks: the amount of carbon stored by the world's ocean and coastal ecosystems
Carbon assimilation: incorporation of carbon from atmospheric carbon dioxide into organic molecules, either by photosynthesis or technical processes
Carbon budget: (1) numerical values for all components of carbon cycle (2) Policy concept of determining maximum acceptable amount of emissions per nation, per sector of society or entire mankind
Carbon dioxide removal: removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere
Carbon sequestration: removing and long-term storage of carbon from the atmosphere through biological, chemical or physical processes
Carbon turnover: the average time that carbon atoms spend inside of terrestrial ecosystems from photosynthetic assimilation until respiratory or non-respiratory loss
CH4 photochemical sink: solar energy and certain chemicals (OH, Chlorine) cause reactions removing methane from the atmosphere
CO2 equivalent: measure converting amounts of other greenhouse gases to the equivalent amount of carbon dioxide with the same global warming potential.
Coastal sediments: material accumulating in sea bed in shallow areas, brought by rivers or sea waves.
Dissolved oxygen: a measure of how much oxygen is dissolved in the water - the amount of oxygen available to living aquatic organisms.
Eddy covariance: a method to measure vertical turbulent fluxes in the atmosphere
El Niño: warm phase of the cycle of sea surface temperature in the tropical Central and Eastern Pacific Ocean, typically happening every 2-7 years.
EMSO: European Multidisciplinary Seafloor and water column Observatory
Eutrophication: the process by which water becomes progressively enriched with minerals and nutrients, particularly nitrogen and phosphorus. Leads often to faster growth of algae and altered species composition
Flux: the amount of material moving (Here: exchange of gases between plants or ocean and the atmosphere)
Formaldehyde: a molecule containing carbon, hydrogen and oxygen, which participates in many processes in the atmosphere
Ground-based data: measurements where the sensor is standing on Earth surface (e.g. not satellites)
Hydroseeding: planting seeds mixed with water and mulch
Hydroxyl radical (OH): a molecule consisting of one oxygen and one hydrogen atom. CH4 reacts with OH and is thus removed from the atmosphere.
Inventory analyses: a list of emission sources and the associated emissions quantified using standardized methods.
Isotopic measurements: measuring the ratio of different isotopes (nuclear species) of same element. Used e.g. to distinguish whether carbon is from burning fossil fuel or biological matter.
JERICO: integrated pan-European multidisciplinary and multiplatform research infrastructure dedicated to a holistic appraisal of coastal marine system changes.
Livestock: domestic animals raised in an agricultural setting to produce food or products like fur, leather, and wool.
LULUCF: sector of greenhouse gas emissions resulting from direct human-induced land use, land-use change, and forestry activities
Modelling techniques: different ways of using computers to calculate the state of a system, e.g. the atmosphere, in places and times where no observations are available
Net carbon sink: anything that absorbs more carbon from the atmosphere than it releases
Nitrogen inputs: acquisition and transformation of non-reactive nitrogen into a biologically available form
Nitrous oxide, N2O: "laughing gas", a powerful greenhouse gas which also harms ozone layer
Non-fixated nitrogen: inorganic nitrogen (e.g. from overuse of fertilizers) which is not converted to organic compounds by living organisms
NMVOC: non-methane volatile organic compounds. They are emitted by a number of activities including combustion, solvent use and production processes. They contribute to the formation of ground-level ozone, which can harm human health.
Offsetting carbon dioxide uptake: increasing sinks or reduction of emissions to make up for emissions that occur elsewhere.
Organic carbon: carbon found in nature from plants and living things (whereas inorganic carbon is extracted from ores and minerals)
Phosphorus: a chemical element P, essential for sustaining life
Photosyntesis: a process, in which plants use energy of light to build carbohydrates from water and CO2
PPB (parts per billion): 1/1000 000 000
Pyrolysis: thermal decomposition of materials at high temperature but lack of oxygen. Used e.g. in tar and charcoal production.
Remote sensing: measurements where the sensor does not touch the measured object, e.g. from satellites
Rumination: animals (like cows) rechew cud to breakdown plant matter further and to stimulate digestion
Salinity: dissolved salt content in water
Sediment core sampling: drilling cylinders of lake or sea bottom material
Soil scarification: plowing and rotating land prior to planting saplings
Thinning (WRT forests): removing some trees to make room for the growth of others and to harvest timber
Tillage: preparing soil for growing crops
Total ecosystem respiration, TER: sum of all respiratory processes in an ecosystem