Abiotic (אביוטי)
Not biotic; usually used to characterize the physical, chemical and other nonliving factors in an ecosystem, including climate. These factors are essential for plants, animals and microorganisms in an environment and provide them with the elements and nutrients necessary for survival. Also termed abiological.
Acclimatization (אינטרודוקציה/אקלימטיזציה)
The process of adapting and habituating (species) to novel conditions and environments. Also termed introduction.
Wind-driven sand-rich soil deposits that exhibit no net advance or elongation, but increase in height and width.
See Dictionary for migrating dune.
The establishment of trees on an area that has lacked forest cover for a very long time or has never been forested.
Land-use system that combines the raising of agricultural plants and/or farm animals on land also containing trees and/or shrubs. By blending agriculture and forestry with conservation practices, agroforestry optimizes economic, environmental and social benefits.
A procedure of formula for solving problems, often incorporated in computer programs that process massive amounts of data utilizing the formula.
A plant species whose inflorescence (flower head) contains both male and female flowers.
The element of the male organ of a flower (stamen) that produces and contains pollen.
The controlled production of water-based plants and animals, be they algae, seaweeds, fish or crustaceans. See Dictionary for crustaceans.
An underground geologic formation composed of materials such as rock, sand, soil or gravel that contains water. Aquifers are the source of ground water for wells and springs. They can be as little as half a meter or as much as hundreds of meters below ground surface.
A relatively low-precipitation region. See Dictionary for aridity index.
A soil moisture regime that has no water available for plants for much of the year.
The ratio between P and PET (P/PET) for a particular region, where P is the area’s mean annual precipitation and PET is its theoretical, maximum annual return of water to the atmosphere, known as the potential evapotranspiration. In dryland regions, the value of the aridity index is very much lower than unity, indicating that much more water is lost from the area over the year than is gained.
The direction in which a slope faces.
The process of adapting and habituating (species) to novel conditions and environments. Also termed acclimatization.
Barchan dune (דיונת ברחן)A crescent-shaped, migrating dune that develops under conditions of limited amounts of sand. Typically, barchans are simple dunes, formed in the absence of vegetation. See Dictionary for migrating dune and simple dune.
A typical Mediterranean vegetation formation, comprised mostly of evergreen dwarf shrubs, which include myrtle, heaths, arbutus, cork oak and ilex. Also known as phrygana, garrigue, or maquis.
Taking place under two main directions or influences.
The range of diversity of organisms in an ecological system. Biodiversity integrates genetic, species, habitat and landscape diversities. Processes controlled by biodiversity components are essential for the stable functioning of the ecosystem.
The quantity of organic matter or its equivalent in dry matter, carbon content, or energy content that is accumulated in a given area over a given period of time by plants, animals, and microbes. Biologic productivity depends on the rate of uptake of organic and inorganic materials, as well as solar-energy incorporation by plants. Known for short as bioproductivity.
A flat, hard ground cover containing living organisms, such as cyanobacteria, bacteria, green algae, mosses and lichens, which produce materials that bind soil particles into a single mass. Soil-crust hardness reduces water infiltration and increases runoff. It also reduces the sprouting of seeds.
The total quantity or weight of living organisms in a given area, usually expressed as the total dry weight of a particular organism, population, or community. The living material is produced by ecosystem activities and is continually renewed. Biomass calculations are commonly made for crops, terrestrial and aquatic plants, animals and microbes.
The complex of living communities maintained by the climate of a region and characterized by a distinctive type of vegetation. Examples of biomes include desert, tundra, savanna, tropical rain forest, temperate deciduous forest and boreal needleleaf forest (taiga). Oceans and freshwater lakes are also biomes.
See Dictionary for biological productivity.
Relating to the plants, animals and microorganisms in an ecosystem. These living components are essential for energy flow and the cycling of nutriment materials in the ecosystem.
A flower containing both male (stamen) and female (style) sexual organs.
Boreal needleleaf forest (יער ספר מחטני)Forest that grows in very cold winter regions, which is characterized by evergreen needleleaf trees. This kind of forest is also called a taiga. Annual precipitation of snow ranges between 400 and 1000 mm.
Having leaves that are flat and thin, and generally shed annually.
Brush blanket® (יריעת פלסטיק)Commercial trade name of polyethylene protective sheets placed around young, planted trees that retard water evaporation. Photoselective additives in the plastic block the entry of blue-green sunlight, preventing the sprouting of competing vegetation.
Embankment (שיח)A raised earth structure running across a slope following the hillside height-contour line. See Dictionary for terrace.
C60 (פחמן -60)Short for Carbon-60, a naturally occurring molecule comprised of 60 carbon atoms. Because C60 molecules are naturally spherical, they tend to cluster together. They are ideal for use as building blocks in nanoscale fabrication because the open structure lends itself to the formation of new compounds.
Calyx (גביע (עלים בפרח))
The green outer covering of a flower.
Calyx (גביע)The green outer covering of a flower.
Canopy (חופה)The forest cover of branches and foliage formed by tree crowns.
Carpel (עלה של פרי)The wall of a simple pistil or one part of the wall of a compound pistil.
Carring capasity (כושר נשיאה)The maximum population size of a species that an area can support without reducing its ability to continue supporting this level of population.
Catchment (אגן היקוות)A place set aside for collecting runoff water. See Dictionary for “surface runoff.”
Catkin (תפרחת)A tassel like flower cluster that consists of numerous small flowers arranged around a long central axis.
Channel (ערוץ)
A fissure in the ground through which water flows.
Chlorophyll (כלורופיל)
The green pigment of plants that captures the energy from sunlight necessary for carrying out photosynthesis.
Cisterns (בור מים)
An artificial reservoir for storing water, often a large underground excavation or lined pit that catches rainwater.
Clay (חרסית)
A sedimentary material in soil with grains smaller than 1/256 mm in diameter. Clay, an earthy substance composed mainly of fine particles of hydrous aluminum silicates and other minerals, is plastic when moist but hard when fired. See Dictionary for soil.
Clay (חרסית)A soil formed from a mixture of mineral particles (a.k.a. soil separates) of various sizes, containing at least 45% formal clay (equivalent particle diameter less than 0.002 mm.), mixed with sand and silt.
Climatization (איקלום)
Providing heating, cooling, and illumination required for human comfort.
Climatization (מיזוג)Providing heating, cooling, and illumination required for humancomfort.
Complex dune (דיונה מורכבת מסובכת)A formation in which two or more types of simple dunes are intermingled. See Dictionary for simple dune.
Compound dune (דיונה מורכבת פשוטה)A formation in which two or more of the same kind of simple dune are coalesced or superimposed. See Dictionary for simple dune.
Compressive strength (חוזק דחיסה)A material’s ability to resist a force that tends to crush or buckle; it is the maximum compressive load a specimen sustains divided by the specimen’s original cross-sectional area.
Compressive strength: (חוזק לחיצה)
A material’s ability to resist a force that tends to crush or buckle; it is the maximum compressive load a specimen sustains divided by the specimen’s original cross-sectional area.
Concrete (בטון)A hard strong building material made by mixing cement with mineral aggregate, such as sand and gravel.
Concrete (מלט)A hard strong building material made by mixing cement with mineral aggregate, such as sand and gravel.
Cone (אצטרובל)A hard, scalelike, seed-containing structure forming on certain trees.
Conifer (חשופי זרע)A tree or shrub that produces cones.
Contour earth bank (תלוליות קרקע)A low mound of earth built along a slope that traps runoff water so that it can seep into the soil.
Controler (וסת)
Convection (זרימת חום)Transfer of heat by the natural circulation or movement of air or another liquid that has been exposed to heat.
Convection (הסעה)Transfer of heat by the natural circulation or movement of air or another fluid that has been exposed to heat.
Corolla (כותרת (עלים בפרח))The collective name for all the petals of a flower.
Cropping (קציר)
In the field of argiculture, the cultivatuin of food or other commercially valuable plants.
Crown (צמרת)
Upper branches and leaves of a tree
Crust (קרום)The outer surface of the earth; also the hard soil layer produced in exposed arid regions following the drying out of winter rainfall. See Dictionary for biological soil crust.
Cyanobacteria (ציאנובקטריות)
A group of blue-green algae (now usually classified as photosynthetic bacteria).
Deciduous (נשיר)
A tree whose leaves fall off during the autumn or winter.
Deciduous forest (יער נשירים ממוזג)
Forest that grows in regions with a temperate climate, namely, having warm summers and cold winters. Most trees here are broadleaf, which shed their leaves in the winter. Annual precipitation here ranges between 750 and 1500 mm.
Desert (מדבר)
Arid (water-limited) area where the level of precipitation is lower than its evapotranspiration (rainfall less than 150 mm per year).
Desert fringe (ספר המדבר)
The edge of a desert, the border region between the desert and another biome. The desert fringe is particularly susceptible to desertification. Because of predicted changes in global climate, researchers and governmental authorities pay particular attention to desert-fringe populations to devise programs that will enable them to acclimate to these changes
Desert steppe (מדבר סטפה)
A steppe that abuts a desert. See Dictionary for steppe.
Desertification (מדבור)
Land degradation in arid, semi-arid and sub-humid areas resulting from climatic variations and human activities. Among the causes of desertification are soil salinization, vegetation clear cutting and overgrazing.
Dioecious ( -חד מיני דו-ביתי)
A species with male and female flowers on different plants
Dish (צלחת)
A directional receiver, usually a parabolic or spherical reflector, used to collect sunlight or other forms of electromagnetic waves.
Drupe (פרי גלעיני)
A one-seeded fruit having a hard endocarp (pit or nut), a fleshy mesocarp and a thin exocarp (skin).
Dry sub-humid zone (אקלים חצי לח)
See Dictionary for arid zones.
Dryland (אדמה יבשה)
A relatively arid region. See Dictionary for aridity index.
Dunam (דונם)
A unit of area equivalent to 1000 sq m (about a quarter of an acre).
Dune (דיונה)
A hill or ridge of sand-rich soil deposited and transported by wind. See Dictionary for sand and soil.
Echo dune (דיונת הד)A dune formed when a unidirectional wind flow blows sand towards the bottom of a rising cliff, a common geological formation near a shore.
Ecological benefits (Ecological services) (רווח אקולוגי (שרותים אקולוגייםBenefits to mankind arising from natural ecosystem processes and component organisms. It includes the provision of clean air and unpolluted water, natural fertilizers, nutrient material recycling, climate moderation, plant pollination, pest control and genetic resources, as well as products that include food and fibers.
Ecological service (Ecological benefites) (שירותים אקולוגיים)Benefits to mankind arising from natural ecosystem processes and component organisms. It includes the provision of clean air and unpolluted water, natural fertilizers, nutrient material recycling, climate moderation, plant pollination, pest control and genetic resources, as well as products that include food and fibers.
Ecological system (מערכת אקולוגית)A component of nature made up of plant, animal, and microbe communities that interact with one another and with the environment in which they reside. These interactions include processes involving energy flow and material cycling. Known for short as an ecosystem.
Ecology (אקולוגיה)
The branch of science studying the interrelationship of organisms and their environment.
Ecosystem (אקוסיסטמה)
A component of nature made up of plant, animal, and microbe communities that interact with one another and with the environment in which they reside. These interactions include processes involving energy flow and material cycling. Also known as an ecological system.
Ecosystem (אקוסיסטמה)A component of nature made up of plant, animal, and microbe communities that interact with one another and with the environment in which they reside. These interactions include processes involving energy flow and material cycling. Also known as an ecological system.
Ecosystem engineer (מהנדס סביבה)An organism that changes its physical environment, thereby influencing the abundance and distribution of other organisms.
Electric Field (שדה חשמלי )The space surrounding an electrically charged particle or collection of charged particles in which an attractive or repulsive force is exerted on other charged particles.
Electrode (אלקטרודה)
A usually metallic conductor through which an electric current is transferred from reactant atoms or molecules.
Electromagnetic radiation (קרינה אלקטרומגנטית)A form of energy comprised of alternating electric and magnetic fields that propagate through space. This radiation is familiarly known as radio waves, light waves and X-rays, which involve a continuous spectrum of waves that are characterized by their frequency of alternation (or energy). Electromagnetic radiation can also be characterized by a wavelength, the propagation distance taken during a single alternation of the wave. The greater the frequency of alternation the smaller the wavelength and the greater the energy.
Elongating dune (דיונה אורכית)Wind-driven sand-rich soil deposits that grow in length and have little migration.
Envelope (מעטפת)Air-borne solid particles that result from the burning of coal or oil shale. Environmental regulations require the removal of flyash from the flue gas prior to its release through a power plant’s smokestack.
Envelope (מעטפת בניין)The outer structure of a building.
Environment (סביבה)The sum total of physical, chemical and biotic factors acting upon an organism or localized community of organisms that ultimately determine its form and survival.
Environmentalist (חוקר סביבה)A researcher or other individual concerned with preservation or improvement of the natural environment. See Dictionary for environment.
Erosion (Soil erosion) (סחף)The wearing away and loss of topsoil, principally by the action of wind and surface runoff.
Evaporation (התאדות)The physical process in which a liquid, such as water, is converted into a gas or vapor.
Evaportranspiration (אידוי-דיות)
The total amount of water that is transferred from the earth’s surface to the atmosphere. It is composed of water evaporating directly from the ground and that transpiring through growing vegetation.
Evergreen (ירוק עד)A plant or tree having foliage that persists and remains green throughout the year.
Exfoliate (הקטנה)
To come off in thin layers or scales.
A thin rod or fibre of glass or other transparent material transmits light by repeated internal reflections, even when the rod is somewhat curved.
Optical devices that take advantage of light transmission through specially manufactured glass or plastic fibers. See Dictionary for “fiber”.
The last mature leaf formed before inflorescence. See Dictionary for inflorescence.
The powerful flow of runoff following a rainstorm.
The uninterrupted progression from one state to another, the movement of resources or organisms in an ecosystem. Typical flows are associated with energy, materials or persons.
Air-borne solig particles that result from the burning of coal or oil shale. Environmental regulations require the removal of flyash from the flue gas prior to its release through a power plant’s smokestack.
Usually coarse food fed to domestic animals, such as cattle, horses, or sheep.
Vegetated sand ridges on sandy backshores where vegetation can grow and trap aeolian sand. See Dictionary for aeolian.
A steppe that abuts a forest. See Dictionary for steppe.
A chosen segment of light frequencies. See Dictionary for spectrum.
Any of a class of closed, hollow, aromatic carbon compounds that are made up of 12 pentagonal and differing numbers of hexagonal faces. C60 is a fullerene (see below).
The science dealing with the chemistry of living matter present in soil or underground structures.
The beginning of growth of a mature dormant seed, characterized by the formation of a tiny shoot and root.
Gigaherz, a frequency unit of one billion cycles per second.
A transparent sheet, usually glass, fixed within a wood or metal structure that admits sunlight into a building and inhibits the escape of heat.
A glycoprotein within glutin. See Dictionary for glucoprotein and glutin.
Having the shape of a globe or ball.
Spherical
A protein responsible for the firmness of dough used in baking.
A group of proteins in flour that gives elasticity to kneaded dough.
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A molecule formed from a carbohydrate and a protein.
To cut off a living branch of one tree and insert it into another tree of the same or related species.
Particles of soil comprised of rock fragments and pebbles (small stones worn smooth by fluvial erosion). See Dictionary for soil.
Water sources found below the surface of the earth often in naturally occurring reservoirs in permeable rock strata; the source for wells and natural springs.
A plant species having both bisexual flowers and female flowers, but on separate plants.
A vegetative structure characterized by trees and shrubs living aside one another, with the shrubs constituting the lower layer of plant growth.
Heat-pulse technique (חום)
A method that measures sap flow by injecting a small pulse of heat into the vascular tissue layer of trees. From the rate of ascent of this pulse, as measured by thermistors (small electronic temperature-detecting devices), the velocity of sap movement is determined. See Dictionary for sap.
A unit of area equivalent to 10,000 sq m (about 2.5 acres); abbreviated, ha.
A junction between layers of different semiconductor materials.
Image that is very sharp, clear and detailed even upon magnification; the more pixels provided for forming the image the higher the resolution. See Dictionary for pixel.
The science and art of growing fruits, vegetables, flowers, or ornamental plants (as distinguished from the growth of grains and legumes).
A measurement of wetness, particularly of the atmosphere. See relative humidity.
A science studying the properties, distribution and circulation of water on or below the earth’s surface or in the atmosphere.
The cup-like base or rim of a flower to which the stamens, sepals and petals are attached.
See Dictionary for arid zones.
The mode of development and arrangement of flowers on a plant’s floral axis.
A cluster of flowers on a plant stem. The cluster can be very loosely arranged, tightly bunched, or anything in-between.
See solar radiation.
Inorganic (אי-אורגני)
Matter composed of materials other than hydrocarbons and their derivatives. These substances include sand (and other minerals and oxides), iron (and other metals), table salt (and other metallic salts). See Dictionary for hydrocarbons.
A material that inhibits the transfer of heat. It is, therefore, characterized by low thermal conductivity.
The process of adapting and habituating (species) to novel conditions and environments. Also termed acclimatization.
Infiltration of surface water into soil.
Kilowatt, one thousand watts. See Dictionary for “watt”.
A heterogeneous system comprised of a web of interacting patches. In these interactions, patches serve as sources and sinks. Landscapes are defined through the spatial organization of the patches, as well as their nature, shape and size.
The study of the distribution patterns of communities and ecosystems, the interactions among patches within a landscape mosaic, and how these patterns and interactions change over time. Landscape ecology probes the development and dynamics of spatial heterogeneity, its effects on ecological processes, and the management of spatial heterogeneity.
The spatial organization of a collection of patches that interact with one another via the flow of resources and/or organisms.
Any of a class of devices that produces an intense beam of light of a very pure single color.
Loss of ecosystem resources, such as water, vegetation, or soil. Desert regions are particularly susceptible to resource leakage.
A chosen segment of light frequencies. See Dictionary for spectrum.
See photon.
A man-made low-lying catchment dammed by embankments that trap runoff water. Trees planted in the liman depression survive on the harvested water and excess runoff flows through special channels to the wadi slope. Limans are built in Negev areas where annual precipitation ranges between 50 to 300 mm. The term is derived from the Greek limen, meaning a port or flooded area.
See Dictionary for seif dune.
A soil created from wind-deposited fine rock particles (silt), which is found in many parts of the world, including the Negev.
Sunlight in the early morning or late afternoon when the sun shines from a relatively low angle above the horizon. In winter Israel, the sun does not reach its zenith (90°) to shine down vertically on buildings. It is shines from a relatively low angle throughout the day. A low-angle sun delivers relatively more solar radiation to the windowed sides of a structure and less to its roof.
The measurement of the percolation of water through soils, its evaporation from soils, and the determination of the soluble components of soils removed by the draining water. See Dictionary for percolation.
Planned human activities aimed at obtaining goods or services; effective use and co-ordination of resources to achieve pre-defined objectives.
A typical Mediterranean vegetation formation, comprised mostly of evergreen dwarf shrubs, which include myrtle, heaths, arbutus, cork oak and ilex. Also known as batha, phrygana, or garrigue.
A structural unit used by a mason, an artisan who builds by creating rows of a substantial material such as stone, brick, or block fixed in place by mortar.
See drupe.
The spongy inner tissue of a leaf, which contains chlorophyll and where photosynthesis takes place. See Dictionary for photosynthesis.
Pertaining to atmospheric phenomena, especially weather and weather conditions.
The study of atmospheric phenomena, especially the weather and weather conditions.
Megaherz, a frequency unit of one million cycles per second.
The essentially uniform local climate of a small site or habitat.
A device consisting of a removable plastic pipe (with an internal diameter of about 10 cm) containing natural soil inserted into the ground under study. By removing and weighing the pipe from time to time, the gain or loss of soil water can be determined.
Micrometer, a millionth of a meter.
Electromagnetic radiation with frequencies (and energies) lower than those of infrared light, but higher than radiowaves. Microwaves typically fall between 225 Mhz and 100 GHz. See Dictionary for electromagnetic radiation, MHz, GHz.
Wind-driven sand-rich soil deposits that shift position with little change in shape and dimensions.
A mathematical representation of a process that can be used to predict some aspect of the process from factors known to control its operation.
Having individual male and female flowers on the same plant.
Composed of different ecological systems. See Dictionary for ecology.
A characteristic of ecosystems dictated by constant changes (fluxes) in ecological variables, which include soil status (from crusty to plowed), precipitation, landscape mosaic structure, and the distribution of animal life in the region. These fluxes are intertwined and interdependent.
Remote-sensing device capable of detecting several spectral bands simultaneously. See Dictionary for remote sensing, spectral band.
