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GLOSSARY

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Aerenchymous species

78910Aquic

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Aquaculture

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Autotrophic respiration

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Blanket bog

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21Bog

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Brackish/saline water

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Brackish/saline wetland

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Chamber

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Coastal wetland

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Constructed wetland for wastewater treatment

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Created wetland

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Dam

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Denitrification

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Dissolved Inorganic Carbon (DIC)

Plant species with a tissue consisting of thin-walled cells and large intercellular spaces that allows for plantinternal circulation of air and enhances gas exchange between the root layer and the atmosphere. Aerenchymous
plants are widespread in wetlands.
Condition pertaining to soil layers that are virtually free of dissolved oxygen and have a reducing environment
because of saturation with ground water or capillary water (adapted from Table 2.3, Chapter 2, Volume 4 of the2006 IPCC Guidelines).
The organised production of aquatic animals and plants, especially fish, shellfish, and seaweed in marine or
freshwater environments. The most important aquacultural practices in coastal wetlands are fish farming andshrimp ponds.
Respiration of living plants and associated carbon dioxide emissions due to internal metabolism (growth andmaintenance) of plants.
A bog type (see bog) that covers the underlying undulating landscape like a blanket.
Peatland only fed by precipitation and consequently generally nutrient-poor and acid (see also fen)
Water generally found in estuaries, deltas of rivers, lagoons, backwaters affected by freshwater discharge andtidal influences, and seawater. The salinity of the water can be variable, but normally contains more than 5 ormore parts per thousand (ppt) of dissolved salts, which is roughly equivalent to grams of salt per litre of water.
A wetland covered or saturated by brackish/saline water for all or part of the year.
Gas-tight enclosure used for measuring greenhouse gas fluxes.
Wetland at or near the coast that is influenced by brackish/saline water and/or astronomic tides.
Wetland designed and constructed to use natural processes to help treat wastewater.
Previously dry land converted to a wetland by raising the water table in inland wetlands or removing
obstructions to hydrologic flow and/or raising or lowering the soil elevation to appropriate tidal elevation incoastal wetlands.
A barrier constructed to obstruct the flow of water.
Reduction of nitrate or nitrite to nitrogen gas.
Sum of all inorganic carbon species in solution (e.g. carbonate, bicarbonate, carbonic acid, carbon dioxide).

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Dissolved Organic Carbon (DOC)

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Ditch

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A long, narrow excavation made in the ground by digging, as for draining or irrigating land.

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Drainage/drained

Organic carbon remaining in solution after filtering the sample, typically using a 0.45 micrometer filter.

Artificial lowering of the soil water table. In this Supplement ‘drainage’ is used to describe the act of changing a
wet soil into a dry soil. A drained soil is a soil that formerly has been a wet soil but as a result of humanintervention has become a dry soil.

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Drainage class57
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Dry soil59
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Eddy covariance

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Eutrophic

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Extraction

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Fen697071

Fish cages or pens

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Fish pond

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Flooded Land

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Flooding

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Floodplain

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Freshwater

A collection of water table depths sharing a common characteristic. E.g. the class ‘shallow-drained’ ischaracterized by having a mean annual water table depth of less than 30 cm below the surface, whereas the class‘deep-drained’ has a mean annual water table depth of 30 cm and deeper below the surface (Chapter 2). The
mean annual water table is the water table averaged over a period of several years.
Every soil that is not a wet soil.
Micrometeorological method that uses differences in concentration associated with turbulence in the air toquantify net vertical gas exchange.
Nutrient-rich (see also oligotrophic).
In this supplement, to remove soil (and associated biomass and dead organic matter).
Peatland that in addition to precipitation water also receives water that has been in contact with mineral soil orbedrock (see also bog).
Types of enclosure at the surface, in mid-water or fixed at the seabed used to hold fish captive within an
enclosed space whilst maintaining a free exchange of water.
In this supplement a general term covering ponds constructed in brackish or saline water, designed to retain andculture fish for commercial production (aquaculture).
In this Wetlands Supplement Flooded Land is defined as ’water bodies where human activities have causedchanges in the amount of surface area covered by water, typically through water level regulation. Examples ofFlooded Land include reservoirs for the production of hydroelectricity, irrigation, and navigation. Regulated
lakes and rivers that do not have substantial changes in water area in comparison with the pre-floodedecosystem are not considered as Flooded Lands. Some rice paddies are cultivated through flooding of land, but
because of the unique characteristics of rice cultivation, rice paddies are addressed in Chapter 5 (Cropland) of
the Guidelines’ (Chapter 7.3, Volume 4 of the 2006 IPCC Guidelines).
Overflowing of water on land normally dry.
Land adjacent to a stream or river that experiences flooding during periods of high discharge.

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Water that is not brackish/saline.

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Freshwater wetland

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CO 2 or CH 4 or N 2 O Flux

A wetland covered or saturated by freshwater for all or part of the year.
Rate of flow of molecules of CO2 or CH4 or N2O across a given surface or area and over a certain amount oftime.

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Heterotrophic respiration

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HSSF

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Hydroperiod

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Impoundment

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Inundated/inundation

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Mangrove

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Marsh

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Methanogen

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Methanotroph

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Mineral soil

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Minerotrophic

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Nitrification

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Ombrotrophic

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Oligotrophic

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Organic soil

The total of physical and chemical processes in an organism by which oxygen is conveyed to tissues and cells,
and the oxidation products CO2 and water, are given off.
A type of constructed wetland with horizontal subsurface flow
Inundation frequency, differentiated into permanent and intermittent.
Body of water formed by impounding
Covered by water; see also Flooded Land
Coastal wetland with trees and shrubs along tropical and subtropical coastal areas, that are adapted to grow,generally, below the high-water level of spring tides and thus tidally flooded by brackish/saline waters.
A wetland, typically treeless, periodically inundated and characterized by grasses, sedges, cattails, and rushes.
Microorganism that produces methane.
Microorganism that utilizes methane for metabolism.
Every soil that does not meet the definition of organic soil (see Annex 3A.5, Chapter 3, Volume 4 of the 2006
IPCC Guidelines).
(Of peatland): supplied with nutrients from other sources (groundwater, flood water) than the atmosphere (seealso ombrotrophic).
The microbial oxidation of NH4 to NO3.
Only supplied with nutrients by the atmosphere (see also minerotrophic) and consequently often acidic and lowin nutrients.
Poor to extremely poor in nutrients (see also eutrophic).
In line with the 2006 IPCC Guidelines (Annex 3A.5, Chapter 3, Volume 4), soil that satisfies the requirements 1and 2, or 1 and 3 below:

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1301311) Thickness of organic horizon greater than or equal to 10 cm. A horizon of less than 20 cm must have 12
percent or more organic carbon when mixed to a depth of 20 cm;

1321332) Soils that are never saturated with water for more than a few days must contain more than 20 percent
organic carbon by weight (i.e., about 35 percent organic matter); and1343) Soils are subject to water saturation episodes and have either:

135136a)At least 12 percent organic carbon by weight (i.e., about 20 percent organic matter) if the soil has noclay; or137138b) At least 18 percent organic carbon by weight (i.e., about 30 percent organic matter) if the soil has 60%
or more clay; or139c)

An intermediate proportional amount of organic carbon for intermediate amounts of clay.

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Except for the 10 cm criterion mentioned under 1) the 2006 IPCC Guidelines do not define a minimum thickness
for the organic horizon to allow for country-specific definitions of organic soil.

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Paludiculture

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Particulate Organic Carbon (POC)

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Peat compaction

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Peat consolidation

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Peat decomposition/oxidation

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Peat subsidence

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Prairie

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Refractory carbon

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Rehabilitation

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Restoration

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Rewetted soil

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Rewetting

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RiparianAgriculture and forestry on wet (undrained, rewetted) organic soil.
Organic carbon that is filtered out when filtering the sample, typically using a 0.45 micrometer filter (see alsoDissolved Organic Carbon).
Volume reduction of peat in the aerated zone above the water table, resulting in increased bulk density.
Volume reduction of peat in the saturated zone below the water table owing to increased loading (downward
Microbial mineralization of peat resulting in products such as CO2, DOC and DIC.
The loss in peat elevation resulting from peat compaction, peat comsolidation and peat oxidation.
An extensive area of flat or rolling, predominantly treeless grassland; often considered to be part of thetemperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome.
Soil carbon that does not oxidize within the time scale of the inventory.
The re-establishment, on formerly drained sites, of some but not necessarily all the hydrological,
biogeochemical and ecological processes and functions that characterized pre-drainage conditions.
The process of assisting the recovery of an ecosystem that has been degraded, damaged, or destroyed. In case ofdrained former wetlands, restoration always has to include ‘rewetting’.
A soil that formerly has been drained but as a result of human intervention has once more become a wet soil.
The deliberate action of changing a drained soil into a wet soil, e.g. by blocking drainage ditches, disablingpumping facilities or breaching obstructions.
Interface between land and a river/stream.

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Saline inland wetland

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Salt production

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Seagrass meadow

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Sediment

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Semi-natural treatment wetland

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SF

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Swamp

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Tidal freshwater wetland

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Tidal marsh

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TOC (total organic carbo n)

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VSSF

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Wastewater treatment plant

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Waterborne carbon

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Wetland

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Wetland mineral soil

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Wet soil

Wetland that accumulates salts in its soil typically as a result of semi-arid to arid conditions.
The production of salt by evaporating tidal water, which commonly occurs in, or displaces coastal wetlands.
Coastal wetland vegetated by seagrass species (rooted, flowering plants), permanently or tidally covered bybrackish/saline water.
Deposit of inorganic or organic material that has been carried and deposited by wind, water, or ice.
Natural wetland that has been modified for wastewater treatment, e.g. by increasing the volume reserved (i.e.
dams) and constructing channels for targeting the influent and effluent.
Type of constructed wetland with surface flow (SF).
Wetland dominated by trees or woody species.
Wetland covered or saturated for all or part of the year by tidal freshwater; the boundary is recognized as thelandward extent of tidal inundation.
Marsh covered or saturated for all or part of the year by tidal freshwater or brackish/saline water; the boundary is
recognized as the landward extent of tidal inundation.
All carbon in organic matter.
Type of constructed wetland with vertical subsurface flow.
A facility designed to receive wastewater and to remove materials that damage water quality and threaten publichealth and safety when discharged into receiving streams or bodies of water.
DOC or POC contained in or conveyed by water.
In this supplement, the term ‘wetland’ is used to refer to land with a wet soil.
A mineral soil that is classified as an ‘aquic soil’ or a ‘gleysol’ according to the default mineral soil classificationin Annex 3A.5, Figures 3A.5.3 and 3A.5.4, Chapter 3, Volume 4 of the 2006 IPCC Guidelines.
A soil that is inundated or saturated by water for all or part of the year to the extent that biota, particularly soil
microbes and rooted plants, adapted to anaerobic conditions control the net annual greenhouse gas emissions andremovals.

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