Glossary of Terms

The following definitions are for some of the technical terms found on this website:

Accelerated eutrophication: the advanced rate of aging of a lake caused by human development and discharges on the watershed of a lake that cause abnormal biological growth that causes a lake to advance toward a marsh at a faster rate than natural ecological cycles of succession.

Buffer Gardens: a buffer of the native shrubs, flowering plants and grasses that have been planted along the beach perimeter of the Kenosia Park to filter pollutants, deter geese and provide habitat.

Coontail: a native aquatic plant that can be found in Lake Kenosia rooted in the shallow water zones. Along with Eurasian Watermilfoil (see below) it is considered to be a "nuisance weed."

Eurasian Watermilfoil: a similar (and related plant) to coontail, but it is non-native. Most of the current weed overgrowth in Lake Kenosia is due to watermilfoil.

Eutrophic: the advanced ecological state of succession of a lake that is caused by annual growths of biological populations of plants and animals in the lake that gradually fill the bottom with the decaying remains and cause the lake
to become more and more shallow, eventually evolving into a marsh.

Limnology: the science of the study of lakes (limnologists are the scientists of this field).

Mesotrophic: a "middle aged" lake that has evolved from its early (oligotrophic) stage but has not yet advanced to the shallow old age "eutrophic" lake. This stage is characterized by intermediate levels of nutrients, biological growth, clarity and depth.

Oligotrophic: the stage of a lake, in geologic time, after it is first formed (e.g., when the basin is carved by a glacier) when the lake is deep, has low levels of nutrients, biological growth and is very clear.