Anaerobic bacteria: Bacteria that thrive without oxygen

Aquifer: An underground layer of rock or sand containing water into which a well can be drilled

Biomass: The total mass of living matter within an environmental area

Centerboard or daggerboard: A movable board or plate that is lowered through a slot in the floor of a boat to increase stability.

Coliform: A bacteria found in fecal matter

Cove: A small bay or inlet

Dymictic: Lakes that typically freeze over in winter; they have two stratified periods and two mixed periods; Cayuga Lake is not one of these.

Intermunicpal Organization (IO): The decision-making body representing 51 municipalities in the Cayuga Lake Watershed Management Plan

Limnology: The study of the physical, geographical and biological features of bodies of fresh water

Monomictic: Describes Cayuga Lake stratification; becomes completely stratified during one period and completely mixed for another.

Non-point source pollution: When the source of water pollution cannot be easily identified, as from wastes, sediment and runoff.

PFD: Personal flotation device, also called a life jacket

PWC: Personal water craft; more commonly called by their trade name, Jet Skis.

Phosphorous: A nutrient found in manure, sewage and fertilizer that promotes the growth of algae

Phytoplankton: Microscopic aquatic life consisting of plants; another name for algae

Point: A projecting piece of land that juts out into the lake

Point source pollution: Where pollution comes into the water at one point, such as an industrial plant

Pram: A small, flat-bottomed boat

Prevailing winds: Predom-inant winds; on Cayuga Lake, prevailing winds are usually from the southwest in the summer and northwest in the winter.

Propagation: Reproduction by plants or animals

Sediment: Soil, sand and minerals washed from land into water

SPDES permit: A permit required by the New York Department of Environmental Conservation for any facility discharging into the watershed

Stratification: The state of the lake in summer where the top layer of water is warm and deeper layers get colder and colder as you go down

Tiohero: The Cayuga Indian name for Cayuga Lake; means "clear water."

Trolling: To fish with a bait or lure trailed on a line behind a slowly moving boat

Turbidity: Sediment density within a body of water; murkiness

Watershed: The area of land that drains into a river or lake

Zooplankton: Microscopic aquatic life. -