Glossary, L - R

Larval stages: stage of an organism’s life cycle when it is a larva.
Littoral: with regard to the coast/shore
Macrobenthic: large benthos (e.g. crabs and starfish)
Mariculture: cultivation of marine organisms in the marine environment
Meridional Overturning Circulation: can be simply thought of as a vertical circulation cell of the ocean averaged viewed along a meridian (north-south). [Related to the Gulf Stream, overflow, and the Thermohaline circulation see http://www.soc.soton.ac.uk/rapid/sis/atlantic_conveyor.php]
Metapopulation structure: the structure of a group of separated populations of an organism.
Neural Networks: computational data-analysis method that mimics the function of a brain and has some learning or training capacity.
Nitrate-nitrogen: nitrogen in its nitrate form NO₃.
NMMP network: National Marine Monitoring programme
NOAA/NASA Pathfinder SST product: Sea Surface temperature derived from the Pathfinder satellite programme. See http://www.nodc.noaa.gov/sog/
North Atlantic Deep Water: a name given to the dense deep water of the North Atlantic that is formed at high latitudes.
North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO): a pattern in the atmospheric pressure of the North Atlantic that is particularly important during the winter. The pattern is manifest by opposing systems of low pressure centred near Iceland and high pressure across the Azores and Iberia. See e.g. http://www.ldeo.columbia.edu/NAO/
North Atlantic Oscillation Index: means of measuring the strength of the NAO pattern either through difference between atmospheric pressure at 2 sites at either end of the pattern, or through spatial analysis of the whole 2 dimensional pressure field. See e.g. http://www.cgd.ucar.edu/cas/jhurrell/indices.html
North Atlantic Storm Track: weather systems pass across the Atlantic along a path called the storm track.
Nuisance species: species that are not in themselves dangerous or toxic but can negatively disrupt ecosystems and environments.
Nutrient speciation: how the element is contained within a nutrient molecule e.g. Nitrogen may be in nitrate, nitrite or other forms
Ocean circulation and Climate Advanced Model (OCCAM): a global ocean model developed by UK scientists. http://www.soc.soton.ac.uk/JRD/OCCAM/
Operational envelopes: regions and conditions within with a ship of a particular design may operate.
PAH concentrations: Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons are a type of chemical pollutant that is harmful in the marine environment.
Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO): a pattern of climate variability in the Pacific Ocean http://topex-www.jpl.nasa.gov/science/pdo.html
Paleoclimate: climate of the past ages of the earth.
Pelagic: in the water column
Phenology: study of the biological timing in response to environmental conditions.
Phytoplankton: planktonic marine plants. See the SAHFOS Marine Climate Change Encyclopaedia at http://www.sahfos.org/Climate Encyclopaedia/index2.html
Phytoplankton blooms: the onset of favourable conditions for production can lead to rapid development of high concentrations of phytoplankton in the water column.
Piscivoriuos: animals with a fish based diet (as carnivorous animals have a meat based diet)
Poikilothermic: having a body temperature that varies
Post-glacial inundation: rising sea-levels t the end of an ice age results in the inundation of areas that had been land.
Propagule: the means by which a species may disperse and grow in a new location.
Quasidecadal: cycles that are of length comparable to a decade.
Recruitment: The number of new juvenile fish reaching a size where they become large enough to catch via commercial fishing methods.
Regional Climate Models: computer simulators of the climate system that cover a particular region of the planet (e.g. western Europe).
Relative sea level change: the change in sea level that would actually be seen in a given location given local changes in land height.
Russell cycle: a multi-decadal cycle in English Channel with impacts on ecosystems seen through temperature, nutrients, and plankton.