ABSOLUTE ABUNDANCE: The total number of organisms in an area. Usually reported as absolute density: the number of organisms per unit area or volume.
ACCURACY: A measure of how close a measurement is to the true value.
ALPHA-NUMERIC BANDS: Plastic bands that have visible numbers and letters embedded so that individual birds can be identified when bands are placed on them.
BIODIVERSITY: Jargon for biological diversity: the variety of life forms, the ecological roles they perform, and the genetic diversity they contain (Wilcox 1984 cited in Murphy 1988).
BLUE LIST: Includes any indigenous species or subspecies (taxa) considered to be Vulnerable in British Columbia. Vulnerable taxa are of special concern because of characteristics that make them particularly sensitive to human activities or natural events. Blue-listed taxa are at risk, but are not extirpated, endangered or threatened.
CRYPTIC: Difficult to distinguish from the surroundings.
DISJUNCT: Populations that are geographically separated, with no intermixing, are said to be disjunct.
FIDELITY: Site fidelity is the tendency to return to the same place.
FLEDGING: The maturation of a young bird until it becomes independent of its parents.
HAUL-OUT SITE: Rocky islets where moulting and resting harlequins roost on land.
HOLARCTIC: Distributed in both North America and Eurasia.
LINE TRANSECT: Census method where an observer walks a predetermined route and counts all the birds in view. Population index is calculated as birds/kilometre.
MIGRANT: A species that passes through British Columbia during spring and/or autumn migration.
MORPHOMETRICS: Body measurements such as weight, length, wing chord, etc.
POLYGAMOUS: A mating system where males may have more than one mate.
PRECISION: A measurement of how close repeated measures are to one another.
PRESENCE/NOT DETECTED (POSSIBLE): A survey intensity that verifies that a species is present in an area or states that it was not detected (thus not likely to be in the area, but still a possibility).
PROJECT AREA: An area, usually politically or economically determined, for which an inventory project is initiated. A project boundary may be shared by multiple types of resource and/or species inventory. Sampling generally takes place within smaller study areas within this project area.
RADIO-TELEMETRY TRACKING: Monitoring movements of individuals that have been fitted with radio transmitters.
RANDOM SAMPLE: A sample that has been selected by a random process, generally by reference to a table of random numbers.
RELATIVE ABUNDANCE: The number of organisms at one location or time relative to the number of organisms at another location or time. Generally reported as an index of abundance.
RED LIST: Includes any indigenous species or subspecies (taxa) considered to be Extirpated, Endangered, or Threatened in British Columbia. Extirpated taxa no longer exist in the wild in British Columbia, but do occur elsewhere. Endangered taxa are facing imminent extirpation or extinction. Threatened taxa are likely to become endangered if limiting factors are not reversed. Red-listed taxa include those that have been, or are being, evaluated for these designations.
REACH: A section of river.
RECRUITMENT: The proportion of young that survive to breed.
RELATIVE ABUNDANCE: This level of survey intensity requires inventory techniques to provide indices of population sizes that are comparable between similar sites and species or within species over time.
SEA DUCK: Duck species that spend most of their annual cycle at sea, such as scoters, eiders, oldsquaw, and harlequin duck.
SEX RATIO: The proportion of males to females in a flock or population.
STRATIFICATION: The separation of a sample population into non-overlapping groups based on a habitat or population characteristic that can be divided into multiple levels. Groups are homogeneous within, but distinct from, other strata.
STUDY AREA: A discrete area within a project boundary in which sampling actually takes place. Study areas should be delineated to logically group samples together, generally based on habitat or population stratification and/or logistical concerns.
SURVEY: The application of one RIC method to one taxanomic group for one season.
SYSTEMATIC SAMPLE: a sample obtained by randomly selecting a point to start, and then repeating sampling at a set distance or time thereafter.
TRANSIENTS: Migrants or birds that are passing by.
YELLOW-LISTED SPECIES: Any native species which is not red- or blue-listed.
WINTER: Typically December to February. Species that have been recorded in British Columbia during this period are said to winter in the province.