Abnormal mating pair: two gametes that fuse by means other than flagella. Abrasion: erosion by frietion. Active layer: the layer of ground above the permafrost, which thaws and freezes annually. Adiabatic effect: changes in temperature in ascending or descending air masses, the physical change occurring without the addition or loss of heat from the air mass. Advanced very high resolution radiometer: instrument aboard National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration satellites used to measure various spectral re- flectance patterns on the Earth. The instrument has a 1.1-km unit of view (pixel size) at nadir and measures reflectance in five channels. Advection: transport of heat from an external source into the air over a snowpack. During snowmelt this is usually due to warm air’s pushing away colder air over the snow. Sources of advection are synoptic systems, warm forest canopies, bare fields, and buildings. The heat released by rain, falling onto cold snowpacks, and refreezing is sometimes termed advection. Aeolian: wind-borne or transported materials, Aerodynamic roughness height: the roughness of a surface as it affects wind flow above it, determined by the apparent intercept of the log-linear gradient of wind speed with height ~ ic., the height at which the wind speed should reach zero. Aerosol: a small particle (<10 zm) with some liquid content, which is suspended in the atmosphere. Albedo: degree of reflectance of visible light by a surface. An albedo equal to | indi- cates that the surface reflects light perfectly; an albedo equal to 0 indicates perfect light absorption.Chrysolaminarin: carbohydrate food reserve of repeating units of B-glucose found in golden algae, diatoms and yellow-green algae. Chytrids: a small group of fungal-like saprobic decomposers and parasites that are classified as protists. Ciliates: mostly unicellular predators or parasites that are covered with locomotory cilia (structures like flagella, but are more numerous). These heterotrophs are clas~ sified as protists. Class: the highest level in the Braun-Blanquet plant community classification ap- proach, referring to very broad vegetation units. Codon: a series of nitrogenous base triplets in a messenger RNA molecule that codes for a sequence of amino acids to form a protein. Cohesion: the bonding of snow crystals to each other or to vegetation due to inter- crystal ice bonds or thin liquid layers surrounding ice particles. Cold-hardiness: a physiological state of tolerating and surviving low temperatures. Cold-hardy: being adapted physiologically to withstand low temperatures. Cold-resistant: being able to survive low temperatures. Cold stenothermy: adaptation to a narrow range of low temperatures. Collection efficiency: the ratio of the amount of snowfall intercepted by a branch to that the branch received. Collembola: also called springtails, are minute insects with chewing or piercing mouth parts that have a forked structure called a furcula used for jumping. Compression wood: type of reaction wood developed in conifers. The cells that develop on the lower part of a tilted stem possess overlignified cell walls. Lignin is a very dense and resistant substance that gives the wood extreme rigidity to compensate for the mechanical stress developed in the tilted trunk. Concentration: the amount of a component in a mixture either by volume or weight. ‘The concentration of a chemical species in air is usually expressed by volume (e.g., ppmy, ppbv) and/or by weight (e.g., zg m7}, 4Eq m~3). The concentration of any chemical species in snow and meltwater is generally expressed by volume (e.g., gL"! or wEqL-}).Contractile vacuoles: structures fed by smaller vesicles that rhythmically expel water and solutes to the outside of the cell. Cornice: an overhanging snowdrift, often at a mountaintop in alpine terrain. Cryobiont: a snow or ice-inhabiting organism. Cryoconite: an aggregation of particulate material from rock and soil found on the surface of snow and ice (see also kryokonite). Cryophile (cryophili Cryoprotectant: a substance protecting an invertebrate against low temperatures — eg, a natural antifreeze such as sorbitol. ): a cold tolerant organism (see also psychrophile). Cryoturbation: the process of stirring, heaving, and thrusting of the earth’s man- te by frost action including frost heaving and differential mass movements like solifluction. Cryptomonads: unicellular colorless or photosynthetic protistan flagellates with chlorophylls a and cand w-glucose food reserves called starch. Cells are surrounded by a protein periplast. Cushion plant: a herbaceous or low woody-plant so densely branched that it forms a dense resilient mat or cushion. Cuticle: a thin protective sheet (resin and wax) that develops in late summer on buds and leaves to insulate it from the cold in winter.Cyanobacteria: bacteria with chlorophyll a, which produce oxygen, fix atmospheric nitrogen in many species, and cells have a~glucose food reserves called cyanophycean starch. Cyclomorphosis: a unique morphological seasonal change seen in collembolans, with winter morphs acquiring winter-adaptive features and summer morphs being more normal. Dark reaction: a photosynthetic reaction that involves the reduction of carbon dioxide to carbohydrates in the Calvin cycle, which can take place in darkness if there is sufficient ATP and NADPH. Dehnel’s pheriomenon: a phenomenon in which small soricine shrews undergo morphological adaptations to winter, including reduction of body weight and short- ened body length, Dendrochronology: the study of annual tree rings. Depth hoar: a layer of large (>2-3 mm) columnar or goblet-shaped crystals found usually just above the soil~snow interface. Depth hoar is formed when large ver- tical temperature gradients occur in the snowpack (see also Temperature gradient metamorphism). Desiccation: the loss of water from living tissues because of drought events or sub- limation of ice in extreme cold conditions. Diapause: a period of suspended development and reduced physiological activity, usually an inactive resting stage in invertebrates during winter. Diatoms: mostly unicellular photosynthetic protists with chlorophylls a and c and B-glucose food reserves called chrysolaminarin. Cells are surrounded by a silica shell. Dinoflagellates: mostly unicellular colorless or photosynthetic protistan flagellates with chlorophylls a and c and @-glucose food reserves called starch. Cells are sur- rounded by an outer covering of cellulosic plates. Diploid: having two sets of chromosomes (2). Dormant season: the period of metabolic inactivity in plants due to light availability and climatic conditions. Preparation for dormancy is a very complex physiologic feature involving the transfer of substances in the plant, especially carbohydrates, to cells, which can then avoid frost injury.DTM (digital terrain model; also digital elevation model, DEM): a quantita- tive model of landform elevations in digital format. Eccentric ring: asymmetric tree rings that develop due to uneven distribution of growth metabolic regulators in the stems (e.g., the rings that develop in compression wood). Eedysis: the act of moulting or skin shedding of an animal. Ecophysiology: the study of the mechanics of living things within the framework of ecology (e.g., how living things interact with each other and with the nonliving constituents of their environment). Ecotype: 1) a race within a species that is genetically adapted to a local habitat, which is different from the habitat of other races of that species. An ecotype usually consists of many biotypes, all of which have closely similar habitat requirements but differ in other respects. 2) An arbitrary segment of an ecoline. 3) Individuals, or groups of individuals, of a species that react differently to environmental factors than the rest of the individuals of that species.Elasticity: the degree to which a material will deform when a force is applied. El Niffio: an extreme phase of the so-called Southern Oscillation. This occurs when a large part of the central Pacific Ocean has anomalous high sea-surface temperatures, associated with particular climate patterns in other parts of the Earth. Elongation: the development of stems lengthwise. Emergent shoreline: a feature due to isostasy (compensatory uplift of the Earth’s crust over the inner plastic magma) created by the disappearance of the continental glaciers, In some parts of the world, the sea is still retreating slowly from marginal lands with the resulting formation of such shores. Emissivity: the degree to which a material radiates long-wave radiation compared with an object (blackbody) that perfectly radiates long-wave radiation at the same surface temperature. Endoevaporite: a microorganism that lives within salt crusts. Endolith: a microorganism that lives within rocks. Equitemperature metamorphism: metamorphism driven by the differences in saturation vapour pressure associated with the curvature of snow crystals. Ice sub- limates from the sharp edges of crystals and small crystals, and the water vapour recrystallises on concave curvatures; often the ice bonds between crystals. Erect form: the growth form of a tree with a normal upright main stem (see also prostrate).Ericaceous: the heath family Ericacieae. Eubacteria: true bacteria that exclude the archaebacteria. Euglenoids: unicellular colorless or photosynthetic flagellates with chlorophylls a and b and A-glucose food reserves called paramylon. Cells are surrounded by a protein pellicle. Eutrophic: an aquatic system with high nutrient levels. Evaporation: the phase change from liquid to vapour. Eyespot: a red- to orange-pigmented structure sensitive to light. Fallow field: an agricultural field left bare of vegetation by periodic ploughing over the summer period. Fatty acid: a long hydrocarbon chain bound to a carboxyl group (COOH). If sat- urated, there are no double bounds; if monounsaturated, there is one double bond; if polyunsaturated, there are two or more double bonds in the hydrocarbon chain.Feedback process: the interaction between two or more variables, which tends either to encourage further change in the same direction in the variable of interest (positive feedback) or to reverse the direction of change in the variable of interest (negative feedback). Fellfield: from the Danish “fjoeld-mark” or rock desert. A type of tundra ecosystem characterised by rather flat relief, very stony soil, and low widely spaced vascular plants. Flagella: locomotory structures associated with certain cells. Flow fingers: irregular columns of coarse-grained, wet snow with large pore spaces or macropores, through which rapid and preferential flow of meltwater occurs. Flux: a mass or energy flow rate, expressed as mass or energy per unit area per unit time (see also chemical flux). Foliosphere: the above-ground environment of a plant in the vicinity of the foliage. Food chain: straight line sequence of events of who eats whom in an ecosystem. Food web: network of interlinked food chains composed of producers, consumers, decomposers and detrivores. Forest tundra: the northern part of the Taiga made of scattered open conifer forests and patchy lichen-dwarf surfaces. Its southern limit is the continuous open boreal forest and its northern edge consists of the tree line.Formation: in the oldest and widest (global) sense, a continental-scale vegetation unit comprising all plant communities that resemble each other in appearance and major features of their environment ~ e.g., northern coniferous forest or tropical rain forest defined through properties of vegetation cover. Freezing resistant: the tolerance of intracellular freezing in body tissues by inver- tebrates. Freezing sensitive (or frost sensitive): describes an invertebrate that avoids intra- cellular freezing but tolerates extracellular freezing in body tissue. Fungi: heterotrophic decomposers and parasites with extracellular digestion. Furcula: the forked “spring” on the ventral surface of a collembolan, tucked out of the way until disturbed when it is unfolded to propel the animal away. Gamete: a 1N (haploid) sex cell, with or without flagella, that has the potential of uniting with another sex cell in a sexual process forming a 2N (diploid) zygote. This definition assumes the organism is not a polyploid.Matrix flow: flow of meltwater through the fine-grained porous medium of the snow- pack between flow fingers. Mechanical damage: injury to a tree caused by an external physical agent. Meiosis: a cell division in which the chromosome number is halved from 2N to 1N and four cells or products are usually produced. Melt: the phase change from solid to liquid. Mesophile (mesophilic): an organism that grows optimally at a temperature be- tween a thermophile and a psychrophile. Mesotopographic gradient: a conceptual gradient of soils, vegetation, and other factors associated with hill slopes. Metamorphism: the process of change in snow crystal form that occurs within the snowpack under the influence of a variety of thermodynamic processes. METEOSAT: an acronym for a meteorological satellite in a geostationary orbit rela~ tive to the earth’s surface. Microwave: radiation in the 1- to 10-cm range. Mitosis: a cell division in which the chromosome number remains the same (either 1N or 2N) and two cells are produced. Mollisol: an order of soils with deep, dark, relatively fertile topsoil formed under grassland vegetation.Monsoon: a strong seasonal reversal of windflow; in the case of the Indian monsoon, it is the summer rain-bearing southerly flow that is most often referred to as the monsoon. Morphology (morphological): the shape or form of a inanimate object (e.g., snow crystal) or an organism. Mutation: a change in the nucleotide sequence in the molecular structure of DNA, which may be hereditable. Mycorrhizae: the joint or dual organs of absorption formed by the symbiotic asso- ciation between the mycelium of a fungus and the roots of a plant. NDVI: normalized difference vegetation index; a set of algorithms used to extract spectral information related to vegetation from remotely sensed data, NDVI is equal to the term (NIR — R)/(NIR + R), where NIR is the spectral reflectance in the near-infrared band (0.725-1.1 zm), where light scattering from the canopy dominates, and R is the reflectance in the red chlorophyll-absorbing portion of theRespiration (aerobic): the breakdown of sugars using an oxygen dependent pathway with ATP formation and the release of carbon dioxide. Rhizopodium: a long thin cytoplasmic extension used for food capture by microor- ganisms. Rhizosphere: the area of soil immediately surrounding plant roots, which is altered by their growth, respiration, and exchange of nutrients. Rotifers: small microscopic bilateral animals with ciliated lobes at their head end and with a false body cavity. Saltation: the skipping motion of blowing snow particles traveling just above the snowpack. Saprophytic: describes a plant that is incapable of synthesising nutrients from in organic matter and therefore must obtain food from dead and decaying organic matter. Saturated hydraulic conductivity: the degree to which a saturated porous medium will conduct liquid flow when a vertical gradient of hydraulic head exists. Scar: the reaction of a tree to physical damage of the cambium. A scar is made of central dead tissues covered by callous tissues. Sea-level pressure: atmospheric pressure normalised to sea level, even when mea- sured over land, in order to aid the identification of weather systems. Seedling: the early stage of tree development following germination.Sensible (turbulent) heat transfer: also called sensible convective transfer. It is the sensible energy flux caused by the movement of atmospheric heat via turbulent transfer in the atmosphere. Setae: the sensory bristle-like hairs of invertebrates and other animals. Shear stress: the force exerted by the wind on snow surfaces, Shortwave radiation ible light plus some of the near-infrared band. This radi- ation carries much of the solar heat received at the surface and can penetrate snow for a short distance, although most of itis reflected by snow. Snow course: a series of snow sampling points across a snow cover or snow field usually spaced at equal intervals along a straight line. Snow depth: the observed depth of snow on the ground. Snow flush: pertaining to an area downslope from a snowbed, which receives melt- water during much of the summer.‘Temperature index snowmelt models: semiempirical numerical schemes that use the average daily temperature in excess of the melting point to calculate daily snowmelt. These models work best where melt is dominated by long-wave or sen- sible heat fluxes. ‘Thermal conduction: heat flow without physical mixing of the material. Thermal conductivity: the degree to which a material conducts heat along a tem- perature gradient. ‘Thermal hysteresis: the difference between the melting and freezing points of in- vertebrate haemolymph due to accumulated proteins. Thermal preferendum (or thermal preference): the temperature range preferred by a species of animal. Thermal resistivity: the degree to which a material, or mixture of materials, resists the flow of heat through it when a temperature gradient is applied. ‘Thermodynamic equilibrium: the balance between energy inputs and outputs, internal energy storage, internal phase change, and mass inputs and outputs. ‘Thermogenesis: metabolic generation of increased body temperature in endother- mic animals. ‘Thermokarst: land with discontinuous permafrost. Some of the permafrost mounds may melt to create ponds that are similar to those made in karstic (calcareous or dolomitic) landscapes. ‘Thermoneutral zone: the range of temperature at which endothermic animals do not have to increase their food intake or metabolic rate to maintain their body temperature. Thermophile (thermophilic): an organism that is tolerant of high temperatures, typical of thermal hot springs. ‘Threshold wind speed: the wind speed that is required to start or maintain blowing snow saltation. It is generally measured at a height of 10 m. Tibiotarsae: the lower legs, feet, and claws of invertebrates. Tree line: the extreme geographical position of erect trees. The northern tree line is south of the conifer species limit.UV-A, UV-B, and UV-C: three designated types of ultraviolet light; A has a wave- length range of 0.32-0.40 jum and is harmless to plants; B has a wavelength range of 0.28-0.32 jzm and can be harmful to the growth of plants; C has a wavelength range of 0.22-0.28 um and can be destructive to DNA and harmful to plants and microbes. resicular-arbuscular-mycorrhizal fungi; endomycorrhizal fungi that penetrate the wall but not the plasma membrane of cells in the cortex of plant roots. They are members of the zygomycete fungal group. About 70 percent of land plants are associated with this type of fungi. VAM fungi are now called arbuscular- mycorrhizal (AM) fungi. Ventilation shafts: a more or less vertical shaft in the snow cover built by small mammals when snow density increases causing restricted airflow and increased subnivean concentrations of carbon dioxide. Vitamins: organic molecules required by some algae for growth (auxotrophy), which include biotin, thiamine and cyanocobalamin. Volvocales: an order of green algal flagellates, which is very common in snow. Water deficit: the lack of water in plants. At the ecosystem level, the water deficit represents the difference between precipitation and runoff.WDC: World Data Center for Glaciology; a centre that holds and distributes snow and ice data. There are four centres: WDC-A, University of Colorado, USA; WDC- BI, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia; WDC-C, Scott Polar Research Institute, Cambridge, UK; WDC-D, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou, China. Wet snow metamorphism: the process of change in grain shape in a snow and water mixture. Ice melts at the sharpest points of snow crystals and water refreezes along smooth concave surfaces because of the dependence of the freezing point on the curvature of the snow-water interface. Winter active: animals active during winter months, often under the snow cover. Xylem: the principal water-conducting tissue and support system of higher plants. Yeast: single-celled fungi that belong primarily to the sac fungi, which reproduce asexually through budding. Yellow-green algae: photosynthetic protists lacking brown pigments but have chlorophylls a and c and B-glucose food reserves called chrysolaminarin. Cells are usually surrounded by a carbohydrate cell wall. Zoospore: an asexual cell with flagella that can develop into a vegetative cell that can further divide by mitosis to form more zoospores. ‘Zygospore: a2.N (diploid) zygote, usually with a thick wall, that goes into prolonged dormancy. Zygote: a 2N (diploid) cell formed from the fusion of two gametes.