#environmental science

• Aerobiology — An interdisciplinary branch of biology that deals with the study of living organisms and particles of biological origin (such as bacteria, fungi, pollen, spores, cysts, and viruses) passively transported through the air, as well as with the analysis of their movement, survival, and impact on the environment and human health.
• Aeropalynology — A branch of palynology that studies spores, pollen grains, and other microparticles of plant or fungal origin suspended in Earth's atmosphere and transported by air currents. This discipline has major importance in establishing pollen calendars, monitoring air quality, and diagnosing respiratory allergies or seasonal rhinitis.
• Alkalinity — The property of being alkaline; the total concentration of basic substances in a solution capable of neutralizing hydrogen ions. In hydrology and ecology, it represents the buffering capacity of water against acidification, primarily determined by the presence of carbonate, bicarbonate, and hydroxide ions.
• Ruderal plants — A specialized term used in botany and ecology to designate ruderal plants, weeds, or pioneer vegetal species that grow on degraded lands, roadsides, debris, or anthropized soils deeply modified by human activity. These organisms exhibit outstanding resilience and the ability to rapidly colonize unstable habitats.
• Allochory — A phenomenon or modality of seed, spore, or fruit dispersal through external factors or vectors that are independent of the plant's own biological mechanisms (such as wind, water, animals, or human activity). This structural mechanism ensures the colonization of new geographical habitats and prevents intraspecific competition near the parent plant.
• Amensalism — A form of asymmetric interspecific ecological interaction in which one population or biological species is systematically inhibited, harmed, or destroyed by the presence or metabolic activity of another species, without the latter gaining any direct benefit or suffering any harm. A classic structural example is antibiosis, where antibiotics secreted by a mold destroy surrounding bacteria without a direct metabolic impact on the fungi.
• Anthropoclimatology — An interdisciplinary branch of climatology that studies the complex relationships and interdependencies between climate and the human species. It analyzes both the influence of climatic factors on human physiology, health, behavior, and activities, and the anthropogenic impact on climate modification at local, regional, and global levels through urbanization, industrialization, and deforestation.
• Anthrophony — The entirety of sounds and noises produced by human activity, technology, and civilization infrastructure within an acoustic soundscape. In modern ecology and bioacoustics, anthrophony is analyzed in contrast with biophony and geophony to measure the degree of noise pollution and its impact on animal behavior and communication.
• Areic — Lacking permanent flowing watercourses or an organized surface drainage system toward the ocean; characteristic of desert or karstic regions where low precipitation or extreme soil permeability prevents the formation of a structural hydrographic network. In an ecological sense, it describes an arid territory where groundwater fails to supply stable surface networks.
• To aridify — The action of becoming or causing to become arid, dry, and barren; a process through which a soil, region, or ecosystem loses its natural moisture due to prolonged drought, massive deforestation, or global climate change. Figuratively, it represents the act of transforming a speech, activity, or relationship into something rigid, monotonous, and devoid of dynamism or expressiveness.
• Backdune — A sand dune formation located behind the foredunes or coastal dunes, being more stabilized by vegetation and less exposed to the direct action of strong marine winds.
• Reclaimed — Having undergone the process of drainage or sanitation; a plot of land, lake, or environment freed from excess stagnant water, cleared of impurities, decontaminated, or transformed into a healthy, safe, and usable space. Figuratively, it describes a system (economic, social, or moral) purified from harmful, corrupt, or unproductive elements.
• Self-cleaning — The act of self-cleaning and its result; a technological feature, automated cycle, or structural ecological process through which an appliance, filter, or natural medium eliminates its accumulated residues and impurities on its own. This property optimizes efficiency, prevents blockages, and extends the lifespan of systems.
• Self-purification — A natural biological, physical, or chemical process by which a polluted body of water, an ecosystem, or a living organism rids itself of toxic substances, impurities, or pathogens, restoring its initial structural balance without artificial external intervention.