Glossary

Sod tiles are pieces of grass separated from the ground with a thin layer of soil in which the roots are located.

The flora – also called “plant world” – includes all plants and their habitat.

Synthetic fertilisers or mineral fertilisers are inorganic plant fertilisers that can be used in conventional agriculture. The most common ingredients are nitrogen and phosphate compounds.

See P – producer-consumer-decomposer cycle

Volatile organic compounds – VOCs for short – are organic substances with a low boiling point. They are found in many solvents, woods, paints and sealants.

Methane (CH₄) is a flammable, colourless and odourless gas. The main component of natural gas is methane. It has a high greenhouse potential and thus makes a significant contribution to global warming.

Meteorology is the study of the physical and chemical processes in the atmosphere. The people who work in this field are called meteorologists. They deal, for example, with weather forecasts and climatology.

Fossils are the remains of living things or traces of living things that are more than 10,000 years old. The formation of fossils is called “fossilisation”. Fossils are formed when dead living beings are sealed off from oxygen in sediment and no more change processes take place in the earth’s crust.

Under the influence of hydrocarbons and oxygen, nitrogen can be converted into photo-oxidants with the help of solar radiation. These include ozone, peroxyacetyl nitrate (PAN) and nitric acid. All of these contribute to air pollution.

The atmosphere is the gaseous layer surrounding a celestial body.

Fertilisers containing nitrogen as the main nutrient element for plants. Nitrogen is considered the most important form of fertiliser and is taken up directly by plants in the form of nitrate, ammonium and urea. There are limitations on the amount of nitrogen fertiliser that should be used, as high levels of nitrate leaching endanger the

Sphagnum mosses feed their water balance solely from rainwater and are built up almost exclusively from peat-forming mosses. Due to the high-water level (lack of oxygen and increased acidity), organic residues hardly decompose, and peat build-up takes place very slowly (approx. 1 mm per year). Peat bogs develop on impermeable mineral soils or on fens.

A person’s ecological footprint is a measure of the space required to support their lifestyle. This includes food, clothing, mobility and various resources. If one divides the biologically productive usable area of the earth (2010: 11.9 billion ha) among the earth’s population, about 1.7 ha are allotted to each person. The average footprint of Austrians

At the earth’s surface, the soil material is not present as a continuum, but in the form of soil particles. These particles are granular and consist of inorganic material. Soil particles are classified according to grain size into sand, silt and clay. The size of the soil particles determines the pore volume and thus the

Nitrogen oxides (NOx) are the gaseous oxides of nitrogen. Nitrogen oxides irritate and damage the respiratory system and are responsible for the formation of acid rain.

The stem of a plant not only grows in length, but also in girth. This increases the stability of the plant on the one hand and improves the transport capacity on the other.

“Mulching” means covering the soil with organic material. This ensures that the soil is protected from physical effects such as drying out, erosion, excessive overheating, silting up, etc. Mulch covers have a temperature-regulating effect and serve as a nutrient depot. In many cases, mulching replaces deep soil cultivation.

Soil conditioners are soil-improving soil additives that can increase soil fertility and soil life. Due to their low nutrient content, soil additives are not considered fertilizers.