Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Of, relating to, or living in moving water.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective of a river having swift water; flowing.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective of or relating to or living in actively moving water

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[From Latin lōtus, past participle of lavere, to wash; see lotion.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Latin lotus, past participle of lavere, to wash

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Examples

  • Two major categories of freshwater ecosystems can be defined as lotic (flowing water) and lentic (standing water), but large variation in size, characteristics, and location is exhibited within each.

    Freshwater ecosystems in the Arctic 2009

  • Rivers and streams are characterized by flowing waters and are called lotic systems (as opposed to lentic systems, such as lakes).

    River 2008

  • In this sense the term "river" includes all kinds of watercourses, from the tiniest of brooks to the largest of rivers (the term "streams are characterized by flowing waters and are called lotic systems (as opposed to lentic systems, such as Biodiversity Institute of Ontario)

    Featured Articles - Encyclopedia of Earth 2010

  • Loss of permafrost increases the potential for many northern shallow lotic systems to dry out from a warmer temperature regime.

    Effects of climate change on general hydro-ecology in the Arctic 2009

  • The dynamics of many of the lotic (river) and lentic (lake) environments in the Arctic are related to permafrost, and freezing can reduce or even halt the flow of rivers.

    Arctic freshwater environments 2009

  • For the purposes of this assessment, lotic ecosystems include rivers, streams, deltas, and estuaries, where flow regimes are a dominant hydrologic feature shaping their ecology.

    Freshwater ecosystems in the Arctic 2009

  • Still smaller types of lotic systems include medium to small rivers that arise wholly within the Arctic.

    Freshwater ecosystems in the Arctic 2009

  • The greatest ice-related ecological impacts of climate change on arctic lotic systems are likely to result from changes in breakup timing and intensity.

    Effects of climate change on general hydro-ecology in the Arctic 2009

  • Nutrient availability often determines food availability and lotic productivity, which are believed to be major controlling factors in riverine fish production.

    Climate change effects on arctic freshwater fish populations 2009

  • Similar to the situation for arctic lotic systems, an enhanced supply of nutrients and organic matter from the more biologically productive contributing basins is likely to boost primary productivity [47].

    Effects of climate change on general hydro-ecology in the Arctic 2009

Comments

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  • Some scholars, authority-centric,

    Think culture is stable and lentic

    But those more demotic

    Contend it is lotic

    And change is more truly authentic.

    March 14, 2016