Reference Condition

{
  "id": "MLC-T-ENV-023501",
  "term": "Reference Condition",
  "field": "Environment",
  "definition": "1. A state of being governed primarily by natural environmental processes and subject to minimal human impacts; a place that represents natural conditions for comparison purposes.\n\n2. Set of selected measurements or conditions of unimpaired or minimally impaired waterbodies characteristic of a waterbody type in a region.\n\n3. The set of attributes of ecological resources that assist in identifying the location of a portion of the resource population along a condition continuum from the worst possible condition to the best possible condition given the prevailing topography, soil, geology, potential vegetation, and general land use of the region. Reference condition typically refers to the best resource condition, but it is used more broadly in EMAP.\n\n4. The least-disturbed condition available in an ecological region, determined based on specific criteria, used as a benchmark for comparison with sampled sites in the region.\n\n5. Set of selected measurements or conditions of unimpaired or minimally impaired waterbodies characteristic of a waterbody type in a region. [Aquatic Biodiversity Glossary]\n\n6. Set of selected measurements or conditions of minimally impaired waterbodies characteristic of a waterbody type in a region.\n\n7. Set of selected measurements or conditions of minimally disturbed waterbodies characteristic of a waterbody type in a region.",
  "subject": "Water",
  "references": [
    "Watershed Protection Glossary",
    "Aquatic Biodiversity Glossary; Biocriteria Glossary",
    "Environmental Modeling and Assessment Program (EMAP) Master Glossary",
    "Wadeable Streams Assessment Glossary of Terms",
    "NSTEPS Online Glossary of Terms",
    "Glossary of Wetland Bioassessment Terms",
    "N-STEPS Online Glossary of Terms"
  ],
  "url": "https://mlchart.com/terminology/environment/reference-condition/"
}