Glossary
The English version of our glossary is currently under construction and will be regularly updated.
Allochthonous
A term used in geology and ecology to describe materials, geological objects or organisms from outside a given system or region.
In the geological context, allochthonous material can refer e.g. to types of stone or sediment that were brought to a certain region from elsewhere through erosion or transport. In ecology, “allochthonous” can be used to describe species or nutrients that hail from another ecosystem or body of water but find their way into a given ecosystem. The opposite of “allochthonous” is “autochthonous”.