Biohabitats | Resources

Glossary

Each issue of Leaf Litter, Biohabitats quarterly e-newsletter, includes a glossary of terms related to the featured topic.

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The State Of Ecosystems In National Parks

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Adaptive Management: A component of ecosystem management in which management actions are seen as experiments and future management decisions are determined by the outcome of present decisions.

Chaparral: a shrubland or heathland plant community found primarily in the U.S. state of California and in the northern portion of the Baja California peninsula, Mexico. It is shaped by a Mediterranean climate and wildfire. Similar plant communities are found in the Mediterranean Basin, Chile, South Africa, and in Western and Southern Australia.

Endemic: Occurring in a particular geographic location and nowhere else on Earth.

Island biogeography: is a field within biogeography that attempts to establish and explain the factors that affect the species richness of natural communities. The theory was developed to explain species richness of actual islands. It has since been extended to mountains surrounded by deserts, lakes surrounded by dry land, forest fragments surrounded by human-altered landscapes. Now it is used in reference to any ecosystem surrounded by unlike ecosystems. The field was started in the 1960s by the ecologists Robert MacArthur and E.O. Wilson, who coined the term theory of island biogeography, as this theory attempted to predict the number of species that would exist on a newly created island.

Mesopredator: a mid-level predator which preys on lower trophic-order organisms, but which, in turn, is preyed upon by apex predator species.

Traditional knowledge: the long-standing traditions and practices of certain regional, indigenous, or local communities. Traditional knowledge encompasses the wisdom, knowledge, and teachings of these communities.

Trophic cascade: A change in the rate of consumption at one trophic level that results in a series of changes in species abundances and species compositions at lower trophic levels.

Vascular plants: plants that have lignified tissues for conducting water, minerals, and photosynthetic products through the plant.

Wildlife corridor: an area of habitat connecting wildlife populations separated by human activities (such as roads, development, or logging).

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Urban Ecology

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Adaptive Capacity: The general ability of institutions, systems, and individuals to adjust to potential damage, to take advantage of opportunities, or to cope with the consequences. (source: GreenFacts)

Biodiversity: the totality of genes, species, and ecosystems in a region... Biodiversity can be divided into three hierarchical categories -- genes, species, and ecosystems -- that describe quite different aspects of living systems and that scientists measure in different ways. (Source: World Resources Institute, World Conservation Union, and United Nations Environment Programme, "Global Biodiversity Strategy," 1992)

Coir logs: logs constructed of interwoven coconut fibers that are bound together with biodegradable netting. (source: Alaska Dept. of Fish & Game)

Daylighting (streams): redirection of a stream into an above-ground channel. (source: Wikipedia)

Ecological services or ecosystem services: functions that are of value to humans. These include climate regulation, protection from the sun's harmful ultraviolet rays, purification of air and water, mitigation of floods and droughts, detoxification and decomposition of wastes, generation and renewal of soil and soil fertility, pollination of crops and natural vegetation, control of agricultural pests, gas regulation, water regulation, water supply, erosion control, purification of air and water, and renewal of soil and soil fertility, gas regulation, detoxification and decomposition of wastes, dispersal of seeds and nutrient movement, and maintenance of the biodiversity from which humanity derives key elements of its agricultural, medicinal and industrial systems. (source: www.eartheconomics.org) (Note: check out the paper What Are Ecosystem Services? in which authors James Boyd and Spencer Banzhaf propose a new definition of the term.)

Paleoecology: a branch of ecology that is concerned with the characteristics of ancient environments and with their relationships to ancient plants and animals (source: Merriam-Webster On Line)

Patch dynamics: a set of concepts and theories that recognizes spatial differentiation in ecosystems and landscapes, and suggests that the spatial pattern is important to how the systems function and change. Each patch can change because of interactions within it and interactions with other patches. Urban systems are known to be socially and economically patchy. We could add ecological understanding to that and develop a view of Baltimore as a changing patchwork of socio-ecological structures and functions - patch dynamics. (Source: Steward Pickett)

Spatial heterogeneity: spatial heterogeneity is a property generally ascribed to a landscape or to a population. It refers to the uneven distribution of various concentrations of each species within an area. A landscape with spatial heterogeneity has a mix of concentrations of multiple species of plants or animals (biological), or of terrain formations (geological), or environmental characteristics (eg. rainfall, temperature, wind) filling its area. A population showing spatial heterogeneity is one where various concentrations of individuals of this species are unevenly distributed across an area; nearly synonymous with "patchily distributed." (source: Wikipedia)

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Southern Rocky Mountain Bioregion

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Exurbia: A spatial pattern of settlement that differs from suburbia in that it is located farther from urban centers and features a different mix of land uses and population (Exurban Exchange Program, n.d.). Exurbia is characterized by low population density, high population growth, and commuting to urbanized areas for work. It is often associated with rural gentrification, as people willing to commute long distances move to rural places, raising the cost of living there while also transforming those places socially (Berube, Singer Wilson, & Frey, 2006; Salamon 2003a; Salamon 2003b). (Source: Sloan Work and Family Research Network)

Fire-Return Interval: The number of years between two successive fire events at a specific site or an area of a specified size. (Source: National Park Service)

Photovoltis: arrays of cells containing a material that converts solar radiation into direct current electricity. (Source: Wikipedia)

Water diversion: Changing the natural flow of water to another location by using dams, canals, or pipelines. (Source: Colorado State University Extension: Glossary of Water Terminology by R. Waskom and M. Neibauer (3/08))

Xeriscape: The use of plant materials and practices that minimizes landscaping water use; usually native plants; environmentally friendly form of landscaping. The term "xeriscape" was copyrighted by Denver Water in 1981. (Source: Colorado State University Extension: Glossary of Water Terminology by R. Waskom and M. Neibauer (3/08))

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Sustainability in Higher Education

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Green Infrastructure - An adaptable term used to describe an array of products, technologies, and practices that use natural systems - or engineered systems that mimic natural processes - to enhance overall environmental quality and provide utility services. As a general principal, Green Infrastructure techniques use soils and vegetation to infiltrate, evapotranspirate, and/or recycle stormwater runoff. (Source: U.S. EPA)

LID - A sustainable landscaping approach that can be used to replicate or restore natural watershed functions and/or address targeted watershed goals and objectives. . (Source: U.S. EPA)

Restorative Design - Approaching design in terms of using the activities of design and building to restore the capability of local natural systems to an entry state of self-organization and continual evolution. (source: Bill Reed)

Regenerative Design - This design process acknowledges that humans are an integral part of nature. Human and natural systems - currently disparate systems in Western culture - need to be in alignment in order to achieve a state of continual and healthy evolution. The design process can and should catalyze this alignment. (source: Bill Reed)

Sustainability - Leaf Litter derives its definition from the definition of sustainable development in Our Common Future, also known as the Brundtland Report, published in 1987 by the United Nations World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED):

"Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs."

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Green Roofs & Living Walls

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Acid Rain - The result of sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) reacting in the atmosphere with water and returning to earth as rain, fog, or snow. For more information, visit EPA's Acid Rain Web site. (source: USEPA)

Embodied Energy - the otal energy sequestered from a stock within the earth in order to produce a specific good or service including extraction, manufacture, and transportation to market. (source: whygreenbuildings.com)

Evapotranspiration -The loss of water from the soil both by evaporation and by transpiration from the plants growing in the soil. (source: USEPA)

Extensive Garden - Extensive gardens have thinner soil depths and require less management and less structural support than intensive gardens. They do not require artificial irrigation. Plants chosen for these gardens are low-maintenance, hardy species that do not have demanding habitat requirements. The goal of an extensive planting design is to have a self-sustaining plant community. (source: USEPA)

Geotextiles - Cloth or clothlike materials intended for use in the soil, usually for filtering or containing soil water. Some types are used to prevent or control erosion. (source: whygreenbuildings.com)

Green Roof - Also known as rooftop gardens, green roofs are planted over existing roof structures, and consist of a waterproof, root-safe membrane that is covered by a drainage system, lightweight growing medium, and plants. Green roofs reduce rooftop and building temperatures, filter pollution, lessen pressure on sewer systems, and reduce the heat island effect. (source: USEPA)

Grey Water - Non-drinkable water that can be reused for irrigation, flushing toilets, and other purposes. (source: USEPA)

Heat Island Effect - This phenomenon describes urban and suburban temperatures that are 2° to 10°F (1° to 6°C) warmer than nearby rural areas. (source: USEPA)

Intensive vs. Extensive Gardens - Intensive gardens have thicker soil depths and generally require more management and artificial irrigation systems. The plants chosen for these gardens must thrive in the specific roof environment they inhabit. Intensive gardens are heavier than extensive gardens, requiring more structural support. Extensive gardens have thinner soil depths and require less management and structural support. They do not require artificial irrigation. Plants chosen for extensive gardens are low maintenance, hardy species and do not have demanding habitat requirements. The idea of an extensive planting design is to have a self-sustaining plant community. (source: USEPA)

LEED Certification - Certification through the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design process, currently the most definitive such process. LEED certification is based on a variety of categories, such as site sustainability, energy, materials, and indoor quality. It divides buildings into four categories: basic certification, silver, gold, and platinum. (source: whygreenbuildings.com)

Life-Cycle Analysis - the study of the environmental impacts of a product or service over its entire life cycle, from the extraction of raw materials, through to the consumption and final disposal of the product. It is a concept and a method to evaluate the environmental effects of a product or activity holistically, by analyzing the entire life cycle of a particular product, process, or activity. Life-cycle assessment is typically described in three complementary phases: inventory analysis, impact assessment, and improvement assessment. (source: whygreenbuildings.com)

Living Wall - part of a building envelope system, comprising pre-vegetated or planted on-site panels containing plants, growing medium or liquid nutrient installed in or on a frame, secured to a structural wall or it can be free standing (source: www.greenroofs.com)

Low Impact Development (LID) - A sustainable landscaping approach that can be used to replicate or restore natural watershed functions and/or address targeted watershed goals and objectives. (source: USEPA)

Noise Reduction (NR) - The simple loss of sound level that occurs in passing through a medium. Most often noise reduction refers to a single octave or one-third octave-band noise.

Particulate Matter - A complex mixture of extremely small particles and liquid droplets. It is made up of a number of components, including acids (such as nitrates and sulfates), organic chemicals, metals, and soil or dust particles. (source: USEPA)

Thermal Load - Amount of heat discharged by an outlet into a water body per unit time. (source: American Meteorological Society)

Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) - Emitted as gases from certain solids or liquids, VOCs include substances-some of which may have short- and long-term adverse health effects-such as benzene, toluene, methylene chloride, and methyl chloroform. (source: USEPA)

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San Francisco Bay Bioregion

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Assisted migration - the practice of deliberately repopulating members of a species from their present habitat to a new region with the intent of establishing a permanent presence there, generally in response to the degradation of the natural habitat due to human action. (source: Wikipedia)

CALFED - The CALFED Bay-Delta Program is a unique collaboration among 25 state and federal agencies that came together with a mission: to improve California's water supply and the ecological health of the San Francisco Bay/Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta.

California Climate Adaptation Strategy - To prepare for the expected impacts of climate change, California is developing a statewide CAS in coordination with efforts targeting greenhouse gas mitigation policies. The CAS will synthesize the most up-to-date information on expected climate change impacts to California for policy-makers and resource managers, provide strategies to promote resiliency to these impacts and develop implementation plans for short and long term actions. (Source: California Resources Agency)

California Resources Agency - California's state agency with a mission to restore, protect and manage the state's natural, historical and cultural resources for current and future generations using creative approaches and solutions based on science, collaboration and respect for all the communities and interests involved. (source: California Resources Agency)

Catchment Area - an area that serves to catch water. (source: Merriam-Webster on line)

Chaparral - a shrubland or heathland plant community found primarily in the U.S. state of California and in the northern portion of Lower California, Mexico. It is shaped by a Mediterranean climate (mild, wet winters and hot dry summers) and wildfire. Similar plant communities are found in the four other Mediterranean climate regions around the world, including the Mediterranean Basin (where it is known as maquis), central Chile (where it is called matorral), South African Cape Region (known there as fynbos), and in Western and Southern Australia. (source: Wikipedia)

Compound Channel Projects - projects that are designed to improve flood capacity and ecological function in rivers. (source: Matt Kondolf)

Habitat conversion - the change of land quality, for example through land transformation or intensification of land use. Common reasons for habitat conversion are deforestation/reforestation, suburbanization, corridor construction, desertification and agricultural intensification, e.g. wetland drainage, irrigation or degradation due to overgrazing. (source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations)

Habitat fragmentation - the emergence of discontinuities (fragmentation) in an organism's preferred environment (habitat). (source: Wikipedia)

Water diversion - Changing the natural flow of water to another location by using dams, canals, or pipelines. (source: Colorado State University)

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Agroecology

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Agroecology - The science of applying ecological concepts and principles to the design and management of sustainable agroecosystems.

Agroecosystem - An agricultural system understood as an ecosystem.

Agroforestry - The practice of including trees in crop- or animal-production agroecosystems.

Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) - A nationwide movement linking local consumers and farmers into communities. Typical CSA's consist of a group of consumer shareholders that pay a sum in advance in exchange for a regular selection (weekly, biweekly) of in-season crops produced by a farm.

Diversity - (1) The number or variety of species in a location, community, ecosystem, or agroecosystem. (2) The degree of heterogeneity of the biotic components of an ecosystem or agroecosystem (see ecological diversity).

Genetic engineering - Transfer, by biotechnological methods, of genetic material from one organism to another.

Haber-Bosch process - The nitrogen fixation reaction of nitrogen and hydrogen, over an iron substrate, to produce ammonia.

Hybrid vigor - The production of an exceptionally vigorous and/or productive hybrid progeny from a directed cross between two pure-breeding plant lines. A synonym for heterosis.

Legume - A plant in the Leguminosae (Fabaceae) family. Most species in this family can fix nitrogen.

Macronutrient - A nutrient plants need in large quantities; the macronutrients include carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, phosphorus, sulfur, and water.

Net primary productivity (NPP) - The difference between the rate of conversion of solar energy into biomass in an ecosystem and the rate at which energy is used to maintain the producers of the system.

Renewable resources - Resources that are capable of being regenerated or replaced by ecological processes on a time scale relevant to their use. These resources, such as biomass or energy from animal traction, are contrasted with non-renewable resources, such as fossil fuels and mined products.

Soil health - The capacity of a soil to function within ecosystem boundaries to sustain biological productivity, maintain environmental quality, and promote plant and animal health. Often used synonymously with soil quality.

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Ocean Health

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By catch - The capture of non-target species (and discarded juveniles of target species) in fishing gear. (source: World Wildlife Fund)

Marine Protected Area - Often used as an umbrella term covering a wide range of marine areas with some level of restriction to protect living, non-living, cultural, and/or historic resources. A commonly used definition is the one developed by the World Conservation Union. It defines Marine Protected Area as any area of the intertidal or sub tidal terrain, together with its overlying water and associated flora, fauna, historical and cultural features, which has been reserved by law or other effective means to protect part or all of the enclosed environment.

Non target species - Fishes that are not the primary target of a fishery, are unintentionally caught, but are also known and expected to be part of captures. These fish may still have market value and be retained, or may be thrown back as discards. (source: seachoice.org)

Ocean Acidification - the ongoing decrease in the pH of the Earth's oceans, caused by their uptake of anthropogenic carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. (source: wikipedia.org)

Overfishing (source: Alaska Oceans Program)

Policy Definition - A rate of fishing mortality that jeopardized the capacity of a fishery to produce the maximum sustainable yield on a continuing basis.
Legal Definition - A rate or level of fishing mortality that jeopardizes the capacity of a fishery to produce maximum sustainable yield on a continuing basis.
Scientific definition - Overfishing - Occurs when the quantity of fish harvested exceeds the amount that can be re-supplied by growth and reproduction.

Sustainable seafood - Fish that are caught or farmed with consideration for the long-term viability of individual marine species and for the oceans' ecological balance as a whole. (source: seachoice.org)

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Ecologically Sustainable Travel & Vacation

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Alternative Energy - Renewable energy sources, such as biomass, small hydro, solar, wind, geothermal, tidal energy and photovoltaic conversion systems. It excludes fossil fuels. (source: environmentallyfriendlyhotels.com)

Carbon Offset - The voluntary act of reducing ("offsetting") greenhouse gas emissions elsewhere. A well-known example is the planting of trees to compensate for the greenhouse gas emissions from personal air travel. Other methods include supporting renewable energy and energy efficiency programs. (Source: Wikipedia)

Gray Water Recycling - Gray water is wastewater composed of wash water from the kitchen, bathrooms sinks and showers/tubs, laundry sinks and tubs, and washing machines (clothes and dish) where only non-polluting, biodegradable soaps are used. Recycling this water is done via using it to water gardens and landscaping and as it filters through the soil on its way to ground and subterranean water sources it is cleaned. Using it on the gardens and landscaping reduces the amount of fresh water needed for that purpose. (source: environmentallyfriendlyhotels.com)

Greenwashing - a pejorative term used to use to describe the activity of giving a positive public image to putatively environmentally unsound practices. (source: Wikipedia)

Travel Philanthropy - conscientious consumers and responsible travel companies who are donating financial resources, time, talent and economic patronage to protect and positively impact the cultures and environments they visit. (source: Sustainble Travel International)

Triple Bottom Line - an expanded baseline for measuring performance, adding social and environmental dimensions to the traditional economic benchmark. of the contract. Sustainable Travel International defines a positive triple bottom line as a net improvement in conservation of the natural environment; social benefits for local communities; profit for business owners and shareholders; and a gain for national and/or regional economy.

Volun Tourism - voluntary service experiences that include travel to a destination in order to realize one's service intentions. In a more refined and balanced approach, Volun Tourism is the integrated combination of voluntary service to a destination with the traditional elements of travel and tourism - arts, culture, geography, history, and recreation - while in the destination.

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Ecological Restoration Construction, Planting & Management

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Change Order
a per-change charge for changes made to an order. Change orders often occur in the context of a contractor and his client. After the original contract is formed, complete with the total price to be paid and the specific work to be completed, a client may decide that the original plans do not best represent his desire for the finished project. Accordingly, the client will suggest an alternate approach. A contractor then typically generates a change order that describes the new work to be done (or not done in some cases), and the price to be paid for this new work. Once this change order is submitted and approved it generally serves to alter the original contract such that the change order now becomes part of the contract. (source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Change_order)

Contractor
A person, business or corporation which provides goods or services to another entity under terms specified in a contract. (source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independent_contractor)

Hydromulching (or hydroseeding, hydraulic mulch seeding, hydraseeding)
a planting process which utilizes a slurry of seed and mulch. The slurry is transported in a tank, either truck or trailer mounted, and sprayed over prepared ground in a uniform layer; helicopters may be used in cases where larger areas must be covered. Hydroseeding is an alternative to the traditional process of broadcasting or sowing dry seed. It promotes quick germination and inhibits soil erosion. (source: http://www.answers.com/topic/hydroseeding)

Native Plant Community
a group of native plants that interact with each other and with their environment in ways not greatly altered by modern human activity or by introduced organisms. (source: http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/npc/index.html)

Pneumatic
Of or relating to air or other gases. (source: http://www.answers.com/topic/pneumatic)

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Natural Capital

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Ecological Economics
a branch of economics that addresses the interdependence and co-evolution between human economies and natural ecosystems. It has similarities to green economics and human development theory. These schools also embrace integration among diverse intellectual thoughts, and deem neoclassical economics as myopic and closed-minded; ecological economics seeks greater trans-disciplinary connections to solve complex issues facing humanity. (source: www.wikipedia.com)

Ecological Services or Ecosystem Services
Ecosystem functions that are of value to humans. These include climate regulation, protection from the sun's harmful ultraviolet rays, purification of air and water, mitigation of floods and droughts, detoxification and decomposition of wastes, generation and renewal of soil and soil fertility, pollination of crops and natural vegetation, control of agricultural pests, gas regulation, water regulation, water supply, erosion control, purification of air and water, and renewal of soil and soil fertility, gas regulation, detoxification and decomposition of wastes, dispersal of seeds and nutrient movement, and maintenance of the biodiversity from which humanity derives key elements of its agricultural, medicinal and industrial systems. (source: www. eartheconomics.org) (Note: check out the paper What Are Ecosystem Services? in which authors James Boyd and Spencer Banzhaf propose a new definition of the term.)

Ecosystem Valuation
Ecosystem valuation is a widely used tool in determining the impact of human activities on an environmental system, by assigning an economic value to an ecosystem or its ecosystem services. (source: www.wikipedia.com)

Emergy
a contraction of the term “embodied energy,” it refers to the total amount of work required to make something, which includes the work of nature and people. (source: David R. Tilley, Ph.D.)

Natural Capital
The infrastructure of life on Earth. Stocks or funds provided by nature that yield a valuable flow into the future of either natural resources or ecological services. (source: www. eartheconomics.org)

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Stakeholder Engagement

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Charrette
An intense, collaborative and interactive planning process usually performed over a compressed time period. (The term is derived from the French word meaning "little cart." At the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris, proctors would collect final plans in carts, and students would sometimes jump on board and frantically fine tune their drawings at last minute.)

Regenerative Design
This is a design process that acknowledges that humans are an integral part of nature and that human and natural systems - currently disparate systems in western culture - need to be in alignment in order to achieve a state of continual and healthy evolution.

Systems Thinking Involves the use of various techniques to study systems of many kinds. It includes studying things in a holistic way, rather than through purely reductionist techniques. It aims to gain insights into the whole by understanding the linkages and interactions between the elements that comprise the whole "system." Systems thinking can help avoid the silo effect, where a lack of organizational communication can cause a change in one area of a system to adversely affect another area of the system.

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Hibernation/Seasonal Slumber

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Acronyms used below:
FWS - U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
IUCN - World Conservation Union
SSC - Species Survival Commission

Burrow
a hole or tunnel dug as a living space

Clear-cut
land from which all the trees and undergrowth have been cut and removed

Cold-blooded animal
an animal with an internal body temperature that varies according to the temperature of the surroundings

Den
a home for a wild animal

Diapause
a period during which the metabolism of certain animals or insects slows down, temporarily suspending their bodily development and growth. Such periods are linked to seasonal or environmental changes

Dispersal
the movement of organisms away from their place of birth or from centers of population density

Endangered species
an animal or plant species in danger of extinction throughout all or a significant portion of its range

Endangered Species Act of 1973
As amended, Federal legislation that is intended to provide a means to conserve the ecosystems upon which endangered and threatened species depend and provide programs for the conservation of those species, thus preventing extinction of plants and animals. The law is administered by Interior Department's FWS and Commerce Department's NOAA Fisheries, depending on the species.

Estivation (aestivation)
dormancy in some animals during the summer months of drought

Herbivore
an animal that feeds only or mainly on grass and other plants

Hibernaculum
the winter den of a hibernating animal or insect

Hibernation
to be in a sleeplike dormant state over the winter while living off reserves of body fat, with a decrease in body temperature and pulse rate and slower metabolism

Historic range
the geographic area where a species was known to or believed to occur within historic time

Predation
the relationship between two groups of animals in which one species hunts, kills and eats the other

Recovery plan
A document drafted by FWS, NOAA Fisheries, or other knowledgeable individual or group, that serves as a guide for activities to be undertaken by Federal, State, or private entities in helping to recover and conserve endangered or threatened species

Snowpack
an area of naturally formed, packed snow that usually melts during the warmer months

Species at risk/of concern
an informal term referring to a species that might be in need of conservation action. This may range from a need for periodic monitoring of populations and threats to the species and its habitat, to the necessity for listing as threatened or endangered. Such species receive no legal protection and use of the term does not necessarily imply that a species will eventually be proposed for listing. "Species at risk " is a general term for listed species as well as unlisted ones that are declining in population. Canada uses the term in its new "Species at Risk Act."

Temperate
a climate that has a range of temperatures within moderate limits

Thermoregulation
the maintenance of a particular body temperature regardless of changes in the environment

Threatened species
an animal or plant species likely to become endangered within the foreseeable future throughout all or a significant portion of its range

Torpor
a state of regulated hypothermia lasting just a few hours. Body temperature drops during a portion of the day to conserve energy

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Sustainable Design

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High Performance Design
Design that realizes high efficiency and reduced impact in the building structure, operations and site activities. This term can imply a more technical efficiency approach to design and may limit an embrace of the larger natural system benefits.

Green Design
A general term implying a direction of improvement in design (i.e., continual improvement towards a whole and healthy integration of human activities with natural systems).

Ecological Design
Design that take into account the interrelationship of all organisms.

Sustainable Design
See "Green Design" with an emphasis on reaching a point of being able to sustain the health of the planet's organisms and systems over time.

Whole System Design
This is a term that acknowledges that all human and natural sub- systems are interconnected and how they can relate as a whole.

Restorative Design
This approach thinks about design in terms of using the activities of design and building to restore the capability of local natural systems to a position of self organization and continual evolution.

Elegant Design
Achieving the desired objective using the least amount of resources.

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Habitat Fragmentation

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Courtesy of Towson University

Barrier
An environment that prevents or impedes the dispersal of a species from one location to another. A fast moving river may serve as a barrier for species that cannot fly or swim.

Community
A collection of species that live in close proximity to one another, share the same habitat, or live in the same region.

Connectivity
The degree to which patches of habitat are linked to one another. It is easy for individuals to travel between patches that display a high degree of connectivity; perhaps because the patches are connected by corridors. Patches that are separated from one another have a low connectivity.

Core Area
The central portion of a habitat patch; the core is surrounded by similar habitat, and is away from the edge of a patch.

Corridor
A connection between two patches of habitat that allows for the safe travel of individuals between the patches. The Isthmus of Panama served as a corridor between North and South America for many species of mammal; a hedgerow may serve as a corridor between forests for species that live in forest habitat.

Cosmopolitan
An adjective that describes a species that is widely dispersed; describes a species that is found all over the world, or has a wide range. See also pandemic.

Dispersal
The movement of organisms to new locations, away from their parents. For example, dandelions disperse using seeds that catch the wind, while thistles will disperse by catching in the fur of a passing mammal. Animals tend to have an excellent capacity for dispersal, because they typically are able to walk, fly or swim to a new location.

Ecosystem
A community of species and their physical environment. For example, a river ecosystem would include the fish, insects, plants, water, and sediment found in a river.

Edge
The outer boundary of a habitat patch.

Edge Effect
A condition in which otherwise suitable habitat becomes less suitable for a species because it is adjacent to non-habitat land. This degradation of habitat may occur due to predation from species that live outside of the patch, or increased competition with species that live outside the habitat patch.

Endemic, Endemism
An adjective that describes species that occur only in a limited number of places. For example, the Maryland Terrapin is endemic to the Chesapeake Bay because it is only found in this one region of the world.

Extirpation
A process or condition in which a population has gone extinct from a particular patch of suitable habitat, or has been driven away from a region. In order for this region to support another population, it must be recolonized.

Exotic Species
A recently introduced species, or a species that is living in a location that is outside of its 'normal' or historical range.

Fragmentation
The process whereby a large patch of habitat is broken down into many smaller patches of habitat, resulting in a loss in the amount and quality of habitat.

Habitat
Areas that meet the environmental requirements of a species. home range: the region in which an individual lives. See also range.

Individual
A single plant or animal; a separate organism.

Introduction
To establish a population in a new location where it has never before existed.

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Forest Restoration

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Angiosperms
Plants with seeds in closed ovaries, including the broadleaf trees.

Bryophtyes
Nonvascular terrestrial green plants, including mosses.

Canopy
The continuous covering of a forest composed of the upper branches and leaves.

Climax
A stage of forest succession in which the composition and age- structure stay relatively stable.

Conifers
Cone-bearing trees.

Coppice
Forest arising from the sprouting of roots or stumps in a cut-over area.

Deciduous
Pertains to trees that shed their leaves annually.

Dendrochronology
The study of tree rings to determine growth and age.

Dominant
Pertains to a species that makes up the majority of canopy species.

Duff
Decaying organic matter on the forest floor.

Edaphic
Relating to soil conditions that influence plant growth.

Endemic Species
Species found nowhere else but in a given area.

Exotic Invasive Species
Non-native species that dominate communities of native species.

Fire-Successional Species
Tree species that populate an area after a major burn; some require heat to release seeds.

Forest Fragment
A forest with a landscape that is diminished in scale and discontinuous with the larger regional forest ecosystem.

Gymnosperms
Plants with naked seeds, mainly conifers.

Heliophyte
A plant that is tolerant or thrives in full sunlight.

Herb
A non-woody, seed-producing plant.

Lichen
A composite organism made of an alga and a fungus in a symbiotic association.

Mycology
The study of fungi.

Mychorrizal Fungi
Fungi that enter into a symbiotic association with the roots of certain plants. They convert ammonium in the soil into nitrates the plant can use in exchange for nutrients.

Peat
Soil that consists almost completely of undecomposed organic matter.

Primary Forest
A area that has been forested since prior to the European arrival in North America and that has been minimally influenced by human activity.

Secondary Forest
A forest that has regenerated after removal of at least a significant portion of the original stand.

Seral forest
Forest composed of species that are relatively short-lived.

Succession
A progression of species changes, often ending in a climax community.

Swamp
A forested wetland.

Understory
A structural layer of a forest consisting of trees, shrubs, and herbs that are growing far beneath the canopy.

Sources:
Eastern Old-Growth Forests: Prospects for Rediscovery and Recovery. Ed. Mary Byrd Davis. Island Press: Washington D.C. and Covelo, California, 1996. The Once and Future Forest: A guide to forest restoration strategies. Sauer, Leslie Jones. Adropogon Associates, Ltd. Island Press: Washington, D. C. and Covelo, California, 1998

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Wetland Restoration

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Bog
A peat-accumulating wetland that has no significant inflows or outflows and will support acidophilic mosses, particularly sphagnum.

Compensatory Mitigation
The restoration, creation, enhancement, or in exceptional circumstances, preservation of wetlands and/or other aquatic resources for the purpose of compensating for unavoidable adverse impacts.

Creation (of wetlands)
Converting a non-wetland (either dry land or unvegetated water) to a wetland.

Credit
The standard unit of measurement for quantifying the net gain in wetland acreage or function that results from wetland restoration, enhancement, creation, or preservation.

Enhancement (of wetlands)
Increasing one or more of the functions performed by an existing wetland beyond what currently or previously existed in the wetland. There is often an accompanying decrease in other functions.

Fen
A peat-accumulating wetland that receives some drainage from surrounding mineral soil and usually supports marsh-like vegetation. Hydric soil - Soil that is saturated, flooded, or ponded long enough during the growing season to develop anaerobic conditions in the upper part of the soil.

Jurisdictional Wetland
A wetland that meets the legal definition of a wetland under the Clean Water Act or Swampbuster and is thereby under the jurisdiction of the Corps for regulatory purposes.

Marsh
A wetland dominated by herbaceous, emergent plants.

Reference Wetland
A wetland site that encompasses known variation in the functioning of the subclass of wetlands. Reference wetlands are used to establish range of functioning within the subclass.

Restoration (of wetlands)
Returning a degraded wetland or former wetland to a pre-existing condition or as close to that condition as is possible.

Riparian Zone
Zone immediately adjacent to streams, which is occasionally flooded but otherwise dry for varying portions of the growing season.

Scrub-Shrub Wetland
A scrub-shrub wetland typifies a community in transition and exemplifies the dynamic nature of wetlands in general. Many emergent wetlands, left undisturbed, will gradually be replaced through succession by woody vegetation.

Swamp
A wetland dominated by woody plant species including trees and shrubs.

Vernal Pool
A shallow, intermittently flooded wet meadow that is generally dry for most of the summer or fall.

Watershed
The land area that drains into a stream, river, or other body of water.

Wetland Mitigation Banking
Wetland restoration, creation, enhancement, or in exceptional circumstances, preservation undertaken expressly for the purpose of compensating for unavoidable wetland losses in advance of development actions, when such compensation cannot be achieved at the development site or would not be as environmentally beneficial.

Definitions of Wetland Systems from Cowardin, et al. (1979)

Marine
Open ocean overlying the continental shelf and associated high- energy coast line. Examples of wetland types within this system are subtidal and intertidal aquatic beds, reefs, and rocky shores.

Estuarine
Deepwater tidal habitats and adjacent tidal wetlands that are usually semi-enclosed by land but have open, partially obstructed, or sporadic access to the ocean and in which ocean water is at least occasionally diluted by freshwater runoff from the land. Examples of estuarine classes include subtidal and intertidal emergent wetlands, forested wetlands, and rock bottom.

Riverine
Wetland and deepwater habitats contained within a channel with two exceptions: 1) wetlands dominated by trees, shrubs, persistent emergent plants, emergent mosses, or lichens, and 2) habitat with water containing ocean-derived salts in excess of 5 ppt (parts per thousand). Rivers and streams fall within this system and subsystems include tidal, perennial, and intermittent watercourses.

Lacustrine
Wetlands and deepwater habitats with all of the following characteristics: 1) situated in a topographic depression or a dammed river channel, 2) less than 30 percent areal coverage by trees, shrubs, persistent emergent vegetation, emergent mosses, or lichens, and 3) total area exceeds 8 hectares (20 acres). Lakes typify lacustrine wetland systems.

Palustrine
All nontidal wetlands dominated by trees, shrubs, persistent emergent vegetation, emergent mosses or lichens, and all such wetlands that occur in tidal areas where salinity due to ocean-derived salts is below 5 ppt. This system also includes wetlands lacking such vegetation if they are less than 8 hectares, lack wave-action or bedrock shoreline features, and are no deeper than 2 meters at low water in their deepest spot. Examples include ponds, bogs, and prairie potholes.

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Wolf Reintroduction

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Acronyms used below:

ESA - Endangered Species Act.

FWS - U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

NOAA Fisheries - National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries (formerly National Marine Fisheries Service or NMFS).

Candidate Conservation Agreement (CCA)
A voluntary agreement between FWS or NOAA Fisheries and other Federal or non-Federal landowners that identifies specific conservation measures that the participants of the agreement will undertake to conserve species covered by the agreement, none of which are listed under the Endangered Species Act, with the intention of preventing any need to list the species.

Candidate species (candidate)
A plant or animal species for which FWS or NOAA Fisheries has on file sufficient information on biological vulnerability and threats to support a proposal to list as endangered or threatened.

Critical Habitat
Geographic areas, whether occupied by a listed species or not, that are essential for its conservation and that have been formally designated by rule.

Delist
To remove an animal or plant species from the list of endangered and threatened wildlife and plants.

Distinct Population Segment (DPS)
subdivision of a vertebrate species that is treated as a species for purposes of listing under the Endangered Species Act. To be so recognized, a potential distinct population segment must satisfy standards specified in a FWS or NOAA Fisheries policy statement (See the February 7, 1996, Federal Register, pages 4722-4725). The standards require it to be separable from the remainder of and significant to the species to which it belongs.

Endangered Species
An animal or plant species in danger of extinction throughout all or a significant portion of its range.

Endangered Species Act of 1973 (as amended)
Federal legislation that is intended to provide a means to conserve the ecosystems upon which endangered and threatened species depend and provide programs for the conservation of those species, thus preventing extinction of plants and animals. The law is administered by Interior Department's FWS and Commerce Department's NOAA Fisheries, depending on the species.

Endemic Species
A species native and confined to a certain region; generally used for species with comparatively restricted distribution.

Extinct Species
A species that no longer exists. For ESA, a species currently believed to be extinct.

Extirpated Species
A species no longer surviving in regions that were once part of its range.

Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP)
A plan that outlines ways of maintaining, enhancing, and protecting a given habitat type needed to protect species; usually includes measures to minimize impacts, and may include provisions for permanently protecting land, restoring habitat, and relocating plants or animals to another area. Required before an incidental take permit may be issued.

Historic Range
The geographic area where a species was known to or believed to occur within historic time.

Keystone Species
A species whose very presence contributes to a diversity of life and whose extinction would consequently lead to the extinction of other forms of life. Keystone species help to support the ecosystem (entire community of life) of which they are a part.

Primary constituent element
A physical or biological feature essential to the conservation of a species for which its designated or proposed critical habitat is based on, such as space for individual and population growth, and for normal behavior; food, water, air, light, minerals, or other nutritional or physiological requirements; cover or shelter; sites for breeding, reproduction, rearing of offspring, germination, or seed dispersal; and habitats that are protected from disturbance or are representative of the species' historic geographic and ecological distribution.

Range
The geographic area a species is known to or believed to occupy.

Reclassify
To change a species' official status from threatened to endangered or vice-versa.

Recovery
The process by which the decline of an endangered or threatened species is stopped or reversed, or threats to its survival neutralized so that its long-term survival in the wild can be ensured, and it can be removed from the list of threatened and endangered species.

Recovery Plan
A document drafted by FWS, NOAA Fisheries, or other knowledgeable individual or group, that serves as a guide for activities to be undertaken by Federal, State, or private entities in helping to recover and conserve endangered or threatened species.

Safe Harbor Agreement
A voluntary agreement signed by FWS or NOAA Fisheries and a property owner and any other cooperator that (a) sets forth specific management activities that the non-Federal property owner will undertake or forgo to provide a net conservation benefit to species covered by the agreement, and (b) provides the property owner with the Safe Harbor assurances described within the agreement and authorized in an enhancement of survival permit.

Species of Concern
An informal term referring to a species that might be in need of conservation action. This may range from a need for periodic monitoring of populations and threats to the species and its habitat, to the necessity for listing as threatened or endangered. Such species receive no legal protection and use of the term does not necessarily imply that a species will eventually be proposed for listing. A similar term is "species at risk," which is a general term for listed species as well as unlisted ones that are declining. Canada uses the term in its new "Species at Risk Act."

Threatened Species
An animal or plant species likely to become endangered within the foreseeable future throughout all or a significant portion of its range.

Ungulate
Term generally used to describe all hoofed mammals. Ungulates have developed hoofs - specialized claws or toenails - as an adaptation for running. They are one of the most successful and diverse groups of mammals, having colonized nearly every habitat on all continents except Antarctica and Australia. Since the beginning of the 20th century, more new ungulate species have been discovered than any other type of large mammal.

Unless otherwise noted, the source for the above terms is: USF&WS Endangered Species Program Glossary.