Glossary
biodiversity - "the variety and variability among living organisms and the ecological complexes in which they occur. Diversity can be defined as the number of different items and their relative frequencies. For biological diversity, these items are organized at many levels, ranging from complete ecosystems to the biochemical structures that are the molecular basis of heredity. Thus, the term encompasses different ecosystems, species, and genes." http://www.epa.gov/OCEPAterms
biological corridor -"a habitat band linking areas of similar management and/or habitat type." http://www.streamnet.org/pub-ed/ff/Glossary
carbon offsets - "a project or technology that seeks to reduce or absorb carbon dioxide. Carbon offsets are used to help individuals or businesses become carbon neutral by balancing out emissions associated with certain activities through actions or projects that reduce or eliminate other emissions. Examples of offsets include renewable energy generation, forest sequestration efforts and energy efficiency projects." http://begreennow.com/assets
clear cutting - "harvesting all the trees in one area at one time, a practice that can encourage fast rainfall or snowmelt runoff, erosion, sedimentation of streams and lakes, and flooding, and destroys vital habitat." http://www.epa.gov/OCEPAterms
climate change - "used to refer to all forms of climatic inconsistency, but because the Earth's climate is never static, the term is more properly used to imply a significant change from one climatic condition to another. In some cases, 'climate change' has been used synonymously with the term, 'global warming'; scientists however, tend to use the term in the wider sense to also include natural changes in climate."
http://www.epa.gov/OCEPAterms
conservation -"preserving and renewing, when possible, human and natural resources. The use, protection, and improvement of natural resources according to principles that will ensure their highest economic or social benefits."
http://www.epa.gov/OCEPAterms
deforestation - the removal of the earth's forest cover to provide space for agriculture or development. Large deforestation projects, particularly in South America, are often accomplished by burning huge areas of forest, a process that releases carbon dioxide and aerosols into the atmosphere. Because trees are a major consumer of atmospheric carbon dioxide, extensive loss of forested land may contribute to the greenhouse effect by limiting the removal of carbon dioxide from the air.
desertification - "degradation of the land in arid or semi-arid areas leading to it become desert. This can be caused by climate change or poor land management practices."
http://www.globaleducation.edna.edu.au
ecosystem - "the interacting system of a biological community and its non-living environmental surroundings." http://www.epa.gov/OCEPAterms
ecosystem services - "the benefits people obtain from ecosystems. These include provisioning services such as food and water; regulating services such as flood and disease control; cultural services such as spiritual, recreational, and cultural benefits; and supporting services such as nutrient cycling that maintain the conditions for life on Earth." http://www.greenfacts.org/glossary
erosion - "the wearing away of land surface by wind or water, intensified by land-clearing practices related to farming, residential or industrial development, road building, or logging." http://www.epa.gov/OCEPAterms
estuary - "region of interaction between rivers and near-shore ocean waters, where tidal action and river flow mix fresh and salt water. Such areas include bays, mouths of rivers, salt marshes, and lagoons. These brackish water ecosystems shelter and feed marine life, birds, and wildlife." http://www.epa.gov/OCEPAterms
global warming - "an increase in the near surface temperature of the Earth. Global warming has occurred in the distant past as the result of natural influences, but the term is most often used to refer to the warming predicted to occur as a result of increased emissions of greenhouse gases. Scientists generally agree that the Earth's surface has warmed by about 1 degree Fahrenheit in the past 140 years. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) recently concluded that increased concentrations of greenhouse gases are causing an increase in the Earth's surface temperature and that increased concentrations of sulfate aerosols have led to relative cooling in some regions, generally over and downwind of heavily industrialized areas." http://www.epa.gov/OCEPAterms
greenhouse gases - "a gas, such as carbon dioxide or methane, which contributes to potential climate change." http://www.epa.gov/OCEPAterms
habitat - "the place where a population (e.g., human, animal, plant, microorganism) lives and its surroundings, both living and non-living." http://www.epa.gov/OCEPAterms
mangroves - "a community of salt-tolerant trees and shrubs, with many other associated organisms, that grows on some tropical and sub-tropical coasts in a zone roughly coinciding with the intertidal zone." http://www.biology-online.org/dictionary
micro-watershed - "a small first or second class watershed, in which a certain number of families live (Community) making use and managing the resources of the area, mainly the soil, water, vegetation, including crops and native vegetation, and fauna, including domestic and wild animals. From the operational point of view, the micro watershed has an area that may be planned by a technician counting on local resources and/or a number of families that may be treated as a social nucleus that shares some common interests (water, roads, organization, etc.)"
http://www.fao.org/regional/lamerica
NGO - acronym for a non-governmental organization
payment for ecosystem services (PES) - "PES is an umbrella term often applied to any among a wide variety of schemes in which the beneficiaries, or users, of ecosystem services provide payment to the stewards, or providers, of ecosystem services. While PES is increasingly used as a catch all phrase, the term originated (and is most often used) in the field of sustainable development. In this context, PES frequently acts as a descriptor for schemes that do not rely upon a formal market, but rather rely upon a continual series of payments to rural landowners who agree to steward ecosystem services." http://www.ecosystemmarketplace.com
reef - "a chain or range of rocks lying at or near the surface of the water" http://www.biology-online.org/dictionary
reforestation - "planting of forests on lands that have previously contained forest but have since been converted to some other use."
http://www.greenfacts.org/glossary
sustainability - "meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs."
http://www.ecy.wa.gov/sustainability
tributary - "a smaller river, which discharges into a larger river. "Smaller" and "larger" are usually evaluated by comparing the lengths of the two rivers upstream of their junction."
http://www.engineering.usu.edu
tropical habitat - "the natural and semi-natural tropical or subtropical forest ecosystems, whether primary or secondary, whether closed or open forests, in both dry and humid areas. The areas concerned are those found within the tropics and subtropics delimited by the 30th northern and southern parallels."
water catchment area - "an area of land that collects water, which drains to the lowest point in the area which could be either a lake, a dam, or the sea. Rain falling on the land will make its way to this lowest point, via creeks, rivers and stormwater systems."
http://www.onkaparinga.net/about/
watershed - "the area of land that drains water, sediment, dissolved materials, heat, biota, etc., to a common outlet at some point along a stream channel (watershed outlet). A watershed is a naturally delineated unit of land. Watersheds are the basic land unit of the hydropological cycle, just as pastures are the basic land unit of a ranch."
http://danr.ucop.edu
wetlands - "an area that is saturated by surface or ground water with vegetation adapted for life under those soil conditions, as swamps, bogs, fens, marshes, and estuaries."
http://www.epa.gov/OCEPAterms
