NRM 3307 Final Study

Population decay

Chronic decline in a species’ population size/geographic range that increases risk of extinction.

Living Plant Index (LPI)

Indicator of the state of global biodiversity.

Biotic homogenization

Invasive, alien species replace native flora/fauna, causing ecosystems to lose their biological uniqueness.

Carrying capacity (K)

Max number of individuals of a species that an area can support given the limiting resources available.

Desertification

Fertile land becoming a desert due to drought, deforestation, or poor land management practices that alter the water budget.

Extirpation

Local extinction of a species population from a biological community, even if populations of the species exist elsewhere.

Heterozygosity

The proportion of gene loci at which the average individual in a population is heterozygous.

Mass Mortality Event (MME)

Rapid, catastrophic die-off of organisms that kills more than 90% of a population in a short time.

Crisis discipline

A field in which urgent issues require practitioners to take action even in the absence of complete information.

Ecosystem-based management

Integrated approach to managing natural resourced that considers entire ecosystems, including humans, that emphasizes the maintenance of ecosystem health, biodiversity, and resilience.

Evolutionary-ecological land ethic

Most important goal of conservation is to maintain the health of natural ecosystems and the ecological processes they perform.

Middle ground between exploitation/human control over nature and complete preservation of wilderness with no human presence/interference.

Intrinsic value

Inherent value something possesses simply because of its existence and is independent/instrumental to human society.

Maximum sustainable yield

Max level a natural resource can be harvested/exploited without long-term depletion.

Alleles

Different forms of the same gene. DNA sequences found at the same gene locus but code for the production of different proteins.

Allele frequency

Proportional representation of all the alleles in a population.

Alpha diversity

Species richness within a local ecosystem.

Beta diversity

Change in alpha diversity as one moves from one ecosystem to another across a landscape.

Gamma diversity

Species richness at a regional/geographical level.

Biodiversity

Variety of life on Earth including genes, populations, species, communities, and biomes.

Biological community

Collection of a species that occupy and interact in a particular location.

Biological Species Concept

A species is a group of organisms that can interbreed and produce viable, fertile offspring in natural conditions.

Community & Ecosystem diversity

Different biological communities and their associated ecosystems that comprise a whole landscape.

Evolutionary Species Concept

Smallest group of organisms that share a common ancestor and can be distinguished by unique, shared genetic characteristics.

Gene

Sequence of nucleotides that code for a specific protein.

Genetic diversity

Genetic variation within species, both among individuals within single populations and among geographically distinct populations.

Heterozygous

Condition of an individual having two different forms of a gene on homologous chromosomes.

Keystone species

A species whose impacts on its community/ecosystem are much larger than would be expected from its abundance.

Morphological Species Concept

Classifies species based on morphological (physical) characteristics and similarities.

Polymorphism

Measure of the fraction of gene loci in which alternative alleles of a gene occur.

Population

Group of individual organisms of the same species living in a given geographical area at the same time.

Species diversity

Variety of species that comprise a biological community– the collection of species that occupy and interact in a particular region.

Species richness

Number of unique species observed in an ecological community or ecosystem.

Endemic

Organisms that are native to and occur ONLY in a given area.

Theory of Island Biogeography

Proposes the number of species on any island is determined by a balance between the rate at which new species colonize the island populations of species that are already established becoming extinct.

Anthropocentrism

Human beings are the primary holders of moral standing in the world.

Biocentrism

Extends inherent value/moral consideration to all living beings, not just humans.

Biophilia

Connections humans subconsciously seek with the rest of life.

Ecocentrism

Extends moral consideration to everything– biotic and abiotic.

Ecosystem services

Benefits humans receive from both natural and managed ecosystems.

Sustainable development

Meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability for future generations to meet their own needs.

Surrogate species

Provides efficient means of achieving broader conservation goals.

Keystone species

Species whose impacts on its community/ecosystem are much larger than expected from its abundance.

Indicator species

Species used as a gauge for conditions of particular habitat, community, or ecosystem.

Genetic drift

Allele frequencies change from one generation to the next.

Inbreeding

Two mating individuals that are more genetically similar than if a mate was chosen at random.

Inbreeding depression

When an individual receives two defective alleles from both parents, reducing fitness, mortality, and offspring.

Extinction vortex

Factors affecting small populations that drive numbers lower and lower until extirpation.

Protected area

Clearly defined, geographic space that’s recognized, dedicated, and managed to achieve long-term conservation of nature and associated ecosystem services.

Cultural protected areas

UNESCO sites protect heritage and encourage sharing cultural treasure while bringing in economic benefit.

Gap analysis

Systematic method to identify '“gaps“ in the protection of biodiversity.

Habitat corridor

Continuous strip of protected habitat between two protected areas.

Stepping stones

Discontinuous pieces of habitat that fill gaps between protected areas.

Fish ladder

Structure allowing migrating fish passage over/around obstacles in a river.

Holistic approach

EBM emphasizes managing entire ecosystems, including their interactions/processes, rather than one individual species or sector.

Sustainability focus

EBM aims to maintain ecosystem health, biodiversity, and productivity long-term to balance ecological, social, and economic goals.

Stakeholder involvement

EBM involves governments, communities, and industries to ensure inclusive and collaborative decision-making.

Adaptive management

EBM adjusts to changes in ecosystems/scientific understanding. Emphasizes monitoring and learning.

In-situ conservation

On site or in field. Tools/techniques that conservation biologists use to protect populations, communities, ecosystems, and landscapes.

Ex-situ conservation

Offsite conservation. Protection/management of biodiversity in artificial, human-built environments.

Citizen science

Umbrella term that describes the variety of ways in which the public can/is participating in science.

Science communication

Practice of making science accessible, understandable, and engaging for diverse audiences.

Masking

The inability to hear important environmental and animal signals.

Sustainable development

Meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability for future generations to meet their own needs.

GPI– Genuine Progress Indicator

Assess overall well-being/sustainability by including factors like environmental health, social factors, and income distribution.

GDP– Gross Domestic Product

Never designed to account for social, economic, or environmental welfare– presents a misleading measure of success that mainly focuses on size and growth of economy.

SPI– Social Progress Index

Metric that measures a country’s social/environmental performance independently from its economic factors.

Green infrastructure

Network of (semi)natural ecosystems designed to manage water, create healthier environments, and promote biodiversity in urban and rural settings.

Biogeography

Study of the geographic distributions of organisms.

Historical biogeography

Assumes current distributions are determined by past events like the continental dirft.

Ecological biogeography

Focuses on interactions among species, primarily on a small scale.

Dispersal

Distribution of organisms can change through time due to the movement of individuals.

Ethics

Moral principles that govern a person’s behavior/conduction of an activity.

Values

A person’s principles/standards of behavior.

Habitat loss

Suite of changes that convert habitats from usable to less usable for non-humans. Disappearance of habitats and their biological communities/ecological functions.

Overexploitation

Harvesting of renewable resources at a rate that’s faster than the resource can be regenerated.

Species-Area relationships

Describes empirical relationship between the area of a habitat and the number of species found in that area.

Stochastic processes

Random, unpredictable events in a population/environment that can lead to extinction.

Population density

Size of population per amount of space.

Mate limitation

Successful, sexual reproduction varies with population density.

Fecundity

Potential for reproduction of a population.

Mortality

Measure of the number of deaths in a population.

Ecological controls

Aspects of a species’ ecological niche and the influence risk of extinction.

Endemism

Species found naturally in a single geographical area and NO OTHER place.

Isolation

Reduces likelihood of colonization by individuals from nearby populations.

Life history traits

Properties of a species’ biology.

Ecological function

Ecological roles that species play in the community/ecosystem in which they occur.

Habitat fragmentation

Process by which larger, continuous habitats become subdivided into greater numbers of smaller patches.

Edge effects

Suite of biological/physical changes that occur at the edges of patches.

Habitat degredation

Suite of human activities that make remaining habitat patches less conducive to life, eroding biodiversity.

Bioaccumulation

The accumulation of contaminant pesticides in a living organism over time.

Biomagnification

Increase in contaminant concentration in the tissue of organisms as it travels up the food chain.

Metapopulations

Collection of local populations that are spatially separated from each other in patches across the landscape.

Commercial overexploitation

Unsustainable harvest of a natural resource.

Subsistence overexploitation

Unsustainable hunting of wild meat for human consumption.

Recreational overexploitation

Hunting/fishing for sport that overexploits populations.

Community assembly

Processes of how ecological communities form.

Dispersal limitation

Limits dispersal ability of an organism, contains a species’ population growth and geographic distribution.

Horizon scanning

Systematic search to identify species that pose potential threats.

Risk assessment

Process of determining the probability than an event will occur and the consequences that will accompany it.