Key Words for Biodiversity under Threat

Key Term

Definition

Alien Species

A species introduced outside its normal distribution. Invasive alien species are alien species whose establishment and spread modify ecosystems, habitats, or species.

Anaerobic

Respiration without the need for oxygen

Aquaculture

the rearing of aquatic animals or the cultivation of aquatic plants for food

Biodiversity

The variety of plant and animal life in the world or in a particular habitat, a high level of which is usually considered to be important and desirable.

Biodiversity hotspots

Biogeographic region that is both a significant reservoir of biodiversity and is threatened with destruction. The term biodiversity hotspot specifically refers to 25 biologically rich areas around the world that have lost at least 70 percent of their original habitat. They are the most remarkable areas.

Biomass

The total quantity or weight of organisms in a given area or volume.

Biome

A large naturally occurring community of flora and fauna occupying a major habitat, e.g. forest or tundra.

Buy-back

Buying something that was previously owned or sold

Carbon Sequestration

The removal and storage of carbon from the atmosphere in carbon sinks (such as oceans, forests or soils) through physical or biological processes, such as photosynthesis.

Conservation

Preservation or restoration from loss, damage, or neglect: manuscripts saved from deterioration under the program of library conservation. b. The protection, preservation, management, or restoration of wildlife and of natural resources such as forests, soil, and water.

Coral Bleaching

Coral bleaching is a process whereby the coral colonies lose their colour, either due to the loss of pigments by microscopic algae (living in symbiosis with their host organisms (polyps), or because these have been expelled.

Cultural services

This grouped ecosystem services into four broad categories: provisioning, such as the production of food and water; regulating, such as the control of climate and disease; supporting, such as nutrient cycles and crop pollination; and cultural, such as spiritual and recreational benefits.

Eco-region

1.      An area defined in terms of its natural features and environment.

Eco-system diversity

Ecosystem diversity refers to the variety of ecosystems in a given place. Within any broader landscape there is a mosaic of interconnected ecosystems. To conserve biodiversity, conservation at the landscape level is critical.

Endemic

 Disease that occurs regularly in a particular area, as malaria does in many tropical countries, is said to be endemic. 

Endemism

Endemism is the ecological state of a species being unique to a defined geographic location, such as an island, nation, country or other defined zone, or habitat type; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsewhere.

Eutrophication

Excessive richness of nutrients in a lake or other body of water, frequently due to run-off from the land, which causes a dense growth of plant life.

Genetic Diversity

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