Aesthetic Value: value coming from a pleasing or otherwise notable appearance (Merriam-Webster, 2018).

Apex Predators:  a predator at the top of a food chain that is not preyed upon by any other animal (Merriam-Webster, 2018).

Bequest Value: The satisfaction that comes from preserving a site for future generation (Non Use Values: Bequest and Existence, 2017).

Background Extinction Rate: Normal extinction of various species as a result of changes in local environmental conditions (Glossary: Environmental, 2017).

Biodiversity: Variety of different species (species diversity), genetic variability among individuals within each species (genetic diversity), variety of ecosystems (ecological diversity), and functions such as energy flow and matter cycling needed for the survival of species and biological communities (functional diversity) (Glossary: Environmental, 2017).

Biomes: Terrestrial regions inhabited by certain types of life, especially vegetation. Examples include various types of deserts, grasslands, and forests (Glossary: Environmental, 2017).

Bioprospectors: attempt to discover in living organisms biochemicals or genetic sequences that have medical, agricultural, or industrial value (Dictionary, 2018).

Biotic Potential: the ability of a population of living species to increase under ideal environmental conditions (Corwin, 2015)

Broods: the young of an animal or a family of young (Merriam-Webster, 2018).

Captive Breeding Programs: breeding of animals in zoos or parks, especially to help preserve species that are threatened by extinction in the wild (Dictionary, 2018).

CITES: (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) is an international agreement between governments. Its aim is to ensure that international trade in specimens of wild animals and plants does not threaten their survival. (What is CITIES, 2017)

Conservation Easements: voluntary legal agreements between a landowner and a land trust in which the landowner, places restrictions on the use of his or her property, in order to protect the natural values of the land (Merrill, 2010)

Critical Habitats: specific geographic areas that contain features essential to the conservation of an endangered or threatened species and that may require special management and protection (Listing and Critical Habitat, 2017).

Degradation: the process of something becoming worse or weaker, or being made worse or weaker (Glossary: Environmental, 2017).

Ecological services: Natural services or natural capital that support life on the earth and are essential to the quality of human life and the functioning of the world’s economies. Examples are the chemical cycles, natural pest control, and natural purification of air and water (Spoolman, n.d.).

Ecological Extinction: Complete disappearance of a species from the earth. It happens when a species cannot adapt and successfully reproduce under new environmental conditions or when a species evolves into one or more new species (Glossary: Environmental, 2017).

Ecosystem: One or more communities of different species interacting with one another and with the chemical and physical factors making up their nonliving environment (Glossary: Environmental, 2017).

Ecosystem Diversity: The variety of ecosystems worldwide (Miller et. al, 2018).

Ecotourism: Tourism that involves visiting scenic or remote natural areas while attempting to minimize negative impacts on the environment and on the native inhabitants (Dictionary, 2018).

Extinction Rate: Percentage or number of species that go extinct within a certain time (generally one year) (Glossary: Environmental, 2017).

Food Chain: Complex network of many interconnected food chains and feeding relationships. Compare food chain (Glossary: Environmental, 2017).

Food Web: Complex network of many interconnected food chains and feeding relationships (Glossary: Environmental, 2017).

Functional Diversity: functions such as energy flow and matter cycling needed for the survival of species and biological communities (Miller et. al, 2018).

Functionally Extinct: population reaches few numbers no longer plays role in ecosystem (Glossary: Environmental, 2017).

Gene Pool: Sum total of all genes found in the individuals of the population of a particular species (Glossary: Environmental, 2017).

Genetic Diversity: genetic variability among individuals within each species (Miller et. al, 2018).

Gestation Periods: the length of time during which gestation takes place - from conception until birth (Merriam-Webster, 2018).

Habitat: the place or environment where a plant or animal naturally or normally lives and grows (Merriam-Webster, 2018).

Habitat Corridor: a link of wildlife habitat, generally native vegetation, which joins two or more larger areas of similar wildlife habitat. Corridors are critical for the maintenance of ecological processes including allowing for the movement of animals and the continuation of viable populations.

Habitat Destruction: When a natural habitat, such as a forest or wetland, is altered so dramatically that it no longer supports the species it originally sustained. Plant and animal populations are destroyed or displaced, leading to a loss of biodiversity (Merriam-Webster, 2018).

Habitat Fragmentation: Breakup of a habitat into smaller pieces, usually as a result of human activities (Glossary: Environmental, 2017).

Invasive Species: Species that migrate into an ecosystem or are deliberately or accidentally introduced into an ecosystem by humans (Glossary: Environmental, 2017).

Keystone Species: Species that play roles affecting many other organisms in an ecosystem (Glossary: Environmental, 2017).

Mass Extinction: Catastrophic, widespread, often global event in which major groups of species are wiped out over a short time compared with normal (background) extinctions (Glossary: Environmental, 2017).

Mesoamerica: region extending from modern northwestern Mexico approximately to El Salvador that was occupied during pre-Columbian times by peoples (such as the Olmecs, Mayans, and Aztecs) with shared cultural features (Merriam-Webster, 2018).

Niche: Total way of life or role of a species in an ecosystem. It includes all physical, chemical, and biological conditions that a species needs to live and reproduce in an ecosystem (Glossary: Environmental, 2017).

Nutrient cycling: The circulation of chemicals necessary for life, from the environment (mostly from soil and water) through organisms and back to the environment” (Spoolman, n.d.)

Overexploitation: to exploit (something, such as a natural resource) to an excessive degree (Merriam-Webster, 2018).

Overgraze: Destruction of vegetation when too many grazing animals feed too long and exceed the carrying capacity of a rangeland or pasture area (Glossary: Environmental, 2017).

Poaching: to hunt or fish unlawfully (Merriam-Webster, 2018).

Population: Group of individual organisms of the same species living in a particular area (Glossary: Environmental, 2017).

Predator: Organism that captures and feeds on parts or all of an organism of another species (the prey) (Glossary: Environmental, 2017).

Preservation: The protection of nature from use, especially by humans (Glossary: Environmental, 2017).

Prey: Organism that is captured and serves as a source of food for an organism of another species (the predator) (Glossary: Environmental, 2017).

Resilient: Ability of a living system to be restored through secondary succession after a moderate disturbance (Glossary: Environmental, 2017).

Sustainable: Ability of earth’s various systems, including human cultural systems and economies, to survive and adapt to changing environmental conditions indefinitely (Glossary: Environmental, 2017).

Tipping Point: Threshold level at which an environmental problem causes a fundamental and irreversible shift in the behavior of a system (Glossary: Environmental, 2017).

Trophic Levels: All organisms that are the same number of energy transfers away from the original source of energy (for example, sunlight) that enters an ecosystem. For example, all producers belong to the first trophic level, and all herbivores belong to the second trophic level in a food chain or a food web (Glossary: Environmental, 2017).

Trophy Hunting:  selective hunting of wild game for human recreation; the trophy is the animal or part of the animal kept, and usually displayed, to represent the success of the hunt (Glossary: Environmental, 2017).

Top Predator: a predator at the top of a food chain that is not preyed upon by any other animal (Merriam-Webster, 2018).

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