GLOSSARY: 

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Agroforestry - planting trees and crops together.

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Biofuel - gas (such as methane) or liquid fuel (such as ethyl alcohol or biodiesel) made from plant material.

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Biodiversity - variety of different species.

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Canopy - the uppermost trees or branches of the trees in a forest, forming a more or less continuous layer of foliage.

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Carbon stored - process of removing carbon dioxide gas from coal-burning power and industrial plants and storing it somewhere (usually underground or under the seabed) so that it is not released into the atmosphere, essentially forever.

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Clear cutting - method of timber harvesting in which all trees in a forested area are removed in a single cutting.

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Climate - physical properties of the troposphere of an area based on analysis of its weather records over a long period (at least 30 years).

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Climate warming gases - gases in the earth’s lower atmosphere (troposphere) that cause the greenhouse effect. Examples include carbon dioxide, chlorofluorocarbons, ozone, methane, water vapor, and nitrous oxide.

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CO2 - a colorless, odorless, greenhouse gas that is produced by burning organic compounds and the process of aerobic respiration.

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Community - populations of all species living and interacting in an area at a particular time.

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Deforestation- removal of trees from a forested area.

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Depleted - diminished in number or quantity.

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Diet - the kinds of food that a person, animal, or community habitually eats.

 

Dung - the excrement of animals; manure.

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Ecology - biological science that studies the relationships between living organisms and their environment; study of the structure and functions of nature

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Ecosystem - one or more communities of different species interacting with one another and with the chemical and physical factors making up their nonliving environment.

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Ecosystem collapse - a situation where an ecosystem suffers a drastic, possibly permanent, reduction in carrying capacity for all organisms.

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Endangered species - a species that is found in only one area. Such species are especially vulnerable to extinction.

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Erosion - process or group of processes by which loose or consolidated earth materials, especially topsoil, are dissolved, loosened , or worn away and removed from one place and deposited in another.

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Extinct - 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. 

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Fragmented - breakup of a habitat into smaller pieces, usually as a result of human activities. 

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Forestry - the science or practice of planting, managing, and caring for forests.

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Genome sequence - the process of determining the complete DNA sequence of an organism's genome at a single time.

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Geographic range- the area in which a species can be found.

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Gestation periods - fetal development period from the time of conception until birth.

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Global climate change - a broad term referring to long term changes in any aspects of the earth’s climate, especially temperature and precipitation.

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Habitat - place or type of place where an organism or population of organisms lives.

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Keystone species - species that play roles affecting many other organisms in an ecosystem.

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Landslide - the sliding down of a mass of earth or rock from a mountain or cliff.

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Logging - the activity or business of felling trees and cutting and preparing the timber.

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Monoculture - cultivation of a single crop, usually on a large area of land.

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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.

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Offspring - an animal’s young.

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Organism - any form of life.

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Palm oil - an edible vegetable oil derived from the mesocarp (reddish pulp) of the fruit of the oil palms.

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Palm oil plantations - plantations of African and American oil palms planted in Indonesia, Malaysia, West Africa, and Latin America. Over 90% of palm oil plantations are located in Indonesia and Malaysia.

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Pesticides - any chemical designed to kill or inhibit the growth of an organism that people consider undesirable.

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Poaching - poaching has been defined as the illegal hunting or capturing of wild animals, usually associated with land use rights.

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Population - a group of individual organisms of the same species living in a particular area.

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Producers - organism that uses solar energy or chemical energy to manufacture the organic compounds it needs as nutrients from simple inorganic compounds obtained from its environment.

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Rainforest -  forests characterized by high and continuous rainfall, with annual rainfall in the case of tropical rainforests between 2.5 and 4.5 meters.

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Rehabilitate - return (something, especially an environmental feature) to its former condition.

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Reproduce - production of offspring by one or more parents. 

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Seed dispersal - seed dispersal is the movement, spread or transport of seeds away from the parent plant.

 

Species - a group of similar organisms and, for sexually reproducing organisms, they are a group of individuals that can mate and produce fertile offspring.

Every organism is a member of a certain species.

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Sustainability - ability of earth’s various systems, including human cultural systems and economies, to survive and adapt to changing environmental conditions indefinitely.

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Tropical rainforest - a rainforest that receives between 2.5 and 4.5 meters of annual precipitation.

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Umbrella species - species selected for making conservation-related decisions, typically because protecting these species indirectly protects the many other species that make up the ecological community of its habitat.

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Unsustainable - not able to be maintained at the current rate or level.

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Vegetation - plants considered collectively,especially those found in a particular area or habitat.

 

Versatile - able to adapt or be adapted to many different functions or activities.

 

Sources:

MILLER, G. T. Y. L. E. R., & Spoolman, S. (2020). Living In The Environment. S.l.: CENGAGE LEARNING. 

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Merriam Webster. (2020). Retrieved January 13, 2020, from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/environment.

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