Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
particular (see Hunter 2007; McLachlan
et al
. 2007 ;
Hoegh - Guldberg
et al
. 2008 ; Ricciardi & Simberloff
2008 ).
Assisted natural regeneration
A more precise
term for
passive restoration
. A set of
interventions
that
aim to promote natural regeneration or recovery of
an
ecosystem
, such as the
reintroduction
of native
fauna that will disperse seeds, or controlling grazing
by domestic herbivores, and/or the control of
exotic
invasives
.
Biodiversity
The diversity of life at all levels of
organization (genetic, individual, population and
community) and all taxonomic ranks (e.g. species,
genus and family) at a specifi ed location or in
general, in the biosphere. Note that this differs
slightly from the widely cited CBD defi nition, ' the
variability among living organisms from all sources
including (. . .) terrestrial, marine and other aquatic
ecosystems and the ecological complexes of which
they are part; this includes diversity within species,
between species and of ecosystems' (http://www.
cbd.int/convention/articles.shtml?a= cbd - 02 ). Fol-
lowing both the MA and the TEEB initiative (MA
2005; TEEB 2010), it is useful to distinguish clearly
between
biodiversity
and
ecosystem
, and then
combine them under the term (renewable)
natural
capital.
Biomanipulation
The restoration of a food chain
or of the main elements of a food web. For example,
lakes and reservoirs can be treated to reduce nutri-
ents following
eutrophication
(Kasprzak
et al
. 2002 ).
This is also widely used in fi sheries and
invasive
species
management where the goals may or may not
be consistent with restoration to some 'former' or
more 'pristine' condition but instead may be target-
ing desired species.
Biome
A broad - scale grouping of areas of similar
climate and associated vegetation, generally within
a given geographic region. Examples are tropical
rain forest, savanna, desert and tundra.
Biotic community
The assemblage of all the species
(biota) living together in an
ecosystem
. See also
community
.
Capital
A stock variable with fi ve principal forms
(Rees 1995; MA 2005), namely, (1) fi nancial capital
(i.e. money or substitutes), (2) manufactured capital
(i.e. buildings, roads and other human-produced
fi xed assets), (3) human capital (i.e. individual or
collective efforts and intellectual skills), (4) social
capital (i.e. institutions, relationships, social net-
works, and shared cultural beliefs and traditions that
promote mutual trust) and (5)
natural capital
, which
is an economic metaphor for the stock of physical
and biological natural elements some but not all of
which serve as resources for society.
Carbon sequestration
The capture and storage of
carbon in sinks such as
forests
, soils, ocean sedi-
ments and wood products. In some contexts, long-
term carbon storage is a preferable term.
Chaos theory
A term used in mathematics to
describe the behaviour of certain systems that are
highly sensitive to initial conditions (popularly
referred to as the 'butterfl y effect'). The behaviour of
chaotic systems may seem random, but as soon as
the initial conditions are known, it can often be
explained deterministically. Chaotic behaviour of
this sort is also observed in natural and in social
systems.
Climate change
(or anthropogenic climate change)
Changes in global temperature and precipitation
patterns that are largely attributable to increasing
atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide and
other so-called greenhouse gases since the mid-nine-
teenth century.
Community
Specifi c parts of a
biotic community
are
- according to the group of organisms under investi-
gation - indicated as, for example, plant community,
insect community and community of microorgan-
isms. The term community is also used in studies on,
for example, plant - insect or plant - herbivore - preda-
tor interactions between species that do not neces-
sarily belong to one
biotic community
.
Connectivity
The degree to which a
landscape
facili-
tates or impedes movement or organisms among
habitat
patches. This also depends on the dispersal
abilities of a species.
Cultural landscape
A
landscape
that has developed
under the joint infl uence of natural processes and
human-imposed organization and resource use.
Generally, the human
ecological footprint
is much
more readily apparent than in other kinds of land-
scapes. Typically
seminatural ecosystems
juxtapose
production systems
in a static or moving mosaic.
Degradation
The simplifi cation and loss of
biodiver-
sity
in an
ecosystem
caused by
disturbance factors
. Dif-
ferent 'degrees of ecosystem degradation' can be
distinguished, depending on whether or not one or
more
thresholds of irreversibility
have been crossed.
In cases of severe and prolonged ecosystem
distur-
bance
, natural ecosystem recovery is sometimes no
