Glossary of Terms
Adaptive ecosystem management: A form of
conservation management that integrates scientifi c
knowledge of ecological relationships within a
complex socio - political and values framework
towards the general goal of protecting native ecosystem integrity over the long term (Grumbine, 1994 ).
Anthropocene: A term used by some scientists to
refer to the most recent period of Earth ’ s history,
where humans began to have a signifi cant global
impact on the environment and climate system. It
has no precise start date, but is often considered to
start in the late 18th century.
Bioclimate envelope models: See Species distribution models .
Biodiversity: A contraction of ‘ biological diversity ’ . Biodiversity has many defi nitions, one prominent one being ‘ [t]he variability of life from all
sources, including within species, between species,
and of ecosystems ’ (Matthews et al. , 2001 ). Some
commentators have noted that biodiversity defi nitions are often closer to subjective ‘ value judgement ’
concepts such as quality of life than an objective
measure of an environmental property.
Biodiversity hotspot: An area high in selected
biodiversity attributes, such as species richness or
endemism; sometimes a biodiversity attributes analysis is combined with a threat criterion to provide a
composite hotspot/threatspot analysis. The most
prominent ‘ hotspots ’ scheme in conservation is of
the latter form, being that developed by the international NGO Conservation International, whose technical defi nition of a hotspot is a geographical area
that contains at least 0.5% or 1,500 species of vascular plants as endemics, and which has lost at least
70% of its primary vegetation (Myers et al. , 2000 ).
Biological invasion: The process whereby species
expand their geographical distribution outside of
their natural dispersal range via the actions of
humans. (cf. non - native species, naturalized species,
invasive species).
Biome: A major type of natural vegetation that
occurs wherever a particular mix of climatic and
edaphic conditions is encountered; or we may equate
it with the notion of a major ecosystem type. The
latter usage translates rather better into the marine
realm than ‘ natural vegetation type ’ .
Biophilia: The innate emotional affi liation of
humans to other forms of life, which predisposes
humanity to value life and living systems.
Biotic homogenization: The process by which
the genetic, taxonomic or functional similarities of
regional biotas increase over time.
Climate envelope models: see Species distribution models .
Complementarity: The principle that in designing
reserve networks to maximize the total number of
species ‘ saved ’ with least effort (expenditure), you
should seek sites that complement one another
rather than simply designating the sites that are
individually most diverse.
Conservation area network: A network of areas
that perform a conservation function, whether they
are strictly protected or not. See Protected area
network .
Conservation biogeography: ‘ [T]he application
of biogeographical principles, theories and analyses,
being those concerned with the distributional
dynamics of taxa individually and collectively, to
problems concerning the conservation of biodiversity ’ (Whittaker et al. , 2005 , p. 3).
Conservation Biogeography
Edited by Richard J. Ladle and Robert J. Whittaker
© 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd. ISBN: 978-1-444-33503-3
Adaptive ecosystem management: A form of
conservation management that integrates scientifi c
knowledge of ecological relationships within a
complex socio - political and values framework
towards the general goal of protecting native ecosystem integrity over the long term (Grumbine, 1994 ).
Anthropocene: A term used by some scientists to
refer to the most recent period of Earth ’ s history,
where humans began to have a signifi cant global
impact on the environment and climate system. It
has no precise start date, but is often considered to
start in the late 18th century.
Bioclimate envelope models: See Species distribution models .
Biodiversity: A contraction of ‘ biological diversity ’ . Biodiversity has many defi nitions, one prominent one being ‘ [t]he variability of life from all
sources, including within species, between species,
and of ecosystems ’ (Matthews et al. , 2001 ). Some
commentators have noted that biodiversity defi nitions are often closer to subjective ‘ value judgement ’
concepts such as quality of life than an objective
measure of an environmental property.
Biodiversity hotspot: An area high in selected
biodiversity attributes, such as species richness or
endemism; sometimes a biodiversity attributes analysis is combined with a threat criterion to provide a
composite hotspot/threatspot analysis. The most
prominent ‘ hotspots ’ scheme in conservation is of
the latter form, being that developed by the international NGO Conservation International, whose technical defi nition of a hotspot is a geographical area
that contains at least 0.5% or 1,500 species of vascular plants as endemics, and which has lost at least
70% of its primary vegetation (Myers et al. , 2000 ).
Biological invasion: The process whereby species
expand their geographical distribution outside of
their natural dispersal range via the actions of
humans. (cf. non - native species, naturalized species,
invasive species).
Biome: A major type of natural vegetation that
occurs wherever a particular mix of climatic and
edaphic conditions is encountered; or we may equate
it with the notion of a major ecosystem type. The
latter usage translates rather better into the marine
realm than ‘ natural vegetation type ’ .
Biophilia: The innate emotional affi liation of
humans to other forms of life, which predisposes
humanity to value life and living systems.
Biotic homogenization: The process by which
the genetic, taxonomic or functional similarities of
regional biotas increase over time.
Climate envelope models: see Species distribution models .
Complementarity: The principle that in designing
reserve networks to maximize the total number of
species ‘ saved ’ with least effort (expenditure), you
should seek sites that complement one another
rather than simply designating the sites that are
individually most diverse.
Conservation area network: A network of areas
that perform a conservation function, whether they
are strictly protected or not. See Protected area
network .
Conservation biogeography: ‘ [T]he application
of biogeographical principles, theories and analyses,
being those concerned with the distributional
dynamics of taxa individually and collectively, to
problems concerning the conservation of biodiversity ’ (Whittaker et al. , 2005 , p. 3).
Conservation Biogeography
Edited by Richard J. Ladle and Robert J. Whittaker
© 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd. ISBN: 978-1-444-33503-3