Download M04 D03 Glossary of terms doc

WRL reference
M04 D03
Module
M04 Ecosystems – Tropical Rainforests
Data set
D03 The effect of altitude on dung beetle community structure
_____________________________________________________________________
Glossary of terms used:
Definition sources: OCR – GCE glossary; Cambridge International Examinations; On-Line
Biology Book; Oxford Dictionary; Encyclopedia Britannica.
Abundance: The standardised abundance was calculated by summing the total number of all
species found at each site and then dividing this by the number of times that site was
sampled.
Anthropogenic: Caused by humans.
Biodiversity: The number and variety of living things to be found in the world, in an
ecosystem or in a habitat.
Biotic index/indicators: Is a scale for showing the quality of an environment by indicating
the types of organism present.
Buffer zone: often an area within a National Park were people live and work.
Canopy: the top uppermost tree layer within a forest.
Community structure: All the populations of different species that live in the same place at
the same time and how they interact with each other.
CBH: Circumference of the tree trunk measured at breast height (cms).
Cloud forest: A tropical high altitude forest which is characterised by constant cloud cover.
Core zone: Often the part of a National Park of Nature Reserve where access is limited in
order to protect wildlife.
Detritus: Particulate matter produced by the disintegration or decomposition of material.
Dichotomous key: Identification keys that consist of a series of choices that lead the user to
the correct name of a given item. "Dichotomous" means "divided into two parts".
Ecosystem: All the living organisms and all the non-living components in a specific habitat,
and their interactions.
Ecosystem services: a phrase describing how a group of organisms help to maintain an
ecosystem e.g. dung beetles recycling nutrients in a rainforest.
Genus (Genera): A taxonomic rank used in biological classification. E.g. Homo sapiens is the
full scientific name for a human and Homo is the genus and sapiens the species.
Guild: A classificational scheme based on other features such as feeding type e.g. dung
beetles that roll dung or those that bury it.
Habitat: The place where an organism or population lives.
Interspecific competition: A form of competition for the same resource between individuals
of different species.
Leaf litter: Dead plant material such as leaves, bark and twigs that has fallen to the ground.
Log scale: see http://mathbench.umd.edu/modules/misc_scaling/page09.htm - Each
increment of your axes increases by a factor of 10 (also called an order of magnitude) rather
than by equal increments.
Microhabitat: a smaller habitat within a habit e.g. in rotting wood within a woodland.
Morphology: The branch of biology that deals with the form of living organisms, and with
relationships between their structures.
Paracoprids: A guild of dung beetles that tunnel beneath the dung to bury it.
Range extension: a species extending it occurrence into new areas e.g. invasive species
moving into new areas.
REDD+: Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD) is an effort
to create a financial value for the carbon stored in forests, offering incentives for developing
countries to reduce emissions from forested lands and invest in low-carbon paths to
sustainable development. "REDD+" goes beyond deforestation and forest degradation, and
includes the role of conservation, sustainable management of forests and enhancement of
forest carbon stocks.
Sampling protocols: The sampling protocol is the procedure used to select units from the
study population to be measured.
Species richness: The number of different species in a given area.
Taxa: Any group or rank in a biological classification into which related organisms are
classified.
Telocoprids: A guild of dung beetles that roll their dung away then dung to bury it.
Transect: A straight line or narrow section through an area along which observations are
made.
Tree fern: A fern the size and appearance of a tree that is found in many tropical rainforests.
First existed when the dinosaurs roamed the planet.
Understory: in forestry and ecology refers to plant life growing beneath the forest canopy
without penetrating it to any extent.
WRL: The Wallace Resource Library.