Glossary definitions

Tropical and sub-tropical dry forests occur in climates that are warm year-round, and may receive several hundred centimetres or rain per year, they deal with long dry seasons which last several months and vary with geographic location.

Arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid areas. The term excludes hyper-arid areas, also known as deserts. Drylands are characterized by water scarcity and cover approximately 40% of the world's terrestrial surface.

Drylands comprise arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid areas. The term excludes hyper-arid areas, also known as deserts. Drylands are characterised by water scarcity and cover approximately 40 % of the world's terrestrial surface.

Drylands comprise arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid areas. The term excludes hyper-arid areas, also known as deserts. Drylands are characterised by water scarcity and cover approximately 40 per cent of the world's terrain.

Drylands comprise arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid areas. The term excludes hyper-arid areas, also known as deserts. Drylands are characterised by water scarcity and cover approximately 40% of the world's terrestrial surface.

Tropical and temperate areas with an aridity index (annual rainfall/annual potential evaporation) of less than 0.65.

Downscaling based on mechanistic models, which may be more appropriate than statistical downscaling in systems where the relationship between coarse scale and fine scale dynamics are complex and non-linear, or observational data are insufficient.

A model that describes changes through time of a specific process. See also process-based model.

See models.

refer to the emergent patterns of change across ‘depths’, ‘breadths’ and time that unfold as non-linear pathways. These may be characterised by ‘punctuated equilibrium’ in which more stable periods of incremental change are punctuated by bursts of change in which underlying structures are reorganised into new states.

Articulation of narratives describing plausible futures based on or relating to measures of the quality of key compnents rather than their quantity (c.f. Quantitative approaches).

Within the context of the IPBES Conceptual Framework - good quality of life refers to the achievement of a fulfilled life, a notion which may vary significantly across societies and cultures. There is a common understanding that quality of life is composed of both shared common aspects across cultures (food security) and contextual aspects (e.g. self-determination), which can be assessed objectively (e.g. caloric intake) or subjectively (e.g. life satisfaction) applying quantitative and qualitative indicators. Good quality of life is generally portrayed through material conditions (e.g. level of food availability) as well as through individual aspirations (e.g. personal; professional; spiritual) and capabilities (e.g. education) for people to live in accordance to what they themselves consider to be “a good life”, which can differ across cultures, contexts and individuals. The role of nature in achieving a good quality of life is complex and heterogeneous, and depends on the social-ecological context, and on the way people portray themselves in relation to nature.

Statistical or other analytical descriptions of processes defined by quantities or metrics.