Glossary definitions

A sub-discipline of operations research that explicitly evaluates multiple conflicting criteria in decision-making.

The IPBES Multidiscplinary Expert Panel is a subsidiary body established by the IPBES Plenary which oversees the scientific and technical functions ofthe Platform, a key role being to select experts to carry out assessments.

Within the context of IPBES - a subsidiary body established by the IPBES Plenary which carries out the scientific and technical functions agreed upon by the Plenary, as articulated in the document on functions, operating principles and institutional arrangements of IPBES.

where ‘scape is shorthand for ‘land-, freshwater- and sea-scape’, is a contiguous area defined by major geomorphological (e.g. major watersheds, geological systems and major biomes) and/or oceanographic processes (major current regimes, biogeochemical processes). Scale may vary with the application. A ‘scape may include a mosaic of habitats across all conditions of nature from intact in ‘wild spaces’, through modified and altered in ‘shared spaces’ where humans have a significant impact on the biota and may alter function considerably, to ‘anthromes’ or fully transformed agricultural and urban areas where the coverage of natural habitats is very low or even zero.

The concept was adopted by FAO (1999) to foster an approach integrating landscape, biological connections, and less damageable practices. Multifunctional agriculture is meant to integrate the economic, social and ecological aspects of land management.

The condition of being multifunctional; diversity of function.

Multi-use systems are defined as socio-ecosystems in which occur more than one use or practice (e.g. fishing and logging in mangroves).

Interaction between two species that benefits the two species (Bronstein, 1994).