Glossary definitions

When used in the ecological sense homogenization means a decrease in the extent to which communities differ in species composition.

Any bee that is a member of the genus Apis. They are primarily distinguished by the production and storage of honey and the construction of perennial, colonial nests from wax. Currently, eight species of honey bee are recognized.

High investment crop production using resources intensively for high value product.

Areas with significantly high levels of agrobiodiversity.

See 'Biodiversity hotspot'.

The aggregate impact of land use on biomass available each year in ecosystems.

All the knowledge, talents, skills, abilities, experience, intelligence, training, judgment and wisdom possessed individually and collectively by individuals in a population.

A general term used to refer to pre-historical and historical periods describing the development of humanity. Different classifications of periods exist reflecting different interpretation of human history.

Rights inherent to all human beings, regardless of race, colour, sex, language, religion or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or any other status. These rights are interrelated, interdependent and indivisible.

Instruments for the protection and promotion of human rights, including general instruments, instruments concerning specific issues, and instruments relating to the protection of particular groups.

The inalienable fundamental rights of each and every human being as acknowledged in the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights (United Nations, 1948). Arguments of intragenerational justice basically refer to human rights.

See Values.

A state of existence that fulfils various human needs, including material living conditions and quality of life, as well as the ability to pursue one's goals, to thrive, and feel satisfied with one's life (IPCC, 2020). The IPBES definition is consistent with this definition but notes that well-being also includes non-material living conditions and cultural identity. The phrase ‘Good quality of Life' as used in this report (see glossary entry) is intended to be inclusive of both the human well-being definitions given above.

See Good Quality of Life.

see well-being.

The ways in which people relate to and engage with the natural environment, which are diverse and linked to worldviews, values and attitudes embedded in daily life.

Humanistic economics intend to show that humankind is perfectly capable of living without the profit motive, and has done so for most of its history. It goes again the tendency to consider the profit motive as self-evident, an idea that underlies many political decisions. See also Behavioural economics.

Decomposition of organic material followed by a synthesis of humic substances.

The capture by humans of wild mammals, birds, and reptiles, whether dead or alive, irrespective of the techniques used to capture them or the reasons to do so.

See models.

Models that combine correlative and process-based modelling approaches.

An oil and gas well development process that typically involves injecting water, sand, and chemicals under high pressure into a bedrock formation via the well. This process is intended to create new fractures in the rock as well as increase the size, extent, and connectivity of existing fractures. Hydraulic fracturing is a well-stimulation technique used commonly in low-permeability rocks like tight sandstone, shale, and some coal beds to increase oil and/or gas flow to a well from petroleum-bearing rock formations.

A fissure on the floor of a sea out of which flows water that has been heated by underlying magma. The water can be as hot as 400°C (752°F) and usually contains dissolved minerals that precipitate out of it upon contact with the colder seawater, building a stack of minerals, or chimney. Hydrothermal vents form an ecosystem for microbes and animals, such as tube worms, giant clams, and blind shrimp, that can with stand the hostile environment. The hottest hydrothermal vents are called black smokers because they spew iron and sulfide which combine to form iron mono sulfide, a black compound.

Low dissolved oxygen levels in coastal and oceanic waters (<2mL per liter of water), either naturally occurring or as a result of a degradation (e.g. eutrophication).

A social or religious custom prohibiting or restricting a particular practice or forbidding association with a particular person, place, or behavior.

A choice by people of a desired contemporary or future outcome.

A condition that maximizes the desired mix of ecosystem services.

Scenarios that start with the definition of a clear objective, or a set of objectives, specified either in terms of achievable targets, or as an objective function to be optimized, and then identify different pathways to achieving this outcome (e.g. through backcasting).

See “scenarios”.

A category applied to a group in a formal system of nomenclature, e.g. species, genus, family etc. (plural: taxa).

Variety of species or other taxonomic categories (IUCN, 2012a).

Technical papers are based on the material contained in the assessment reports and are prepared on topics deemed important by the Plenary.

A Technical Summary is a longer detailed and specialized version of the material contained in the summary for policymakers.

Tele-coupling refers to socioeconomic and environmental interactions over distances. It involves distant exchanges of information, energy and matter (e.g. people, goods, products, capital) at multiple spatial, temporal and organizational scales.

Transboundary acquisition of land.

Relates to the environmental interactions between climatic systems over considerable distances.

A statistical association between climate variables at widely separated, geographically-fixed spatial locations. Teleconnections are caused by large spatial structures such as basin-wide coupled modes of ocean-atmosphere variability, Rossby wave-trains, mid-latitude jets and storm tracks, etc.

Socioeconomic and environmental interactions over distances. It involves distant exchanges of information, energy and matter (e.g. people, goods, products, capital) at multiple spatial, temporal and organizational scales.

Refers to socioeconomic and environmental interactions over distances. It involves distant exchanges of information, energy and matter (e.g. people, goods, products, capital) at multiple spatial, temporal and organizational scales.

Telecoupling refers to socioeconomic and environmental interactions over distances. It involves distant exchanges of information, energy and matter (e.g. people, goods, products, capital) at multiple spatial, temporal and organizational scales.

Telecoupling refers to the phenomenon that natural or anthropogenic processes in one part of the globe have an effect on a distant part of the world (Friis et al., 2016). This concept thus enables the description of flows and impacts between globally distant places in a common language. Synonym in the literature is global inter-regional connectedness.

Comprised of two properties: 1) temporal extent - the total length of the time period of interest for a particular study (e.g. 10 years, 50 years, or 100 years); and 2) temporal grain (or resolution) - the temporal frequency with which data are observed or projected within this total period (e.g. at 1-year, 5-year or 10-year intervals).

Measurements or other observations reported along a time series.

The act, fact, manner, or condition of holding something in one’s possession, as real estate or an office; occupation.

An agreement between an individual or group to land and residential property, which is governed and regulated by a legal and administrative framework includes both customary and statutory systems.

Tenure systems define who can use which Nature’s contributions to people, for how long and under what conditions. Three related aspects of tenure offer a comprehensive understanding of the term. They include (1) tenure as a set of rights, (2) key responsibilities in relation to tenure, and (3) enabling conditions that facilitate governance of tenure. From this combined perspective, tenure is understood as the combination of a set of specific rights that connect the resource users with various aspects of the resource and puts the control and decision-making power in their hands. These rights span social, ecological, economic, and political aspects of tenure, and help provide directions to moving toward effective governance. Rights are connected with responsibilities that range from the duties of the users to maintain the resource to the duties to be performed by the state, and those jointly by both. The exercise of tenure rights can only be possible if certain conditions are meaningfully met because they offer the much required social, ecological, and political environment for the operationalization of tenure rights, performance of the tenure related duties, and necessary security and protection against tenure violations. From an integrated social-ecological (human-environmental) systems perspective, tenure is defined as relationships (also interactions and connections) between people (the users) who seek tenure and between the people (users) and the environment (includes the resource) to which tenure is being sought. Governance of tenure is then about the manner in which these host of relationships, interactions, and connections are addressed and promoted. Tenure in the context of sustainable use of wild species is not a static concept and, therefore, can be best understood as a process and its governance as continuous.

Any agent that causes an abnormality following fetal exposure during pregnancy.

Terrestrial animal harvesting is defined as the removal from their habitat of animals (vertebrates and invertebrates) that spend some or all of their life cycle in terrestrial environments. As for fishing, terrestrial animal harvesting often results in the death of the animal, but it may not in some cases. To reflect both situations, terrestrial animal harvesting has been sub-divided into a lethal and a “non- lethal” category. Hunting is defined as the lethal category of terrestrial animal harvesting which leads to the killing of the animal, such as in trophy hunting. “Non-lethal” terrestrial animal harvesting is defined as the temporary or permanent capture of live animals from their habitat without intended mortality, such as pet trade, falconry or green hunting. Non-lethal harvest of animals also includes removal of parts or products of animals that do not lead to the mortality of the host, such as vicuña fiber or wild honey. Unintended mortality may however occur in this category and the term “non-lethal” is therefore put in quotes.

Net Primary Production (NPP) from the terrestrial environment.

Give a specific harvester exclusive access to ocean areas.