jevons paradox |
See 'Rebound effect'.
|
Global assessment (1st work programme) |
joint production |
See ‘Co-production’.
|
Global assessment (1st work programme) |
justice |
Justice traditionally refers to the fair treatment of people, or ‘what we owe to each other’, but its scope may also be extended to include duties to other units of nature such as animals, rivers or Pachamama. Source Chapter 1. See Distributive justice, Ecological justice, Environmental justice, Epistemic justice, Procedural justice, Recognition, Retributive justice.
|
Values assessment |
sacred grove |
A particular type of sacred natural sites represented by patches of forest revered as sacred (Bhagwat & Rutte, 2006). Sacred groves may be revered e.g. as burial grounds (Mgumia & Oba, 2003) or sites of ancestral or deity worship (Ramakrishnan et al., 1998). There are locally-established rules that regulate how sacred groves can be used (Hughes & Chandran, 1998). Observation of those rules often contributes to the biodiversity conservation on those sites (Bhagwat & Rutte, 2006).
|
Global assessment (1st work programme) |
sacred grove |
A particular type of sacred natural sites represented by patches of forest revered as sacred (Bhagwat & Rutte, 2006). Sacred groves may be revered as burial grounds (Mgumia & Oba, 2003) or sites of ancestral or deity worship (Ramakrishnan et al., 1998). There are locally-established rules that regulate how sacred groves can be used (Hughes & Chandran, 1998). Observation of those rules often contributes to the biodiversity conservation on those sites.
|
Sustainable use assessment |
sacred natural sites |
Areas of land or water that have special spiritual significance to peoples and communities. They consist of natural features, ranging from entire ecosystems, such as mountains, forests or islands, to single natural features such as a tree, spring or boulder, and are very important for the conservation of nature and culture. Sacred natural sites have been managed based on indigenous and local knowledge systems, developed over long periods of time, and are source of cultural identity.
|
Sustainable use assessment |
sacred natural sites |
Areas of land or water that have special spiritual significance to peoples and communities (Verschuuren et al., 2010). They consist of natural features, ranging from entire ecosystems, such as mountains, forests or islands, to single natural features such as a tree, spring or boulder, and are very important for the conservation of nature and culture. Sacred natural sites have been managed based on indigenous and local knowledge systems, developed over long periods of time, and are source of cultural identity.
|
Global assessment (1st work programme) |
sacrilegious |
Involving or committing sacrilege.
|
Asia-Pacific assessment |
safe trade |
export of products that are free from invasive alien species
|
Invasive alien species assessment |
salinization |
The process of increasing the salt content in soil is known as salinization. Salination can be caused by natural processes such as mineral weathering or by the gradual withdrawal of an ocean. It can also come about through artificial processes such as irrigation.
|
Asia-Pacific assessment, Global assessment (1st work programme) |
salinization |
The process of increasing the salt content in soil is known as salinization. Salinization can be caused by natural processes such as mineral weathering or by the gradual withdrawal of an ocean. It can also come about through artificial processes such as irrigation.
|
Land degradation and restoration assessment, Americas assessment, Europe and Central Asia assessment |
satoyama initiative |
A global initiative with the purpose of realizing societies in harmony with nature through the conservation and advancement of socio-ecological production landscapes and seascapes (SEPLS)” around the world.
|
Asia-Pacific assessment |
satoyama-satoumi |
Satoyama is the Japanese term for a socio-ecological production landscape (SEPL) represented by a mosaic of different ecosystem types: secondary forests, timber plantations, farmlands, irrigation ponds, and grasslands—along with human settlements. Satoyama is managed through the interaction between ecosystems and humans to create ecosystem services for human well-being. Satoumi refers to Japan's coastal areas where human interaction over time has resulted in a higher degree of productivity and biodiversity. Foundational to both concepts is the positing of a relationship of interaction between humans and their environment, coupled with the notion that properly maintained the relationship is mutually beneficial.
|
Asia-Pacific assessment |
savanna |
Ecosystem characterised by a continuous layer of herbaceous plants, mostly grasses, and a discontinuous upper layer of trees that may vary in density.
|
Africa assessment, Asia-Pacific assessment |
savanna |
Ecosystem characterized by a continuous layer of herbaceous plants, mostly grasses, and a discontinuous upper layer of trees that may vary in density.
|
Americas assessment, Land degradation and restoration assessment, Europe and Central Asia assessment |
sawnwood |
Sawnwood is defined as planks, sleepers (cross-ties), beams, joists, boards, rafters, 1679 scantlings, laths, boxboards and lumber that exceed 5 mm in thickness.
|
Sustainable use assessment |
scale paradox |
Process in which land use outcomes vary (often counterintuitively) according to the geographic location and spatial scale under consideration.
|
Land degradation and restoration assessment |
scale |
The spatial, temporal, quantitative and analytical dimensions used to measure and study any phenomenon. The temporal scale is comprised of two properties: (i) 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). The spatial scale is comprised of two properties: 1) spatial extent - the size of the total area of interest for a particular study (e.g. a watershed, a country, the entire planet); and (ii) spatial grain (or resolution) - the size of the spatial units within this total area for which data are observed or predicted (e.g. fine-grained or coarse-grained grid cells).
|
Land degradation and restoration assessment |
scale |
The spatial, temporal, quantitative and analytical dimensions used to measure and study any phenomenon.The temporal scale is comprised of two properties:temporal extent - the total length of the time period of interest for a particular study (e.g. 10 years, 50 years, or 100 years);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).The spatial scale is comprised of two properties:spatial extent - the size of the total area of interest for a particular study (e.g. a watershed, a country, the entire planet);spatial grain (or resolution) - the size of the spatial units within this total area for which data are observed or predicted (e.g. fine-grained or coarse-grained grid cells).
|
|
scale |
see spatial scale and temporal scale.
|
Scenarios and models assessment |
scale |
The spatial, temporal, quantitative and analytical dimensions used to measure and study any phenomenon. The temporal scale is 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). The spatial scale is comprised of two properties: 1) spatial extent - the size of the total area of interest for a particular study (e.g. a watershed, a country, the entire planet); and 2) spatial grain (or resolution) - the size of the spatial units within this total area for which data are observed or predicted (e.g. fine-grained or coarse-grained grid cells).
|
Europe and Central Asia assessment, Asia-Pacific assessment, Americas assessment |
scaling |
Bringing model outputs to the appropriate scale, which can be done in two different directions: upscaling information from local, fine-grained resolution to global, coarse-grained resolution; or vice versa downscaling coarse-grained information to a finer resolution.
|
Scenarios and models assessment |
scenario |
Representations of possible futures for one or more components of a system, particularly for drivers of change in nature and nature's benefits, including alternative policy or management options. Exploratory scenarios (also known as explorative scenarios or descriptive scenarios) are scenarios that examine a range of plausible futures, based on potential trajectories of drivers - either indirect (e.g. socio-political, economic and technological factors) or direct (e.g. habitat conversion, climate change). Target-seeking scenarios (also known as goal-seeking scenarios or normative scenarios): 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). Intervention scenarios are scenarios that evaluate alternative policy or management options - either through target seeking (also known as goal seeking or normative scenario analysis) or through policy screening (also known as ex-ante assessment). Policy-evaluation scenarios are scenarios, including counterfactual scenarios, used in ex-post assessments of the gap between policy objectives and actual policy results, as part of the policy-review phase of the policy cycle. Policy-screening scenarios are scenarios used in ex-ante assessments, to forecast the effects of alternative policy or management options (interventions) on environmental outcomes.|scale|.
|
Africa assessment, Land degradation and restoration assessment, Americas assessment, Asia-Pacific assessment |
scenario analysis |
Quantitative or qualitative exploration of future pathways through use of scenarios.
|
Asia-Pacific assessment |
scenarios |
Representations of possible futures for one or more components of a system, particularly, in this assessment, for drivers of change in nature and nature’s benefits, including alternative policy or management options. Exploratory scenarios (also known as “explorative scenarios” or “descriptive scenarios”) are scenarios that examine a range of plausible futures, based on potential trajectories of drivers - either indirect (socio-political, economic and technological factors) or direct (e.g. habitat conversion, climate change). Target-seeking scenarios (also known as “goal-seeking scenarios” or “normative scenarios”) are 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). Intervention scenarios are scenarios that evaluate alternative policy or management options - either through target seeking (also known as “goal seeking” or “normative scenario analysis”) or through policy screening (also known as “ex-ante assessment”). Policy-evaluation scenarios are scenarios, including counterfactual scenarios, used in ex-post assessments of the gap between policy objectives and actual policy results, as part of the policy-review phase of the policy cycle. Policy-screening scenarios are scenarios used in ex-ante assessments, to forecast the effects of alternative policy or management options (interventions) on environmental outcomes.
|
Sustainable use assessment |
scenarios |
Representations of possible futures for one or more components of a system, particularly for drivers of change in nature and nature's contributions, including alternative policy or management options.
|
Europe and Central Asia assessment |
scenarios |
Representations of possible futures for one or more components of a system, particularly, in this assessment, for drivers of change in nature and nature's benefits, including alternative policy or management options.
|
Scenarios and models assessment |
scenarios |
Scenarios are representations of different possible futures from a defined starting point. They are focused on highlighting or exploring drivers of change and the impacts of changes in these over a specified time frame. In doing so they enable decision-makers to anticipate potential changes and develop timely responses to these.
|
Values assessment |
science-policy interface |
Environment-related SPIs are organizations, initiatives or projects that work at the boundary of science, policy and society to enrich decision making, shape their participants’ and audiences’ understandings of problems, and so produce outcomes regarding decisions and behaviours.
|
Americas assessment |
scientific uncertainty |
Imperfect knowledge or data on the system being described.
|
Scenarios and models assessment |
sea ice |
Any form of ice found at sea which has originated from the freezing of sea water (sea ice does not include superstructure icing). Ice formed from the freezing of the waters of the Great Lakes will be considered the same as sea ice.
|
Sustainable use assessment, Global assessment (1st work programme) |
sea mount |
A seamount is a mountain rising from the ocean seafloor that does not reach to the water’s surface (sea level), and thus is not an island. Seamounts are typically formed from extinct volcanoes that rise abruptly and are usually found rising from the seafloor to 1,000-4,000 m (3,300- 13,100 ft) in height.
|
Asia-Pacific assessment |
sea surface temperature |
Sea surface temperature (SST) is the water temperature close to the ocean’s surface. The exact meaning of surface varies between 1mm and 20 metres below the sea surface.
|
Asia-Pacific assessment |
sea-level rise |
The average height of the ocean’s surface is higher than the daily changes of the tides.
|
Asia-Pacific assessment |
seascape |
Seascape can be defined as a spatially heterogeneous area of coastal environment (i.e. intertidal, brackish) that can be perceived as a mosaic of patches, a spatial gradient, or some other geometric patterning. The tropical coastal “seascape” often includes a patchwork of mangroves, seagrass beds, and coral reefs that produces a variety of natural resources and ecosystem services.
|
Sustainable use assessment |
seascape |
Seascape can be defined as a spatially hetero - geneous area of coastal environment (ie intertidal, brackish) that can be perceived as a mosaic of patches, a spatial gradient, or some other geometric patterning. The tropical coastal seascape often includes a patchwork of mangroves, seagrass beds, and coral reefs that produces a variety of natural resources and ecosystem services.
|
Global assessment (1st work programme), Asia-Pacific assessment |
seascape |
Seascape can be defined as a spatially heterogeneous area of coastal environment (i.e. intertidal, brackish) that can be perceived as a mosaic of patches, a spatial gradient, or some other geometric patterning. The tropical coastal seascape often includes a patchwork of mangroves, seagrass beds, and coral reefs that produces a variety of natural resources and ecosystem services.
|
Europe and Central Asia assessment, Americas assessment |
seascape |
livelihoods, survival and well-being in a sustainable manner.
|
Sustainable use assessment |
seasonal |
adj. Pertaining to particular season (spring, summer, autumn, winter, rainy, dry etc.) or recurring in relation to particular seasons.
|
Pollination assessment |
second-growth forest |
Regenerating forest after disturbance, such as fire or clear-cutting (IUCN, 2012a).
|
Global assessment (1st work programme) |
second-growth forest |
Regenerating forest after disturbance, such as fire or clear-cutting.
|
Sustainable use assessment |
sector |
A distinct part of society, or of a nation's economy.
|
Asia-Pacific assessment, Land degradation and restoration assessment, Sustainable use assessment, Europe and Central Asia assessment, Americas assessment, Scenarios and models assessment |
sedentarization |
The process by which a nomadic group transitions to a lifestyle of living in one place.
|
Land degradation and restoration assessment |
sedimentary upper slope |
Refers to the upper part of continental slopes. See 'Continental slope'.
|
Global assessment (1st work programme) |
selection pressure |
The effect of any feature of the environment that results in natural selection, e.g. food shortage, predator activity, competition from members of the same or other species (Lawrence, 2005).
|
Global assessment (1st work programme) |
selective hunting |
Selective hunting, in this assessment, refers to situations where hunters focus on particular species, or on individual animals within a population that have particular attributes, e.g. large size, large horns or antlers.
|
Sustainable use assessment |
selective logging |
Extracting one or a few tree species instead of for example clearcutting of forests. Trees are only felled when they reach a particular height. This allows young trees a guaranteed life span and the forest will regain full maturity after around 30-50 years.
|
Asia-Pacific assessment |
semi-natural ecosystem |
An ecosystem with most of its processes and biodiversity intact, though altered by human activity in strength or abundance relative to the natural state.
|
Americas assessment, Global assessment (1st work programme), Sustainable use assessment, Global assessment (1st work programme), Europe and Central Asia assessment |
sense of place |
Characteristics that make a place special or unique, as well as to those that foster a sense of authentic human attachment and belonging (Casey, 2001).
|
Global assessment (1st work programme) |
sense of place |
Characteristics that make a place special or unique, as well as to those that foster a sense of authentic human attachment and belonging.
|
Sustainable use assessment |