Biodiversity (a con- The variety of life on Earth, including diversity at the genetic level, among species and among
traction of biological ecosystems and habitats. It includes diversity in abundance, distribution and in behaviour. Biodiver-
diversity) sity also incorporates human cultural diversity, which can both be affected by the same drivers as
biodiversity, and itself has impacts on the diversity of genes, other species and ecosystems.
Biofuel Fuel produced from dry organic matter or combustible oils from plants, such as alcohol from fer-
mented sugar, black liquor from the paper manufacturing process, wood and soybean oil.
Biomass Organic material, both above ground and below ground, and both living and dead, such as trees,
crops, grasses, tree litter and roots.
Capital Resource that can be mobilized in the pursuit of an individual’s goals. Thus, we can think of natural
capital (natural resources such as land and water), physical capital (technology and artifacts), so-
cial capital (social relationships, networks and ties), financial capital (money in a bank, loans and
credit), human capital (education and skills).
Carbon sequestration The process of increasing the carbon content of a reservoir other than the atmosphere.
Catchment (area) The area of land bounded by watersheds draining into a river, basin or reservoir.
Climate change Any change in climate over time, whether due to natural variability or as a result of human activ-
ity. (The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change defines climate change as “a change of
climate which is attributed directly or indirectly to human activity that alters the composition of the
global atmosphere and which is in addition to natural climate variability observed over comparable
time periods.”)
Climate variability Variations in the mean state and other statistics (such as standard deviations and the occurrence
of extremes) of the climate on all temporal and spatial scales beyond that of individual weather
events. Variability may be due to natural internal processes in the climate system (internal variabil-
ity), or to variations in natural or anthropogenic external forcing (external variability).
Conservation tillage Breaking the soil surface without turning over the soil.
Coping capacity The degree to which adjustments in practices, processes or structures can moderate or offset the
potential for damage, or take advantage of opportunities.
Cross-cutting issue An issue that cannot be adequately understood or explained without reference to the interactions of
several dimensions that are usually treated separately for policy purposes. For example, in some en-
vironmental problems economic, social, cultural and political dimensions interact with one another
to define the ways and means through which society interacts with nature, and the consequences of
these interactions for both.
Cultural services The non-material benefits people obtain from ecosystems, including spiritual enrichment, cognitive
development, recreation and aesthetic experience.
Deforestation Conversion of forested land to non-forest areas.
Desertification This is land degradation in arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid areas resulting from various factors,
including climatic variations and human activities. It involves crossing thresholds beyond which
the underpinning ecosystem cannot restore itself, but requires ever-greater external resources for
recovery.
Drylands Areas characterized by lack of water, which constrain two major, interlinked ecosystem services:
primary production and nutrient cycling. Four dryland sub-types are widely recognized: dry sub-
humid, semi-arid, arid and hyper-arid, showing an increasing level of aridity or moisture deficit.
Formally, this definition includes all land where the aridity index value is less than 0.65. See also
Aridity index.
Ecological footprint An index of the area of productive land and aquatic ecosystems required to produce the resources
used and to assimilate the wastes produced by a defined population at a specified material stand-
ard of living, wherever on Earth that land may be located.
Ecosystem A dynamic complex of plant, animal and micro-organism communities and their non-living environ-
ment, interacting as a functional unit.
Ecosystem manage- An approach to maintaining or restoring the composition, structure, function and delivery of
ment services of natural and modified ecosystems for the goal of achieving sustainability. It is based on
an adaptive, collaboratively developed vision of desired future conditions that integrates ecologi-
cal, socio-economic, and institutional perspectives, applied within a geographic framework, and
defined primarily by natural ecological boundaries.
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