ESS terms in Biodiversity and conservation

The rules under which users of genetic resources obtain the provider country's prior informed consent and agree terms to share the benefits, such as money or research results.

A heritable characteristic that increases an organism's chance of surviving and reproducing in its environment, produced over generations by natural selection.

A species introduced by human activity, deliberately or accidentally, to an area outside its natural range; also called a non-native or introduced species.

The formation of new species from populations separated geographically, for example by a river, sea or mountain range.

A proposed geological epoch in which human activity has become the dominant influence on Earth's environment, climate and life, causing rapid environmental change and species extinction.

A predator at the top of a food chain that has no natural predators of its own as an adult, such as the wolf, lion or tiger.

The deliberate choice by humans of which individual plants or animals breed, so that desired characteristics become more common over generations; also called selective breeding.

Reproductive isolation caused by differences in courtship, mating calls, mating times or mate choice, so that populations living in the same area do not interbreed.

The total variety of life in an area or on Earth, studied at three levels: the diversity of habitats, the diversity of species and the genetic diversity within species.

A region with at least 1,500 endemic vascular plant species that has lost at least 70% of its original natural vegetation, making it both very rich and highly threatened.

The deliberate use of a living organism, such as a predator, parasite or pathogen, to reduce the population of a pest or invasive species.

The use of genetic resources or traditional knowledge from a country or community for commercial gain without their consent or a fair share of the benefits.

An area recognised by UNESCO that combines biodiversity conservation with sustainable development, divided into a protected core zone, a buffer zone and a transition zone.

A garden where living plants are grown, labelled and studied for research, education and conservation, including collections of rare and threatened species.

An area around the core of a protected area where activities compatible with conservation, such as research, education and ecotourism, are allowed, reducing pressure on the core.

The breeding of animals of a threatened species in zoos or other managed facilities, often with the aim of increasing numbers and reintroducing them to the wild.

The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (1973), a treaty that controls international trade in listed species through three appendices of increasing restriction.

A resource that many people can use, where it is difficult to exclude users and each person's use reduces what is left for others, such as ocean fish stocks, groundwater or common grazing land.

The protection, management and sustainable use of species, habitats and ecosystems so that biodiversity and the services it provides are maintained for the present and the future.

A measure of how likely a species is to become extinct in the near future, assessed against standard criteria and expressed as a category such as Vulnerable or Critically Endangered.

A United Nations treaty opened for signature in 1992 whose objectives are the conservation of biodiversity, the sustainable use of its components and the fair sharing of benefits from genetic resources.

The strictly protected central part of a biosphere reserve, where ecosystems are left largely undisturbed and only monitoring and low-impact research are allowed.

The IUCN Red List category for species facing an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild, for example with fewer than 50 mature individuals or a decline of 80–90% or more over ten years or three generations.

The planned use of fire by Indigenous people according to traditional knowledge to manage land, such as lighting small, cool fires early in the dry season to prevent large late-season wildfires.

The IUCN Red List category for species with too little information on distribution or population to assess their extinction risk; it does not mean that the species is safe.

A single number calculated from sample data that combines species richness and evenness to describe the diversity of a community, used to compare sites or track change over time.

Reproductive isolation in which populations in the same area use different habitats, food sources or hosts, so they rarely meet to mate.

The process of helping a degraded, damaged or destroyed ecosystem recover, for example by replanting native species, removing invasive species or restoring natural water flows.

A protected area surrounded by a pest-exclusion fence, inside which introduced predators are removed so that native species can be reintroduced and recover.

Responsible travel to natural areas that conserves the environment, sustains the well-being of local people and involves education, with income that can help fund protection.

The changes in conditions and species at the boundary between two habitats, such as more light, wind, predators and invasive species at the edge of a forest reserve than in its interior.

The IUCN Red List category for species facing a very high risk of extinction in the wild, between Vulnerable and Critically Endangered.

A species found naturally in only one place, such as a single island, country or mountain range, and nowhere else in the world.

The cumulative change in the heritable characteristics of a population or species over many generations.

Conservation of species outside their natural habitats, for example in zoos, botanic gardens, seed banks and captive-breeding programmes.

The IUCN Red List category for species that survive only in captivity, in cultivation or as populations established outside their natural range.

A charismatic species, such as the giant panda or the tiger, used to raise public awareness and funding for conservation of its habitat and of the many less-known species that share it.

An approach to conservation that creates protected areas by excluding local and Indigenous people, removing settlements and banning their use of land and resources.

The total collection of preserved remains and traces of past organisms found in rocks, in the order in which they were laid down, used to reconstruct the history of life.

A forest restoration method that plants a mix of fast-growing native trees chosen to close the canopy quickly and attract seed-dispersing animals, which then bring in other species.

The range of different genes and alleles within one species or population, which allows individuals to differ in heritable characteristics.

The separation of populations by a physical barrier such as a river, sea, mountain range or habitat gap, which stops them interbreeding.

A subdivision of a geological period, lasting from thousands to tens of millions of years, whose boundaries are defined by changes in rock strata and fossils.

The system that divides Earth's 4.5-billion-year history into eons, eras, periods and epochs, with boundaries marked by major geological and biological events in the rock record.

The informal name for a Global Boundary Stratotype Section and Point: an agreed point in a rock or sediment sequence at one site that marks the start of a geological time unit.

The range of different habitats, such as forest, wetland and grassland, found in an area; often treated as the variety of ecosystems or communities present.

The division of a large, continuous habitat into smaller, isolated patches separated by roads, farmland or other land uses, which reduces population sizes and increases edge effects.

The conversion of a natural habitat to another land use, such as farmland, plantations, mines or cities, so that it can no longer support the species that lived there; the largest single cause of biodiversity loss on land.

An approach to conservation that protects species by conserving their natural environment, usually in situ in protected areas, so that whole communities and ecosystem processes are kept.

The unlawful capture, transport and sale of wild animals, plants or their parts, for pets, food, medicine, ornaments or collections, often across national borders.

Conservation of species in their natural habitats, for example in national parks, nature reserves and sanctuaries, so that their ecological relationships and processes are kept.

The collective and individual rights of Indigenous peoples, including rights to their lands, territories, resources and culture, and to give or withhold free, prior and informed consent to projects affecting them.

An international organisation of governments, government agencies and non-governmental organisations, founded in 1948, that assesses the conservation status of species and publishes the IUCN Red List.

An alien species that establishes itself, spreads rapidly and harms native biodiversity, ecosystems, the economy or human health, through competition, predation, disease or poisoning.

A global assessment of the extinction risk of species, published by the IUCN, that places each species in a category from Least Concern to Extinct using standard quantitative criteria.

A site identified, using a global standard published by the IUCN in 2016, as contributing significantly to the global persistence of biodiversity, for example by holding much of a threatened species' population.

A plan adopted under the Convention on Biological Diversity in December 2022, with four goals for 2050 and 23 targets for 2030, including conserving 30% of land and sea.

The IUCN Red List category for species that have been assessed and do not qualify for a higher-risk category, usually because they are widespread and abundant.

An event in which a large proportion of Earth's species, often about three-quarters or more, become extinct within a geologically short time.

A conservation strategy that combines species-based and habitat-based measures, often using a flagship or keystone species to justify protecting a whole habitat.

A random change in the base sequence of DNA, which can create a new allele and is the original source of all genetic variation.

A supplementary agreement to the Convention on Biological Diversity, adopted in 2010 and in force since 2014, on access to genetic resources and the fair and equitable sharing of the benefits from their use.

A large area of land or sea protected by a national government for its natural features, wildlife and landscape, usually open to visitors for recreation and education.

The process by which individuals with heritable variations better suited to their environment survive and reproduce more, so those variations become more common in the population over generations.

A protected area managed mainly for the conservation of wildlife, habitats or geological features, often with restricted human use.

The IUCN Red List category for species that do not currently qualify as threatened but are close to doing so, or are likely to qualify in the near future.

A plant that shelters the seedlings of other species as they grow, for example gorse providing shade and shelter for native tree seedlings during regeneration.

A protected area that exists in law but lacks the funding, staff or enforcement to protect it in practice, so poaching, logging or settlement continue.

A local person, often without a university degree, trained to collect, identify and record specimens and field data so that biodiversity can be surveyed where few professional scientists work.

The illegal hunting, killing or capture of wild animals, or collection of wild plants, usually for sale, such as killing elephants for ivory or rhinoceroses for their horns.

A clearly defined area of land or sea that is legally recognised and managed for the long-term conservation of nature, such as a national park or nature reserve.

An indicator of the overall extinction risk of a group of species over time, calculated from repeated IUCN Red List assessments; a falling index means species are moving towards extinction.

The release of a species into an area where it once lived but had disappeared, using wild-caught or captive-bred individuals, to re-establish a population.

The condition in which two populations no longer interbreed, because of a physical barrier or differences in habitat use, timing or behaviour, so that gene flow between them stops.

The planning of a protected area's size, shape, number of parts and connections so that it supports viable populations, for example favouring large, compact and connected reserves.

A form of ecological restoration that aims to restore natural processes and self-sustaining ecosystems, for example by reintroducing keystone species, reconnecting habitats and reducing human management.

A facility that stores seeds, usually dried and frozen, to preserve the genetic diversity of wild plants or crops so that they can be grown again in the future.

Any factor in the environment, such as food supply, predators, disease or climate, that makes some individuals more likely than others to survive and reproduce.

Reproduction in which gametes from two parents fuse, producing offspring with new combinations of alleles that differ from both parents and from each other.

A measure of species diversity calculated as D = N(N − 1) / Σn(n − 1), which rises with both richness and evenness and has a lowest possible value of 1.

The present loss of species, caused mainly by human activity, at rates far above the natural background rate, which many scientists argue could match the five past mass extinctions.

The formation of new species through evolution, when populations become isolated, adapt differently and eventually can no longer interbreed to produce fertile offspring.

The variety of species in a community, which depends on both the number of species present (richness) and how evenly individuals are spread among them (evenness).

A measure of how similar the population sizes of the different species in a community are; a community is even when individuals are spread equally among its species.

The number of different species present in a community or sample.

An approach to conservation that focuses on protecting particular species, usually threatened or charismatic ones, often through ex situ measures, trade controls or species recovery plans.

The formation of new species from populations living in the same area, separated by ecological or behavioural differences rather than a physical barrier.

An interaction between two or more pressures, such as climate change and an invasive species, in which their combined impact is greater than the sum of their separate impacts.

The use and care of land by Indigenous peoples according to customary knowledge, practices and rules developed over many generations, such as rotational farming, controlled burning and seasonal grazing.

The tendency for a shared resource with unrestricted access to be overused and degraded, because each user gains the full benefit of taking more while the cost of the damage is shared among all users.

The outer part of a biosphere reserve, where communities live and work and resources such as farmland, fisheries and forests are managed sustainably.

A species with large habitat needs whose protection also protects many other species that share its habitat.

The differences in characteristics between individuals of the same species; heritable variation is caused by differences in genes and alleles and can be passed to offspring.

The IUCN Red List category for species facing a high risk of extinction in the wild; the lowest of the three threatened categories.

A strip or chain of habitat that links separate habitat patches or reserves, allowing animals and plants to move, disperse and interbreed between them.