Guide to Significant Wildlife Habitat - Door County Web Map

— Glossary —
biological diversity (also, biodiversity)
The variety of life and its processes; it includes the variety of living organisms, the genetic
differences among them, the communities and ecosystems in which they occur, and the ecological and
evolutionary processes that keep them functioning, yet ever changing and adapting. (from Saving Nature's
Legacy, R. Noss and A. Cooperrider)
buffer or buffer zone
A defined area of land that surrounds or borders a given natural feature (such as a river,
designated natural area, or bluff) within which specified protections are established to minimize threats to
the ecological integrity of the natural feature.
canopy
Typically the uppermost continuous layer of branches and foliage in a stand of trees or shrubs,
but can also refer to middle and lower layers in stands of multiple storeys. (from Julian & Katherine
Dunster’s Dictionary of Natural Resource Management, 1996,UBC Press, Vancouver, BC)
carrying capacity
Conventionally defined as the maximum population size of a given species that an area can
support without reducing its ability to support the same species in the future. In the human context,
William Catton defines it as the maximum “load” (population x per capita impact) that can safely and
persistently be imposed on the environment by people. (from Our Ecological Footprint, Mathis
Wackenragel & William Rees, 1996, New Society Publishers, Canada)
ecology
The study of the relationships between living organisms and their physical (nonliving)
environment. In its broadest sense, ecology is the study of organisms as they exist in their natural
environment. (from Harper Collins' Environmental Science Dictionary)
ecological integrity
Refers to a system's wholeness, including presence of all appropriate elements and occurrence of
all natural processes at appropriate rates. A landscape or area with high ecological integrity reflects
natural evolutionary processes. (adapted from Biological Integrity versus Biological Diversity as Policy
Directives, Angermeir and Karr)
ecosystem
A dynamic complex of plant, animal, fungal, and microorganism communities and their
associated nonliving environment interacting as an ecological unit. (from Saving Nature's Legacy, R.
Noss and A. Cooperrider)
edge
The zone where two different habitat types meet. It can range from an abrupt change from one to
the other (hard edge) to a gradual integration of the two (soft edge). An edge can be of natural origin
(such as the area where a grassland meets a woodland) or man-made origin (such as the area where a
roadway clearing meets a woodland). See also edge effects. (adapted from Wisconsin's Biodiversity as a
Management Issue, 1995 WI DNR.)
edge effects
The ecological changes that occur at the boundaries of ecosystems; these include changes in
species composition, gradients of moisture, sunlight, soil and air temperature, wind speed, etc. Many edge
effects have negative consequences. For example, forest-interior species have their populations reduced
by edge effects. (from Saving Nature's Legacy, R. Noss and A. Cooperrider)
– Glossary – 153