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Glossary

Terms for use in the glossary

Adaptive managementsearch for term

An approach to natural resource management that emphasizes learning through management. It provides a decision-making framework that maintains flexibility and incorporates new knowledge and experience over time.

Biomasssearch for term

Biomass?, most noted for its use as an energy source, is a mass per unit of area measure of living matter. As biofuel, it references the energy stored in plants and animals.

Buffersearch for term

Riparian? buffers flank waterways and include various plants and other organisms that improve soil and water quality/temperature. The buffer region acts as a transition zone between the aquatic to upland terrestrial environments. Human development in buffer areas is limited.

Clutch sizesearch for term

Clutch size? refers to the number of eggs laid by a mating pair of animals.

Downscalingsearch for term

Downscaling is a climate modeling technique that transforms climate change information obtained from General Circulation Models? or Global Climate Models (GCMs) to much higher spatial resolution for improved understanding of local and regional scale climate changes.

Ecological thresholdsearch for term

The point at which there is an abrupt change in the structure, quality, or functioning of an ecosystem or where external changes produce large and persistent responses in an ecosystem. Can be any abrupt or nonlinear change to a species' population, productivity?, reproduction, or habitat. (Also: tipping point, ecosystem shift, and abrupt/nonlinear change).

Ecosystem servicessearch for term

The benefits to people derived by an ecosystem's structure and functions. Potential benefits: provisioning (fresh water), regulating (food and climate mitigation), cultural (recreational), and supporting (nutrient cycling) services, as definied by the Millenium Ecosystem Assessment (2005).

El Niñosearch for term

El Niño? and La Niña (ENSO) cycles are long-term naturally recurring patterns in climate. ENSO affects global weather patterns and has important implications for temperature, precipitaiton, wind, storms, drought, and ice cover in the Northeast. The ENSO cycle alternates between the warm and cool phases irregularly every 2-7 years. During the El Niño phase of the Southern Oscillation pattern, the Equatorial Pacific experiences unusually warm ocean temperatures, while the La Niña phase is represented by unusually cold ocean temperatures in the Equatorial Pacific. The exact effects of ENSO cycles on New England climate are still largely unresolved, thus interactions with climate change remain uncertain.

Evapotranspirationsearch for term

Evapotranspiration? is the sum of evaporation (transformation of water from liquid to gas or vapor) and transpiration (also known as guttation, the process by which moisture moves through plants and is released into the atmosphere as vapor). Collectively the process of evapotranspiration represents the movements and exchange of water among plants, land, waterbodies and the atmosphere.

Exotic speciessearch for term

An exotic species is an alien, or non-native, species that is not naturally present in a habitat. In contrast, an invasive species? is an exotic, non-native species whose presence is likely to cause harm to human health, the economy, and/or the environment. All invasive species are exotic, but not all exotic are invasive. Invasive species are not the same as novel occurrences of species that shift into a region as they respond to climate change by following optimal environmental conditions.

Extirpatesearch for term

Extirpation occurs when a species is lost (extinct) in one area but not globally. The term covers extinction at the population, regional, and local levels.

Fecunditysearch for term

Fecundity? is similar to the term fertility and refers to the reproductive potential of an organism or population. It is measured by the number of eggs, seeds, or offspring produced by an individual.

Fitnesssearch for term

Fitness? in the biological sense is slightly different from our typical understanding of the word. Fitness refers to how well a specific genotype produces offspring in comparison with other genotypes. Fitness is a vital stepping stone in the process of natural selection.

General Circulation Modelssearch for term

Climate models, specifically General Circulation Models? or Global Climate Models (GCMs), are computer simulations that represent chemical and physical processes throughout the globe, including the atmosphere, ocean, cryosphere (ice sheets), and across land surfaces. They are vital for studying climate.

Groundwatersearch for term

Groundwater? is a source of fresh water that exists underground in the spaces in soil and cracks in rock. Groundwater is an important resource as drinking water as well as irrigation, industrial uses, and more. Groundwater also provides cold water inputs to streams, rivers, vernal pools, as well as other natural water bodies and helps maintain flow and temperature regimes.

Growing Degree Daysearch for term

Growing Degree Days are the number of degrees the average daily temperature exceeds a base temperature threshold, below which, an organism will remain dormant. GDDs are cumulative and used as a predictive indicator of phenology by horticulturists, gardeners, and farmers to estimate the number of days it will take for a plant or animal to bloom or be ready for harvest.

Headwater wetlandssearch for term

Headwater streams are key habitats consisting of small creeks, swales, and streams that are the starting point of rivers. Like wetlands, headwater streams do not have to be consistently wet to provide critical habitat.

Invasive speciessearch for term

An invasive species? is an exotic, non-native species whose presence is likely to cause harm to human health, the economy, and/or the environment. In contrast, an exotic species is an alien, or non-native, species that is not naturally present in a habitat. All invasive species are exotic, but not all exotic are invasive. Invasive species are not the same as novel occurrences of species that shift into a region as they respond to climate change by following optimal environmental conditions.

Isothermsearch for term

An isotherm? is a line designated on a weather map which connects multiple points with the same temperature.

Jet streamsearch for term

Jet streams are cold, skinny bands of very strong wind that exist at large temperature differences high in the atmosphere. The winds are most noticeable in the winter and flow from the west to the east.

La Niñasearch for term

El Niño? and La Niña (ENSO) cycles are long-term naturally recurring patterns in climate. ENSO affects global weather patterns and has important implications for temperature, precipitaiton, wind, storms, drought, and ice cover in the Northeast. The ENSO cycle alternates between the warm and cool phases irregularly every 2-7 years. The La Niña phase is represented by unusually cold ocean temperatures in the Equatorial Pacific. During the El Niño phase of the Southern Oscillation pattern, the Equatorial Pacific experiences unusually warm ocean temperatures. The exact effects of ENSO cycles on New England climate are still largely unresolved, thus interactions with climate change remain uncertain.

Land trustsearch for term

(1) A land trust?, or conservation easement, limits the use of the land it protects through a legal pact between the government and a landowner. The goal of the agreement is to protect the land through conservation, but the landowner still has limited use and can sell the land. (2) Land trusts are also nonprofit organizations that acquire and conserve land.

Pathogensearch for term

Pathogens are parasites on the micro-level. They are diverse groups of microorganisms and can cause disease and death in their host.

Phenologysearch for term

Phenology? is the timing of cyclic and seasonal natural phenomen such as recurring life history events in plants and animals (e.g.migration, reproduction, emergence, birth and death). Phenology is influenced by seasonal and annual weather and climate cycles.

Plasticitysearch for term

Is the ability of an organism to change in response to its environment. Changes may manifest through a number of natural processes including behavior, morphology, life history, or genetic evolution.

Productivitysearch for term

Productivity? from an ecological standpoint refers to the rate of growth of organisms in a habitat or ecosystem; it can be connected to human productivity due to its determining of how quickly we use the ecosystem's resources.

Refugiasearch for term

Areas that are relatively buffered from climate change, where species can persist despite adverse regional conditions.

Ripariansearch for term

Riparian? areas, natural or re-established, exist on the edges of waterways such as rivers and streams and are made of a variety of different kinds of vegetation. These areas provide numerous benefits including reducing erosion and pollution as well as providing habitat.

Second-growth forestsearch for term

Second-growth, or secondary, forests are created when a disturbance such as wildfire or logging destroys an old-growth forest.Second-growth forests grow into the previously forested area and thus are typically younger than their old-growth predecessor and can also lack large snags and a many-layered canopy.

Sequestersearch for term

The capture and sequestration of carbon dioxide can be done naturally by trees or forests or deliberately by human technology. Sequestration describes the process of carbon dioxide absorption from the atmosphere and deposition as solid material.

Talus slopessearch for term

Talus are commonly created by multiple small rockfalls, with the rocks resulting in a tentative stability referred to as a talus slope.

Topographysearch for term

Traditionally displayed in maps, topography? describes natural features of the landscape such as mountains and valleys as well as general elevation and shape of the land. Topographic maps can be used for several different users, from recreational to professional uses such as engineering or natural resources conservation.

Vernal poolsearch for term

Vernal pools are a form of ephemeral wetland that are seasonally filled with water. The pools are in sync with groundwater? levels and are unique and critical habitats that many wildlife species depend on for their early life history. Vernal pools are best known for supporting spring breeding salamander and frog populations.

Water barsearch for term

A barrier or channel created at an angle across a road or trail in order to guide water flow away from the road and prevent erosion. Water bars are especially helpful for high volume or very fast-moving water.

Wetlandsearch for term

Wetlands represent a diversity of unique ecosystems.  Wetlands may be an area where water completely covers the soil; in other cases, a wetland area may only be partially wet or wet during certain seasons.

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