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Glossary definitions

The IPBES glossary terms definitions page provides definitions of terms used in IPBES assessments. Some definitions in this online glossary have been edited for consistency. Please refer to the specific assessment glossary for citations/authorities of definitions. 

We invite you to report any errors or omissions to [email protected].

Concept Definition Deliverable(s)
nitrogen deposition

Describes the input of reactive nitrogen from the atmosphere to the biosphere both as gases, dry deposition and in precipitation as wet deposition.

Americas assessment, Global assessment (1st work programme)
nitrogen-fixing species

Plants, such as legumes, living in symbiosis with micro-organisms in their roots that can perform biological nitrogen fixation, i.e. convert atmospheric nitrogen (N2) to ammonia (NH3). Plants can then assimilate NH3 to produce biomolecules (Wagner, 2011).

Global assessment (1st work programme)
nitrogen-fixing species

Plants, such as legumes, living in symbiosis with micro-organisms in their roots that can perform biological nitrogen fixation, i.e. convert atmospheric nitrogen (N2) to ammonia (NH3). Plants can then assimilate NH3 to produce biomolecules.

Sustainable use assessment
non-anthropocentric value

See values.

non-anthropocentric value

A non- anthropocentric value is a value centered on something other than human beings. These values can be non-instrumental or instrumental to non-human ends.

Asia-Pacific assessment, Africa assessment, Americas assessment
non-anthropocentric value

A non- anthropocentric value is a value centred on something other than human beings. These values can be non-instrumental or instrumental to non-human ends.

Europe and Central Asia assessment, Land degradation and restoration assessment
non-anthropocentric

A non-anthropocentric value is a value centered on something other than human beings. These values can be non-instrumental (e.g. a value ascribed to the existence of specific species for their own sake) or instrumental to non-human ends (e.g. the instrumental value a habitat has for the existence of a specific species).

Europe and Central Asia assessment, Asia-Pacific assessment
non-anthropogenic

A non-anthropocentric value is a value centred on something other than human beings. These values can be non- instrumental (e.g. a value ascribed to the existence of specific species for their own sake) or instrumental to non-human ends (e.g. the instrumental value a habitat has for the existence of a specific species).

Land degradation and restoration assessment
non-extractive practices

Non-extractive practices are defined as practices based on the observation of wild species in a way that does not involve the harvest or removal of any part of the organism. The observation can imply some interaction with the wild species, such as the activities of wildlife and whale watching or no interaction with the wild species, such as remote photography.

Sustainable use assessment
non-indigenous species

See invasive alien species.

Asia-Pacific assessment, Sustainable use assessment, Land degradation and restoration assessment, Americas assessment, Europe and Central Asia assessment
non-instrumental value

See values.

non-instrumental value

The value attributed to something as an end in itself, regardless of its utility for other ends.

Scenarios and models assessment, Global assessment (1st work programme), Africa assessment, Americas assessment, Europe and Central Asia assessment, Land degradation and restoration assessment, Asia-Pacific assessment
non-lethal harvest

Non-lethal harvest is defined as the temporary or permanent capture of live animals from their habitat without mortality, such as for the aquarium trade, pet trade or zoos, tag and release activities. Non-lethal harvest of animals also includes the parts or products of animals that do not lead to the mortality of the host, such as vicuna fiber, swift nests or wild honey.

Sustainable use assessment
non-linear

Not arranged in a straight line, not sequential or straightforward.

Asia-Pacific assessment
non-monetary valuation

The value attributable to an item or a service without relation to any acceptable cash price and for which a fixed or determinable amount of currency is absent (e.g. many ecosystem services, interpersonal good-will, health, etc.).

Pollination assessment
non-timber forest product

Non-timber forest products (NTFPs) are useful substances, materials and/or commodities obtained from forests which do not require harvesting (logging) trees. They include game animals, fur-bearers, nuts, seeds, berries, mushrooms, oils, foliage, pollarding, medicinal plants, peat, mast, fuelwood, fish, spices and forage.

Asia-Pacific assessment
non-timber forest product

Any biological resources found in forests other than timber, including fuel wood and small wood, nuts, seeds, oils, foliage, game animals, berries, medicinal plants, fish, spices, barks, and mushrooms, among others (Prasad, 1993).

Global assessment (1st work programme)
non-timber resource

A multitude of natural products (excluding timber) selectively harvested from the terrestrial environment for subsistence and commercial purposes.

Land degradation and restoration assessment
normative scenarios

see target- seeking scenarios.

Scenarios and models assessment
norms

Norms are rules about what is accepted behaviour. They are supporting underlying values as defined by a society. They are therefore ‘ought to’ statements defining what one may or may not do. Examples are rules about care for nature and what is just treatment of others.

Values assessment
nox

A generic term for the nitrogen oxides most relevant for air pollution (NO and NO2) (Omidvarborna et al., 2015).

Global assessment (1st work programme)
nutrient availability

Nutrients that can be extracted by plant roots, generally from the soil (Silver, 1994).

Global assessment (1st work programme)
nutrient cycle

A repeated pathway of a particular nutrient or element from the environment through one or more organisms and back to the environment. Examples include the carbon cycle, the nitrogen cycle and the phosphorus cycle.

Americas assessment
nutrient cycling

The processes by which elements are extracted from their mineral, aquatic, or atmospheric sources or recycled from their organic forms, converting them to the ionic form in which biotic uptake occurs and ultimately returning them to the atmosphere, water, or soil.

Sustainable use assessment, Global assessment (1st work programme)
paired catchment

Paired catchment studies have been widely used to assess the likely impact of land use change on water yield around the world. Such studies involve the use of two catchments (drainage basins) with similar characteristics in terms of slope, aspect, soils, area, precipitation and vegetation located adjacent to each other. Following a calibration period, where both catchments are monitored, one of the catchments is subjected to treatment and the other remains as a control. This allows the climatic variability to be accounted for in the analysis. The change in water yield can then be attributed to changes in vegetation. The paired catchment studies reported in the literature can be divided into four broad categories: (i) afforestation experiments; (ii) regrowth experiments; (iii) deforestation experiments; and (iv) forest conversion experiments.

Global assessment (1st work programme)
paleological data

Information on environment event and trends (e.g. paleoclimate).

Land degradation and restoration assessment
palma ratio

The share of all income received by the 10% people with highest disposable income divided by the share of all income received by the 40% people with the lowest disposable income (OECD, 2018b).

Global assessment (1st work programme)
parasite

An organism that lives on or within another organism of a different species (the host) from which it obtains nourishment and to which it causes harm.

Pollination assessment
paris agreement

Agreement within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) dealing with greenhouse gas emissions mitigation, adaptation and finance starting in the year 2020.

Asia-Pacific assessment
participatory governance

A variant or subset of governance which puts emphasis on democratic engagement, in particular through deliberative practices.

Americas assessment, Sustainable use assessment, Asia-Pacific assessment, Land degradation and restoration assessment
participatory mapping

A key method that many indigenous communities apply in order to collect data, information and monitoring and to use it in science- policy- society interface processes.

Europe and Central Asia assessment
participatory method

Participatory research methods are a variety of qualitative and quantitative methods geared towards planning and conducting the research process with those people whose life-world and meaningful actions are under study (Bergold & Thomas, 2012). Participatory methods acknowledge the possibility, the significance, and the usefulness of involving research partners in the knowledge-production process (Bergold, 2007).

Global assessment (1st work programme)
participatory method

Participatory research methods are a variety of qualitative and quantitative methods geared towards planning and conducting the research process with those people whose life-world and meaningful actions are under study (Bergold & Thomas, 2012). Participatory methods acknowledge the possibility, the significance, and the usefulness of involving research partners in the knowledge- production process.

Sustainable use assessment
participatory process

Specific methods employed to achieve active participation by all members of a group in a decision-making process (Chatty et al., 2003).

Global assessment (1st work programme)
participatory process

Specific methods employed to achieve active participation by all members of a group in a decision-making process.

Sustainable use assessment
participatory scenario development (and planning)

Approaches characterised by more interactive, and inclusive, involvement of stakeholders in the formulation and evaluation of scenarios. Aimed at improving the transparency and relevance of decision-making, by incorporating demands and information of each stakeholder, and negotiating outcomes between stakeholders.

Asia-Pacific assessment
participatory scenario development (and planning)

Approaches characterized by more interactive, and inclusive, involvement of stakeholders in the formulation and evaluation of scenarios. Aimed at improving the transparency and relevance of decision-making, by incorporating demands and information of each stakeholder, and negotiating outcomes between stakeholders.

Land degradation and restoration assessment, Europe and Central Asia assessment
participatory scenario development (and planning)

Approaches characterised by more interactive, and inclusive, involvement of stakeholders in the formulation and evaluation of scenarios. Aimed at improving the transparency and relevance of decision making, by incorporating demands and information of each stakeholder, and negotiating outcomes between stakeholders.

Americas assessment, Scenarios and models assessment
particulate and gaseous pollutant

Air pollutants such as ozone, nitrogen oxides and ammonia.

Europe and Central Asia assessment
particulate matter

A mixture of solid particles and liquid droplets (dust, dirt, soot, or smoke) (US Environmental Protection Agency, 2018b).

Global assessment (1st work programme)
particulate matter

A mixture of solid particles (dust, dirt, soot, or smoke) and liquid droplets.

Europe and Central Asia assessment
particulate matter

Particulate matter (PM), also known as atmospheric particulate matter, or suspended particulate matter (SPM) are microscopic solid or liquid matter suspended in Earth's atmosphere. Sources of particulate matter can be natural or anthropogenic. They have impacts on climate and precipitation that adversely affect human health.

Asia-Pacific assessment
particulate matter

A mixture of solid particles and liquid droplets (dust, dirt, soot, or smoke).

Americas assessment
particulate organic carbon

The carbon content of particulate organic matter (Fiedler et al., 2008).

Global assessment (1st work programme)
particulate organic matter

The large fraction (usually more than 7 micrometers) of soil organic matter (Fiedler et al., 2008).

Global assessment (1st work programme)
passive restoration

See restoration.

Land degradation and restoration assessment
pastoralism

Extensive livestock production in rangelands.

Europe and Central Asia assessment
pathway management

any action taken (single or via systems approach) towards a particular anthropogenic invasive alien species arrival pathway (e.g., trade) to prevent or address the threats and risks of an invasive alien species arriving and establishing via that pathway either between or within jurisdictions

Invasive alien species assessment
pathways

In the context of the IPBES global assessment, trajectories toward the achievement of goals and targets for biodiversity conservation and management of nature and nature’s contributions to people.

Sustainable use assessment, Global assessment (1st work programme)
pathways

“Pathways” consist of descriptions of different strategies for moving from the current situation towards a desired future vision or set of specified targets. They are descriptions of purposive courses of actions that build on each other, from short-term to long-term actions into broader transformation. They are closely related to normative or policy or target-seeking scenarios.

Values assessment