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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)
species richness

The number of species within a given sample, community, or area.

Global assessment (1st work programme), Americas assessment, Europe and Central Asia assessment, Asia-Pacific assessment, Land degradation and restoration assessment, Sustainable use assessment
species richness

Number of species.

Pollination assessment
species trait

The morphological, physiological, phonological or behavioural characteristics of an organism, that typically inform about its response to the environment and effects on the ecosystem (Lavorel & Garnier, 2002; Violle et al., 2007).

Global assessment (1st work programme)
species trait

The morphological, physiological, phonological or behavioral characteristics of an organism, that typically inform about its response to the environment and effects on the ecosystem.

Sustainable use assessment
species-area relationship

A well-known strong empirical relationship between the area (A) of a region or patch of habitat and the number of species (S) it contains. Over most spatial scales, a power-law relationship S = cAz provides a good fit to data, with z often around 0.25 for separate sets of regions (known as the island species-area relationship) and 0.15 for nested parts of the same region (known as the continental species-area relationship). The species- area relationship has often been used to estimate the size of an extinction debt (qv) resulting from habitat loss.

Global assessment (1st work programme)
species-led management

invasive alien species management (in all contexts) focused on reducing the threats and impacts of specific or multiple invasive alien species.

Invasive alien species assessment
specific values

Specific values of nature are opinions or judgments regarding the importance of nature in a particular situation or context. Specific values can be grouped into three types: instrumental, intrinsic and relational values.

Values assessment
spillover (a. reference to populations; b. reference to disease transmission)

Pathogen spillover refers to the transfer of one or more pathogens from one population or species (or biotype) to another. A spillover event occurs when an infected reservoir population causes an epidemic in a novel host population.

Pollination assessment
spillover effect

Human impacts or natural disturbances beyond system boundaries. These effects can be positive or negative, socioeconomic or/and environmental and can be much more profound than the effects within the focal system.

Sustainable use assessment
spillover effects

Human impacts or natural disturbances beyond system boundaries. These effects can be positive or negative, socioeconomic or/and environmental and can be much more profound than the effects within the focal system (Liu et al., 2013).

Global assessment (1st work programme)
stability (socio-ecological system)

The degree to which a system can continue to function if inputs, controls, or conditions are disrupted. It is a reflection of how minor a perturbation is capable of rendering the system inoperable or degraded; the types of perturbation to which the system is especially vulnerable; whether the system can “ignore” certain stresses; and the degree to which the system can be altered by surprise.

Sustainable use assessment, Global assessment (1st work programme)
stages of invasion

Refers to the three stages that a species must successfully transit by in an invasion process and become an invasive species.

Americas assessment
stakeholder

Actors that are involved in decision making processes and implementation, either as influencing the decision-making process, or as being dependent on, and therefore facing the consequences of, the decisions (incl. Public, private and civil society actors). For the values assessment, 13 stakeholder groups have been identified that can be categorised in three categories: Influencers, affected actors and key players (See section 6.1.2.2).

Values assessment
stakeholder

Any individuals, groups or organizations who affect, or could be affected (whether positively or negatively) by a particular issue and its associated policies, decisions and action.

Land degradation and restoration assessment, Sustainable use assessment, Europe and Central Asia assessment, Asia-Pacific assessment, Americas assessment, Scenarios and models assessment, Africa assessment
state (socio-ecological system)

The collection of variables that describe the whole of the social- ecological system, including the attributes of ecosystem service providers and beneficiaries.

Sustainable use assessment
state (socio-ecological system)

The collection of variables that describe the whole of the social-ecological system, including the attributes of ecosystem service providers and beneficiaries (Harrington et al., 2010).

Global assessment (1st work programme)
statistical downscaling

Downscaling based on interpolation of statistical relationships between specific model or scenario metrics and predictors with higher resolution data.

Scenarios and models assessment
statistical model

see correlative model.

Scenarios and models assessment
status

Based in actual observations (data).

Sustainable use assessment
stewardship

The activity or job of protecting and being responsible for something.

Pollination assessment
stewardship practice

The responsible use and protection of the natural environment through conservation actions, active restoration and the sustainable use and management of resources (N. J. Bennett et al., 2018).

Global assessment (1st work programme)
stewardship practice

The responsible use and protection of the natural environment through conservation actions, active restoration and the sustainable use and management of resources.

Sustainable use assessment
stingless bee

A large group of social bees (about 500 species), comprising the tribe Meliponini, characterized by a highly reduced stinger that cannot be used for defense. Stingless belong in the family Apidae, and are related to common honey bees, carpenter bees, orchid bees, and bumble bees.

Pollination assessment
stochastic uncertainty

Random behaviour or unpredictability of complex natural, social and economic systems, particularly in relation to future states.

Scenarios and models assessment
storyline

Qualitative narratives which provide the descriptive framework from which quantitative exploratory scenarios can be formulated.

Scenarios and models assessment, Europe and Central Asia assessment, Asia-Pacific assessment
strategic environmental assessment

A mechanism that attempts to assess systematically the environmental impacts of decisions made at, what is conventionally called, levels of strategic decisions.

Land degradation and restoration assessment
stratification (water column)

The formation of layers of water masses with different properties - salinity, oxygenation, density, temperature - that act as barriers to water mixing. These layers are normally arranged according to density, with the least dense water masses sitting above the more dense layers.

Global assessment (1st work programme)
stressor

see direct drivers.

Scenarios and models assessment
subregion

See Asia-Pacific region.

Asia-Pacific assessment
subsistence

Subsistence is defined as the livelihood uses in which a species is used or consumed directly by the individual who obtained it from the wild and his/her/their direct social network.

Sustainable use assessment
subsistence agriculture

Farming system emphasizing production for use rather than for sale (FAO, 1998).

Global assessment (1st work programme)
succession (ecological)

The process whereby communities of plants, animals and microorganisms are replaced by others, usually more complex, over time as an area is colonized. Primary succession occurs on bare ground (e.g. after a volcanic eruption); secondary succession follows the interruption of a primary succession, e.g. after disturbances such as logging, ploughing or burning.

Global assessment (1st work programme)
succession (ecological)

The process whereby communities of plants, animals and microorganisms are replaced by others, usually more complex, over time as an area is colonized. Primary succession occurs on bare ground (after a volcanic eruption); secondary succession follows the interruption of a primary succession, e.g. after disturbances such as logging, ploughing or burning.

Sustainable use assessment
summary for policymakers

A component of any report, providing a policy-relevant but not policy prescriptive summary of that report.

Land degradation and restoration assessment, Americas assessment, Asia-Pacific assessment, Sustainable use assessment, Africa assessment, Europe and Central Asia assessment
summary for policymakers

Is a component of any report, providing a policy-relevant but not policy prescriptive summary of that report.

supporting material

Consists of four categories: Intercultural and inter-scientific dialogue reports that are based on the material generated at the eco-regional level by discussions between members of academic, indigenous and social organizations and that take into account the different approaches, visions and knowledge systems that exist as well as the various views and approaches to sustainable development; Workshop proceedings and materials that are either commissioned or supported by the Platform; Software or databases that facilitate the use of the Platform's reports; Guidance materials (guidance notes and guidance documents) that assist in the preparation of comprehensive and scientifically sound Platform reports and technical papers.

Africa assessment
supporting material

Consists of four categories:(a) Intercultural and interscientific dialogue reports that are based on the material generated at the ecoregional level by discussions between members of academic, indigenous and social organizations and that take into account the diff erent approaches, visions and knowledge systems that exist as well as the various views and approaches to sustainable development;(b) Workshop proceedings and materials that are either commissioned or supported by the Platform;(c) Software or databases that facilitate the use of the Platform's reports;(d) Guidance materials (guidance notes and guidance documents) that assist in the preparation of comprehensive and scientifically sound Platform reports and technical papers.

Global assessment (1st work programme)
surface mining

Includes strip mining, open-pit mining and mountaintop removal mining, is a broad category of mining in which soil and rock overlying the mineral deposit (the overburden) are removed.

Land degradation and restoration assessment
surveillance

actions, including extended programme of surveys and general surveillance (capturing unstructured and untargeted surveillance data and information from a wide range of sources), undertaken in order to directly or indirectly detect the presence of one or many invasive alien species over time

Invasive alien species assessment
sustainability transitions

A transformation process that is multidimensional, multistakeholder, and often operates in the long-term, by which conventional systems shift to more sustainable modes of production and consumption.

Americas assessment
sustainability

The endurance of systems and processes. The organizing principle for sustainability in ecology and sociology includes the co-functioning and evolution of four interconnected domains: ecology, economics, politics and culture.

Pollination assessment
sustainability

A characteristic or state whereby the needs of the present and local population can be met without compromising the ability of future generations or populations in other locations to meet their needs.

Europe and Central Asia assessment, Land degradation and restoration assessment, Africa assessment, Americas assessment, Asia-Pacific assessment
sustainable community forestry

Forestry management strategies and practices designed to meet present needs without compromising the needs of future generations.

Global assessment (1st work programme)
sustainable development

Development that meets the needs and aspirations of the current generation without compromising the ability to meet those of future generations (Hesselink et al., 2007).

Global assessment (1st work programme)
sustainable development goals

A set of goals adopted by the United Nations on September 25, 2015 to end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure prosperity for all as part of a new sustainable development agenda. Each goal has specific targets to be achieved over the next 15 years.

Scenarios and models assessment, Asia-Pacific assessment, Sustainable use assessment
sustainable development goals

Also, the Global Goals, are a universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure that all people enjoy peace and prosperity. These 17 Goals build on the successes of the Millennium Development Goals, while including new areas such as climate change, economic inequality, innovation, sustainable consumption, peace and justice, among other priorities. The goals are interconnected; often the key to success on one will involve tackling issues more commonly associated with another.

Land degradation and restoration assessment
sustainable development goals

A set of goals adopted by the United Nations in 2015 to end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure prosperity for all, as part of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Americas assessment, Africa assessment, Europe and Central Asia assessment
sustainable development

Development that meets the needs and aspirations of the current generation without compromising the ability to meet those of future generations.

Sustainable use assessment
sustainable forest management

Can mean many things to many people - yet a common thread is the production of forest goods and services for the present and future generations. The concept provides guidance on how to manage forests to provide for today’s needs (as best as possible) and not compromise (i.e. reduce) the options of future generations.

Land degradation and restoration assessment
sustainable intensification

A process or system where agricultural yields are increased without adverse environmental impact and without the conversion of additional non- agricultural land.

Land degradation and restoration assessment, Pollination assessment