• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

		Conservation by Design Conservation by Design The First 10 Years The Basics: A Science-Based Approach The Basics: Key Analytical Methods Conservation by Design Gateway Download PDF   En Español   Versão   em Português   in Chinese (PDF) ConserveOnline

Glossary of Terms

Acceptable ranges of variability:

The characteristics of species, communities and ecosystems vary over time in response to biotic interactions and environmental processes. Critical biotic and environmental conditions and processes must be restored or maintained within acceptable ranges of variability to ensure that our conservation targets do not change so much that they become non-viable over the long term.

Biodiversity:

The full range of natural variety and variability within and among living organisms, and the ecological and environmental complexes in which they occur. It encompasses multiple levels of organization, including genes, species, communities and ecosystems.

Conservation targets:

Specific components of biodiversity identified by The Nature Conservancy and used to design ecoregional portfolios and develop and prioritize conservation strategies. Currently, the Conservancy’s conservation targets consist of ecosystems, natural communities and species.

Conserve:

For the Conservancy’s purposes, a conservation area can be deemed to be conserved or functional when its biodiversity health score has achieved a rank of “good” or “very good” and its threat status is “low” or “medium.”

Ecoregions:

Relatively large geographic areas of land and water delineated by climate, vegetation, geology and other ecological and environmental patterns.

Ecosystems:

Dynamic assemblages of native plant and/or animal communities that 1) occur together on the landscape or in the water; and 2) are tied together by similar ecological processes (e.g., fire, hydrology), underlying environmental features (e.g., soils, geology) or environmental gradients (e.g., elevation).

Functional conservation area:

The geographic area needed to maintain the conservation targets and supporting ecological processes within acceptable ranges of variability over the long term. Functional landscapes are often intended to conserve all biodiversity in an area; are typically large (i.e., > 20,000 acres); and usually include both aquatic and terrestrial targets.

Genetic and ecological variation:

Genetic variation, or genetic diversity, is a measure of the differences in the genetic makeup of individuals, populations or species. Ecological variation is a measure of differences in the collective response of a species, community type or ecosystem to different environmental conditions.

Natural communities:

Assemblages of species that re-occur under similar habitat conditions and environmental regimes.

Network:

A system of interconnected conservation areas that commonly transcend ecoregional boundaries to conserve wide-ranging and migratory species.

Portfolio:

The suite of conservation areas within an ecoregion selected to represent and conserve the conservation targets and their genetic and ecological variation.

Viability:

Viability indicates the ability of a conservation target to persist for many generations or over long time periods.

Learn more about the core concepts that drive Conservation By Design.