aesthetic value: the value that an object, event or state of affairs (most paradigmatically an artwork or the natural environment) possesses in virtue of its capacity to elicit pleasure (positive value) or displeasure (negative value) when appreciated or experienced aesthetically

 

anthropogenic influences: caused or influenced by humans

 

bequest value: the value of satisfaction from preserving a natural environment or a historic environment, in other words natural heritage or cultural heritage for future generations

 

biodiversity: the existence of many different kinds of plants and animals in an environment

 

biome: major ecological community type (as tropical rain forest, grassland, or desert)

 

bracts: a leaf from the axil of which a flower or floral axis arises

 

climate change: a change in global or regional climate patterns attributed largely to the increased levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide produced by the use of fossil fuels.

 

commensalism: relation between two kinds of organisms in which one obtains food or other benefits from the other without damaging or benefiting it

 

destigmatize: to remove associations of shame or disgrace from

 

deforestation: the act or result of cutting down or burning all the trees in an area

 

ecological value: the value of a species’ jobs and services within an ecosystem

 

ecosystem services: any positive benefit that wildlife or ecosystems provides to people; the benefits can be direct or indirect – small or large

 

endangered: being or relating to an endangered species

 

Endangered Species Act: the strongest and most important federal law protecting imperiled wildlife and plants

 

erosion: the gradual destruction of something by natural forces (such as water, wind, or ice) : the process by which something is eroded or worn away

 

fanihi: the local’s name for Mariana Fruit Bat; also what the cooked version of the bat is called

 

fluctuations: to change level, strength, or value frequently

 

forest regeneration: forests being formed or created again

 

frugivorous:  feeding on fruit

 

gestation period: the time in which a fetus develops, beginning with fertilization and ending at birth

 

guano: waste material from birds and bats that is used to help plants grow

 

habitat fragmentation: the complete process by which habitat loss results in the division

of large, continuous habitats into a greater number of smaller patches of lower total area, isolated from each other by a matrix of dissimilar habitats

 

habitat loss: the greatest threat to the variety of life on this planet today. It is identified as a main threat to 85% of all species described in the IUCN's Red List, caused by human growth and developement

 

HIPPCO: an acronym for the main contributers to species becoming endangered: Habitat destruction, Invasive species, Population dynamics and resources, Pollution/pesticides, Climate change, Overexploitation (poaching)

 

intrinsic/existence value: reflecting the benefit people receive from knowing that a particular environmental resource, such as Antarctica, the Grand Canyon, endangered species, or any other organism or thing exists

 

invasive species: see non native species

 

IUCN Red List: Provides taxonomic, conservation status, and distribution information on taxa that are facing a high risk of global extinction.

 

keystone species: a plant or animal that plays a unique and crucial role in the way an ecosystem functions- without keystone species, the ecosystem would be dramatically different or cease to exist altogether.

 

K-strategist: K-selected species, also called K-strategist, are species whose populations fluctuate at or near the carrying capacity (K) of the environment in which they reside

 

native: living or growing naturally in a particular region

 

natural disasters: a natural event such as a flood, earthquake, or hurricane that causes great damage or loss of life

 

niche: an environment that has all the things that a particular plant or animal needs in order to live

 

non native species: an introduced, alien, exotic, non-indigenous, is a species living outside its native distributional range, which has arrived there by human activity, either deliberate or accidental.

 

non volant youth: incapable of flight

 

overexploitation: harvesting species from the wild at rates faster than natural populations can recover

 

overpopulation: a function of the number of individuals compared to the relevant resources, such as the water and essential nutrients they need to survive.

 

poachers: illegal hunting

 

population: a particular section, group, or type of people or animals living in an area or country

 

predator: an animal that naturally preys on others

 

prey: an animal that is hunted and killed by another for food

 

refuge: an area of land or of land and water set aside and maintained,usually by government or private organization, for the preservation and protection of one or more species of wildlife

 

rehabilitation: to bring (someone or something) back to a normal, healthy condition

restoration:the act or process of returning something to its original condition by repairing it, cleaning it, etc.

 

reserves: see refuge

 

roosting sites: a perch upon which bird or fowls rest at night

 

species: a class of individuals having some common characteristics or qualities

 

synergistic effects: the interaction of elements that when combined produce a total effect that is greater than the sum of the individual elements, contributions, etc.

 

trade winds: a wind that blows almost constantly to the west and towards the equator

 

typhoons: an extremely large, powerful, and destructive storm that occurs especially in the region of the Philippines or the China Sea

 

ungulates: ungulates are any members of a diverse clade of primarily large mammals that includes odd-toed ungulates such as horses and rhinoceroses, and even-toed ungulates such as cattle, pigs, giraffes, camels, deer, and hippopotami

 

unsustainable: upsetting the ecological balance by depleting natural resources

 

use value: the usefulness of a commodity

 

(Merriam-Webster, 2015)