Artificial system created for livestock and croplands production. Colloquially known as farms and ranches.

Biodiversity is all the different kinds of life you’ll find in one area—the variety of animals, plants, fungi, and even microorganisms like bacteria that make up our natural world.

Process of capturing and storing atmospheric carbon dioxide. Growing forests and grasses naturally store carbon in roots and soils.

Capacity of a system to maintain function in the face of stresses imposed by climate change and to adapt to be better prepared for future impacts. Communities becoming stronger against floods, heatwave, fires or storms.

Organism or animal that modifies, creates or destroys habitat and directly or indirectly modulates the availability of resources to other organisms, causing physical state changes in biotic or abiotic materials. 

Organizations that advocate for, or work toward, protecting the natural environment (land, air, wildlife, and water).

Animal is not herded or restrained from moving throughout the landscape.

Process through which heat is trapped near Earth's surface by substances known as 'greenhouse gases.' They are like a cozy blanket enveloping our planet, helping to maintain a warmer temperature than it would have otherwise. The level of carbon dioxide in Earth’s atmosphere has been rising consistently for decades and traps extra heat near Earth's surface, causing temperatures to rise. 

Animals (horses, rhinos, rabbits) that use their cecum or colon to ferment plant fiber, allowing them to extract energy and nutrients from plant material that would otherwise be indigestible.

Animals (such as bears, bison, or mammoths) of particularly large size. 

Growing a single crop (or tree) on a given acreage. More susceptible to pests, drought, disease.

A plant that lives for several years.

Conversion of previously forested land back to forest, AKA afforestation.

Rewilding is a progressive approach to conservation. It’s about letting nature take care of itself, enabling natural processes to shape land and sea, repair damaged ecosystems and restore degraded landscapes. Through rewilding, wildlife’s natural rhythms create wilder, more biodiverse habitats. 

Classification comprising related organisms that share common characteristics and are capable of interbreeding. 

Of or relating to nutrition. Having to do with the food relationship, AKA the food chain.

An area of land either covered by water or saturated with water. Often attracts a variety of plants and animals.

Ecological approach to agriculture that views agricultural areas as ecosystems and is concerned with the ecological impact of agricultural practices. For example, when farms actively allow more wild plants and trees onto their land in a way that helps their business.

Animal Unit/Month: the number of animals allowed to graze on a given allotment based on the amount of forage typically consumed (per livestock) per month without causing damage to the land. Tradable unit. 

Maximum population that a given area can sustain. Exceeding capacity means putting too much pressure on  species and habitats.

Endpoint of succession within the context of a particular climate and environment.

Environmental conditions and benefits that are essential for human survival and development. 

Animal that was once domesticated but has since been returned to the wild. 

Area of land designated and managed for grazing of livestock. The US Forest Service (USFS) and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) both manage grazing allotments and issue permits to ranchers to use them.

Gases that trap heat in the atmosphere and that play a crucial role in maintaining the stability of Earth. Include carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide and fluorinated gas. 

An alien species whose introduction does or is likely to cause economic or environmental harm or harm to human health. 

Living thing that is so small it must be viewed with a microscope. Includes bacteria, algae, protozoa, fungi, and viruses . Critical component of healthy soils. 

A substance that plants or animals need in order to live and grow. Examples for plants include nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, carbon, calcium, etc. 

Process by which green plants transform light energy into chemical energy. Light is captured and used to convert water, carbon dioxide, and minerals into oxygen and energy-rich organic compounds. 

Way of farming that focuses on soil health, especially soil that has degraded by the use of heavy machinery, fertilizers and pesticides in intensive farming.

Areas that occur on edges of rivers, streams, lakes, and other water bodies. 

Accelerated removal of topsoil (fertile upper layer of soil) from the land surface through water, wind and tillage, as well as chemicals or industrial impacts, AKA soil degradation.

A hoofed mammal, e.g. a cow, deer, horse, or elephant.

AKA Habitat connectivity. Degree to which landscape facilitates or impedes animal movement and other ecological processes, such as seed dispersal. Can be man-made or natural. Aids in overall species survivability. 

Relating to, or resulting from the influence of human beings on nature. 

Amount of carbon dioxide emissions associated with all the activities of a person or other entity. 

Climate change is a long-term change in the average weather patterns that have come to define Earth’s local, regional and global climates. It is characterized by increasingly volatile weather (e.g. storms, extreme heat) creating feedback loops and deep changes in Nature.

Study of the relationships between living organisms, including humans, and their physical environment. 

A dynamic complex of plant, animal and micro-organism communities and their non-living environment interacting as a functional unit.

Hydrocarbon-containing materials of biological origin found within Earth’s crust that can be used as a source of energy (“fuel”). They include coal, petroleum, natural gas, oil shales, bitumens, tar sands, and heavy oils . Formed from the fossilized, buried remains of plants and animals that lived millions of years ago. 

Jobs that contribute to preserving or restoring the environment, be they in traditional sectors such as manufacturing and construction, in new, emerging green sectors such as renewable energy, or in the protection of nature (land, air, wildlife, and water).

An animal that only eats plants. 

Species with a disproportionately large effect on the communities in which it lives relative to its abundance. 

Process of chemicals present in organic matter decomposing or oxidizing into easily available forms to plants. 

When animals are allowed to graze (an area, such as a pasture) to the point of damaging vegetational cover. 

Period from approximately 1.8 million to 11,000 years ago, characterized by fluctuating ice ages and dramatic climate changes, leading to the Holocene. 

Recovering an ecosystem or habitat that has been disturbed, i.e. when environmental structure and function have been altered. Disturbances include logging, pollution, dams, overgrazing, hurricanes, floods, and fires. 

Gradual change in our accepted norms and expectations for the environment across generations. When we perceive the new reality of nature as “normal”, unaware that standards have been declining. 

The quality of being able to continue over a period of time. 

Land area that channels rainfall and snowmelt to creeks, streams, and rivers, and eventually to outflow points such as reservoirs, bays, and the ocean.