Aesthetics value- the pure enjoyment that biodiversity offers to human beings (Dictionary.com, 2015).
Background Extinction - refers to the standard rate of extinction in earth's geological and biological history before humans became a primary contributor to extinctions (Dictionary.com, 2015).
Biome - terrestrial regions inhabited by certain types of life, especially vegetation. (APES book)
Biotic Potential - The maximum capacity of an individual or population to reproduce under optimal environmental conditions. Populations rarely reproduce at their biotic potential because of limiting factors such as disease, predation, and restricted food resources.
Bycatch - in the fishing industry, is a fish or other marine species that is caught unintentionally while catching certain target species and target sizes of fish, crabs etc (Dictionary.com,2015).
Biological extinction - is the end of an organism or of a group of organisms (taxon), normally a species (Dictionary.com, 2015).
Carapace - the hard upper shell of a turtle, crustacean, or arachnid (Dictionary.com,2015).
Competition - relationship between members of the same or different species in which individuals are adversely affected by those having the same living requirements, such as food or space (Dictionary.com, 2015).
Consumers - are organisms of an ecological food chain that receive energy by consuming other organisms. These organisms are formally referred to as heterotrophs, which include animals, bacteria and fungi.
Clutch - a group of eggs fertilized at the same time (Dictionary.com, 2015).
Circumtropical - surrounding or distributed throughout the tropics (Dictionary.com, 2015).
Diversity- the degree of variation of living things present in a particular ecosystem (Dictionary.com, 2015).
Ecosystem - is a community of living organisms in conjunction with the nonliving components of their environment (things like air, water and mineral soil), interacting as a system. These biotic and abiotic components are regarded as linked together through nutrient cycles and energy flows (Dictionary.com, 2015).
Estuaries - that part of the mouth or lower course of a river in which the river's current meets the sea's tide (Dictionary.com, 2015).
Early Loss - A population characterized by high birth rate, a high death rate among juveniles, and lower death rates among adults; early - loss populations have a concave survivorship curve (Dictionary.com, 2015).
Flotsam - floating pieces, parts, etc., from a ship that has been wrecked (Dictionary.com, 2015).
Food Chain - a series of steps in which organisms transfer energy by eating and being eaten (Dictionary.com, 2015).
Food Web - the natural interconnection of food chains and generally a graphical representation (usually an image) of what-eats-what in an ecological community (Dictionary.com, 2015).
Foundation Species - is used to refer to a species that has a strong role in structuring a community. A foundation species can occupy any trophic level in a food web (i.e., they can be primary producers, herbivores or predators (Dictionary.com, 2015).
Habitat - the natural home or environment of an animal, plant, or other organism (Dictionary.com, 2015).
Intrinsic Value - Value that the environment and life forms have in their own right, and which is not derived from the human use they can or cannot be put to (Dictionary.com, 2015).
Jetsam - floating objects that are thrown into the water from a ship(Dictionary.com, 2015).
Migratory Corridors - A protected strip of natural habitat through which wild animals are able to
migrate (Dictionary.com, 2015).
Migrate -An animal, typically a bird or fish move from one region or habitat to another, especially regularly according to the seasons.
Mutualism - symbiosis that is beneficial to both organisms involved.
Niche - total way of life or role of a species in an ecosystem. includes all physical, chemical, & biological conditions that a species needs to live and reproduce in an ecosystem (Dictionary.com, 2015).
Pelagic - Pelagic -Pertaining to the part of the open sea or ocean comprising the water column, i.e., all of the sea other than that near the coast or the sea floor (Dictionary.com, 2015).
Precocial - often the young can make it on their own without any instruction from their parents. (Dictionary.com, 2015).
R- Strategist -The population is still at low values relative to the carrying capacity of the environment and thus is growing exponentially with intrinsic reproductive rate r (when it is not subject to environmental perturbations.), hence the name r-strategist (Dictionary.com, 2015).
Shoals- a sandbank or sandbar in the bed of a body of water, especially one that is exposed above the surface of the water at low tide (Dictionary.com, 2015).
Species- a group of animals or plants that are similar and can produce young animals or plants (Dictionary.com, 2015).
Specialists - can only thrive in a narrow range of environmental conditions or has a limited diet. Most organisms do not all fit neatly into either group, however. Some species are highly specialized (the most extreme case being monophagy), others less so, while some can tolerate many different environments (Dictionary.com, 2015).
Trawling - Also called trawl line. a buoyed line used in sea fishing, having numerous short lines with baited hooks attached at intervals (Dictionary.com, 2015).