Key+terms

Key terms and definitions to use when researching and discussing Rainforests

COPY AND PASTE this page to create a document in your work site and add some more of your own terms as your research progresses. You can find some of your own definitions by going to a dictionary - look for the call number R423 - in the reference section of the library.The glossary of a geography text will give you even more specific definitions. Alternatively you can go online to []

Advocacy - the act of pleading for, supporting or recommending: active support of a cause

Biodiversity – (or biological diversity) refers to all the different kinds of life on earth.The existence of a wide variety of plant and animal species in their natural environments.

Endangered – in danger: used especially of animals in danger of extinction: eg. //the giant panda is an endangered species //

Threatened - likely in the near future to become in danger of extinction.

Sustainability – the quality of not being harmful to the environment or depleting natural resources and thereby supporting long-term ecological balance.

Deforestation – The process of destroying a forest and replacing it with something else. The term is used today to refer to the destruction of forests by human beings and their replacement by agricultural systems.

Conservation -  protection, preservation and careful management of natural resources and of the environment.

Subsistence living - Subsistence living is defined as living off what you yourself can grow and make by taking only what you need from the land. It is the means by which one maintains life, a living or livelihood from the environment.

Ecosystem – a system formed by the interactions of a community of organisms with their environment.

Habitat - the natural environment of an organism: place that is natural for the life and growth of an organism.