Agri-business Farming combined with commercial activities to maximise production and profits. Topic: Living Things

Biodiversity hotspot A region with a particularly great variety of organisms. Central America is one such hotspot. Topic: Living Things

Biomes Ecosystems that exist at a very large scale (for example, tropical rainforests or deserts). Topic: Living Things

Commercial Logging The cutting down of forests for the sale of their timber. Topic: Living Things

Debt-for-nature swap An agreement between poorer nations that owe money to richer nations. The poorer nation agrees to spend money on a conservation project. In exchange the richer country agrees to cancel part of the debt of money that it is owed. The U. S. and Indonesian Governments sign a debt-for-nature swap agreement under the Tropical Forest Conservation Act that will reduce Indonesia’s debt payments to the U.S. by nearly $30 million over eight years. Topic: Living Things

Deforestation The cutting down or burning of trees. Topic: Living Things

Ecosystem A community of plants and animals and the environment in which they live. Ecosystems include both living parts (e.g. plants) and non-living parts (e.g. air and water. Ecosystems exist at various scales from biomes such as rainforests to micro-scale ecosystems such as garden ponds. Topic: Living Things

Ecotourism Small scale tourist projects that create money for conservation as well as creating local jobs. Topic: Living Things

Exports The sale of products from one country to another. Topic: Living Things

Illegal Logging The cutting down of forests for their timber by people who do not own the land or do not have the right to sell the timber. Topic: Living Things

Imports The purchase of goods from another country. Topic: Living Things

Indigenous People Tribal groups who are native to a particular place. Topic: Living Things

Intercepts When water is prevented from falling directly to the ground. For example, the canopy of leaves in a rainforest intercepts rainfall. Topic: Living Things

Key Services The way in which ecosystems provide benefits for people. For example, mangrove forests act as coastal buffers, soaking up wave energy during a storm and reducing the risk of erosion and flooding. Topic: Living Things

Leaching The removal of nutrients from the soil by water flowing through it. Topic: Living Things

Mangrove A type of tropical forest that grows in coastal regions. Topic: Living Things

Nutrient Cycle The flow of nutrients between different stores in an ecosystem which forms a continuous chain (or cycle). Topic: Living Things

Nutrient Flows The movement of minerals from one store to another. Topic: Living Things

Nutrient Stores Parts of an ecosystem, such as the soil, in which nutrients are kept. Topic: Living Things

Solar Footprint The amount of the sun’s energy that heats each square metre of the earth varies depending on latitude. Near the equator the sun hits the earth at almost 90°. The solar footprint is small and the amount of energy received per square metre is much greater than near to the poles. Topic: Living Things

Trans-National Companies (TNCs) Large businesses such as Sony, Microsoft and McDonalds, who have branches in several countries. Trans-national companies are also known as Multi-national companies (MNCs). Topic: Living Things

Tropical Rainforest Large forest ecosystems (or biomes) that exist in the hot, wet climate found on either side of the equator. Topic: Living Things

Tundra An ecosystem largely found in the Arctic region. The tundra is treeless because the growing season is short and the average monthly temperature is below 10 celsius. Topic: Living Things

Water Cycle The continuous flow of water between the Earth’s surface and the atmosphere – also called the hydrological cycle. Topic: Living Things

Wildlife Corridor Strips of habitat that allow wild animals to migrate from one ecosystem to another. For example, wildlife corridors can be created by planting hedgerows and trees to connect remaining fragments of forest together. Topic: Living Things