GLOSSARY AND ACRONYMS
of terms related to the biodiversity

native

A plant or animal indigenous to a particular locality.

native peoples (also: tribal peoples or indigenous peoples)

People whose ancestors inhabited a place or country when persons from another culture or ethnic background arrived on the scene and dominated them through conquest, settlement, or other means and who today live more in conformity with their own social, economic, and cultural customs and traditions than with those of the country of which they now form a part.

native species

Plants, animals, fungi, and microorganisms(microorganism) that occur naturally in a given area or region.

natural enemy

An organism which lives at the expense of another organism and which may help to limit the population of its host. This includes parasitoids(parasitoid), parasites(parasite), predators(predator) and pathogens(pathogen).

natural forest

(also: primary forest, opp.: secondary forest) A forest largely undisturbed by human activities.

natural forest management system

Controlled and regulated harvesting of forest trees, combined with silvicultural and protective measures, to sustain and increase the commercial value of subsequent stands; relies on natural regeneration of native species.

natural selection

Process by which the genotypes in a population that are best adapted to the environment increase in frequency relative to less well-adapted genotypes over a number of generations.

nectarivore

An animal that eats nectar.

nekton

(opp.: plankton) Swimming organisms that are able to move independently of water currents. These include most fish, mammals, turtles, sea snakes, and aquatic birds.

nematode

Roundworms, often internal parasites(parasite) of animals and plants. The latter are significant economic pests(pest) on foodcrops as few crops are immune to attacks of these creatures which inhabit the soil about the roots of plants. The development of nematode-resistant varieties of crop plants is important to food growth economics.

neoendemics

Clusters of closely related species and subspecies that have evolved relatively recently.

niche

The place occupied by a species in its ecosystem and its role: where it lives, what it feeds on and when it performs all its activities.

nitrogen fixation

- Biological assimilation of atmospheric nitrogen to form organic nitrogen-containing compounds. - A process whereby nitrogen fixing bacteria(bacterium) living in mutualistic associations with plants convert atmospheric nitrogen to nitrogen compounds that plants can utilize directly.

non-consumptive value

value (also: non-use value or passive use value) The value of resources(resource) which are not diminished by their use. Values that do not require access to or active use of a biological resource by the valuer. Passive use value may imply that the resource is used by other humans whose welfare matters to the valuer. It therefore includes vicarious use value, bequest value and existence value.

non-equilibrium theory

Suggests that the number of species increases or decreases depending on how the environment influences species production, exchange and extinction at any particular time.

non-governmental organization (NGO)

A non-profit group or association organized outside of institutionalized political structures to realize particular social objectives (such as environmental protection) or serve particular constituencies (such as indigenous peoples). NGO activities range from research, information distribution, training, local organization, and community service to legal advocacy, lobbying for legislative change, and civil disobedience. NGO's range in size from small groups within a particular community to huge membership groups with a national or international scope. Many relevant NGOs attend the biodiversity meetings as observers in order to interact with delegates and press and provide information. NGOs must be non-profit and can include environmental groups, research institutions, business groups, and associations of urban and local governments.

non-use value

(see: non-consumptive value)

normalizing selection

(see: stabilizing selection)

nucleotide

Unit building block of DNA. It consists of a sugar and phosphate backbone with a base attached.