Lost in jargon?

---

This concise glossary is your go-to resource for understanding key terms related to the protection and preservation of the Baltic Sea. Dive in for clear definitions and enhance your knowledge of this vital ecological mission. 

Abundance (ecological)

The size of a population of a particular life form in a given area. (IPBES)

Adaptive management

A systematic process for continually improving management policies and practices by learning from the outcomes of previously employed policies and practices. In active adaptive management, management is treated as a deliberate experiment for purposes of learning. (IPBES)

The ability to alter management to reflect lessons learned or changing conditions. It incorporates deliberate learning into professional practice to reduce uncertainty in decision-making. Specifically, it is the integration of design, management, and monitoring to enable managers to systematically and efficiently test key assumptions, evaluate the results, adjust management decisions, and generate learning. (IUCN lexicon, adapted from CMP [2020])

Area-based management tool 

A tool, including a marine protected area, for a geographically defined area through which one or several sectors or activities are managed with the aim of achieving particular conservation and/or sustainable use objectives. 

Benthic

Connected with, or living near, the sea bottom. (IUCN)

Occurring at the bottom of a body of water; related to benthos. (IPBES)

Biodiversity

The variability among living organisms from all sources including terrestrial, marine, and other aquatic ecosystems and the ecological complexes of which they are part; this includes diversity within species, among species, and of ecosystems (CBD, IUCN).

The variability among living organisms from all sources including terrestrial, marine and other aquatic ecosystems and the ecological complexes of which they are a part. This includes variation in genetic, phenotypic, phylogenetic, and functional attributes, as well as changes in abundance and distribution over time and space within and among species, biological communities and ecosystems. (Diaz et al. 2015. “The IPBES Conceptual Framework — Connecting Nature and People.” Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability 14: 1–16. doi:10.1016/j.cosust.2014.11.002)  

Blue carbon

All biologically driven carbon fluxes and storage in marine systems that are amenable to management can be considered as blue carbon. Coastal blue carbon focuses on rooted vegetation in the coastal zone, such as e.g. seagrasses. These ecosystems have high carbon burial rates on a per unit area basis and accumulate carbon in their soils and sediments. They provide many non-climatic benefits and can contribute to ecosystem-based adaptation. If degraded or lost, coastal blue carbon ecosystems are likely to release most of their carbon back to the atmosphere. (IPCC) 

Carbon sequestration

The process of storing carbon in a carbon pool. (IPCC)

Carbon sink

Any process, activity or mechanism which removes a greenhouse gas, an aerosol or a precursor of a greenhouse gas from the atmosphere. (UNFCCC Article 1.8 (UNFCCC, 1992))

Climate adaptation

In human systems, the process of adjustment to actual or expected climate and its effects, in order to moderate harm or exploit beneficial opportunities. In natural systems, the process of adjustment to actual climate and its effects; human intervention may facilitate adjustment to expected climate and its effects. (IPCC AR6 WGII Full Report Annex II (Glossary))

Community (ecological)

Assemblages of interacting populations of the species living within a particular area or habitat. (Encyclopedia Britannica)

A group of actually or potentially interacting species living in the same location. Communities are bound together by a shared environment and a network of influence each species has on the other. (Nature)

Populations of different species, includes the study of the interactions between species, such as mutualism, predation and competition, and the dynamics and structure of the community. (Nature)

(Ecological) connectivity

The unimpeded movement of species and the flow of natural processes that sustain life on Earth. [UNEP/CMS/Resolution 12.26 (Rev.COP13)]

An essential feature of nature. It is necessary for the functionality of ecosystems, underpinning key ecological processes and features such as maintenance of genetic diversity, flow of energy and organisms, hydrological processes, nutrient cycling, pollination, seed dispersal and disease resistance across all biomes and spatial scales. It is key for the survival of wild animals and plant species and is crucial to ensuring their migration. (IPBES/9/INF/27)

(Habitat) connectivity 

The degree to which the landscape facilitates the movement of organisms (animals, plant reproductive structures, pollen, pollinators, spores, etc.) and other environmentally important resources (e.g. nutrients and moisture) between similar habitats. Connectivity is hampered by fragmentation (q.v.).(IPBES)

Conservation

The protection, care, management and maintenance of ecosystems, habitats, wildlife species and populations, within or outside of their natural environments, in order to safeguard the natural conditions for their long-term permanence. (IUCN) 

Critical natural capital

Describes the part of the natural capital that is crucial for the functioning of the ecosystem, that cannot be replaced, and hence is vital for the provision of the ecosystem services.

Distribution

The spatial occurrence of an ecosystem or species. (IUCN)

Disturbance

An event that causes a change in environmental conditions that interfere with ecosystem function. (IUCN)

Ecological coherence

Ecological coherence demonstrates the ecological relevant interactions between areas that support biodiversity and ecological processes while considering connectivity and interactions within and beyond those areas. It is an essential aspect of conservation planning and management in order to optimize an effective and robust MPA network. 

Additionally, an ecologically coherent network of MPAs may be designed to be resilient to changing conditions. (OSPAR 2006)​ 

Includes five sub-criteria: 1) ecologically and biologically significant areas 2) representativity 3) replication 4) adequacy 5) connectivity.​ (IC EG MPA 5-2024) 

Ecological function

The ecological performance that an ecosystem component contributes with to large-scale processes (ecosystem function), e.g. bacteria decomposing material feeding into the nutrient cycles. (IC EG MPA 5-2024)  

Ecological integrity

Maintaining the diversity and quality of ecosystems and enhancing their capacity to adapt to change and provide for the needs of future generations. (IUCN)

Ecological dynamics 

Those intrinsic ecological functions through which an ecosystem becomes self-regulating, self-sustaining, and capable of recovery from external forces (for example, damaging storm events). These intrinsic processes may cause continual change in biotic composition and structure at specific localities. Collectively, these changes represent internal flux, rather than substantive and permanent alteration of the ecosystem regionally. (Biology online)

Ecosystem

A dynamic complex of plant, animal and micro-organism communities and their non-living environment interacting as a functional unit. (Article 2, CBD, IPBES)

Ecosystems are self-regulating communities of plants and animals interacting with each other and with their non-living environment (CBD)

Ecosystem approach

An ecosystem approach is based on the application of appropriate scientific methodologies focused on levels of biological organization, The ecosystem approach is based upon the hierarchical nature of biological diversity characterized by the interaction and integration of genes, species and ecosystems, which encompass the essential structure, processes, functions and interactions among organisms and their environment. It recognizes that humans, with their cultural diversity, are an integral component of many ecosystems. The ecosystem approach should be undertaken at the appropriate spatial and temporal scales. (CBD)

A strategy for the integrated management of land, water and living resources that promotes conservation and sustainable use in an equitable way (IUCN)

Ecosystem-based management (EBM)

A process that integrates biological, social, and economic factors into a comprehensive strategy aimed at protecting and enhancing sustainability, diversity and productivity of natural resources. The ecosystems (biosphere) are considered the fundament for social and economic development.

EBM emphasizes the protection of ecosystem structure, functioning and key processes; is place-based in focusing on a specific ecosystem and the range of activities affecting it; explicitly accounts for the interconnectedness among systems, such as between air, land and sea; and integrates ecological, social, economic and institutional perspectives, recognizing their strong interdependences. (COMPASS Scientific Consensus Statement, used by IUCN)

A process that aims to link the conservation of marine resources with an integrated management of different human maritime activities. This approach helps to reduce the cumulative impacts on the environment caused by multiple human activities. EBM is a key tool for sustainable management by balancing between economic, environmental, social and other interests in spatial allocations, by managing specific uses and coherently integrating sectoral planning, and by applying the ecosystem approach, When balancing interests and allocating uses in space and time, long-term and sustainable management should have priority. (HELCOM-VASAB)

Ecosystem function

The process through which the constituent living and nonliving elements of ecosystems change and interact (ForestERA, 2005, supported by IUCN)

The flow of energy and materials through the biotic and abiotic components of an ecosystem. It includes many processes such as biomass production, trophic transfer through plants and animals, nutrient cycling, water dynamics and heat transfer. (IPBES, Adapted from http://www.ecosystemservicesseq.com.au/ecosystem-functions.html)

Ecosystem integrity

The continuity and full character of a complex system, including its ability to perform all the essential functions throughout its geographic setting; the integrity concept within a managed system implies maintaining key components and processes throughout time. (IUCN)

Ecosystem resilience

The capacity of a system to recover from stress and disturbance while retaining its essential functions, structure, feedbacks and identity. Resilient ecosystems sustain biological diversity and human livelihoods in times of severe and wide-ranging change. (IUCN)

Ecosystem functioning and resilience depends on a dynamic relationship within species, among species and between species and their abiotic environment, as well as the physical and chemical interactions within the environment. The conservation and, where appropriate, restoration of these interactions and processes is of greater significance for the long-term maintenance of biological diversity than simply protection of species. (CBD)

The capacity of an ecosystem to return to the pre-condition state following a perturbation, including maintaining its essential characteristics taxonomic composition, structures, ecosystem functions, and process rates. (Holling 1973)

The level of disturbance that an ecosystem or society can undergo without crossing a threshold to a situation with different structure or outputs. Resilience depends on factors such as ecological dynamics as well as the organizational and institutional capacity to understand, manage, and respond to these dynamics. (IPBES)

Ecosystem restoration

Recovery of the structure, function and processes of the original ecosystem. (IUCN)

Ecosystem services (ESs)

Ecosystem services are defined as the contributions that ecosystems make to human well-being, and are distinct from the goods and benefits that people subsequently derive from them. These contributions are framed in terms of ‘what ecosystems do’ for people’. (CICES, Roy Haines-Young and Marion Potschin, 2018: iii)  

Ecosystem services are the direct and indirect contributions ecosystems make to human well-being, arising from the interaction of biotic and abiotic processes. (Potschin & Haines-Young 2016)

Ecosystem structure

The individuals and communities of plants and animals of which an ecosystem is composed, their age and spatial distribution, and the non-living natural resources present. (APEX, 2004, supported by IUCN)

Extent of occurrence

The scope of an area or volume where a habitat or species is currently present, excluding vagrancy.  

Functional diversity
The number of functionally different groups of species. It consists of two aspects: one that affects the influence of a function within a scale (see ‘levels of biological organization’ above) and the other that aggregates that influence across scales. (Hooper and Vitousek 1997)

Functional groups

Assemblages of species performing similar functional roles within an ecosystem, such as filter feeders, providing similar ecosystem services and functions in the ecosystem (e.g. production or decomposition). (IC EG MPA 5-2024) 

Goal

An aspirational, but achievable, outcome that is generally broad and long-term. It is the end toward which effort is directed, e.g. detailing a desired impact of a project, such as the desired future status, encompassed by a broad statement that focuses on the desired results and does not describe the methods used to get the intended outcome. A good goal meets the criteria of being linked to strategies and outcomes, impact oriented, measurable, time limited, and specific. (adapted from Conservation Standards and IUCN lexicon)  

Governance
The individuals, groups, and institutions ultimately responsible for decision-making for an area or network of areas. Governance can also include the process of how decisions are influenced and made (adapted from Franks et al. [2018] and Springer et al. [2021]). IUCN currently recognizes four types of governance: private, government, indigenous peoples or local communities, and shared. (IUCN lexicon)  

Habitat

The environment (physical habitat) where an organism or population (naturally) occurs because required features of the ecosystem is provided. A habitat is the combination of the physical habitat (abiotic) and the species (biotic). 

Healthy ecosystem

Healthy ecosystems represent a desired result of management. Healthy ecosystems have the ability to maintain their structure and ecological function over time in the face of external stress.