Avian Response to Restoration of Urban Tidal Marshes in the Hackensack Meadowlands, New Jersey
Glossary
- Anthropogenic
- Caused by humans.
- Descriptive statistics
- Statistics used to describe the basic features of the data in a study, as distinct from inferential statistics, which attempt to reach conclusions that extend beyond the immediate data alone. (For more information, see the Center for Social Research Methods web sites at http://www.socialresearchmethods.net/kb/statdesc.htm.)
- Diversity
- A metric frequently used to describe a community based on species richness and the relative abundance of each species.
- Evenness
- A measure of how similar the abundances of species are within a habitat. When there are similar proportions of all species, then evenness is near one, but when the abundances are very dissimilar (i.e., some rare and some common species), the value approaches zero.
- Generalist
- Adapted to a broad range of habitats.
- GIS (geographic information system)
- A computer system capable of integrating, storing, editing, analyzing, and displaying geographically referenced information.
- Guild
- A group of species, all members of which exploit similar resources in a similar fashion (Oxford Dictionary of Ecology).
- Metric
- A standard of measurement for estimating or indicating a specific characteristic or process.
- Monospecific
- Single species.
- Reference site
- A model ecosystem used for planning and evaluating an ecological restoration project. Typically, the reference represents a point of advanced development that lies somewhere along the intended trajectory of the restoration. (The SER International Primer on Ecological Restorations; see www.ser.org.)
- Sink
- Less-suitable habitat that can act as a reservoir for surplus populations migrating from more suitable ("source") habitat. In sink habitat, mortality exceeds reproduction.
- Sorensen's similarity index
- An index that compares species presence and absence between habitats. Values approaching zero indicate lower similarity between the communities; values approaching one indicate higher similarity.
- Species richness
- The number of different species found in a particular habitat.
- Succession
- The sequential change in vegetation and the animals associated with it, either in response to an environmental change or induced by the intrinsic properties of the organisms themselves.