Displaying 1 - 60 out of 150 Object(s)
| Term | Definition | |
|---|---|---|
| Adventive | Referring to a plant or animal that has become established in a region to which it is not native but does not cause noticible economic or ecological harm. |  |
| Aguajal | A Spanish name referring to a palm swamp dominated by |
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| Alien | An animal, plant, or microbe that is introduced or naturally dispersed from one area into to another area. There are two types of alien plants, adentives that cause no apparent economic and ecological harm (e.g., the common mullein) and invasives that cause economic or ecological harm (e.g., the Japanese knotweed). |  |
| Ant garden | A ball of roots that forms in certain species of epiphytic plants and is inhabited by ants. | |
| Aquatic | Growing in or on the water. |  |
| Autochorous | A type of seed dispersal in which the diaspore is ejected by the action of the parent plant. |  |
| Autotroph (autotrophic) | Capable of synthesizing complex organic substances from simple inorganic substrates, i.e., it photosynthesizes. |  |
| Biota | The totality of organisms found in a given environment. |  |
| Bladder | A thin-walled, inflated, small sac found in species of |
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| Burital | A Portuguese name referring to palm swamps dominated by |
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| Caatinga | A Portuguese term referring to a dry, thorn-scrub, deciduous vegetation of northeastern Brazil. Do not confuse eastern Brazilian caatinga with Amazonian caatinga. |  |
| Calcareous | Referring to a calcium rich soil. | |
| CAM | See Crassulacean acid metabolism. | |
| Campina | A Portuguese term referring to a vegetation type similar to savanna found on white sand soils in the Brazilian Amazon. |  |
| Campinarana | A Brazilian name for a low forest growing on white sand which is the first step in plant succession starting with open, white sand areas caused by disturbance, then to campina, followed by campinarana, and finally to terra firme forest. |  |
| Campo rupestre | A Portuguese term referring to a rocky kind of savanna, usually at midelevations in Brazil. Species of several plant families; e.g., Asteraceae, Eriocaulaceae, Melastomataceae, Velloziaceae, Xyridaceae, etc., are characteristic of this vegetation. |  |
| Campos de altitude | A Portuguese term referring to savanna or prairie like vegetation at high altitudes in Brazil. | |
| Canopy tree layer | A hypothetical layer in tropical rain forest consisting of trees that form a ± continuous layer commonly at a maximum height of about 25–35 meters in the Neotropics. |  |
| Carnivory (adj. = carnivorous) | A plant which captures animals such as rotifers, mosquito larvae, adult insects, etc. which are decomposed on or within the leaves of the plant and the nutrients released (e.g., nitrogen) are assimilated by the plant. This term also applies to animals eating other animals. | |
| Cerrado | A Portuguese term referring to a type of vegetation with scatttered shrubs and relatively small, often contorted trees with thick bark and grasses and sedges dominating the understory. |  |
| Chacó | A Spanish term referring to a dry, thorn-scrub, deciduous vegetation found mostly in Paraguay and known as pantanal in adjacent Brazil. | |
| Chaparral | A mild, temperate region with cool, moist winters and long, dry summers dominated by sclerophyllous, evergreen shrubs. | |
| Chiropterochory (chiropterochorous) | Referring to diaspores that are carried away from the mother plant by bats. Most bat-dispersed seeds dispersed by bats have either berry-like fruits or fruits with the seeds provided with a fleshy associated structure such as an aril. A few other species have the fruits surrounded by a fleshy perianth (e.g., the diaspores of species of Cecropia). Same as bat-dispersed. |  |
| Cloud forest | A mid-elevation vegetation type often covered in clouds. Cloud forest is dominated by low, snarled trees covered with mosses and liverworts. Species of orchids are abundant in this vegetation type and tree ferns are often conspicuous. Depending on local climate, distance from the sea, and isolation from other mountain ranges, cloud forest can be found between 500 and 4000 meters but it is most frequent between 1000 and 2000 meters. |  |
| Coevolution | A reciprocal process in which adaptations of one organism promote adaptations in another; e.g., the nocturnal anthesis of a cup-shaped flower and the elongated snout of a bat that pollinates that flower. |  |
| Crepuscular | Appearing during the twilight hours of dusk and dawn. | |
| Deciduous | A process in which certain structures of a plant, e.g., leaves, fall in response to enviromental changes. |  |
| Diapause | A temporary pause in the development of an organism, especially an insect. | |
| Diurnal | Appearing during the day, such as a flower at anthesis. |  |
| Domatium (plural = domatia) | Referring to axillary cavities, enclosed chambers, hollow stems, hollow petioles, modified stipules, or clusters of trichomes that harbor ants, mites, and other invetebrates. All of these structures are called domatia. |  |
| Dormancy | In botany, usually referring to a period of time during which a seed shows no activity; e.g., a seed released during the dry season may remain dormant until rains beginn. | |
| Drip tip | A long, tapered leaf blade apex that is thought to help water drain form the blades thereby reducing the number of epiphylls that become established on the leaf. |  |
| Dysozoochorous | A type of secondary seed dispersal in which some of the diaspores are carried away and intentionally buried or stored (cached) by scatter-hording animals such as agoutis ( |
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| Ecology | Dome-like granitic outcrops common on the Guayanan Shield of northeastern South america. Inselbergs are sparsely covered by vegetation which often occurs as clumps here-and-there and separated by bare rocks. Low gnarled trees of species of Clusia are often dominant in this vegetation type. Most inselbergs occur below 1000 meters altitude. |  |
| Edaphic | Of or relating to soil. | |
| Emergent aquatic plant | A plant rooted under water but with the upper parts emerging above the surface. | |
| Emergent tree layer | A hypotherical layer in tropical forests made up of species of the tallest trees with crown emerging above the canopy tree layer. | |
| Endophyte | A plant living partially or entirely within another plant. | |
| Endozoochorous | A type of seed dispersal in which the diaspore is ingested and passes unharmed through the digestive tract of an animal. | |
| Ephemeral | Lasting a short time; for example, a spring emphemeral in temperate regions that flowers and sets fruits before the canopy trees leaf out or a tree such as species of Tabebuia that flower for only a few days, thus the flowers are ephemeral. Same as evanescent. |  |
| Epilithic | Growing on rocks. Same as epipetric. | |
| Epipetric | Growing on rocks. Same as epilithic | |
| Epiphyte | Referring to a plant that grows on another plant for its entire life cycle. An epiphyte often possesses aerial roots, uses the host plant only for support, and does not obtain food or water from the host, e.g., |
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| Epizoochorous | A type of seed dispersal in which the diaspore sticks to the skin, feathers, or fur of animals by barbs, hooks, or a viscid glue-like substance. Those that stick to dispersal agents by barbs or hooks are also called sticktights. |  |
| Evanescent | Short-lived. |  |
| Evergreen | Bearing viable leaves at all times of the year. Opposite of deciduous. | |
| Extinction | The death of all individuals of a species. |  |
| Extirpation | The process by which a plant or animal species is eliminated from a given geographic area. |  |
| Extrafloral nectary | A structure that secretes nectar and is located on a part of the plant other than the flower; e.g., the glands on the petioles of many mimosoid legumes. |  |
| Floating aquatic plant | A plant that occurs on the surface of a lake or pond without attachment by roots to the soil at the bottom of the lake or pond upon which it grows. |  |
| Formicarium (plural = formicaria) | An ant domatium which is usually a swollen chamber associated with the petioles (e.g., species of Hirtella and Tococoa) or a hollow stem (e.g., Tachigali and Cecropia). |  |
| Gap | An opening in the canopy of the forest created by falling trees and branches. |  |
| Geophyte | A herbaceous plant that perennates by means of underground parts; i.e., at least part of the plant’s life cycle is spent below the ground, usually to avoid environmental stresses such as prolonged dry or cold periods. | |
| Geotropic | Referring to a shoot or root that responds positively to the pull of the earth’s gravity. | |
| Ground layer | A hypothetical stratum of tropical rain forests consisting of herbs and other small plants that grow close to the ground. Same as ground story. | |
| Ground story | Lowest layer of vegetation in a forest; composed of terrestrial herbs. Same as but less preferred than ground layer. | |
| Habitat | The place where a plant grows, for example in a wet area along a stream, in a pond, rain forest, savanna etc. |  |
| Halophyte (halophytic) | A plant adapted to growing in saline soils. (referring to a plant growing in saline soils) | |
| Heliophile | Lover of sunlight; a plant that thrives under conditions of high light intensity. | |
| Hemiepiphyte | A plant that grows for part of its life on other plants without connection to the ground and for part of its life with a connection to the ground. A primary hemiepiphyte (e.g., Clusia spp., Clusiaceae) begins life without a connection with the ground but later develops aerial roots that reach the ground. A secondary hemiepiphyte (e.g., various species of Araceae) grows from the ground onto its support and later loses its connection with the ground. Compare with epiphyte. |  |