Glossary

(ər bən fȯr əst): Trees and other vegetation growing within a city or town.

(ǝr bǝn hēt ī lǝnd ē fekt): An urban area that is significantly warmer than its surrounding rural areas due to human activities.

(ər bə nə zā shən): The quality, state, or process of being urbanized or built up as a city.

(u til uh te): The quality of being useful.

(vā kənt): Not occupied or lived in.

(ver ē ə bi-lə tē): The degree to which something is variable.

(ver ē ə bəl): (1) A factor, trait, or condition that can be changed or controlled; (2) a quantity that may assume any one of a set of values.

(ver ē ā shən): A change in the form, position, condition, or amount of something.

(va skyə lər): Of, relating to, or affecting a channel for the movement of a body fluid (such as blood of an animal or sap of a plant) or a system of such channels.

(ve jǝ tā shǝn): Plant life or total plant cover of an area.

(ve jǝ tā tiv kǝ vǝr): Plants that cover the ground.

(və lä sə tē): Speed of movement.

(ve nə məs): Producing venom in a specialized gland and capable of inflicting injury or death.

(vərt ə brət or vərt ə brāt): Any of a large group of animals (such as mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fishes) that typically have a bony or cartilaginous backbone which replaces the notochord, a distinct head containing a brain which arises as an enlarged part of the nerve cord, and an internal usually bony skeleton and including some primitive forms (such as lampreys) in which the backbone is absent and the notochord persists throughout life.

(vər ti kəl): Going straight up or down from a level surface.

(vōl): Any of various small rodents (Microtus and related genera) that typically have a stout body, rather blunt nose, and short ears, inhabit both moist meadows and dry uplands and do much damage to crops, and are closely related to muskrats and lemmings.

(väl yüm): The amount of a substance.

(vəl n(ə-) rə bi lə tē): The state of being vulnerable.

(vəl n(ə-) rə bi lə tē in deks): A system for generating a number that indicates how vulnerable something is to something harmful. In this study ("Wild Ways"), scientists collected data about each species and then answered questions about how each species could be affected by climate change. The scientists then were able to calculate numbers, called scores. Higher scores indicated higher predicted vulnerability.

(vəl n(ə-)rə bəl): Open to attack or damage.