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Footprints
into the Past and Future
Bering Land Bridge National Preserve
Glossary
Adaptation:
a trait that helps an organism survive in a particular environment.
Arctic Circle:
the parallel of latitude 66 degrees 33 minutes north; the boundary
between the North Temperate and North Frigid zones.
Arctic:
the area extending from the North Pole to the northern timberline.
Beringia:
the 1,000-mile land bridge that connected Asia with North America
10,000 to 25,000 years ago.
Camouflage:
markings or coloration that help disguise an animal so it is less
visible to predators of prey.
Conservation:
the use of natural resources in a way that assures their continuing
availability to future generations: the wise and intelligent use
or protection of natural resource. Wise use of resources.
Ecosystem:
all the non-living and living things and their interaction in a
specific area.
Extinct:
the condition of having been removed from existence. An animal or
plant facing extinction is one in danger of vanishing from our world.
Glacier:
a huge mass of moving ice originating from compacted snow.
Harvest:
the act or process of gathering a crop or animals. In wildlife management,
hunting is considered a form of harvest in which individual animals
are killed.
Hot springs:
a spring that is naturally heated by volcanic vents.
Insulation:
In animals and plants, fur, feathers, fuzz etc., that prevent heat
loss.
Kiviut:
the soft under hair or fur of musk oxen. Kiviut is often made into
yarn.
Lichen:
an organism that consists of a fungus and an algae existing together
to the mutual benefit of each other. Lichens often grow in harsh
conditions that are too exposed for other plants. Because of their
sensitivity to air pollution, many are useful indicators of air
quality. Lichen are an important food source for caribou.
Maar lake:
a lake created by an volcanic explosion that makes a crater, which
then fills with water from rain and snow melt.
Migration:
a regular, seasonal movement of an animal from one place on earth
to another.
Migratory:
in wildlife usage, birds or other animals that make annual migrations,
e.g., travel distances in seasonal movements. Migrations may be
great, or very short, depending upon the species.
National Park Service:
A division of the Department of the Interior whose mission is to
protect the natural and cultural resources in such a way that they
will last unimpaired for future generations.
Northern Hemisphere:
The northern half of the earth, divided by the equator.
Ordinance:
regulation.
Periodic:
recurring at regular intervals; can refer to seasonal cycles or
daily cycles.
Permafrost:
permanently frozen ground that may or may not contain ice. In the
arctic tundra, permafrost may extend 60-1000 feet (18-305 m) below
the surface.
Population:
the number of people, animals or plants living in a place.
Preservation:
protection, which emphasizes nonconsumptive values and uses, including
no direct use by humans, contrasted with conservation which emphasizes
both consumptive and nonconsumptive values and uses.
Preserve:
to keep safe, to keep or remain intact.
Reindeer:
a domesticated caribou.
Resource:
A resource is something that has a value. Natural resources occurring
naturally, such as plants and animals, mountains and rivers, forest
and tundra, natural quiet and scenery. Cultural resources have to
do with past and present cultures, and include such things as archaeological
sites and artifacts, locations of ceremonial or religious importance,
traditional hunting grounds.
Subarctic:
regions just under the Arctic Circle.
Subsistence lifestyle:
living off the land.
Tundra:
the windy, treeless, and periodically cold environments that occur
at high latitudes and at high elevations.
Woolly Mammoth:
An Ice Age mammal that crossed over the Bering Land Bridge. The
woolly mammoth, which resembles the elephant, became extinct 10,000
years ago
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