for Day in the Dunes

Adaptation - A special part of a plant or animal that helps it survive.

Alien - A plant or animal from another continent or part of North America that was not native to Indiana Dunes.

Baseline study - The first scientific study or inventory that all other studies will be compared to.

Canopy - The top layer of branches and leaves in a forest, which is directly exposed to the sunlight.

Community - The plants and animals that thrive together in a specific area.

Critical Resource Issue - A threat to the park's plant and animal resources that is so critical some action needs to be taken immediately.

Exotic - Another term for an alien species.

Habitat - The area where a plant or animal gets its food, water, shelter, and space.

Habitat Destruction - Man's activities that remove the space plants and animals need to survive.

Parasite - In the case of Cowbirds, laying eggs in other species nests so those birds expend the energy to raise the young.

Prescribed burn - A forest fire, started by the park's fire team, that is controlled and will prevent damage to the property of the park's neighbors. A prescribed fire is use to control the growth of woody plants, returns nutrients to the soil, and increases sunlight to low growing plants like lupine.

Species - All the individuals in a population that can breed and produce fertile young.

Territory - The space defended by a male bird which provides the food and nesting site for his mate and young.

Understory - Small trees, bushes and plants that grow under the canopy of a forest.

Previous Page  Table of Contents  Education Web