DEFINITIONS
BENEFICIAL SPECIES: As considered by the abstract, a species that is benefical to humans as a resource, including being used for labor, food or commercial sales.
DISPERSAL: When members of a population travel permanently to other regions. For example, when a mammal is threatened by a decreasing population size due to a decrease in its essential resources, its instinct may be to travel to a region better suited for its survival.
ENDEMISM: When an animal is considered endemic to a region this means that the animal is exclusive to that region and not found anywhere else in the world.
FRAGMENTATION: A patchy habitat distribution caused by conversion of the environment. This conversion within Indonesia is mainly due to humans by way of deforestation and the building of structures.
HOMEOSTATIC: To be in a state of equilibrium; population sizes in a top-down community are kept in check by the external factor of predation.
MEGAFAUNA: Large or relatively large animals found in a particular region or period.
PEST SPECIES: Any species that is considered an annoyance to humans due to certain actions, such as destroying crops and property.
SIXTH GREAT EXTINCTION: This unique extinction is primarily due to humans and our activities. The previous five extinctions were caused by naturally occurring catastrophes and include the Ordovician (500 million years ago; 50% of animal families), Devonian (345 million years ago;30% of animal families), Permian (250 million years ago; 50% of animal families, 95% of marine species), Triassic (180 million years ago; 35% of animal families), and Cretaceous (65 million years ago; dinosaurs).
TOP-DOWN EFFECT: Top-down controlled habitats are those that are controlled and strongly affected by their top predators. If a top predator (secondary consumer) is removed, its prey species (primary consumers) are allowed to grow in uncontrollable numbers which eventually decreases the primary producers found at the bottom of the food chain. These kinds of changes are most times irreversible and quite detrimental to natural habitats.
UMBRELLA SPECIES: Physically large flagship species, also known as megafauna. Examples include elephants, rhinos, etc. These animals are function based indicator species, or driver species and their workings have proportionate effects on all beneath, or passenger species.
GENERAL BACKGROUND ON INDONESIA'S SUSCEPTIBILITY
DISTRIBUTIONS OF THE MEGAFAUNA: 1900 VS 2001
DEFORESTATION: WHY DO WE CARE?
"Only when the rivers run dry, the trees are all gone and the animals are all dead will humans realize that we can't eat money..." Unknown.