VOCABULARY 

biodiversity: the number and variety of organisms (plants, animals and others)  found within a specified geographic region. 

crepuscular: occurring or active during the period immediately after dawn and  immediately before dusk. 

disturbance: temporary change in environmental conditions that causes a  pronounced change in an ecosystem. 

endotherm: an animal that is dependent on internal sources of body heat. 

environment: all the living and nonliving things that surround and affect an  organism. 

fragmentation: the process or state of breaking or being broken into small or  separate parts. 

habitat: a specific type of environment inhabited by particular animal and/or  plant species; a place where an animal or plant lives. 

birding: the act of searching for and identifying birds.  

organism: a living thing, such as an animal, plant, alga, bacterium, or fungus. nocturnal: occurring or active at night. 

protocol: detailed plan or specific methods for a scientific experiment. 

reservoir: a place where something is collected and stored, in this case, water in  an artificial lake. 

species: a group of the same type of living organisms that can mate and  produce (reproduce) other living organisms of the same kind. 

transect: a straight or narrow section through a natural feature or across the  earth’s surface, along which observations are made, or measurements taken. watershed: an area of land that drains rain falling onto it or water running  through it into a common body of water, such as a creek or stream, which flows into a larger body of water, such as a river, lake, or estuary, and eventually flows  to the ocean. 

wildlife corridor: an area of habitat connecting wildlife populations separated  by human activities/disturbance or structures (such as roads, houses, etc.).