umbrella species
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GC: npl

S: http://www.bu.edu/sustainability/umbrella-species/ (last access: 21 February 2016); http://www.eoearth.org/view/article/156765/ (last access: 21 February 2016).

N: 1. umbrella (n): “hand-held portable canopy which opens and folds,” c. 1600, first attested in Donne’s letters, from Italian ombrello, from Late Latin umbrella, altered (by influence of umbra) from Latin umbella “sunshade, parasol,” diminutive of umbra “shade, shadow”.
species (npl): late 14c. as a classification in logic, from Latin species “a particular sort, kind, or type” (opposed to genus), originally “a sight, look, view, appearance,” hence also “a spectacle; mental appearance, idea, notion; a look; a pretext; a resemblance; a show or display,” typically in passive senses; in Late Latin, “a special case;” related to specere “to look at, to see, behold,” from PIE *spek-. From 1550s as “appearance, outward form;” 1560s as “distinct class (of something) based on common characteristics.” Biological sense is from c. 1600. Endangered species first attested 1964.
2. A species whose occupancy area (plants) or home range (animals) are large enough and whose habitat requirement are wide enough that, if they are given a sufficiently large area for their protection, will bring other species under that protection.
3. Conserving or restoring landscape connectivity between patches of breeding habitat is a common strategy to protect threatened species from habitat fragmentation. By managing connectivity for some species, usually charismatic vertebrates, it is often assumed that these species will serve as conservation umbrellas for other species.

S: 1. OED – http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?allowed_in_frame=0&search=umbrella; http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?allowed_in_frame=0&search=species (last access: 21 February 2016). 2. TERMIUM PLUS – http://goo.gl/HfkElJ (last access: 21 February 2016). 3. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25115148 (last access: 21 February 2016).

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CR: ecology, environment, keystone species, sustainable development.