GIS: Geographic Information System; a software designed to create, manipulate, analyze and present all types of geographically referenced information. It integrates knowledge from multiple sources and merges cartography, statistical analysis, and database technology and allows users to create interactive queries, analyze spatial information, edit data in maps and present results. Habitat: the area where a species, population or community lives and where specific conditions prevail (e.g. rocky coast, sand dunes, salt marsh, etc.). The biotic characteristics of the system are also included in the definition. Halophytic: vegetation comprising of halophytes, i.e. plants which can endure or are favoured by high salt concentrations in the ground or the air, conditions usually encountered in the coastal zone. HOS: Hellenic Ornithological Society, the BirdLife partner in Greece. HOS is a non-governmental conservation organisation focusing on the study and protection of wild birds and their habitats, as integral elements of Greek Nature. Incubation: the development of the embryo inside the egg; in birds the adults sit upon the eggs in order to provide the necessary heat. IUCN: International Union for Conservation of Nature; the world’s first global environmental organization, founded in 1948, forming a global conservation network of more than 1,200 member organizations and 11,000 voluntary scientists and experts, from 160 countries. IUCN’s mission is to influence, encourage and assist societies throughout the world to conserve the integrity and diversity of nature and to ensure that any use of natural resources is equitable and ecologically sustainable. IUCN publishes the Red List of Threatened Species, which assesses the conservation status of species. Kernel density: in GIS; an interpolation method which calculates the density of point or line features in an area around them. LIFE: a financial instrument of the EU supporting environmental and nature conservation projects throughout the EU, as well as in some candidate, acceding and neighbouring countries. Littoral: Zone of coasts including the intertidal zone, extending from the high water mark till permanently submerged shoreline areas. Longline fishing: a fishing method, which uses a long horizontal line upon which are tied many regularly spaced vertical lines ending at one or more hooks. There are many methods of setting longlines, mainly surface and bottom longlines, depending on the fish species targeted and other factors. Maquis: evergreen vegetation characterised by tall, dense shrubs with leathery leaves (sclerophyllous). It occurs in areas of Mediterranean climate, such as the Mediterranean countries, California, Chile, South Africa and SW Australia (it is known under a different name in each area).
suitable conditions for foraging, reproduction, avoiding at the same time adverse climatic conditions. Moulting: in birds; the slow periodic replacement of old worn feathers with new ones brought about by seasonal changes. Moulting occurs at least once a year and it is either complete or partial (where only some feathers are replaced). Natura 2000 network: A European network of protected areas which are designated because they host habitats and species of flora and fauna of significant conservation interest within the European Union. The sites are selected through the implementation of the Habitats Directive (92/43/ΕEC) and the Birds Directive (79/409/ΕEC). Oligotrophic: poor in organic and mineral nutrients to support plant life (term usually referring to water bodies). Order: taxonomic rank of organisms which consists of a number of closely related Families. Similar Orders are grouped into a Class. Overfishing: the fishing intensity, which overcomes the ability of the marine environment to recover to its natural state. Palaearctic: the largest of the 8 zoogeographical zones dividing the Earth’s surface. It includes Europe, Asia north of the Himalaya foothills, northern Africa, and the northern and central parts of the Arabian Peninsula. The Western Palaearctic comprises the regions of Northern Africa, Europe and Asia, west of the Urals. Passage visitor: a species known or thought to occur regularly in an area during a relatively short period(s) of the year on migration between breeding and non-breeding ranges. Pelagic: refers to aquatic organisms and habitats of the open marine waters occurring in the water column (i.e. from the surface till just-above the seabed) but which are not associated with the benthic environment. Percentile: in statistics; the value of a variable below which a certain percent of observations fall, e.g. the 95th percentile is the value below which 95 percent of the observations may be found. Phenology: the study of periodic plant and animal life cycle events and how these are influenced by seasonal and inter-annual variations in climate, as well as habitat factors. In seabirds phenology describes the occurrence of different biological events such as dates of arrival to colonies, incubation dates, etc. Phrygana: type of vegetation comprising of low, spiny, semicircular shrubs, sparse to dense. It can be found in a great variety of habitats in the Mediterranean and consists mostly of xerophytic species (i.e. those adapted to conditions of drought and scarcity of nutrients).
Migratory: species which move in groups at regular periods from one place to another, in order to attain 205