Definitions
Adaptation: Anticipating the adverse effects of climate change and taking appropriate action to prevent or minimize anticipated damage, or taking advantage of opportunities that may arise.
Agroecology: A holistic approach to farming and food systems that applies ecological and social principles to create sustainable, resilient production.
Alley Cropping: An agroforestry practice where rows of trees or shrubs are planted with wide alleys in between, allowing farmers to grow crops or forage simultaneously.
Carbon Sequestration: The process of capturing and storing atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2).
Carbon Sink: Any reservoir (natural or artificial) that absorbs more carbon than it produces.
Climate: Average weather of a given area over a time period of months to thousands of years, including variables such as temperature and precipitation.
Climate Change: Significant changes to the climate, such as temperature or precipitation, for an extended time period of decades or longer, resulting from natural or human factors.
Climate Smart Farming: An approach to transforming agricultural systems that aims to sustainably increase productivity and farmer incomes, build resilience and adaptation to climate change, and reduce or remove greenhouse gas emissions, where possible."
Co-Benefits: The positive spillover effects that a practice or strategy aimed at one objective - such as improving soil health for climate adaptation — also has on other objectives, such as climate mitigation, water quality, or farm profitability.
Ecosystem Services: Aspects of an ecosystem which provide value to individuals or society categorized as supporting services (biodiversity, productivity, etc.), provisioning services (food, fiber, fish, etc.), regulating services (carbon sequestration, climate, etc.), and cultural services (tourism, spiritual appreciation, aesthetics, etc.).
Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions: Atmospheric gases, such as carbon dioxide and methane, that trap heat from the Earth's surface that can be released excessively from human activity.
High Tunnel: An enclosed polyethylene, polycarbonate, plastic, or fabric-covered structure used to cover and protect crops from sun, wind, excessive rainfall, and cold.
Integrated Pest Management (IPM): A sustainable approach to controlling pests using a combination of biological, cultural, physical, and chemical practices.
Invasive Species: An alien (non-native) species to the ecosystem under consideration, whose introduction causes—or is likely to cause—economic harm, environmental harm, or harm to human, animal, or plant health.
Low-Till: Any tillage method that reduces soil disturbance compared to conventional methods while leaving at least 30% of the soil surface covered by crop residue.
Mitigation: Actions that reduce or prevent greenhouse gas emissions — or enhance carbon sinks — to limit the magnitude of future warming.
Resilience: A system’s ability to accommodate change and resulting hazards to maintain function and output.
Riparian Buffer: A strip of native trees, shrubs, and grasses planted alongside waterways like streams, rivers, and lakes that acts as a natural, protective transition zone between the water and adjacent land uses.
Silvopasture: An agricultural system that deliberately integrates trees, forage, and livestock grazing into a single, mutually beneficial unit.
Weather: The state of the atmosphere at a given time and place, including conditions such as temperature, precipitation, humidity, and wind.
Evapotranspiration: The process of water moving from the Earth’s surface into the atmosphere from the combination of evaporation (water turning into vapor from soil, lakes, and surfaces) and transpiration (water absorbed by plants and released as vapor through their leaves).
Extreme Weather: Increased strength and/or frequency of weather events such as heat waves, droughts, heavy downpours, flooding, hurricanes, tornadoes, hail, and winter storms which can negatively impact community resources.