2.1

• risk

  the likelihood of harm arising from exposure to a hazard
• hazard

  any source of potential damage, harm or adverse health effects on an individual
• risk assessment

  identifies the risks, their severity and the control measures that could be taken to minimise the risks
• point counts

  involves the observer recording all the individuals seen from a fixed location - used for large, diurnal species
• transect

  sampling lines laid across habitats affected by environmental gradients e.g. altitude
• line transect

  used to study the distributions of a single plant species and those individuals touching the line are counted in the sample
• belt transect

  samples a wider zone along a transect and can be used to study a community of plants or sessile animals
• biological keys

  used to identify more difficult groups and are laid out in a series of questions which eventually lead to identification
• taxonomy

  the naming and identifying of organisms, and their classification into groups depending on their shared characteristics
• phylogenetics

  the study of evolutionary history and relationships of individuals and groups within a species
• phylogenetic tree

  a diagrammatic hypothesis of an organisms relationship to other species
• convergence

  can lead to the confusion that species are closely related due to their appearance when, they're only similar because of evolutionary processes modified different structures for a similar function
• divergence

  leads to the assumption that two species are very distantly related, when, they're only different because the same structure has been adapted for a different function
• arthropoda

  invertebrates with jointed legs and a segmented body
• nematoda

  very diverse round worms - mostly parasitic
• chordata

  the vertebrates and other with a dorsal or spinal norochord
• model organisms

  those that are either easily studied or have been well studied, which can be applied to organisms that are harder to study
• indicator species

  species whose presence, absence and abundance gives information n environmental qualities e.g. the presence of pollutant
• latency

  the time between a stimulus occurring and the response behaviour being observed
• frequency

  the number of times a behaviour occurs within an observation period
• duration

  the length of time each behaviour occurs during the observation period
• ethogram

  a list or graphic display of the behaviour of a species in a wild context
• anthropomorphism

  the attribution of human characteristics of behaviour and emotions to an animals behaviour which can lead to misinterpreted information or invalid conclusions
• time budget

  the amount of time that animals spend in different behaviours, or in performing different classes of behaviours