"Wild Life in the Concrete Jungle," Vocabulary from the article

It's a bird, a deer, a cottontail rabbit! Writing for the National Wildlife Federation, John Carey stays true to its mission of "inspiring Americans to protect wildlife for our children's future."

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. concrete
    a strong hard building material made with gravel and cement
    But the owners forgot to take into account New Yorkers' love affair with wild species, especially those tough enough to make it in the city's concrete jungles.
    As an adjective, "concrete" can mean "capable of being perceived by the senses." Since New York City is an actual place, this definition could fit. But the chosen definition is a better fit because "concrete jungle" suggests a place that has the elements of two different places. Usually, the phrase has a negative tone that suggests the wild dangers of a crowded city, but the author uses it positively to describe an environment that tough humans and wildlife can both live in.
  2. relent
    give in, as to influence or pressure
    Under fire, the condo owners relented and installed a new pigeon guard on the cornice.
  3. thrive
    grow vigorously
    The lesson: While cities and suburbs may seem like hostile worlds for wildlife, many of the same creatures that roam deep woods or soar over pristine canyons thrive in the urban world.
  4. teeming
    abundantly filled with especially living things
    Indeed, many metropolitan areas are teeming with wildlife.
  5. adapt
    conform oneself to new or different conditions
    Hundreds of species, from Canada geese to cottontail rabbits, are now reaching population levels never seen before, thanks to their ability to adapt to urban landscapes.
  6. abundant
    present in great quantity
    Urban wildlife benefits from both abundant food and surprisingly good habitat.
  7. vantage
    place or situation affording some benefit
    For a peregrine falcon, a perch atop a skyscraper or tall bridge is just as good as--or maybe better than--its usual high cliff vantage point for spotting and diving down on prey.
  8. prosper
    make steady progress
    But if many animals have prospered with the offerings of urban landscapes, city-dwelling humans actually may be getting the better of the bargain--an opportunity to experience wild animals without having to venture to Yellowstone or a tropical rain forest.
    Compare with "thrive"--the two verbs are synonyms, and both are used in their example sentences to describe animals doing well in cities. But their roots show that "prosper" is more often used to connect to humans: the Old Latin phrase "pro spere" means "according to expectation, according to one's hope" while the Old Norse word for "thrive" means "to clutch, grasp, grip, take hold of."
  9. capability
    the quality of being able to do something
    "All of our senses and capabilities, even our spiritual capacities, are based on ongoing contact with the natural world," explains Stephen Kellert, professor of social ecology at Yale University.
  10. essential
    absolutely necessary
    "Contact with nature is essential to our health and physical well-being."
  11. cavort
    play boisterously
    The sea lions cavorting off the piers of San Francisco are as much a feature of the city as are cable cars.
  12. exodus
    a journey by a large group to escape from a hostile environment
    In downtown Austin, Texas, urbanites take paddle-wheel cruises on Town Lake and line the banks by the thousands to watch the spectacular sunset exodus of more than a million Mexican free-tailed bats from under the famed "bat bridge."
  13. encounter
    a casual or unexpected convergence
    From these wild encounters comes a joy that's somehow different from the pleasure we get from iPods, nightclubs or morning coffee from Starbucks.
    A Latin root suggests that the word started with a negative meaning: "contra" means "against" and this can be seen in the following definitions: 1) contend against an opponent in a sport, game, or battle; 2) a minor short-term fight; 3) a hostile disagreement face to face. But the word has evolved to include a positive tone that is seen in the example sentence.
  14. conservation
    careful management of the environment and natural resources
    Scientists are also beginning to realize that the urban environment can play a surprisingly important role in conservation.
  15. biodiversity
    the variety of plant and animal life in a habitat
    "It is a crucial component of maintaining biodiversity."
  16. habitat
    the type of environment in which an organism normally lives
    Indeed, in some rare instances, cityscapes are now better habitats for endangered species than wilderness is.
  17. lofty
    of imposing height; especially standing out above others
    The falcon has been removed from the U.S. Endangered Species List and is now nesting securely on skyscrapers, bridges and other lofty man-made perches.
  18. sanctuary
    a shelter from danger or hardship
    The notion of cities as wildlife sanctuaries has consequences for conservation planning.
  19. pristine
    immaculately clean and unused
    One crucial insight is that urban areas need to provide corridors, or links, between more pristine habitats.
  20. viable
    capable of life or normal growth and development
    "Roads and cities may isolate them in 'islands' inadequate to support viable populations," explains Shaw.
  21. culvert
    a transverse and enclosed drain under a road or railway
    In Southern California, for example, mountain lions now pad through culverts under eight-lane freeways to travel between previously isolated habitat patches.
  22. inevitable
    incapable of being avoided or prevented
    Some scientists, meanwhile, are studying the unique challenges faced by urban wildlife--and how to better defuse the inevitable conflicts between critters and humans.
  23. dearth
    an insufficient quantity or number
    "There is a dearth of good studies about urban wildlife ecology," says Hadidian.
  24. intrepid
    invulnerable to fear or intimidation
    Still, a handful of intrepid biologists have exchanged the wilderness for city streets.
  25. lethal
    of an instrument of certain death
    These birds of prey have a good life in the city, with droves of quail, doves and rabbits to hunt, but there is also a lethal hazard the birds do not face in the wild: electrocution on power lines.
  26. hostility
    a state of deep-seated ill-will
    Another hazard can be human hostility.
  27. cull
    remove something that has been rejected
    It's one thing to catch a rare glimpse of a buck in the woods; it's another to lose valuable landscaping plants or risk having the animals crash through your windshield, which is why it's becoming less controversial to cull some deer populations.
    "Cull" is a contranym: it has another definition that makes it an antonym of itself ("look for and gather"). The context of the example sentence, with its descriptions of harmful actions of deer, points towards the chosen definition. The opposite definitions for the same English spelling can be traced to Latin roots: "colligere" means "to collect" and "coleus" literally means "strainer bag" but was also used to describe a worthless fellow.
  28. nuisance
    anything that disturbs, endangers life, or is offensive
    With other species deemed nuisances, cities have had success using less lethal methods.
  29. benefit
    something that aids or promotes well-being
    Stories like these raise hope that humans and wild creatures will increasingly find ways to get along, bringing enormous benefits for both.
  30. fundamental
    serving as an essential component
    "We have a fundamental need to know that there is more than just ourselves in the world--that all of life is related," says Kellert.
    Compare with "essential"--the adjectives are synonymous, and their example sentences are essentially ("at bottom" or "basically") making the same point about the human need for nature. But here, the point is more spiritual than physical.
Created on Thu Apr 23 09:56:17 EDT 2015 (updated Mon May 11 18:55:15 EDT 2015)

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