western gothic
A hybrid genre combining western settings and conventions with gothic aesthetics including dark set design, chiaroscuro lighting, and themes of entrapment and monstrosity
whirling disease
Disease caused by the myxozoan parasite Myxobolus cerebralis that affects salmonid fish populations
whirling disease
white noise
Sound produced by vocal tract constriction that creates airflow turbulence
white noise
Random energy at all frequencies, structurally different from deterministic chaos
whole community overlap
whole-assemblage
whole-assemblage processing
The combined detritus processing by all species in a community assemblage
whole-stream manipulation
Field experimental approach that manipulates entire stream ecosystems to test ecological hypotheses at natural scales
wild-harvested medicinal plants
Medicinal plant species collected from natural populations rather than cultivated
wilderness
wildland-urban interface
Areas where expanding development meets undeveloped wildland that may increase wildlife-vehicle collisions
wildlife management
Applied ecology approach to managing wild animal populations, including use of repellents to control animal damage
wind-transported snow
Snow redistribution by wind from exposed areas into avalanche starting zones, increasing avalanche volume
windows of opportunity
Periods during which plant defenses are relatively reduced, allowing specialized herbivores to exploit host plants behaviorally
wing loading
Body mass per unit wing area, calculated as mg mm⁻² and related to flight energetics and thermoregulation
wing polymorphism
Presence of both long-winged and short-winged morphs within a species, related to dispersal-reproduction tradeoffs
wing wear
Physical damage or deterioration of wing structures that may affect flight performance
wing wear scores
wing web swelling
within-host disease processes
Disease-related processes occurring within individual infected organisms, including pathogen replication, infection intensity progression, and host growth responses
women in science
Historical analysis of gender disparities and barriers faced by women in scientific fields
worker emergence
working rangelands
xenobiotic metabolism
Biochemical processes by which insects detoxify plant secondary metabolites and other foreign compounds
young-of-the-year survival
Survival rates of juvenile salamanders in their first year of life
zero-degree isotherm
The elevation at which temperature is at zero degrees Celsius (freezing point), which is moving to higher elevations due to climate change
zero-inflated count data
Statistical distribution accounting for excess zeros in ecological count data beyond what standard distributions predict
zero-sum constraint
zoonotic disease surveillance
Monitoring wild animal populations for viruses that may affect human or domestic animal health