habitat

The type of environment in which an organism lives

In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical manifestation of its ecological niche. Thus, habitat is a species-specific term, fundamentally different from concepts such as environment or vegetation assemblages, for which the term habitat-type is more appropriate.

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