A miniature habitat within a larger one; a restricted area where environmental conditions differ from those in the surrounding area. A sheltered nook in a cave wall is an example of a microhabitat within the cave.
Where organisms occupy slightly different places within the same general habitat, they are said to be in different microhabitats. For example, a caterpillar in a grassland, eating grass leaves, is in a different microhabitat to a springtail living in the leaf litter at soil level in the grassland.
Localized areas within a community occupied by certain organisms because of microdifferences in moisture, light, and other conditions (Smith 1966).
a small area where an organism lives that has different conditions from other small areas that might be right next door
a small area with physical and ecological characteristics that distinguish it from its immediate surrounding area.
a small specialized area which differs significantly in some way from the area around it