microenvironment

English

Etymology

micro- +‎ environment

Noun

microenvironment (plural microenvironments)

1. A very small area that has different characteristics than its surroundings.
2. (biology) The very small environment in the immediate vicinity of an organism.
   • 1992, Rudolf M[athias] Schuster, The Hepaticae and Anthocerotae of North America: East of the Hundredth Meridian, volume V, New York, N.Y.: Columbia University Press, →ISBN, page 3-4:

     As with the Lejeuneaceae, this pattern of massive speciation appears to be correlated with the Cretaceous explosion of the angiosperms and the simultaneous creation of a host of new microenvironments, differing in humidity, light intensity, texture, etc.