Biotope

A biotope is region environmentally uniform in conditions and in the flora and fauna which live there. With a biocenose, a biotope constitute a specific ecosystem, which will dynamically tend toward a temporary climax. This latter will change with climate, as an evolution of the new biotope. In that way, life can be conserved, though at the expense of species demographical stability and biodiversity.

A biotope is also the quantum unit of a habitat.

The term should not be confused with a biome.

Different life scientists define biotopes in a variety of ways; in the European Union the CORINE commission publishes the CORINE Biotope Manual (ISBN 9992441577) describing and defining hundreds of biotopes.