a place where a plant species grows or an animal species lives
A biotope is a biotic (living) and abiotic (non-living) environment, influenced and changed by the living component of nature – biota. It can be understood as a common environment of certain components of the biocenosis, i.e. a set of all influences that create the environment of all living organisms. A biotope always refers to a certain type of organism.
From the perspective of nature typification, a biotope is a classification unit that is defined using vegetation types (plant communities). There are 157 natural biotopes in the Czech Republic defined by the publication Catalogue of Biotopes of the Czech Republic, which belong to eight so-called formation groups:
- watercourses and reservoirs
- wetlands and coastal vegetation
- spring and peat bogs
- rocks, scree and caves
- alpine forestless areas
- secondary grasslands and heaths
- shrubs
- forests