Definition of "microenvironment"

microenvironment

noun
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.
  Quotations
  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.
  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, pages 3-4