Biota
[bi-OH-tə]
Part of speech: noun
Origin: Latin, 20th century
1.
The animal and plant life of a particular region, habitat, or geological period.
Examples of Biota in a sentence
"The biota of the desert tends to be hardy and rugged."
"Suzanne was fascinated by the biota in the rainforest, which was different from what she saw at home in Michigan."
About Biota
“Biota” is a loanword from Latin, based on the ancient Greek “βιοτή” (“biotḗ”), meaning “life.”
Did you Know?
“Biota” refers to all plants and animals living in a particular environment. The interactions between the different parts of a biota create ecosystems. But on a more close-up level, “biota” can simply refer to all living things sharing a single habitat. For example, things that live in the soil are known as soil biota. Soil is full of plants, microorganisms such as bacteria and fungi, and soil animals ranging in size from worms, spiders, and insects all the way down to protozoa. Simply by existing in concert with one another in the same habitat, the various members of soil biota help generate new earth, disperse nutrients, neutralize pollutants, and improve soil structure.
