mi·cro·cosm / ˈmīkrəˌkäzəm/ (also mi·cro·cos·mos / ˌmīkrəˈkäzməs; -mōs/ ) • n. a community, place, or situation regarded as encapsulating in miniature the characteristic qualities or features of something much larger: Berlin is a microcosm of Germany, in unity as in division. ∎  humankind regarded as the epitome of the universe. PHRASES: in microcosm in miniature.DERIVATIVES: mi·cro·cos·mic / ˌmīkrəˈkäzmik/ adj. mi·cro·cos·mi·cal·ly / -ˈkäzmik(ə)lē/ adv.

microcosm A late nineteenth-century American term encompassing essentially the same ideas as the ecosystem concept. Now it is applied especially to small-scale, simplified, experimental ecosystems, laboratory- or field-based, which may be either derived directly from nature (e.g. when samples of pond water are maintained subsequently by the input of artificial light and gas exchange) or built up from axenic (organism-free) cultures until the required conditions of organisms and environment are achieved. Such small-scale experimental ecosystems may also be called micro-ecosystems.

microcosm
1. A late nineteenth-century American term encompassing essentially the same ideas as the word ‘ecosystem’.

2. (micro-ecosystem) A small-scale, simplified, experimental ecosystem, laboratory- or field-based, which may be: (a)derived directly from nature (e.g. when samples of pond water are maintained subsequently by the input of artificial light and gas-exchange); or(b)built up from axenic cultures until the required conditions of organisms and environment are achieved.

microcosm
1. A late 19th-century American term encompassing essentially the same ideas as the word ‘ecosystem’.

2. (micro-ecosystem) A small-scale, simplified, experimental ecosystem, laboratory- or field-based, which may be: (a). derived directly from nature (e.g. when samples of pond water are maintained subsequently by the input of artificial light and gas-exchange); or (b) built up from axenic cultures until the required conditions of organisms and environment are achieved.

microhabitat The local habitat of a particular organism or microorganism. There are normally a number of different microhabitats within a large habitat (macrohabitat), each with its distinct set of environmental conditions. For example, in a stream macrohabitat there will exist different microhabitats, depending on oxygen content, pH, speed of water flow, and other factors in localized areas of the stream.

microhabitat A precise location within a habitat where an individual species is normally found (e.g. within a deciduous oak woodland habitat woodlice may be found in the microhabitat beneath the bark of rotting wood).

microhabitat A precise location within a habitat where an individual species is normally found (e.g. within a deciduous oak woodland habitat woodlice may be found in the microhabitat beneath the bark of rotting wood).

microcosm •chasm, spasm •enthusiasm • orgasm • sarcasm •ectoplasm • cytoplasm • iconoclasm •cataplasm • pleonasm • phantasm •besom • dirigisme •abysm, arrivisme, chrism, chrisom, ism, prism, schism •Shiism, theism •Maoism, Taoism •egoism • truism • Babism • cubism •sadism • nudism • Sufism • ageism •holism • cataclysm • monism • papism •verism • aneurysm • purism • Nazism •sexism • racism • paroxysm • autism •macrocosm • microcosm • bosom