Habitat

[ˈhæb·ɪˌtæt]

Related terms: Encounter/Begegnung (German), Gaia, Heimat (German), Lebensraum (German), Refugium, Subsistence, Umwelt (German)

»Habitat« comes from the Latin habitare (to live, to inhabit, to dwell) and therefore emphasizes the creation of a habitat as an active process. A habitat also describes the environment that is built by its inhabitants; it is a movement, rather than a place, which is constantly being modified. In an interdependent relationship with their environment, life-forms continuously shape their own habitats, thereby affecting the Critical Zone.