Stenotopic Organism

an animal or plant confined to relatively few habitats. Stenotopic organisms include many plants growing in deserts (Ammodendron, sand sedge), sphagnum bogs (Drosera rotundifolia, Oxycoccus, Ledum), and Cretaceous out-croppings (Silene cretcea, Linaria cretácea). Stenotopic animals include the jird Meriones meridianus and the long-clawed ground squirrel, which inhabit only sandy deserts, Myoxidae, which inhabit broad-leaved forests, and hazel hens, which inhabit the taiga.

Stenotopic organisms are usually also stenobiontic; however, with regard to a number of environmental factors, the stenotopic state is sometimes associated with eurybiontic characteristics. For example, the mouflon Ovis orientalis is found both on the peninsula of Mangyshlak and in the high mountains of Middle Asia; it is stenotopic in that it is associated only with rocky areas but eurybiontic in relation to climate, inhabiting both high mountains with a cold climate and hot deserts. Stenotopic organisms are contrasted to eurytopic organisms, which have a wide range of habitats.