Meaning & use
terrestrial environment
Last updated
Meanings
nouncountable or uncountablebiologytechnical
The habitat or surroundings found on land, as opposed to those in water or in the air.
Grammar: Often countable when comparing kinds (terrestrial environments), uncountable when speaking generally.
Patterns
- life in the terrestrial environment
- adapted to a terrestrial environment
Frogs spend part of their lives in water and part in the terrestrial environment.
Scientists measured pollution levels in the terrestrial environment around the factory.
Forests, deserts and grasslands are all parts of the terrestrial environment.
nouncountable or uncountabletechnical
The natural conditions on Earth's land, such as soil, climate and plants, that affect living things.
Grammar: Used mainly in science writing and often with the.
Patterns
- effects on the terrestrial environment
Climate change is altering the terrestrial environment in many regions.
The study examined how roads affect the terrestrial environment.
Mining can seriously damage the terrestrial environment.
Word forms
| plural | terrestrial environments |
|---|
Common combinations
- protect the terrestrial environment
- New laws aim to protect the terrestrial environment.
- adapt to the terrestrial environment
- Early amphibians had to adapt to the terrestrial environment.
- terrestrial environment and marine environment
- The report compares the terrestrial environment and the marine environment.
- damage the terrestrial environment
- Pollution can damage the terrestrial environment.
Synonyms and how they differ
- land habitat
- Land habitat is an everyday phrase for a place where living things live on land, whereas terrestrial environment is scientific and broader.
- land ecosystem
- Land ecosystem stresses the community of living things and their interactions, while terrestrial environment can be only the physical setting.
- dry land
- Dry land is informal and only describes ground that is not underwater.
Opposites
Word family
- terrestrial adjective
- relating to land or the Earth
- extraterrestrial adjective
- coming from outside the Earth
- terrain noun
- the physical features of an area of land
- environment noun
- the surroundings in which living things live
Commonly confused: terrestrial environment or extraterrestrial?
terrestrial environment vs extraterrestrial
Extraterrestrial means from beyond Earth, while terrestrial means belonging to the land or the Earth.
Practice
A forest is part of the ___, while a coral reef belongs to the marine environment.
Choose one answer.
A forest is on land, so it belongs to the terrestrial environment. The aquatic environment covers water, which does not describe a forest.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “terrestrial environment”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.