What is the variation of characteristics affected by the environment called?

The variation of characteristics affected by the environment is called "Phenotypic Variation".

Here are the steps to understand this:

1. First, we need to understand what characteristics mean in this context. Characteristics refer to the traits or features of an organism. These can be physical like height, color, etc., or they can be behavioral like aggression, mating habits, etc.

2. Variation refers to the differences in these characteristics among individuals of the same species.

3. The environment can affect these characteristics in many ways. For example, a plant's growth can be stunted if it doesn't get enough sunlight, or a person can develop a darker skin tone if they are exposed to the sun for long periods.

4. So, when these characteristics vary due to environmental factors, it is called Phenotypic Variation.

5. It's important to note that these variations are different from genetic variations, which are caused by differences in genes and not by the environment.