An oligotroph is an organism that can live in an environment that offers very low levels of nutrients. They may be contrasted with copiotrophs, which prefer nutritionally rich environments. Oligotrophs are characterized by slow growth, low rates of metabolism, and generally low population density. Oligotrophic environments are those that offer little to sustain life. These environments include deep oceanic sediments, caves, glacial and polar ice, deep subsurface soil, aquifers, ocean waters, and leached soils.
Examples of oligotrophic organisms are the cave-dwelling olm; the bacterium "Candidatus Pelagibacter communis", which is the most abundant organism in the ocean (with an estimated 2 × 10 individuals in total); and lichens, with their extremely low metabolic rate.