Final answer:
Aerobic organisms, known as obligate aerobes, require oxygen to survive and carry out aerobic respiration. Other types of organisms include obligate anaerobes, facultative anaerobes, aerotolerant anaerobes, and microaerophiles, each with different oxygen requirements for growth.
Step-by-step explanation:
Aerobic organisms are best characterized as thriving in the presence of oxygen. These organisms are known as obligate aerobes, which depend on aerobic respiration and cannot grow without oxygen because they use it as a terminal electron acceptor. The opposite of obligate aerobes are obligate anaerobes, which cannot survive in the presence of oxygen and may even die when exposed to it. Then there are facultative anaerobes, which can thrive in the presence or absence of oxygen, utilizing aerobic respiration when oxygen is available and switching to fermentation or anaerobic respiration when it is not. Aerotolerant anaerobes do not require oxygen but are not harmed by it, while microaerophiles require oxygen but at lower levels than that found in the atmosphere.