We explain what a community is in biology, examples and characteristics. What is individual and species, community and population.
What is a biological community?
In biology, we speak of community or biological community, but also of ecological community, biotic community or biocenosis, to refer to the total set of organisms of various species that coexist and interrelate in the same biotope or habitat, in which they find the environmental conditions to guarantee their survival.
In other words, it is a set of different populations that share life in a geographic region and influenced by physical environmental elements such as temperature, humidity, the amount of sunlight, etc. Biological communities can be found in the most diverse and remote habitats, since life on the planet is widespread and adapted to each environment, even when it comes to microorganisms in the intestine of another animal.
That said, biological communities can be of different types:
- Phytocenosis The set of plant species in a habitat;
- Zoocenosis The set of animal species in a habitat;
- Microbiocenosis The set of microorganisms in a habitat.
One can also speak of agrobiocenosis to refer to the animal and plant populations of the arable field, as in the farms created by our species.
See also: Individual in biology
Example of a biological community
A perfect example of a biological community we can find it in a garden. In it we can identify various plant populations: grass, flower bushes, perhaps a couple of fruit trees, along with fungal populations and animal populations: ants, earthworms, slugs, beetles, birds and surely some cats. Each different species of living being makes up a specific population, and their life together makes up the garden community.
Between these species there will be interspecific relationships: Ants feed on the remains of dead animals, slugs on plant leaves, while beetles on floral nectar, and birds, in turn, on beetles, earthworms and slugs. It is even possible that the cat feeds on the birds, becoming the ultimate predator of this small community.
If we add to our example the amount of light that the plants receive, the specific climate of our region of the city and other geographical details regarding where the garden is located, we can broaden our perspective and talk about an ecosystem.
Characteristics of a biological community
biological communities are, first of all, composed of populations. Each population restricted to one species, that is, to a number of individuals capable of reproducing with each other and sharing geographic habitat, also referred to as a biotope.
In that sense, In the same community there will be animal, plant, etc. populations and various types of interactions will occur between them, that is, interspecific relationships. The latter, in addition, will dictate the trophic chains of each community and at the same time the ecological niche of each species, that is, the specific type of relationships it maintains with the others.
Thus, communities are largely determined by the number of species that inhabit it (its biodiversity), by the number of individuals that make up each given population (its abundance), and the ability of a community to return to normal once risk situations have been overcome, such as drought or fire.
The consideration of a community and its physical environment results in an ecosystem.
Individual and species
Every living being that exists, whether plant, animal, fungus or microbe, is an individual endowed with a unique and unrepeatable life endowed with a unique genetic code and completely individual basic needs. But at the same time it is part of a much larger set of individuals that share with it many of its biological and genetic characteristics and that could (at least in cases where there is sexual reproduction) reproduce with it. This larger group is called the species.
The species share an evolutionary origin and are perpetuated over time through the reproduction of its individuals, preserving their genetic legacy while introducing minimal variations or adaptations that allow them to stay alive in the environment that affects them. This process is known as adaptation and in radical cases it can cause radical changes in the genotype that give rise to a new species, in a process called speciation and which is fundamental to understanding the evolution of life, just as Charles Darwin said. he understood in his work The origin of species.
The mixture, if possible, of individuals from close but different species produces hybrid individuals, which may contain characteristics of both species but are always sterile. This is the case of the mule, for example, a hybrid between a horse and a donkey.
Community and population
Biological populations are groups of individuals of the same species that share the same habitat and tend to reproduce among themselves. There are various types of populations (gregarious, family, colony, etc.) but its individuals always share fundamental biological characteristics.
Instead, A community is determined by the set of different populations that live in the same habitat. That is, by the sum of the different species that interrelate in the same habitat, forming a food chain and that compete for the continuity of their species.
References
- “Biocenosis” in Wikipedia.
- “Biological community” (video) in the Crested Eagle Project Colombia.
- “Ecological community: definition and characteristics” in Green Ecology.
- “Biological Community” in ScienceDirect.
- “Biological Community” at Encyclopedia.com.
- “Community (Biology)” in The Encyclopaedia Britannica.
