# Biocoenosis > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Biocoenosis > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Biocoenosis.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biocoenosis > Source revision: 1322702745 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) Interacting organisms living together in a habitat This article needs more citations. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Biocoenosis" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (January 2016) (Learn how and when to remove this message) A [freshwater](/source/Freshwater) [aquatic](/source/Aquatic_ecosystem) and [terrestrial](/source/Ecoregion#Terrestrial) [food web](/source/Food_web) A **biocenosis** (UK English, **biocoenosis**, also **biocenose**, **biocoenose**, **biotic community**, **biological community**, **[ecological community](/source/Community_(ecology))**, **life assemblage**), coined by [Karl Möbius](/source/Karl_M%C3%B6bius) in 1877, describes the [interacting](/source/Biological_interaction) [organisms](/source/Organism) living together in a [habitat](/source/Habitat_(ecology)) ([biotope](/source/Biotope)).[1] The use of this term has declined in the 21st сentury. In the [palaeontological](/source/Palaeontological) literature, the term distinguishes "life assemblages", which reflect the original living community, living together at one place and time. In other words, it is an assemblage of [fossils](/source/Fossil) or a community of specific time, which is different from "death assemblages" ([thanatocoenoses](/source/Thanatocoenosis)).[2] No palaeontological assemblage will ever completely represent the original biological community (i.e. the biocoenosis, in the sense used by an [ecologist](/source/Ecologist)); the term thus has somewhat different meanings in a palaeontological and an ecological context.[2] Based on the concept of biocenosis, ecological communities can take various forms: - Zoocenosis for the [faunal](/source/Fauna) community, - [Phytocenosis](/source/Phytocenosis) for the [flora](/source/Flora) community, - Microbiocenosis for the [microbial](/source/Microbe) community. The [geographical](/source/Geography) extent of a biocenose is limited by the requirement of a more or less [uniform](/source/Uniform_distribution_(ecology)) [species composition](/source/Species_composition). ## Ecosystems Main article: [Ecosystem](/source/Ecosystem) An [ecosystem](/source/Ecosystem), originally defined by [Tansley](/source/Arthur_Tansley) (1935), is a biotic community (or biocenosis) along with its physical environment (or *[biotope](/source/Biotope)*). In ecological studies, biocenosis is the emphasis on relationships between species in an area. These relationships are an additional consideration to the interaction of each species with the physical environment. ## Biotic communities The side of a [tide pool](/source/Tide_pool) showing [sea stars](/source/Sea_star) (*Dermasterias*), [sea anemones](/source/Sea_anemone) (*[Anthopleura](/source/Anthopleura)*) and [sea sponges](/source/Sea_sponge) in Santa Cruz, California Biotic communities vary in size, and larger ones may contain smaller ones. Species interactions are evident in food or feeding relationships. A method of delineating biotic communities is to map the [food network](/source/Food_chain) to identify which species feed upon which others and then determine the system boundary as the one that can be drawn through the fewest consumption links relative to the number of species within the boundary. Mapping biotic communities is important identifying sites needing environmental protection, such as the British [Site of Special Scientific Interest](/source/Site_of_Special_Scientific_Interest) (SSSIs). The [Australian](/source/Australia) [Department of the Environment and Heritage](/source/Department_of_the_Environment_and_Heritage_(Australia)) maintains a register of *Threatened Species and Threatened Ecological Communities* under the [Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999](/source/Environment_Protection_and_Biodiversity_Conservation_Act_1999) (EPBC Act). ## See also - [Environment portal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:Environment) - [Ecology portal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:Ecology) - [Earth sciences portal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:Earth_sciences) - [Biology portal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:Biology) - [Biosphere](/source/Biosphere) - [Biota](/source/Biota_(disambiguation)) - [Community (ecology)](/source/Community_(ecology)) - [Hylozoism](/source/Hylozoism) - [Population biology](/source/Population_biology) ## References 1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** [Möbius, Karl](/source/Karl_M%C3%B6bius). 1877. *Die Auster und die Austernwirtschaft.* Verlag von Wiegandt, Hemple & Parey: Berlin, [\[1\]](https://archive.org/details/dieausterunddie00mbgoog). (English translation: The Oyster and Oyster Farming. *U.S. Commission Fish and Fisheries Report*, 1880: 683–751, [\[2\]](https://penbay.org/cof/cof_1880.html).) 1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Ager_2-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Ager_2-1) e.g. Ager, 1963, Principles of Palaeoecology ## Further reading Look up ***[biocoenosis](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Special:Search/biocoenosis)*** in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. - Kendeigh, S. Charles. 1961. *Animal Ecology*. Prentice-Hall, Inc., Englewood Cliffs, N.J., 468 p. - Tansley, A. G. 1935. The use and abuse of vegetational concepts and terms. *Ecology,* 16(3): 284–307. v t e Hierarchy of life Biosphere > Biome > Ecosystem > Biocoenosis > Population > Organism > Organ system > Organ > Tissue > Cell > Organelle > Biomolecular complex > Macromolecule > Biomolecule Authority control databases International GND National United States Czech Republic Israel Other Yale LUX --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Biocoenosis](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biocoenosis) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biocoenosis?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.