Types of Community
There are two main types of community:
Major Community
The smallest self-sustaining, self-regulating ecological unit is called a major community. These communities typically exist in relative isolation from other communities, such as lakes, ponds, forests, or grasslands. A major community is an amalgam of a microbiological community (also known as “microbiocenosis”), a floral community (also known as “phytocenosis”), and a faunal community (also known as “zoonenosis”).
Minor Community
Smaller ecological entities that depend on interactions with other communities for survival, minor communities, also known as merocenoses, are the building blocks of big communities. An example of a minor community is the collection of organisms, which lives within a piece of deadwood on the forest floor.
Community Ecology Definition & Examples
Community ecology is the study of the functioning and organization of the communities which are assemblages of interacting populations of species living in a particular habitat. It represents the populations of all species living and interacting in an area at a particular time. Community ecology is the term suggested by Cornell professor Robert Whittaker in 1975.
Table of Content
- Definition of Community Ecology
- What is Community Ecology?
- Types of Community
- Community Structure
- Examples of Community Ecology
- Characteristics of a Community Ecology
- Importance of Community Ecology