BIOB50H3 Lecture 14: BIOB50Winter2012 Lecture 14.docx - includes pictures and extra notes from text (assigned)!
Document Summary
Communities are groups of interacting species that occur together at the same place and time. Interactions among multiple species give communities their character and function. They make communities into something more than the sum of their parts. In practical terms, defining a community requires using biological or physical guidelines. Ecologists often delineate communities by their physical or biological characteristics. A community may be defined by the physical characteristics of its environment. A physically defined community might encompass all the species in a sand dune, a mountain stream, or a desert. A biologically defined community might include all the species associated with a kelp forest, a freshwater bog, or a coral reef. A common species, such as kelp, wetland plants, or coral, is the basis for the community delineation. Counting all the species in a community is difficult to almost impossible, especially if small or relatively unknown species are considered.
