Biocenology

Interspecific activities such as predation are among the central subjects of biocenology.

Biocenology or biocenosis research is the science that deals with the diverse links between organisms in communities ( biocenoses ) and the interaction between these communities.

Biocenology deals with the structures and functions of communities. In contrast to the closely related synecology , the focus is on organisms. This subheading includes studies on food webs in communities, on the structure of communities, on antagonistic and synergistic relationships between species, on co-evolutionary connections and much more.

Although the term biocenology and related work has been around for 130 years, its meaning lagged well behind that of many other ecological scientific disciplines. While z. For example , when the younger plant sociology developed rapidly, biocenosis research is still in its infancy. The reason lies primarily in the high number of animal species and the resulting unmanageable number of possible relationships between animal species and between animals and vegetation. Only a few studies take into account both vegetation-structural and zoo-zenological findings. Added to this are the spatiotemporal dynamics and the different habitat binding of many organisms, depending on the life cycle .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Anselm Kratochwil , Angelika Schwabe : Ecology of the living communities . UTB Stuttgart, 2001. ISBN 382528199X .
2. ^ AG biocenology of the Institute for Landscape Ecology of the Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster.