Biota
The term biota describes all living beings in the environment ( plants , animals , fungi, etc.).
In the traditional sense, humans are not assigned to the biota but, despite their dependence on the functions of the ecosystems, are considered separately because of the social and economic connections.
In the taxonomic sense, for reasons of cladistics , the term also includes humans (the genus Homo ), and thus all living beings ( synonymous term). In contrast, viruses are not counted among the biota .
function
Biota are the living building blocks of ecosystems . In the first step, influences on the environment manifest themselves as material changes or changes in behavior of individual organisms, which can subsequently lead to individual damage. Due to the functional integration of the biota into the ecosystem, these can be the trigger for ecosystem changes. Because of this and also because of their function as a genetic resource, for ethical reasons and ultimately for the benefit of humans, they are an environmental medium that needs to be protected. Introduced, alien species are also known as neobiota .