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A biocenosis (UK English, biocoenosis, also biocenose, biocoenose, biotic community, biological community, ecological community, life assemblage), coined by Karl Möbius in 1877, describes the interacting living together in a habitat (biotope).Möbius, Karl. 1877. Die Auster und die Austernwirtschaft. Verlag von Wiegandt, Hemple & Parey: Berlin, [1]. (English translation: The Oyster and Oyster Farming. U.S. Commission Fish and Fisheries Report, 1880: 683–751, [2].) The use of this term has declined in the 21st сentury.
In the 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 or a community of specific time, which is different from "death assemblages" (Thanatocoenosis).e.g. Ager, 1963, Principles of Palaeoecology No palaeontological assemblage will ever completely represent the original biological community (i.e. the biocoenosis, in the sense used by an ecologist); the term thus has somewhat different meanings in a palaeontological and an ecological context.
Based on the concept of biocenosis, ecological communities can take various forms:
The geography extent of a biocenose is limited by the requirement of a more or less uniform species composition.
Mapping biotic communities is important identifying sites needing environmental protection, such as the British Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs). The Department of the Environment and Heritage maintains a register of Threatened Species and Threatened Ecological Communities under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act).
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