Symposium Introduction

Thus, besides the adaptive abilities of individual animals, the population of species certain area is characterized by more and adaptive traits Group organization, which are the properties of the population as supra-individual system. The adaptive capacity of the species as a whole as a system populations is much more adaptive characteristics of each particular individual.

Community (biocenose) - not just the sum of its constituent species, but also set of interactions between them. As a population, the community has own properties, showing only the study of his own, as For example, species diversity, food web structure, biomass, productivity. One of the main objectives of ecology - to clarify the relationship between properties and structure (composition) community, which manifest themselves independently on what types are in it.

Every organism lives in an environment of many other organisms, enters them in variety of relationships, both negative and positive for themselves the consequences and ultimately can not exist without this living environment. Connect with other organisms - a necessary condition for food and reproduction, the possibility of protection, to mitigate adverse environmental conditions, and with On the other hand - is the risk of damage and often even the immediate threat existence of the individual. Full amount of the effects that each other living beings, united under the name biotic environmental factors .