Association (ecology)
Encyclopedia
An association is the "ultimate classification level" of ecological systems
. Local conditions permit several understory
species to coexist with the same overstory dominants, and associations refer to the many co-occurring species rather than just the few dominant ones.
Associations have:
Ecosystem
An ecosystem is a biological environment consisting of all the organisms living in a particular area, as well as all the nonliving , physical components of the environment with which the organisms interact, such as air, soil, water and sunlight....
. Local conditions permit several understory
Understory
Understory is the term for the area of a forest which grows at the lowest height level below the forest canopy. Plants in the understory consist of a mixture of seedlings and saplings of canopy trees together with understory shrubs and herbs...
species to coexist with the same overstory dominants, and associations refer to the many co-occurring species rather than just the few dominant ones.
Associations have:
- A relatively fixed floristicFloristicsFloristics is a subdomain of botany and biogeography that studies distribution and relationships of plant species over geographic areas.The term is not to be confused with floristry....
composition - A relatively uniform physiognomyPhysiognomyPhysiognomy is the assessment of a person's character or personality from their outer appearance, especially the face...
- A tendency to occur in a consistent type of localized habitatHabitat* Habitat , a place where a species lives and grows*Human habitat, a place where humans live, work or play** Space habitat, a space station intended as a permanent settlement...