| Description | Organisms which live in association with a biological niche which is dominated by other living organisms and/or the products of such organisms where these organisms cannot be considered to have a relationship of host to the organisms in question. An example of such a community is a biofilm. Communities may, as a group, be host-associated or host-independent. Communities may consist solely of members of the same species or a variety of species living together. Communities are not merely organisms which live independently in the same biological niche, rather the presence of other organisms have important impacts through their interactions on the biology of the organism in question. Interactions between community organisms may be commensal, mutual or competitive. |
