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What is the difference between a population and a community?

A population is one species in an area; a community includes multiple populations.

A stand of pine trees of one species in a forest can be described as a population. The insects, shrubs, fungi and other species there form additional populations. Together, the populations living in that place make up a biological community.

An ecosystem includes the living community and its nonliving surroundings, such as water, soil and light, along with the interactions among them. Choosing the right level helps answer a question: pine reproduction concerns a population; how pine trees affect nearby insects concerns a community.

A small example

Count the same species of pine in one forest plot, then note the other species sharing the plot.

Keep in mind

The boundaries of a study area must be stated; nature does not draw a neat line around every population.

Source & attribution

Biology 2e — Themes and Concepts of Biology

OpenStax contributors · OpenStax, Rice University

CC BY 4.0. Rewritten as a self-contained explanation; the example and activity are Vakataka additions. No source images reproduced.

Source edition: 2024-12-20T02:54:45Z

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