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A community is all the living organisms sharing a common environment, which does not include abiotic or environmental factors. Community ecology focuses on the interactions between groups and the role each species plays.

The members of a biotic community are usually divided into three major categories: producers, consumers, and decomposers, based on the organisms' nutritional habits. Producers (sometimes called autotrophs) include plants and some forms of bacteria that use solar or chemical energy to convert simple compounds into their food.

Consumers (sometimes called heterotrophs) obtain the energy they need by eating living plants and animals, or dead plant and animal material (detritus). Decomposers (sometimes called detrivores) are also consumers, but only obtain energy by breaking down dead plants and animals (organic material). They are essential to an ecosystem and ensure that nutrients flow in a cycle.

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15y ago

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