Plant Community

a group of autotrophic and heterotrophic plants in a given location that are mutually related to one another and to other components of the biotic and abiotic environment. A plant community is an important part of a more complex system—the biogeocenosis. As a result of the vital processes of autotrophic organisms, chiefly green plants, a plant community stores solar energy and, with the participation of all the components of the biocenosis, transforms the energy and carries out the biological cycle. Plant communities usually consist of many species belonging to different life forms yet possessing mechanisms that enable them to grow together under certain environmental conditions.