Oldal 78 [78]
OCR
76 | IV. Categories of animal associations The population is, therefore, the representation of a species in a zoocoenosis. Of these species representations, we only ever meet semaphoronts, thus all equivalent populations, in reality, are semaphoront groups. The two concepts are not equivalent, though, because a studied zoocoenosis does not necessarily contain only one semaphoront group, but may contain a full semaphoront series; in which case, within a species population, there may be several semaphoront groups present. The population remains essentially the same, but the semaphoront groups will change. The population is restricted in space and time. The population is also an animal association. A population group is the totality of populations of different species that live in the same space. Their grouping is possible from several angles, and the term can be used in ecofaunistics as well as in zoocoenology. The population group is also an animal association. Under the term animal association, we understand the coexistence in space and time of two or more animals (semaphoronts), without considering their species identity or functional connections. The animal association is, therefore, the widest term to denote the coexistence of animal organisms somewhere, at a given time. An animal assemblage is the realised form of the animal association that we find in each segment of space, and which space they share for various reasons, sometimes by chance, and only temporarily. The animal association expresses a relationship that exists between two or more animals through their coexistence; the animal association is the visible manifestation of the animal association at a certain time in a fixed segment of space. The animal contingent is the animal assemblage of a given plant stand, but is not an identified stand, but the animal association that is always, necessarily present in the studied plant community. The relationship of the last three terms is as follows: an animal association always exists whenever animals are together for a shorter or longer time. The form of the association that is characteristic for a certain plant community and, as a rule, is always present in it, is called its animal contingent. The reality of the animal contingent (sensu stricto) and of the animal association (sensu lato), the part coexisting in space and time and that we meet at the start of our investigation, is the animal assemblage. The fauna of a given area, in precise space and time, is represented by such assemblages. The researchers of the fauna, on their collecting trips, do not meet the fauna; they find the assemblages that change from week to week, even in the same area. The sum of these assemblages constitutes, collectively, the fauna of the area, especially if these are listed just considering the species identities. The animal associations can be divided into three kinds: colonies, groupings and “real” associations. Only this last one is a zoocoenological term, the other two have distinctly different meaning, and both can be members of associations. In the neighbourhood of a lone Cydia pomonella, there can be large colonies
