title: [Autocenosis and democenosis as symbiotic systems and biological notions].
abstract: Contemporary data and concepts about the role of symbiogenesis in organization, functioning, and evolution of biosystems at different organizational levels allow to contemplate the forming of a symbiotic approach to solving theoretical and practical problems in biology. According to the author's concept, at the organismic level, the basic unit should be considered as not being an individual, but autocenosis, i.e., a self-regulating system of "host-symbionts" type. Then, democenosis, being a system of autocenoses, would correspond to the population level, and speciocenosis, being a system of democenoses, would correspond to the species level. Within democenoses, not individuals, but autocenoses are subject to natural selection. Different links in trophic chains and webs are not "individuals" or "populations" but auto- and democenoses. However, symbiotic approach does not leave out the population paradigm and should develop in parallel with it. Novel concepts in the field of symbiology are indicative of this point of view.
authors.forename: A B
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Savinov
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D008954:Models, Biological; D013559:Symbiosis / Q000502:physiology*