The Ontology of Biological Groups: Do Grasshoppers Form Assemblages, Communities, Guilds, Populations, or Something Else?

Table 1

Terminology used for groups of grasshoppers and the perspectives in which these descriptors are most appropriate.

Term	Context
Assemblage	When there is primarily a nonecological interest in the economic or other values of the group, such as in pest management or conservation
Inventory	When there is primarily a nonecological interest in the group as a component of biodiversity, most often for the purposes of conservation
Population	When there is primarily an ecological interest in the spatiotemporal dynamics of the group and the factors that account for these quantitative changes
Community	When there is primarily an ecological interest in the interactions within the group (e.g., mutualism and competition) and how these structure membership
Biocoenosis	Perhaps equivalent to “community,” but the ambiguity in use is such that the term is probably not a clear expression of a particular perspective
Guild	When there is primarily an ecological interest in the role that the group plays in its use of a common resource, usually in a similar fashion