Term: communities (consortia, syntrophic or synergistic associations) https://doi.org/10.1351/goldbook.C01192 Definition: Naturally occuring groups of different (micro)organisms inhabiting a common environment, interacting with each other, especially through food relationships and relatively independent of other groups. Communities may be of varying sizes, and larger communities may contain smaller ones. Related Terms: 1) micro (http://doi.org/10.1351/goldbook.M03894). Source: PAC, 1992, 64, 143. 'Glossary for chemists of terms used in biotechnology (IUPAC Recommendations 1992)' on page 150 (https://doi.org/10.1351/pac199264010143) Citation: 'communities (consortia, syntrophic or synergistic associations)' in IUPAC Compendium of Chemical Terminology, 5th ed. International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry; 2025. Online version 5.0.0, 2025. https://doi.org/10.1351/goldbook.C01192 License: The IUPAC Gold Book is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike CC BY-SA 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) for individual terms. Disclaimer: The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) is continuously reviewing and, where needed, updating terms in the Compendium of Chemical Terminology (the IUPAC Gold Book). Users of these terms are encouraged to include the version of a term with its use and to check regularly for updates to term definitions that you are using.