In early German ecology, the key concept used to refer to a synecological unit was Biozönose (biocoenosis). Taken together with the concept of the Biotop (biotope), it was also understood as an integrated higher-order unit of life, sometimes called a “Holozön” (holocoen). These units were often perceived as having properties similar to those of individual organisms, and they informed the mainstream of German ecology until at least the late 1960s. Here I ask how “organismic” these concepts really were and what conceptual problems they entailed. To do so, I focus on some almost forgotten dissident positions, especially those of (German-born) Friedrich Simon Bodenheimer and Fritz Peus, which I contrast with the mainstream German ecology of the time. In a radical paper published in 1954 that postulated the “dissolution of the concepts of biocoenosis and biotope”, Peus in particular elicited a forceful response from many prominent German ecologists. An analysis of the ensuing debate, including especially a colloquium held in 1959 that was partly inspired by Peus’ paper, is helpful for sifting the various arguments proffered with respect to a quasi-organismic perception of the biocoenosis in German speaking ecology. Although German mainstream ecologists rejected the notion of the biocoenosis as a superorganism, ontological holism was quite common among them. Additionally, the mainstream concept of the biocoenosis was plagued by several methodological problems and much conceptual confusion, to which the “dissidents” rightly pointed. Some of these problems are still pertinent today, e.g. in connection with more modern concepts such as “ecosystem”.

在早期的德国生态学中，用于指代生态单元的关键概念是Biozönose（生物群落）。与Biotop （生物群落）的概念一起，它也被理解为一个综合的高阶生命单位，有时被称为“ Holozön ””（全息）。这些单位通常被认为具有与个体有机体相似的特性，并且至少直到 1960 年代后期，它们才成为德国生态学的主流。在这里，我问这些概念到底有多“有机”，以及它们带来了哪些概念问题。为此，我专注于一些几乎被遗忘的持不同政见者的立场，尤其是（德国出生的）弗里德里希·西蒙·博登海默和弗里茨·佩斯的立场，我将其与当时的主流德国生态形成对比。在 1954 年发表的一篇激进论文中，假设“解散了生物群落和生物群落的概念”，Peus 尤其引起了许多著名的德国生态学家的强烈反应。对随后的辩论进行分析，尤其包括 1959 年举行的一次座谈会，该座谈会部分受到了 Peus 的论文的启发，有助于筛选关于德语生态学中生物群落的准有机感知的各种论点。尽管德国主流生态学家拒绝将生物群落作为一种超有机体的概念，但本体论整体论在他们中间却相当普遍。此外，生物群落的主流概念受到若干方法论问题和许多概念混乱的困扰，“持不同政见者”正确地指出了这一点。其中一些问题在今天仍然存在，例如与“生态系统”等更现代的概念有关。生物群落的主流概念被几个方法问题和许多概念混乱所困扰，“持不同政见者”正确地指出了这一点。其中一些问题在今天仍然存在，例如与“生态系统”等更现代的概念有关。生物群落的主流概念被几个方法问题和许多概念混乱所困扰，“持不同政见者”正确地指出了这一点。其中一些问题在今天仍然存在，例如与“生态系统”等更现代的概念有关。