Consortium

in biogeocenology, an association of populations of organisms whose vital activity revolves around the central species of a phytocoenosis, an autotrophic plant.

An edificator, the main species that determines the characteristics of the phytocoenosis, usually acts as the central species of the consortium. Other species, including heterotrophic organisms (parasites, saprophytes), are sometimes associated with the central species in a one-sided manner—through consumption or in providing shade. This nucleus of a consortium is the source of existence for the second, third, and subsequent circles that are made up of organisms that destroy the organic matter created by the central and other autotrophic species that use the energy they contain. The term “consortium” has been applied in the 1970’s to the symbiosis of certain plants (for example, the alga and fungus that make up a lichen).

a temporary agreement between several capitalist banks and/or industrial companies to extract monopolistic profits through the joint investment of a loan or the realization of a common large-scale industrial project.

One of the forms of fusing of bank and industrial capital, the consortium has developed particularly since World War II. The participants of the consortium can include both private and government organizations. In the 1960’s consortiums of a new type, with entire countries as members, came into existence. Under the conditions of the scientific and technological revolution, corsortiums have arisen in new sectors and at the junctions of different sectors. In such cases, besides the fusion of capital, joint scientific research is also envisaged. When a consortium is founded, the companies participating in it fully preserve their independence, but in the particular field of activity of the consortium they are subordinated to a jointly elected management. A characteristic feature of a consortium is the inequality of the relationship among the participants.