How do organisms in a community interact?

Symbiosis“living together”

Close and permanent relationship between organisms of different species.

1.Mutualism: both species involved benefit from the relationship

2.Commensalism : one species benefits and the other is neither helped nor harmed

3.Parasitism: one species benefits and the other is harmed

There are 3 types of symbiosis

Determine which type of symbiotic relationship each example is describing…

1. Barnacles create home sites by attaching themselves to whales. This neither harms nor benefits the whales.

2. Yucca flowers are pollinated by yucca moths. The moths lay their eggs in the flowers where the larvae hatch and eat some of the developing seeds.

3. Mistletoe extracts water and nutrients from the spruce tree to the tree’s detriment.

4. Ostriches and gazelles feed next to each other. They both watch for predators and alert each other to danger. Since the visual abilities of the 2 species are different, they each can identify threats the other animal would not as readily see.

5. As buffalos walk through grass, insects become active and are seen and eaten by cowbirds.

6. Ticks feed on deer blood.

7. A cuckoo bird may lay its eggs in a warbler’s nest. The cuckoo’s young will displace the warbler’s young and will be raised by the warbler.

PredationWhen one organism hunts and eats another organism

Predator = the organism that does the hunting and the eating

Prey = the organism that is hunted and eaten

CompetitionWhen two or more organisms attempt to use a resource at the same time in the same place

Usually these organisms occupy very similar or overlapping niches!

How is competition reduced?

By having no 2 organisms occupy the exact same niche!!!

Bay-Breasted WarblerFeeds in the middlepart of the tree

Cape May WarblerFeeds at the tips of branchesnear the top of the tree

Yellow-Rumped WarblerFeeds in the lower part of the tree andat the bases of the middle branches