Inter-specific relationships

Mutualism
Mutualism is a way in which two organisms of different species can live together in a certain environment that benefits them both. An example of this would be the Oxpecker and the Zebra, both of these animals live in the same environment, the Oxpeckers are a type of birds whos food are ticks and other parasites that live on the Zebra and other animals skin. This is a mutualism relationship, since the Oxpecker gets food from the skin of the Zebra, while the Zebra has its ticks and other parasites removed.

Commensalism
This is the relationship between two species in which one of the organisms benefits from the other one without harming it. One species would gain nutrient, shelter, support and movement from the other. One instance of this would be the relationship between the Tiger and Golden Jackals. The Golden Jackals would alert the Tigers of a near or approaching prey. This shows commensalism since the Tiger benefits from the Jackals alert. Also The Golden Jackals tend to eat what is left of the prey.

Parasitism
Parasitism is a relationship between two species in which one would benefit on the expense of the other, in other words one organism lives of the other, often the host isnt killed, since the organism needs it for it to survive. Tapeworms and Cows would be an example of this, these worms attach themselves into the intestine of the other organism in this case the cow. It gets food by eating the hosts digested food, creating a loss of nutrients for the cow. This is a parasitic relationship, since this only benefits the tapeworm while damaging the cow.

Competition
Competition is an interaction between two organisms, in which neither species benefit. An example of this would be the spotted hyenas and the lions, by competing for food between each other it results in none of the species will have a benefit.

Neutralism
Neutralism is a relationship between two organisms in which both do not get affected in any way, therefore they are neutral. An example of this could be Rabbits and Deers, since they live in the same environment, but both do not interfere in their food, therefore relationship is said to be neutral.

There is a basic way to classify these inter-specific relationships, by using the table below: + 0 Parasitism Competition Commensalism Neutralism 0 Specie B In this table for example if specie A has a + while specie B has a means that both species are in parasitism relationship, If specie A has a + while specie B has a -, means that the species are in a commensalism relationship, and so on. Mutualism Commensalism Parasitism +

Specie A