Ecological Relationships

Species Interaction
- Species interact everyday
- This interaction is a vital part of how organisms develop and change over time
Think about it...how many organisms have you
interacted with today?

Could you live, grow, or develop without these interactions?

 Interactions between organisms

Predation Competition Symbiosis

Commensalism Mutualism Parasitism

Parasitism - parasite lives on or inside of a host

Predation - predator eats prey

Herbivory - organism eats a plant species

Definition: an interaction that benefits one species and harms
another
Examples?
 Mutualism

Definition: an interaction where both species benefit

Examples?
 Competition
Definition: an interaction that harms both species
Multiple organisms vie for the same, limiting resource. Because the use of
a limited resource by one species decreases availability to the other,
competition lowers the fitness of both.

Examples?
 Commensalism

Definition: An interaction that benefits one species and does not

affect the other species

Examples?
 Generalist and Specialist
Definition:

- Generalist- a species that can eat many different types of food

- Specialist- a species that only eats a certain type of food

Examples?
 Niche and Symbiosis
Definition:

- Niche - the way of life of a species, or its role in an ecological

community (what it eats, where it lives, how it interacts with
other species…)

- Symbiosis - to “live together”, this happens when two species

have a close relationship with each other
- Mutualism, Parasitism, Commensalism
M&M Activity
 Exit Slip
For each scenario indicate whether the symbiotic interaction is:
Parasitism (P), Mutualism (M), or Commensalism (C)

1. Some shrimp and crab live and capture food from within the tentacles of giant
anemones.

2. A tapeworm needs to eat food that is already digested, so it lives in the intestines of a
dogfish shark and derives nourishment from the shark. As a result of the tapeworm
infestation, the shark is weakened and more vulnerable to disease and predation.

3. A boxer crab carries a pair of small anemones in its chelipeds, or claws. When
approached by a predator, the crab waves the stinging tentacles of the anemones to
deter the predator. The anemones benefit from the small particles of food dropped by
the crab during feeding.