Biotic Interactions

Mutualism
Organism One Organism Two
 Mutualisms

Benefits that accrue to one or both mutualists:

Cleaning
Defense against enemies
Protection from environmental stresses
Transport
Trophic enhancement
(energy, nutrients)
Etc.

Janzen (1985) recognized five types:

(1) Harvest mutualisms
(2) Pollination mutualisms
(3) Seed-dispersal mutualisms
(4) Protective mutualisms
(5) Human agriculture / animal husbandry

Photo of Dan Janzen & mutualist(?) from http://www-tc.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/rats/images/janz-01-l.jpg

 Plant-Pollinator
Mutualism
• Most frequent type of mutualism
– 45% of all studies of mutualism
– Coevolved systems
• Selective pressures for plants to develop
intimate relationship with pollinators
– More than 900 species of Ficus exist and virtually
all must be pollinated by its own species of
agaonid wasp
– Yucca plants and yucca moths - highly coevolved
– The distribution of each species is controlled by
the availability of the other species

Chap.9 Mutualism 4
Blastophaga psenes, a tiny fig wasp, which crawl
inside the captifig in California to lay her eggs.
5
Yucca Plants and Yucca
Moths
• Each type of Yucca plant
can only be pollinated
by a specific kind of
Yucca moth.
• That moth can only live
on that kind of Yucca.
 Seed Dispersal
• Seed dispersal systems account for almost
30% of all mutualisms
– In tropics some fruits are dispersed by birds that
are frugivorous
• Fruit provides balanced diet for birds
• Birds disperse seeds

Chap.9 Mutualism 7
 Nitrogen

• Vital to plant and animal growth

– Most species can not fix atmospheric
nitrogen
– Fixation is carried out by soil bacteria
and archaebacteria
• Most live in the roots of plants
• Mutualistic relationship with plant
• Excess nitrogen is available to plant
• Ex. Rhizobia bacteria in legumes

Chap.9 Mutualism 8
 Mutualism and protection
from natural enemies
• Common example: ants and
aphids
– Aphids feed on plant sap and excrete
honeydew
– Ants drink the honeydew and in
return protect the aphids

Chap.9 Mutualism 9
Swollen Thorn Acacia Tree
and Ants
• The tree provides
a nursery for the
ants in the thorns
and makes
special food for
the ant babies.
• In return the ants
sting and attack
any other plants
or insects that try
to invade the tree.
Ant-Acacia Mutualism
• Example: Ants and the Central American
acacia trees
– Acacia trees provide food and shelter for the
ants inside large thorns
– Ants protect the acacia tree from other insects
and vertebrate herbivores
– Ants also trim foliage away from competing
plants and kill neighboring plant shoots

Chap.9 Mutualism 12
• Example: Fungi and plants
– Fungi reduce vertebrate herbivory
– Soay Sheep of Hirta Island (in the St.
Kilda Archipelago)
– Sheep overgraze native grasses
– Periodically, sheep population
crashes

Fig. 9.9 Soay sheep

Chap.9 Mutualism 13
• Mutualism is the chief culprit
– The main forage is the grass Festuca rubra
– F. rubra contains an endophyte, the fungus
Acremonium, inside its blades.The fungus
produces toxic alkaloids
– These alkaloids function as an anti-herbivory
defense
– In return, the fungus obtains food from the plant
– Frequency of infection correlated to grazing
pressure. Heavy grazing causes higher infections
– Fungi are in greatest concentration in basal
regions. Heavy grazing results in sheep reaching
lower blades.

Chap.9 Mutualism 14
 Obligate mutualism
• A mutualistic relationship, in which neither
participant could survive without the other
• Ex. Lichen: a relationship between algae and
fungi
– Algae provides the photosynthate
– Fungi provides a safe habitat
• Ex. Many ruminants and symbiotic bacteria
– Bacteria break down plant tissue to provide energy for
their hosts
• Ex. The roots of most plants and fungi
– Mutualistic association between the fungus and root
tissue - mycorrhizae
• Fungi obtain carbohydrates from their host
• Fungi increase access to mineral nutrition and water for
the plant
Chap.9 Mutualism 15
 Anemone & Anemone Fish
This fish lives its entire adult life among the
tentacles of a bulb- tentacle sea anemone.
Anemone fish do not get stung by the
mutualism
anemone as would most other fish so they
get protection from predators. The fish often
drop food scraps which the anemones can
eat.
 Moray Eel & Cleaner Fish

This moray eel has a small fish cleaning

between its teeth. The eel gets a clean
mouth while the cleaner fish gets a nice
meal.

mutualism
 Antelope & Ox Bird

This ox bird hangs out

on the antelope and
gets a delicious meal of
bugs living on the
antelope. The antelope
gets rid of parasites.

mutualism
 Goby and Alpheid Shrimp
This alpheid shrimp (on
the right) uses its strong claws like
a bulldozer to create a burrow in
the sand. The shrimp is nearly
blind. It relies upon its partner, the
sharp-eyed goby, to warn of
danger. When a potential predator
approaches, both animals
disappear quickly into the burrow

mutualism

What symbiotic relationship is

this?
 Wrasse & Batfish
Can you see the two cleaner
wrasses are
removing parasites from a
batfish? One of the wrasses has
entered the gill slit of the batfish,
and may even enter its
mouth in search of food. The
batfish gets a bath and the wrasse
gets a meal.

What symbiotic relationship is

this?
mutualism
 Hummingbird Moth & Flower
mutualism

This hummingbird moth is drinking the

nectar of a flower. The flower gets
pollinated (the moth brings pollen
from other flowers) and the moth gets
a tasty meal.
• The African
honeyguide bird and
the honey badger
(ratel)
– The bird finds honey
bee nests and makes
a special call to
attract the badger,
who breaks open the
hive so both can eat
• Tick bird and
rhinoceros; Ox-
pecker and ox
– The birds get food
(ticks) and
protection and the
rhino and ox get
parasites removed
 Honey Bee & the Dandelion
• Honey bee
– gets to eat the
pollen from the
flower.
• Dandelion
– uses the bee to
spread its pollen to
another flower
 The crocodile opens its
mouth to let the
Egyptian plover (a bird)
pick leeches off of its
gums
 The crocodile is rid of a
parasite and the plover
gets a meal
 Cleaner wrasses
remove parasites
from larger fish
 They have been
known to set up
“cleaning stations”
where fish can come
to get cleaned
 Wrasses get food and
other fish get parasites
removed
 Tube worms deep at
the bottom of the
ocean have bacteria
that live inside them
 The tube worms bring
in the nutrients and
chemicals and the
bacteria convert them
into food for the tube
worm