Environmental Science U1 Module 1 Interactions Between Organisms

Interactions Between Organisms

Interactions Between Organisms 1
Competition 2
Predator-Prey Interactions 5
Symbiosis 6
Cattle egret and cattle 6
Honey Bee and Flowers 6
Intestinal bacteria and Some Animals 6
Gobies and sea urchins 6
Orchids attached to trees 6

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Environmental Science U1 Module 1 Interactions Between Organisms

- Interactions between organisms can be classified in terms of whether the interaction:

is beneficial to individuals of all interacting species.
benefits individuals of one species but harms those of another.
Is harmful to individuals of both species.
Benefits individuals of one species but has no significant impact on those of the other
species.

Competition
Competition can be defined as the use of a resource by one individual or species that
reduces the availability of that resource for another individual or species.
Resources are usually limited and so organisms must compete for them.
Competition may occur for food, shelter, mates, space, soil nutrients and light.
Competition puts pressure on the limited resources available in the environment
however it is important for maintaining ecosystem balance, controlling population size,
promoting natural selection of the fittest individuals and most importantly, determining the
carrying capacity of the ecosystem.
While all individuals may have equal access to the particular resources, individuals differ
in their ability to exploit the given resource .
Competition is a type of indirect ecological interaction. It can occur within species
(intrapseicfic) or between species (interspecific).

Intraspecific Competition
This is completion among individuals of the same species.
It is stronger and more intense than interspecific competition
This is because individuals of the same species have very similar resource requirements
for habitat space, light, food and reproductive partners.

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Environmental Science U1 Module 1 Interactions Between Organisms

Interspecific Competition
This is competition between individuals of different species.
Individuals of one species may experience reduced survival or growth while the other
flourishes.
It is usually weaker then intrapsefic competition as two different species never use
exactly the same resources. They may compete for habitat space and light but
necessarily food and reproductive partners.

Competitive Exclusion Principle

The competitive exclusion principle states that two closely related species in competition
for the same resources cannot coexist indefinitely and the species that is competitively
inferior will eventually loose and be eliminated.

This is true if resources are limited but however in nature, species tend to develop
mechanisms that promote coexistence.
Coexistence is possible when the niches of competitors do not overlap and differences in
adaptive trends usually give some species a competitive advantage.

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Environmental Science U1 Module 1 Interactions Between Organisms

Resource Partitioning
One way in which organism competing for the same resources can coexist is resource
partitioning which is the devision of environmental resources between species.
Resource partitioning may occur either when ecological differences between established
and competing populations increase through natural selection or when species that are
dissimilar succeeds in joining an exiting community.

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Environmental Science U1 Module 1 Interactions Between Organisms

Predator-Prey Interactions
A predator is any organism that gains its nourishment from killing and eating other
organisms.
Prey must be efficient at escaping from their predators in order to survive and continue
survival of the species.
When there is a large quantity of prey, the number of predators will increase because
more food is available for growth and reproduction.
This can then lead to a decrease in the number of prey if they are being consumed by
the predators faster than they can reproduce.
This is an example of negative feedback which is an automatic regulatory process that
maintains the numbers of organisms in the food chain at levels that the environment can
support.
The maximum amount of organisms the environment can sustain is called the
environment climax.

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Environmental Science U1 Module 1 Interactions Between Organisms

Symbiosis
Symbiosis is the interaction between two different organisms living in close physical
association.
There is always competition for food and space among different organisms thus forming
stable relationships with other species other than predator-prey allows two different
species to share the same space or food supply.
Symbiotic relationships may be obligatory in which organism depend on each other for
survival or it may be facultative where the relationship is not absolutely necessary for the
survival of the species.
There are 3 types of symbiotic relationships; mutualism, commensalism and parasitism.

Mutualism
Mutualism is a form of symbiosis in which two organisms of different species live in an
intimate association that offers some benefit to both.
Cattle egret and cattle
The cattle egret eats ticks which are parasites on the cattle
The egret gets food and the cattle gets pests removed

Honey Bee and Flowers

Honey bees fly from flower to flower to pollinate the flowers while gathering nectar
which they use to make food.
The bees benefit by gathering food while the plant benefits by getting pollinated.

Intestinal bacteria and Some Animals

A type of bacteria lives in the intestines of humans and some animals which helps in
the partial digestion of some of the foods that the animals cannot digest initially

Commensalism
Commensalism occurs when one organism, the commensal, benefits from the
relationship while the other organism, the host, does not benefit but at the same time is
not harmed.

Gobies and sea urchins

Goby species live among the spines of the toxic sea urchins and gain protection from
their predators. They perform no service to the sea urchins nor do they harm it.

Orchids attached to trees

Orchids attach to trees to get water that drips from the tops of trees.
The tree is neither harmed by, nor benefits from this association.

Parasitism
Parasitism is an association in which one organism, the parasite, lives on or in another
organism, the host. The parasite benefits while the host is harmed.
The parasite usually attacks singles hosts of the same species or a very narrow range of
close species.
The harm to the host may come from damage to body tissue because the parasite takes
food needed by the host and may secrete toxins to poison the host.

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Environmental Science U1 Module 1 Interactions Between Organisms
Indo-parasites live within their hosts body. Examples are hookworms and tapeworms in
mammals as well as fungal parasites in plants.
Endo-prasites live on the surface or skin of the host. Examples are ticks on animals,
head lice on humans, colonies of aphids and mealy bugs that live on the surface of
green plant stems.

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