Inquiry

How do these organisms interact with each other?

How do these organisms interact with each other?

How do these organisms interact with each other?

Types of Interactions among Living Things

A. Interactions with the Environment
1. Most living things produce more offspring than will survive. This is known as
______________________.
2. So why are we not over run with frogs or fish?
B. Limiting Factors
1. Organisms interact with the _______________ & _______________ factors in their environment.
2. Populations cannot grow without stopping.
3. ______________________________– a resource that is so scarce that it limits the _______________ of
a _______________.
4. Limits on the amount of: (examples)
a. Food
b. Water
c. Living space
d. Other resources
C. Carrying Capacity
1. ______________________________– the largest population that an _______________ can support.
2. When a population grows larger than its ______________________________, limiting factors in the
environment cause individuals to _______________or _______________, returning the population to a
size that the environment can _______________.
D. Interactions Among Organisms
1. Competition
2. Predation
3. Symbiosis
E. Adaptations
1. Every organism has a variety of adaptations (characteristics) that are suited to its specific conditions
which help the organism to survive.
2. The adaptations can also assist them in their interactions with other organisms.
F. Competition
1. _______________ – when two or more individuals or populations try to use the same
_______________.
2. Compete for:
a. Food, water, shelter, space, sunlight
3. _______________ enable organisms to ______________________________.
 4. Example:
a. The elks in Yellowstone National Park are herbivores that compete with each other for food
plants in the park.
b. Competition also happens between different populations (within a _______________).
 Different ______________________________compete with each other for sunlight and
space.
G. Predation
1. An interaction in which one organism hunts and kills another organism for food is called
_______________.
2. _______________ –the hunter
3. _______________ –the hunted
4. Predator Adaptations
a. Helps them catch & kill their prey
 _______________
 Stingers, toxins, sharp teeth
 _______________
 Night vision
5. Prey Adaptations
a. Also known as “defense strategies” to avoid predation:
 Camouflage--____________________________________________________________
 __________________--_____________________________________________________
 Warning coloring--_________________________________________________________
 ______________________--_________________________________________________
 Mimicry--________________________________________________________________
 ______________________--_________________________________________________
H. Symbiosis
1. _______________ is a close relationship between two species that benefits at least one of the species.
2. 3 types:
a. Mutualism
 A relationship in which _______________ species _______________
 Positive
 Ex: clownfish & sea anemone
b. Commensalism
 A relationship in which ________ species_______________ and the other is __________
______________________________
 Neutral
 Ex: gray whale covered in barnacles
c. Parasitism
 Involves one organism living on or inside another organism and _______________!
 Negative
 _______________– the organism that benefits
 _______________ – the organism that is harmed
 Ex: Tapeworms