Community Interactions

1
Community Interactions
2
Competition

• The two
• flowering
• plants are
• competing
• for the
• same space
• Which
• means both
• of them are
• harmed.

3
Competition

• Competition is when two organisms use the same
  space and resources at the same time.
• Competition can occur between organisms of the
  same species or different species
• Competitive Exclusion Principle No two species
  can occupy the same niche in the same habitat at
  the same time.

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Kudzu Competition

• Kudzu was
  introduced to the
• United
  States in 1876 at the
• 
  Centennial Exposition in
• 
  Philadelphia, PA.
• It outcompetes other
• native plants so they dont
• have a place to grow.

5
Competition introduced species

• The Eastern Bluebird is
  being forced
• into smaller
  numbers by the House
• Sparrow, an
  introduced species.

6
Mutualism clownfish and anemone

• The clownfish gets protection from the anemone
  and in
• return protects the anemone from fish that would
  eat it
• (angelfish) the clownfish also keeps the
  anemone free of
• dirt and
  debris.

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Mutualism

• Mutualism is a relationship between two organisms
  where both of them benefit from the relationship.
• This can involve providing food, protection, a
  place to live or even pollination.

8
Mutualism - Lichens

• Lichens consist of a
• fungus with an algae
• or photosynthetic
• bacterium living
• inside the fungus.
• The alga provides
• food for both of them
• and the fungus
• provides a habitat for
• the alga.

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Mutualism cleaner shrimp

• These shrimp set up
• large cleaning stations
• on the reef where fish
• will come to have
• parasites picked from
• their skin. The shrimp
• gets a constant food
• source and the fish (eel
• in this case) gets rid of
• potentially dangerous
• parasites

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Cleaner Shrimp on a Grouper
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Mutualism Ant and Aphid
12
The Aphid and the Ant

• Aphids feed on the sap of the plant they are on.
  
• Ants use their antennae to stimulate the aphids
  and cause them to excrete from their abdomen a
  substance called honeydew which is rich in the
  nutrients ants require.
• Each worker ant goes from aphid to aphid
  collecting honeydew which she stores in her
  abdomen until it's full then, she returns to the
  nest and regurgitates to feed other members of
  the colony.
• Ants, in return for the honeydew, protect the
  aphids from predators such as flies, wasps, and
  beetles.
• The ants, like human ranchers, sometimes move
  their aphids to richer grazing grounds.
• YUMMY!

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Mutualism sea slug with algae

• The algae
• lives in the
• sea slug
• and makes
• food for
• both of
• them in
• return it
• gets a place
• to live.

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Nitrogen fixing nodules

• Bacteria in the
• nodules can take
• nitrogen gas from
• the atmosphere
• and turn it into a
• form that can be
• used by the plant
• in return, the plant
• protects the
• bacteria from
• harmful oxygen and
• the bacteria get
• food from the plant.

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Mutualism - pollination

• Many plants depend on
• pollinators for their
• reproduction. They
• provide nectar to attract
• these pollinators. So
• the pollinator gets fed
• and the plant gets
• reproduced!

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Another Pollinator note pollen on back legs
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Protozoans in cows stomach

• These protozoans along with
• bacteria help the cow by
• digesting cellulose cows
• dont have the enzymes to
• do this.

The protozoans and bacteria get a place to live
and a continual food source. This is a valuable
mutualistic relationship.
18
Ants and Acacia Trees

• Acacia trees are found
• in Central America.
• Ants hollow out the
• large thorns of the
• plant for nests and
• feed on sweet
• secretions from the
• base of each leaf and
• on the protein rich
• substance found on
• the tips of the leaves,
• The ants in return
• protect the trees from
• herbivores that would
• eat the leaves. With a
• movement of the
• branch, ants emerge
• and release a nasty
• odor and attack the

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The ants, again

• When an
• experiment
• was done
• and the ants
• were
• poisoned, the
• acacia trees
• died from
• being
• overtaken
• by other
• plants and
• herbivores.

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OxPecker - Mutualism

• The
• oxpecker
• eats
• parasites
• on the
• mammal
• food for
• the bird
• and
• removal of
• danger
• for the
• mammal

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More Ox peckers(sometimes they are not on an
ox..)
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Another ox(?)pecker
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Caterpillar Ant Mutualism
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Cattle Egret - Commensalism

• The cattle stir
• up
• grasshoppers
• and other
• insects that the
• egret likes to
• eat. There is
• no apparent
• benefit to the
• cow.

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Commensalism

• Commensalism is a relationship where one organism
  benefits and other is neither harmed nor
  benefited.
• Few examples of commensalism exist because of the
  difficulty of showing that one of the organisms
  is not affected by the other. Some of the former
  cmomensalistic relationships may turn out to be
  mutualism or parasitism.

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Commensalism shark and remora

• The remora
• benefits by
• getting food
• from the
• sharks meal.
• But there is no
• apparent
• benefit to the
• shark.

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Remora without its shark

• Note the sucker on the head of the remora (or
  suckerfish)

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Commensalism whale and barnacle

• 
  
  
  

The barnacle larvae swim around, attach to the
whale, and form the adult. This habitat is a
good one for providing food. The whale does not
appear to be harmed.
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Commensalism limpets on mussel shell
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Parasitism

• Adult wasps insert
• their eggs beneath
• the skin of the
• hornworm larva.
• The eggs hatch and
• the young feed
• hornworm until they
• pupate as shown in
• the photo. Although
• the parasite is
• harmful to the worm,
• it is important in
• controlling
• hornworms in
• agriculture.

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Parasitism

• Parasitism is a relationship where one individual
  benefits and the other is harmed. Parasites
  rarely kill their hosts because to do so would
  ultimately harm the parasite!
• A tick!

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Brood Parasitism - Cowbirds

• Cowbird
• females lay
• their eggs (one
• per nest) in the
• nests of other
• species. The
• hatchling
• cowbird
• is big and gets
• most of the
• food.

This is because the foster birds tend to feed the
largest mouth. The cowbird benefits and the
other species is harmed.
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Mistletoe a plant parasite
Mistletoe lives off the branches and stems of
Other trees. It can photo- synthesize a little
but not enough to meet its needs. The tree can
be very harmed.
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Heartworms!

• The worm larvae are
• transferred from dog to
• dog through the bite of
• an infected mosquito.
• The mosquito sucks
• larval heartworms with
• blood from an infected
• dog. The mosquito then
• bites another dog and
• transfers these
• microscopic larva as it
• bites. During the next few
• months, these larva
• migrate through the dogs
• body arriving at the heart
• several months later
• where they become
• adults.

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Predator prey

• In this Predator-Prey relationship, the spider is
  eating an insect that it has trapped.

/
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Predator-Prey

• In a predator-prey relationship one organism
  benefits and the other is killed.

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Web Resources

• http//elementy.ru/images/eltbook/competitive_excl
  usion_principle_520.jpg
• http//news.uns.purdue.edu/images/2005/nice-kudzu
  .jpg
• http//www.yahoolavista.com/kudzu/h288w432sz
  35hlenstart11tbnidtp85kKj4SEtsvMtbnh84tb
  nw126prev/images3Fq3Dkudzu26svnum3D1026hl
  3Den26lr3D
• http//my.core.com/paper-images/Eastern_Bluebird0
  22v.jpg
• http//photogallery.canberrabirds.org.au/images/Sp
  arrow_House_Dabb.jpg
• http//www.bigfishhooked.com/clown_fish_and_anenom
  e.jpg
• http//www.biologyreference.com/images/biol_04_img
  0432.jpg
• http//www.richsoil.com/antsandaphids/ants_aphids_
  sugar.jpg
• http//www.calacademy.org/science_now/new_species/
  melibe_digitata.html
• http//www.mobot.org/gardeninghelp/images/pests/17
  9.jpg

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More Web Resources

• http//www.wildlife-pictures-online.com/image-file
  s/impala_knp-9113_blog.jpg
• http//www3.nationalgeographic.com/animals/video/a
  nt_caterpillarsymbiosis.html
• http//mishami.image.pbase.com/u43/jypsee/upload/2
  7771434.anguswithegret.jpg
• http//www.scubaduba.com/gallery/shark2.jpg
• http//www.cincinnatidiving.com/Gallery/images/She
  arwater/remora.jpg
• http//www.coolantarctica.com/Antarctica20fact20
  file/wildlife/whales/humptail.jpg
• http//entweb.clemson.edu/cuentres/cesheets/benefi
  ci/ce174.htm
• http//jrscience.wcp.muohio.edu/birds/ohio_birds/i
  mages/chipping_sparrow_chick_cowbird-40.jpg
• http//www.wcosf.org/other_photos/Mistletoe_1_600.
  JPG
• http//www.greatlakesbcrescue.org/HealthNTraining/
  heartworms.JPG