LifeLine

Biology is often described as the study of life, but just as importantly, it is the study of relationships. No organism exists in complete isolation; every living thing is part of some interaction or ecosystem. These interactions focus on ways in which organisms affect each other. Interactions can be positive, neutral or negative. 

Interspecific 

Interspecific competition is when 2 or more species share the same limited resources.

• Competitive exclusion principle describes situations in which one species is eliminated from a community because of competition for the same limited resources.
• Resource partitioning allows for avoiding competition with other species by using a specific part of an available resource
• Different species of plants and trees competing for light in the rainforest 
• Lion and leopard competing for the same pray in their habit, ones presence can affect the other 
• Interspecific between the different species
• Predator – Prey (population of fox and rabbit fluctuate depending on one another)
• Interspecific interactions occur between individuals or populations of different species within a community or ecosystem.

Intraspecific 

Intraspecific competition is when 2 or more individuals of the same species use the same limited resource.

• Within a specific species 
• The effects that individuals of the same species have on one another for example intraspecific competition occurs between members of the same species.
• Intraspecific interactions occur between individuals or populations of the same species within a community or ecosystem.

Predation

The best-known examples of predation involve carnivorous interactions, in which one animal consumes another. Think of wolves hunting moose, owls hunting mice, or shrews hunting worms and insects.

In predation, an individual of one species called the predator, eats all or part of an individual of another species called prey. 

• Predator: an animal that kills and eats other animals.
  • Hawks and coyotes both eat small rodents; they are predators. 
• Prey: animals that are killed and eaten by other animals.
  • Rabbits and crickets are both eaten by bigger animals; they are prey.

Competition (Negative)

There are two types of competition. Interspecific competition occurs when two or more species compete for a limited resource.Intraspecific competition happens when individuals of the same species compete. The outcomes of this competition affect the species’ growth, reproduction, and survival 

Symbiotic relationships (Positive)

• The term symbiosis describes close, long-term interactions between individuals of two different species. Types of symbiosis include mutualism, commensalism, and parasitism.

Mutualism

• Mutualism occurs when two organisms of different species provide each other with resources or services, and both organisms benefit.
  • For example, sea anemones and clownfish share a mutualistic relationship in which anemones provide shelter and protection, and clownfish provide nutrients in the form of waste.

Commensalism

• Commensalism is an interaction between species where one organism benefits, and the other organism is not significantly affected.
  • A barnacle and a whale exhibit commensalism when the barnacle attaches to the whale. The whale is unaffected, while the barnacle is able to gather food from the water as the whale swims.

Parasitism

• Parasitism is an interaction between species in which one organism—the parasite—benefits by living and feeding on another organism—the host—who is harmed but not immediately killed.
  • For example, a sea lamprey is a parasite that attaches itself to the body of a host fish and consumes the fish’s body fluids. The lamprey draws nourishment from the fish, and the fish gradually weakens over time