Environmental

Science
Chapter 3: Ecological Relationships
 Learning Objectives
01 02 03
differentiate discuss appreciate
differentiate the various discuss the three types of appreciate the importance of
ecological interactions; direct interaction; mutualism;

04 05
discuss identify and analyze
discuss commensalism identify and analyze environmental
and its significance; and issues and concerns
 Ecological Community
The population of all the different species that live together in an
area make up what's called an ecological community.
Ecological Relationships
Community ecologists seek to understand what drives the patterns of
species coexistence, diversity, and distribution that we see in nature. A
core part of how they address these questions is by examining how
different species in a community interact with each other. Interactions
between two or more species are called interspecific/community
interactions—inter- means "between."
 Community Interactions

Competition Predation Symbiosis

happens when organisms of the
same or different species
attempt to use an ecological
resource in the same place at
the same time.
an interaction where one refers to any relationship in
organism captures and feeds which two species live
on another organism. closely together.
01
Competition (- / -)
 Competition in Plants
Plants compete for water, light,
minerals, and carbon dioxide.
Some plants are better able to
compete than others in a given
portion of an ecosystem. These
species exclude their competitors
from that part of the ecosystem;
this is called competitive
exclusion.
 Competition in Animals
Species compete when they have
overlapping niches, that is, overlapping
ecological roles and requirements for
survival and reproduction. Competition can
be minimized if two species with
overlapping niches evolve by natural
selection to utilize less similar resources,
resulting in resource partitioning.
02
Predation (+/-)
 Predation
In predation, a member of one
species—the predator—eats part or
all of the living, or recently living,
body of another organism—the prey.
This interaction is beneficial for the
predator, but harmful for the prey (+/-
interaction).
 Predation
Predators and prey regulate each other's
population dynamics. Also, many species
in predator-prey relationships have
evolved adaptations—beneficial features
arising by natural selection—related to
their interaction. On the prey end, these
include mechanical, chemical, and
behavioral defenses.
Defense Mechanisms
 03
Symbiosis
 Symbiosis

Species always live together in

communities, but some species interact in
a much more intimate way. We call these
more-intimate interactions a symbiosis.
 Three Types of Direct Interaction

Mutualism Commensalism Parasitism

occurs when both species if one organism lives in or on another
benefit from the relationship. one member benefits and the other organism, obtaining from its host part
is neither helped nor harmed. of all of its nutritional needs.
Mutualism
 Examples of Mutualism

Pollination Dispersal
Mutualisms

Cleaning Defense
Mutualisms Mutualisms
 Pollination
Pollinator may get:
● Food (nectar, pollen - high energy or high protein food)
● Mating advantage - some bees get scent molecules
● Nesting materials - some bees get wax for their nests
 Pollination
Flowering plant gets:

● Efficiency of pollen transfer (compared to wind)

● Mixing of pollen from many plants and prevention of
inbreeding
● Pollinators include flies, bees, wasps, bats, beetles, birds
● Any animal that visits the flower regularly may be a
pollinator
 Dispersal Mutualism
➢ Fruits are plant rewards for animal dispersal of seeds.
➢ Seeds often pass through the guts of dispersers without harm.
■ some seeds even benefit from this by being deposited with the
manure as a fertilizer
■ some seeds use the passage as a signal to germinate and will not
do so without this
■ some plants protect the seed with toxins while making the fruit
palatable
■ peach seeds (pits) are full of cyanide
■ some plants sacrifice some seeds to dispersers (seeds are usually
very good food o lots of vitamins, protein and lipids)
 Dispersal Mutualism
● Lots of cheaters in this system (whenever seeds are eaten
as food and are not just passing through the gut)
● Fruit colors are important signals
 Cleaning Mutualism

● one species gets food by removing (and eating) ectoparasites of

another
● partner loses its parasites without having to clean itself
➢ also on reefs, cleaner fish perform same function as shrimp
➢ birds eat parasites from outside of large herbivores (carabao)
Cleaning Mutualism
Cleaning Mutualism
 Defense Mutualism
● one species gets food and/or shelter from another species
● other partner gets protection from being eaten.
➢ Ant-Acacia system
 Commensalism

https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/10-examples-of-commensalism-in-nature.html
Parasitism
 Parasitism
This is a symbiotic relationship between two organisms in which one
species (parasite) benefits for growth and reproduction to the harm
of the other species (host). It must be emphasized that parasite and host
interact and that excessive harm done to a host, which makes it less
competitive, also endangers the survival of the parasite species.
Parasitism can be differentiated into ectoparasites and endoparasites,
depending respectively, on whether they live on or in the host.
● Lice, flea, ticks, etc. are examples of ectoparasites. Tapeworms and
the malaria parasite are examples of endoparasites.
 Parasitism
A parasite is an organism that:

● lives on or in the body of another organism (the host)

● from whose tissues it gets its nourishment, and
● to whom it does some damage
 Parasitism
Animals are parasitized by viruses, bacteria, fungi, protozoans,
flatworms (tapeworms and flukes), nematodes, insects (fleas, lice),
and arachnids (mites).
 Parasitism
Plants are parasitized by viruses, bacteria, fungi, nematodes, and a
few other plants.
 Parasitism
Parasites damage their host in two major ways:
● consuming its tissues, e.g., hookworms
● liberating toxins, for example,
➢ Tetanus bacilli secrete tetanus toxin which
interferes with synaptic transmission.
➢ Diphtheria bacilli secrete a toxin that inhibits
protein synthesis by ribosomes
 Parasitism
The relationship between parasite and host varies
along a spectrum that extends from.

1. "hit and run" parasites that live in their host for a brief
period and then move on to another with or without killing
the first
2. parasites that establish chronic infections. Both parasite
and host must evolve to ensure the survival of both because
if the parasite kills its host before it can move on, it
destroys its own meal ticket.
SUMMARY
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